Photo Index - Delta Specialty/Delta Mfg. Co./Delta-Rockwell/Rockwell Intl. - 34-265 "Junior Unisaw"

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Delta Specialty/Delta Mfg. Co./Delta-Rockwell/Rockwell Intl.
Milwaukee, WI; Jackson, TN; Tupelo, MS

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Table Saw
Machine Size:	8"
Submitted By:	JB Lenzi

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	34-265 "Junior Unisaw"
Date of Manufacturer:	1950
Serial Number:	89-7651
Last Updated	3/6/2006 6:33:28 PM

Comments:

This is the relatively rare 8" "Junior Unisaw" manufactured for a very short time in the late '40s to about 1951. I found this saw in early '05 on an infamous internet auction site. After winning it, I made what turned into a 20-hour round-trip with my dog Buddy, thanks to a mistake on Mapquest. Buddy is still not sure the saw was worth the trip, but I am. It's one of the nicest small saws I've seen, and very accurate. It spent the first 55 years of its' life within a few blocks of the Pacific Ocean, so there was a light layer of rust on everything except the table (amazingly enough). Needed only a good cleaning, de-rusting of some parts, a couple of minor repairs, and new switch and power cord to be serviceable. Someday it deserves a full tear-down and restoration, but for now it functions well as a portable** second table saw.

**Portable in this case means mobile via the only Jet product I would ever recommend--their mobile base. The saw weighs about 325 lbs, which is fairly hefty considering its' size.

The Delta #132 or 49-330 switches were accessories, not included in the base price (like many Delta tools of that era), and I doubt this one ever had a Delta switch. Instead, it had a common light switch mounted on a piece of masonite with the wires open in back. I replaced that with a period-style thermally-protected motor switch and box until I find a 132 switch unit which doesn't cost more than the saw did...lol. The choice of switch types is a little limited if you want it mounted in the original location, as there is not much space between the cabinet and the elevating handwheel.

The fence is a variation of the larger Jet-lock used on the regular Unisaws, with smaller-diameter rails, and a different style of lock for the fence. The clamp lever is at the rear, and a rail clamp knob is at the front. The fence works very well and locks up tightly front and back. The table size is only slightly smaller than a regular Unisaw, and considerably larger than most 10" Chiwanese stuff on the market today. The fence rails can be offset about 11" to the right to gain additional rip capacity when needed.

Power comes from an original Delta 3/4HP large-frame capacitor-start motor mounted within the cabinet, but in a different method than used on the Unisaw. The sheet metal end plates pictured below on the motor are an actual Delta accessory designed to help deflect sawdust away from the upside-down mounted open frame motor. Their value is somewhat limited I think, as when I disassembled the motor to check it, it was pretty full of well-aged sawdust. Power is adequate with a thin-kerf carbide blade, and I had no trouble test-feeding oak and maple through the saw as fast as I wanted to push them. The only limitation I can see is the reduced height capacity of the 8" blade, but as a second saw for occasional simple cuts or dados, that shouldn't be much of a problem.

Photo 1:

Comments: Front View
Source: Sony no Baloney

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Photo 2:

Comments: Motor, showing accessory sheetmetal dust shield
Source: Sony no Baloney

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Photo 3:

Comments: Fence closeup
Source: Sony no Baloney

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