Photo Index - Delta Specialty/Delta Mfg. Co./Delta-Rockwell/Rockwell Intl. - 34-801 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:	10"
Submitted By:	Jayeson Lee-Steere

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	34-801 Unisaw
Date of Manufacturer:	March 1988
Serial Number:	88F36613
Last Updated	6/18/2009 8:19:42 PM

Comments:

From 2002:

Saw an add in the paper: "Saw, Delta Uni, $600 (US$330)". Wow, that's cheap, it must be an old one, maybe even a coveted four footer. After several nerve racking hours of getting no answer, an elderly lady answers and tells me she knows nothing about it. I decide to bite the bullet and make the 2 1/2 hour round trip. First thing I notice is that its not a four footer. Second thing, its not even a cast iron cabinet. Damn. (Turns out that the cabinet has always been sheet metal). Oh well, I decide to give it a quick tyre kicking anyway. Hmm, not a bad machine and as sheet metal cabinets go, its quite solid. Then it dawned on me, this machine was about ready to cut wood. That's new. We settled at $550 (US$305) and I threw it on the trailer. Maybe its just because I've been dragging home some monsters lately but this saw sure seemed easy to move.

The saw was originally purchased in Alice Springs, a town in the middle of Australia not far from Ayers Rock (but a long way from anything else). The original motor has been replaced with an Australian made 2HP Crompton Parkinson. Its a powerful, very smooth motor. It looks like the old "make a bracket with the lugs off the original motor" technique has been used. The motor cover was nowhere to be found and it doesn't have its original mitre gauge, but otherwise is complete. For a larger original pic, click here.

I cleaned it up including a number of unfinished or parkerised pieces that had begun to rust. There was some light rusting on the top which I took off with a maroon Scotch Brite pad in a half sheet sander. In a couple of bad spots I scraped with a razor blade first. The motor bracket had never been painted so I took it back to bare metal and painted it black. It ran like a hairy goat when I first powered it up but replacing the belts has it passing the nickel and dime tests. I finished up by waxing everything external, greasing the necessary internal parts and realigning the top, fence etc. I've done some significant work with it and can say I'm most satisfied with my purchase. In retrospect I can't see why I hesitated in purchasing it, I knew it would be a good saw and a new one is over six times what I paid."

2009 Update:

For what it is, this saw has performed very well and I have grown very fond of it. It was made just before Delta changed the cabinet and cheapened much of the rest of the saw in the process. This one seems quite consistent in construction as the older ones I have seen, and, It is also less worn than any of them were. I've grown fond of the fence also. It is quirky to use but square every time and stays put except for the couple of times I forgot to lock it down properly.

Photo 1:

Comments: Shortly after purchase after a bit of cleanup. Please excuse the orange machines, they are long gone.
Source: Me

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Photo 2:

Comments: Details of the motor mount.
Source: Me

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Photo 3:

Comments: As purchased.
Source: Me

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