Got my first "real" table saw, now looking for helpful suggestions

[Benjamin Brown]

Hi all, pursuant to my previous thread soliciting suggestions for a table saw, I have made my first table saw purchase. It is a Delta 3hp 1ph Unisaw, probably in the ~15 year old range and used by a hobbyist. It includes the 52" fence and not much else. I had to dissasemble it to get it out of the bed of my truck and into my basement, which I thought would kill me -

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I didn't include pictures of the table extension. The guy I bought it from was using a piece of MDF for the extension, and a piece of MDF for the shelf under the table.

So what I'm looking for is to leverage all the great experience here to make some suggestions about what I should do while I have it apart before re-assembling everything. The only things I know that I want to do is to replace the MDF top and shelf with maybe some melamine or somesuch to increase the viscosity and help prevent kickback. Also obviously some cleaning of everything, although I'm not sure what exactly I should concentrate on and what chemicals/resources to use.

Anyone want to make any recommendations that are especially smart to tackle right now while it is mostly disassembled? Bear in mind that this would be my first time tackling this kind of work so the more detailed the instructions, the better.

P.S. - This is not exactly on topic, but I'm trying to decide between the $200 Delta mobile base or two HTC2000 bases - Can anyone weigh in on that? I don't want to have to re-do a bunch of work and re-buy new stuff later on.

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

Search for delta Unisaw restoration on YouTube. There is a 6 part series of detailed videos that will be a HUGE help. But I would no doubt replace the belts and bearings. As far as bases go get the Delta. I did and couldn't be happier. Check out Amazon for a good price.

[jim tritz]

I can't specifically weigh in on the delta, but I recently restored a PM66. It also had the 52 inch extension rails. I originally went with 2 mobile bases on each end and it did not work too well. I ended up buying some heavy duty angle iron and effectively creating "one" long base by attaching the two together. It was a lot of work and retrofit and I probably ended up spending as much as you would to get the delta base. Hope that helps

[Charles Lent]

Congratulations. That looks like a very nice saw. Once you have tried the Unifence for a while I think you will be very happy that it came with your saw. It's capable of being a high or low fence or a right or left side of the blade fence just by changing the position of the fence extrusion. If you ever wish to have T slots on your fence you can get a Uni-T-Fence extrusion from Peachtree Woodworking www.ptreeusa.com to use with it.

I would clean out all of the sawdust, change the belts (buy the matched set of three), check the arbor bearings and clean the cabinet and table top. If you find any noise or vibration in the arbor bearings you should replace them. If you do beware that not all bearings with the same numbers are the same quality. You want high quality sealed bearings. Replacing the bearings isn't difficult if you have the right tools, but you may need to seek the services of an automotive or machine shop for this. Pull the arbor assembly and take it to them along with the new bearings It should only take them about 1/2 hour to do the work.After cleaning the saw I would use Johnson's or Butchers paste wax on the top, and then lubricate the internal mechanism, especially the trunion slides and gears with paste wax using a tooth brush to apply it liberally. The wax does a great job of lubricating and it's surface dries so that it doesn't attract sawdust and gum up like traditional petroleum lubricants do in this kind of dusty environment. I repeat this lubrication of my Unisaw about every year, but re-wax the top whenever it needs it, but usually about once a month. If any rust shows I use Scotch - Brite pads with Barkeepers Friend and some WD-40 to clean the rust and tarnished spots off, followed by clean WD-40 with a dry wipe. I then re-apply the paste wax, several coatings wiped off between coatings and at completion. You will have a clean and very smooth top to slide your wood across.

When I was looking for a base for my Unisaw and 52" fence I found that HTC was having a sale on discontinued bases. They didn't have an on-sale base that fit my saw, but they did have one that was almost right. I bought it for $14 including shipping. When it came I cut the 1 X 2" square tubing where it needed to be larger and welded in some extension pieces. A little gray metalic paint from Lowes and I had an HTC base that fit my saw perfectly. I know that this is beyond most woodworkers, but my son and I have a welding shop, so it was easy for me to do. I prefer the HTC style bases because they don't have the brake lever under the table where it's hard to activate. The HTC base has two wheel brakes, one in the front and one in the back of the saw. A swiveling castor wheel supports the extension table and has no brake. It isn't needed there.

Good luck with your Unisaw and Unifence. I went through several table saws before finally upgrading to my Unisaw. I now have no reason to look any further. It does everything that I ask of it and does it very accurately. The only option that I have added beside the Uni-T-Fence is a Wixey DRO. I can now set and repeat fence positions and saw cuts to within a few thousandths of an inch.


Charley