Delta 10" unisaw - table saw question.

[BMW_Garage]

I can get this for $45. It's a Delta/Rockwell 10" unisaw - table saw. 3hp motor, 230V, 3 phase. I know it's gonna be a PITA to convert this, but you can't beat the price.

 

[zkling]

And your question is? Great deal on a nice saw, although I am partial to the older ones.

 

[pillguy]

great deal, check sawmillcreek dot org
all kinds of expert knowledge on rebuilding these, etc.

 

[rsanter]

Buy it right now unless you are somewhere near me then let me get it

It is easy to swap the motor or use a VFD to power the existing motor

I did a reposer on one of them and found a replacement motor in single phase for about $200

Bob

 

[BMW_Garage]

Yeah, I guess I forgot the question part. Is this a good deal
or it'll be too mch of a hassle to convert?

 

[zkling]

It is super easy to convert. The question is how cheap can you find a single phase motor or a vfd or a 3 to 1 phase converter? Last two are pulg and play first one will require you to remove a few bolts. None are very difficult IMHO. For $45 go for it. NOW.

 

[Stuart in MN]

$450 would be considered a good deal, so for $45 you can't lose. By the way, that fancy three phase power plug that it has now is worth some money as well, you can probably turn around and sell that.

 

[G_P]

BUY IT!

You can make most if not all of your money back selling the old 3ph motor on craigslist or by just scrapping it!

 

[240sxguy]

45 bucks is insanely cheap.

 

[PugetDude]

$45? Why are you posting here instead of loading it up?

 

[Hawk]

Nah, you don't want it. Now where is it located. J/K

 

[rlitman]

Buy it right now unless you are somewhere near me then let me get it...

What he said!
Then once you've got it, tell us, and you'll get your "you ****".

 

[gus1962]

You're very lucky to find that! The saw looks great and the price is cheap. Pick it up!

 

[SteveCh]

That is a very good deal. It would be a good deal if it didn't have a motor.

I have a Rockwell ten-inch I have been using since I bought it new in the early 80s. It is a smaller model than that one. It is a fine tool, it will last you a lifetime.

 

[Zrexxer]

If I was within 100 miles of you I would have already bought it while you were here waiting on an answer.

 

[Voi]

Yeah, I guess I forgot the question part. Is this a good deal
or it'll be too mch of a hassle to convert?

I'm restoring an older (1944) but similar one. That's a good deal. The other guys have already given you good advice on the three phase issue.

It's missing the right side extension wing and the threaded knob used to tighten down the angle adjust. The similar knob may be missing on the blade height adjust but it's hard to say from the pictures.

Still a good deal.

 

[woody 73]

Fantastic deal for $45.00 dollars pick up a good 5hp single phase motor and you will set. Just remember the motor will cost a heck of a lot more then the saw but still a great deal!

 

[BMW_Garage]

Ok, went down there and paid for it. Now gotta figure out what route I'm gonna go with making it usable at my house.
Thanks for the advice guys. They had a bunch of other nice items..I picked up 2 (18" Rothenberger) pipe wrenches for 3 bucks each and a Bosch drill for 15 bucks. The drill is older (the good old once - made in Switzerland ), but functions perfectly.

 

[beamrider]

45 bucks?!? ALL NIGHT LONG BABY!

VFD or motor swap, either way, nice deal!

 

[rsanter]

The motor on those are unusual or specific in the way the mount is welded to the motor housing.
Either source a replacement that is direct bolt on or of you do welding and fabrication you can make an adapter plate that a generic motor will bolt to.

That or just get a VFD, those will cost you $150 to $200 for the one you need to convert single to 3ph

Bob

 

[BMW_Garage]

A stupid question, VFD stands for variable frequency drive right? How am I gonna use that in my situation? Am I swapping the current motor with it?

 

[rsanter]

VFD
Variable frequency drive....yes

A VFD works by taking in AC electricity and converting to DC. It then will convert digitally back to AC but will allow it to make the AC at different frequencies than your line ( incoming) electric service.
In this way you can vary the speed of the motor without loosing rated power of the motor.
Now in your case.....you are going to use it for the conversion from single phase electricity to three phase electricity. In general the VFD dosent really care about how many legs of phases is on the incoming side as it's converting them to DC anyway. The inverter side of the VFD will take that DC and turn it into three phase electricity and not care because that's what it is wired ( programmed) to do

You can get VFDs that will take either 110 or 220 single and turn it into 230 3ph no problem. Some of them will even make 480 3ph from 110 single all the way up to 3 HP motors

Go to drives warehouse and look around

Bob

 

[BMW_Garage]

Thanks for the info Bob! I'll look around and see what will be the cheapest option.

 

[loungelizard]

You should keep this thread going with your conversion to finished saw.

 

[gungatim]

check out the old woodworking machinery site, those guys drool for deals like that. Appears to be the older better made vintage as well. anything older than '90's is considered some of the best, and most desirable are the art-deco styled early ones. I restored an '84 vintage. That table will clean up nicely and can be polished to a mirror shine. Put on a nice Biesemeyer fence or a used Uni-fence and you're good to go. The motors are special but generally available in 3hp or 5hp versions. when you're done you've got a saw worth a good $1,200 or so. New they are well over $2k. Here is a pic of mine.

 

[scw1991]

Yes, $45 is a good deal, but....it's got a 3ph motor. The Unisaw motors were a ******* design with two pivot brackets welded onto it and 3/4" diameter shaft. If you want a Unisaw single phase TEFC motor, you'll spend $400-$500 on a new one. The best best is to go become a member of owwm.org (I've been a member for 10 years) and post a WTB (want to buy) in their BOYD section. A used single phase Unisaw motor will pop up from time to time for about $200 or so.

Or as mentioned, you could buy a TECO FM50 VFD for about $200-$250. This allows you to hook up a 3ph motor and run it off of 1ph power.

 

[cgutierrez22]

This summer I bought a 42 Unisaw that was 3phase and only 1.5hp. I picked it up for $153 and it came with a static phase converter. It was local pickup only and was 183 miles away. So after a 12 hour day of driving, and many stops since I brought the wife and kids, it was still worth it. Even with that "small" motor, it could cut 2" oak all day. So there is another option to you, a static or rotary phase converter. You can build a static unit for pretty cheap with just a potential relay, starting capacitor, and running capacitors. You would need about 30uF/HP as the running caps. The potential relay connects to the starting cap and gets kicked out when the motor gets up to speed just like a centrifugal switch on a 1 phase motor. There are plenty of plans on the net for them as well. Now if you do use a static converter you only get 2/3 power out of the motor, so mine became effectively a 1hp saw. I just put a 5hp 3 phase idler motor on the static converter, and now its a rotary converter. Now I get full power from the saw. Commercial units will be more phase balanced than what i described here, but homemade units can be balanced as well. All you need are more capacitors and a good dvm with clamp on ammeter. If its just for a saw there is no need though. Your not running any sensitive CNC circuitry here. So for $45 in capacitors and $25 for the relay, you'd have it running. Whatever you end up doing to get the saw running I am sure you will love it. Good luck.

Chris