Unisaw Restoration

[mgoins]

Thought I'd take a few minutes & create a thread to document the Unisaw restoration project that’s going on in the shop.

After extensive research on the Web - OWWM.com & .org, in particular. I've bitten off a Unisaw restoration. The current tablesaw is a '90s-era mostly plastic Craftsman 10" contractors saw - it's been good, but am looking at moving to the next level of quality.

The Unisaw in question, came from an auction, when a local window manufacturer closed and was sold off. Checking the serial number index on OWWM revealed that it was born in 1957.

Here's a picture of it looking lonely as Lot #63 at the auction...

Motor works - had it tested at a local motor shop; unfortunately, it is 460v 3-phase. From what I can tell, it's a Rockwell 'stubby' TEFC - from the mid to late 1960's. A picture later in this thread shows the motor w/badge visible - unfortately, it's clean of color/logos - all that can be read are the engravings - model #87-310 & a later manually stamped enscription "460 Volt". Am looking into options to rewire - since the originally it would've been dual voltage 220/460v. Anyone have any ideas on whether this is possible or not? I know I'll have to invest in phase conversion capability of some kind, either static, rotary, or VFD.

Work's cut out for me - that's for sure.

Here it is - sitting in my shop; after having been disassembed / reassembed to get it off the truck. Note the 20-pound+ angle iron fence.

With the top removed, note the caked on pressure-treated sawdust & aluminum shaving mixture - in some places, the cake was 1/4" thick. Would guess we've vacuumed out several pounds of aluminum shavings...

After nearly a day of disassembly, scraping off sawdust & aluminum shavings & a good cleaning with steel wool & mineral spirits, it looks like this...

The cabinet...

Stripping paint the old-fashioned way... Paint scaper w/its edge filed sharp enough to shave with - paint flys right off.

Once we get down to metal, there's a few holes - like the gaping one in the side - that need to be filled. A little welding / body work & we'll be well down the path to paint & assembly.

Progress...

Finished up the paint stripping w/the scraper - probably have 2-3 hours in it.

Here's how we look now:

Since this picture, found a welder to fill all the unnecessary holes & have sanded the cabinet to bare metal, and am ready for primer/paint. Hopefully, will be able to find time this weekend to shoot it. Watch this space...

P.S. Anyone know anything about 3-phase motor winding / wiring that could help me get this motor running without breaking the bank? From what I understand, normally a dual voltage motor will have 6 leads & a single voltage will have 3. This motor has 3. I have not yet taken the motor apart.

 

[Jim Murphy]

Leaving aside, for the time being, the colossal effort you have undertaken, I was frankly shocked to see that blade guard/splitter that was obviously retrofitted. What hath OSHA wrought? Is there another "almost Edsel" era Unisaw with such a travesty affixed? Methinks (in southern) "naw, prolly ain't".

 

[sapwood]

Marvin, you have made a lot of progress and I look forward to the complete restoration. Thanks for sharing.

We have several members well-versed in electrical engineering, several with a lot of practical experience, and some (like me :confused_) that have nothing of value to add about electrical stuff :mrgreen: But I can promise that some of the more knowledgeable folks will chime in by Monday :icon_thum

Love the old arn,
Roger

 

[Travis Porter]

From what I know about 3 phase, it is 3 phase and doesn't work with single phase. Your options are to get a static or rotary phase converter or get a single phase motor. My choice would be the latter.

As for the whole in the side, isn't that necessary for the motor to tilt?

How are the bearings and general mechanicals of it? Gears and so forth in pretty good shape?

Nice progress so far. Keep the pics and updates coming!

 

[HMH]

Hey Marvin,

I'm an "old arn" guy myself, although I have yet to step up to the big leagues and snag myself a unisaw...You're doing a great job so far, cant wait to see the finished product.

As far as the motor issues, you're right, you'll either need to set up a VFD, (recommended if you plan on picking up additional 3-PH machines in the future), or swap out the motor for 220V 1-PH. If this is to be you're one and only 3-PH machine, I would imagine that swapping out your motor would be the cheaper/ easier route.

Again, looks great. Keep it up.

 

[FredP]

your gonna need that big gapeing hole in the side.:eusa_naug there is a cover that fits over it but the covers are made of gold or sumpinerother.:gar-La; what ever they are made of people who have them for sale sure is proud of em. If you go the new motor route you will need to enlarge that gapeing hole a little.:icon_thum also you will need to make your own cover because an original cover wont fit anymore. Or you can leave the cover off. [thats what I did] it breaths better that way anyway.:gar-Bi while you got it torn down you may as well get new bearings, possibly an armature, and belts. the old motor is prolly 1725 RPM. the new one will be 3450RPM. this means a new pully is in your future too!:icon_chee the motor for a uni is a special mounted animal too. unless you want to jury rig a standard motor and make your own mounting plate plan on $300 plus.:swoon: pully will be hard to find. think delta...... think I had to pay 90 bucks and the belts are a matched set. :mrgreen: but when its all said and done you will have a fine piece of history that will outlast all of us.:icon_thum I got mine at a deal. it was 3 PH. when I got it all set up and complete with a good fence I was only a couple hundred off what a new one would have been.:swoon: and I didnt strip or paint mine!:rotflm: when you are done you will have a PERSONAL relationship with that saw.:gar-Bi

 

[FuzzWuzz16]

Marvin,
Lookin' GOOD!

One source that may help out if you have to get into pulleys, etc...
http://www.sawcenter.com/unisawparts.htm
They tend to be a bit pricey (especially on motors) but some of the parts that are hard to find may help out.

Good luck on the rebuild and update us with pictures when you can.
Jim

 

[mgoins]

Thanks for the comments.

One point to clarify, the gaping hole mentioned in the original post was on the opposite side from the motor - on the operator's left. This hole can be seen in this picture - it was an 8x8 cut w/about a dozen screw holes around it - not sure what it was for. Anyway, it's been welded up as part of the body work.

Have been poking around on the web; the motor's wired for 460 volt 3-phase; from what I understand - a single voltage 3-phase motor will have 3 or 4 wires; and a dual-voltage motor can 6 or 9 depending upon the configuration of the windings. This motor has 3 wires.

Am reading up to determine if this is a rewire (cheap/relatively easy) vs. a rewind (expensive/hard) to accomplish getting it running at home.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Any of you guys down around Hilton Head, SC this weekend? We did things a little different this year & went to the beach. Had Thanksgiving Dinner at the Boathouse Restaurant on the island - good, very good.

 

[Mike Davis]

Oh, THAT hole!

Looks like somebody did a sloppy job of adding a dust collector chute.