Unisaw fence on Delta contractors saw
Hi Folks,
Recently acquired an new (~37 years old) Unisaw and I’m moving the tube style fence to a Delta contractors saw. Installed a Beisemeyer 40″ Home version on the Uni. and all looks good there. But, I ran into a couple of snags on the contractors saw.
First: There are two holes on the contractors saw that line up with the mounting holes on the Uni. fence but they are too small. I’ve threaded iron pipe B4 but never tapped holes so am looking for advice on the best way to do this. The table is cast iron.
Second: The fence is about 7″ longer than the depth of the table so I need to extend the back of the table to accomodate the rear Uni. fence rail. I have a length of 1½” hard maple that I could use but drilling the mounting holes could be problematic. The fence has a hook on its rear end (!?) and needs to grasp the rear rail.
Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 11/30/2008 8:19 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
Replies
Bob,
What size are the existing holes and what size are you enlarging them to?
-Jerry
Jerry,
Sorry for not being better prepared but the bolts that came with the Uni & fence caliper at 37mm while the hole in the table is, by guess and by gorry ΒΌ", significantly smaller.
Looking at the table again today if I drill/tap the holes that align with the holes on the Uni rail it will tap out veerrrryyyy close to another hole in the table. Drilling * tapping may not be an option.
I'll get more specifics on sizes etc. tomorrow AM.
Thanks,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I'm guessing that the rails for the Uni fence are larger in diameter than the rails on the contractor's saw, and thus have larger bolts to handle the additional weight. Since the bolt holes are centered in the round rails, you might want to check the alignment before you go too far. It might be that the increased diameter of the Uni rails will put the top surface of the rails above the surface of the saw table if you use the same holes in the table. Thus, you might need to drill entirely new holes in both the front and back of the table, positioned slightly lower than the original holes.
Extending the back of the cast iron table with a wooden extender also strikes me as potentially problematic. Again, it may be an issue of alignment, in addition to material strength. You'll need holes through the extender section and bolts (of the appropriate size) long enough to reach the holes in the saw's table. Alternatively, you could build a frame-style extender section with something like 1x2, dadoed to accept a plywood surface. That would keep the attachment bolts shorter.
Another option would be to modify the fence, so the back "grabber" fits the dimension of the table. It may be that the grabber mechanism is welded to the end plate of the fence, however, defeating that option.
Of course, there's always the option of leaving the existing fence on the contractor's saw. ;-)
Ralph,
Of course, there's always the option of leaving the existing fence on the contractor's saw. ;-)
Let me tell you that is NOT an option. Don't mean to sound FRANK! Just kidding. The old fence was, as best as I can describe it, made out of tin. It was absolute junk! OH, now I see your ;-) at the end of your post.
Yeah, I hear ye about aligining the rail/mounting holes. Just trying to hold the fence with the rail reminds me of a joke about a monkey doing strange things to a football.
Thinking back when I put the Bies on it I wondered how I hadn't killed myself with that dang thang! And the guard and splitter were.....
Oh man, I better go take a sedative!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Taping a hole is fairly simple. You drill a hole and then run a tap that cuts the threads. Just as in threading a pipe by hand, you want to start nice and straight. With a tap, you are better to take a small bite and back out, clearing the swarth. There are taps available in many sizes and thread counts. Charts list the recommended drill size for a particular tap.
There are a couple of options to consider with the Jetlock fence. There are spacer bushings that hold the rails out from the table. You could easily tap holes into the rail and bolt through from the table into the rail. You just need a few extra bushings. I have 72" Jetlock rails and a shop made router table for an extension table. That's how I mounted the long rails to the wood router table.
You may want to look at the fence. There are several different ones, depending on the original saw and year of manufacture. There is a front head and a rear head that attach to a simple channel. The rear head is operated by a threaded rod that runs in the channel. On some of their simpler fences, cutting down the channel, remounting either head and cutting down the rod wouldn't be too difficult. You would have to thread the cut rod. Fitting the fence to the table might eliminate a lot of hassle trying to fit the table to the fence.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
hammer,
Thanks for the info. on tapping. I threaded iron pipe years ago and now that you mention it we squirted oil on while working the die and backed it off every so often to clean out the filings, you call it swarth. Ahhh, so that's what it's called.
I'll be making a new router tabletop/extension to go one the Uni that now has the Bies mounted on it. It's a lot easier on the Bie rails, they're flat, actually like think angle iron. I clamp a couple of straight edges to saw table and jack the router table up to them to align the holes. Might need a shim or three here and there and Bobs your uncle on that dance.
I do need to take a closer look at the fence. It's called a Jetlock fence/rail setup. Now that you mention it that hook on the far end of the fence does look like a hook from an old WWII fighter plane!
Gotta do some more diggin. Thank you very much for your help.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I moved a jetlock fence from a unisaw to a 34-444 contractor's saw once, because the rails were straighter. The fences were otherwise very similar. If I recall correctly, the only difference was that some of the holes were threaded on the unisaw, but were clearance holes on the contractor's saw with nuts needed, and the threads were different. I just used the bolts from the contractor's saw to install the fence from the unisaw, and it all fit. The fence lengths were the same in my case, though there were spacers to hold the tubes away from the table in front and back. You may be able to find the right bolts and spacers, so you don't need to tap the table. If you need a 7" spacer, you will certainly need different bolts anyway.
Alan,
The tape on the front rail is actually, can't think of the right word(s), heavily etched into the rail mebbe? If I align the 0 mark with the edge of the sawblade, there are two holes that align with the holes in the rails. Make sense?
The holes that do align have no threads (clearance holes?)and are smaller in diameter. I'm thinking that I want to use the Uni bolts as they are beefier than using bolts that would fit the existing holes.
The bolts that go with the Jetlock rails are fatter (there's a technical term for ye) on one end than the threaded ends. The spacers are flat on one side and dished (ah, another one) on the other side to match the curve of the rail.
Not sure of the model # of the contractos saw but if I recall it is something like 34-340 methinks.
Maybe I should get some pics tomorrow to make it clearer.
Thanks man,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I have a jetloc fence from my delta contractor saw.
Its yours if you want to pay to have it shipped.
E-mail me for details if you are interested.
F.
Ummmmmm doggy!
I'll double check the measurements on the contractor table but it's pretty sure it's 29 3/8 x 22ΒΌ. I'll measure again tomorrow AM. The Uni is 36 1/8 x 27.
Not sure where you're at but wil email you after I measure again.
'Preciate it,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
OK, what's up with the internal blade guard on the Unisaw I have? You have to remove it to change the blade? Or did I OD on the Zantac for my ulcers?
It has these funky standoffs that the screws go through to keep it off the frame and getting in there to loosen the screws requires a contortionist!
Is it me?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I've never had that problem, what's your model number Bob?
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Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.~ Denis Diderot
Don,
It's 34-450 and is nearly as old as I am ~37 years old, well gettin there anyway. Probably some dumbass move on my part.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Does it look like this?
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Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.~ Denis Diderot
As Sgt. Schultz would say, "I see noootttttiiiinnnnggg!
:-)
Don, I'll take a pic of it tomorrow and post here.
It's stamped U shaped metal sleeve about 9" long. When mounted the blade sits inside the walls of the U. There is a half round oval depression near the bottom that allows it to clear one of the gears (height adjustment?) and has two mounting holes.
There are two bolts that attach the guard to trunion. With the guard on there isn't enough room to get the blade out. Yes I unplugged the saw!
The blade fits snugly onto the arbor so there is zero wiggle room for the blade. I also noticed that the threads on the arbor bolt have small flats on the threads. Hmmmmm, is this so the blade won't slip between the threads perhaps? If so, good idea as I'm using a Freud TK RIP blade.
Thanks for your help, Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Don,
Here's a pic of the miscreant internal blade guard.
View Image
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I have what appears to be the exact same guard on mine and my blade comes off easily.
I measure a gap of an inch and a half between the legs of the U, is it possible yours got bent inwards?
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Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.~ Denis Diderot
Don,
Anything is possible - it's nearly 40 years old. Didn't measure the gap but I'll just bend it till I can get the blade in and out easily. Making sure of course that it won't cause another problem(s).
Man, I really like this saw. I tried some cuts through 1Β½" thick hard maple today with the Freud TK and it cuts like pine. Only 2HP but I'm really pleased with it.
Did you know that I also got the heavy duty tenonning jig with it too? That's next in line to mess around with. But B4 that I need get a manual for the TS. OWWM or do you think Delta?
Thanks again for your help,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Thats a great tenoning jig, you'll never feel the need to upgrade!
I'm attaching a copy of the manual, OWWM did'nt have it but Delta did.
Well the upload gods are not happy with me tonight. I will e-mail you the manual, let me know that you got it ok.
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Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.~ Denis Diderot
Well crap, I can't attach files in Tauntons e-mail facility.
Click on my name and e-mail me and I'll shoot it to you.
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Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.~ Denis Diderot
Bob;
Did that manual show up in your inbox?
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Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.~ Denis Diderot
Don,
Yes, and I've downloaded it to the 'puter.
Now for the excuse for my tardiness. :-)
It's all Santas fault!
View Image
Been busy putting up lights, hauling out all the Christmas decorations, shopping.....
OK, the truth: it seems that twinkle in my eye has gotten to me sooner this year than it usually does.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
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