Delta unisaw table not level

[Mike Poulin]

Hello,
only my second post here but I have a question some of you veterens might have an idea on. I purchased a used Delta Unisaw(Platinum edition circa mid to late 90's ) off of craigslist here locally a number of months ago. It looked in OK shape and it was only $400.00 so I had to move quick( the owner said a couple of guys wanted to come by but whoever was there with the cash first would get it. Well I got there quick and noticed there was a few pieces missing and the owner had purchased it from a guy who sold his whole shop but the tools had been out in the elements for a while ( whatever that means in Southern Calif. ) It did have a lot of rust on the table and most all of the parts had some surface rust and the paint was not great. The motor looked god as did the trunnion and it seemed tight ( squealed like a pig with the elevation and tilt but seemed smooth despite the noise.) The Biesemeyer rails were missing and the fence had taken quite a beating and was marginal.An extension table was missing and a few other items. For the next few months I have been pouring my time ( and money ) into cleaning,lubricating, and painting. I drilled out the rivets on the label and the tilt indicator and had the Platinum paint matched at a custom car paint place. I re-attached the labels and such with black rivets I got off ebay. The inside was cleaned and de-rusted and painted with a brush ( the trunnion and such ) The inside cabinet was not bad so I left it as is after a good cleaning. Any sheet metal screws were removed and drilled out to accept a bolt with lock nut. Almost all rusted bolts were removed and replaced with stainless except in places where I felt the steel had more strength. I cleaned and painted those. I bought a 30 inch Delta unifence off of ebay for a good price and also a Delta uniguard for even a better price. I am in the process of mounting these. I also purchased a Rockler rough terrain mobil base that is fabulous. I had the Delta on my previous saw and there is no comparison ( it was a little pricey-$200.00 ) but it is the best mobil base I have ever used ( I have a number on my other tools.
Well the saw has turned out beautiful-but lots of sweat and money. I'm sure I could have bought quite a nice one for the money I have poured into this one. ( but then I couldn't tell my wife I only spent $ 400.00 for the saw )
Ok so finally my question. I noticed after putting the base back to the cabinet and then bolting it to the mobile base and putting the cast iron top back on that the table is not level...its off @ +1/8 inch. I put a fat washer under the level and it showed perfect so I loosened up the cast iron table to cabinet and inserted the 2 fat washers on one side only and the table is perfectaly level .Of course now my saw blade is not the 90 and 45 it used to be but I'm hoping I can use the tilt adjusting screws and change the 90 and 45 reference points. My question is -am I going the wrong way with this shimming or would I accompish the same thing by putting the washers down in the cabinet to base ( or base of saw to mobil base ) Also would I eliminate the need to re-adjust the 90 and 45 if I put the shims in the base ?
By the way my garage floor is not level-mysteriously off by about the same amount as my table top. I did make a sloppy quick attempt to shim under the wheels of the base to see if that made a differance but only used cardboard. Hopefully this is not a moron dilema but it seems important to have the table level. Thanks.

[Jim O'Dell]

More important to have the table flat, and the blades adjusted to the top properly. The table top being level has no importance to me, except that it makes it easier to have a separate outfeed table set up on the same plane.
If it were me, I would shim the saw's base at the mobile base to level the saw's top. Much easier and less work. Jim.

[Bruce Page]

LOL, I just went out and put a level on my Unisaw and its out about the same as yours. I never gave it a thought and have never once had a problem with it being un-level so I’m not going to worry about it. I'm sure it is related to the garage floor slope.

The best fix, if it really bothers you, would be to shim between the MB and the cabinet bottom. Of course as soon as you move it everything will be off again..

It sounds like you have done a nice restoration.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Mike, you need to remove the washers. The top should be mounted to the cabinet without any shims. If you want the top level, place shims between the floor & base.

[Mike Poulin]

Thanks all for your good reponses. Yeah the washer shims did not look right and I didn't feel good about it. You'er also right that as soon as I move it it will be wrong again. I do intend to move it around the garage...maybe I can find a better spot...not that it really matters. I will shim the base if necessary or I'll give another try to just putting a shim under the wheels and see if that helps ( should be a bit easier than shimming the garage slab ! ) By the way along the path of my saw restoration Delta was of almost no help...in fact didn't even try. The people at the Saw Center in Mass. were great and talked me into going with the Unisaw and gave good reasons why it was a good choice . It is smooth and powerful and amazingly even passed the nickel test . My wife calls it the eternal saw project but I think I'm almost ready to make some sawdust.
Thanks for all your replies.

[glenn bradley]

Just a little clarification. It is normal to have shims between the table and the cabinet. This is how you adjust the parallel relationship between the miter slot and the blade when the blade is tilted. That is, shifting the top to align the blade to the miter slot is one step, shimming the top to maintain that alignment when the blade is tilted at 45* is another.

You may have read about folks who were rebuilding saws and did not keep track of which "washers" were in which position during breakdown . . . the saw would not align correctly after re-assembly. With all that said, I level my saw with the feet at the floor and align it as stated. I do find it easier to align the saw with the wings and fence rails off. If there is a bit of shift when the enxtension tables and rails are installed, it is usually very minor and quick to adjust back out.

[Paul Murphy]

Like Glenn has said, the saw is aligned using shim washers. The miter slot is set paralell with the blade at 90, and checked again for paralell with the blade tilted to 45. The shim washers correct any misalignment with the blade tilted to 45.

[Brent Smith]

I've never seen a need to have my table level. As long as the top and wings are aligned and all other sdjustments check, the saw can be on an angle to the floor for all I care.

I was glad to see Glenn B. bring up the issue of shims to correct the relationship to the slot and blade when tilted. A few years back, I brought up this very point (keeping track of shims) on another forum to someone who was doing a Uni rebuild and was surprised to get replies from knowledgable woodworkers saying that the shimming was basically an old wives tale.

[Chris Rosenberger]

The OPs original question was about using washers to level the top, not align it with the blade. The replies followed, were dealing with that issue.
As for it being normal for shims to be between the top & table on table saw. I have worked on dozens of Unisaws & Powermatic 66s in the last 40 years.
I have yet to find a shim under a table.

[Kent A Bathurst]

This thread got me wondering, so I took out Mr 4' Level. I have my primary workbench on the infeed side of the TS, to act as an infeed support long boards + ply. Basement of an 85 yr old house - "level, plumb, square" are not applicable.

The TS ain't level to then center of the earth in any direction I checked. However, all the surfaces [total of 6' x 6'] are in the same plane, as is the workbench top.

However, it turns out that I've been pushing uphill - maybe I should adjust everything so I am ripping downhill, so it would be easier???

[glenn bradley]

was surprised to get replies from knowledgable woodworkers saying that the shimming was basically an old wives tale.

heh-heh . . . enjoy spending your time trying to get alinged, eh?