Delta Jointer restoration project.

Everyone who works wood needs a jointer, for squaring wood and prepping it before it hits the thickness planer. As per usual these days, most of the best quality things were manufactured almost a generation ago. This is especially true with power tools, and jointers are no exception. A lot of the ones today arent so bad, and this long bed 6" is a decent machine, but with the sheet steel cabinet, noisy bearings and castings with lots of slag still left in its not very inspiring, so down the road it went.

Nice long beds, and enough power but without that kool vintage look to go with the rest of the shop. 

One of these 1940s-50s Delta models with the kool art deco base would be great one day, but with unrestored examples going for $500+, we landed a similar era machine with the open stand for a fraction of the price, and after restoration the performance will be the same. 

A nice Delta Milwaukee short bed unit showed up, with the original welded open base stand. The lengths of wood needing to be trued doesnt require long beds, and being more compact it wont take up a lot of room in the shop. Serial number starts with 64-, so machine was built in 1948. Not many tools made today will still be around 66 years later, nor able to be restored. 

Nice heavy, webbed fence, balanced pulley and heavy cast base. 

Some nice touches include the deco wing nuts to hold the beds after adjusting, and adjustment knobs. This machine came out of a steel company and still wears its brass inventory number tag, no doubt sold off in an asset auction or just taken out of the production area. Some research into the company will likely tell the tale. 

Tables still move nicely and are tight, and once stripped, cleaned and lubed will perform nicely. 

Open steel stand with double bent feet, with mitred welded corners on the top frame. 

An add on , this switch gives a clue as to the original industrial use this machine saw, as its a heavy duty with lockout capabilities. 

The motor likely gave up years ago, as this is a Simpsons Sears pump motor that has been repurposed to drive this unit. In the scrap heap now, it will get a new motor and pulleys geared to the correct speed. 

Now to dismantle, clean and strip, rebearing , paint and reassemle the entire unit. A nice warm up for the General bandsaw to follow....

Knocked down in less that half an hour, main body above.

Outfeed table and adjuster

Cutterhead, pulley and bearing retainers

Locknuts that hold tables in place after adjusting

Infeed table

Fence mount with lock and adjustment scale

Nice heavy cast iron fence. 

Some of the original grey colour. 

Front side bearing

Cap off, puller in place

Cutterhead, to be cleaned and polished 

Pulley side coming off. 

Bearing cup coming off

Remnants of mouse nest and bronze adjuster

Most useful tool of the day

An impact driver is indispensable for dismantling or assembling screws in metal equipment, whether steel or aluminum, especially if they are a regular slot head. Set for tightening or loosening, when struck with a hammer they turn during impact, keeping the driver from turning out of the head. The forerunner of todays impact driver screw guns.

Next is blast, prime and paint.  Need to source bearings, blades and a belt....

New (old) table saw - Finally!

For some time now we've been looking for a heavy, powerful cabinet style table saw, the kind that have been made for decades but are more rare today.  We were looking for a General 350, Delta Unisaw or similar. Content to buy an older unit and rebuild or refresh it, the search began. With new units now made offshore, and around $1800 and up we focused on resale units. Every condition was represented, the main hurdle being the electric motors. The majority of these saws saw commercial work, and 3 and 5 hp motors are common, however they are usually 3 phase motors. A replacement motor can run over well over $500 new, and a phase converter is similarly costly.

We were fortunate enough to find '40s or '50s Rockwell Unisaw, that had been repowered with a newer Delta 1.5 hp 220v motor, in dual voltage and single phase. Fence is on it, and may just be cleaned up and used, and it even had the riving knife and guard, though i doubt that will make it back on. It has the great looking art deco cast iron base as well. Next to tear it down, check the trunion and bearings, and blast and paint it before reassembly. Bye bye modern, light and underpowered units!

Into the trailer, its also waiting for a tongue extension and an paint job. Never enough time!

As found, a great unit. The motor dust cover is available as an injection molded impact plastic piece, already on order. 

An added  bonus was the 4" dust chute on the back of the cabinet, when the motor cover is in place the dust collector will extract the majority of the dust and chips. 

Nice art deco base, nameplates and door. Fence extensions were present as well, this will be a great unit for another 70+  years!

Not here yet, but his is where we're headed next. Like most things designed and built well, its a simple and strong machine

A nice correct restoration would yield this result, just missing the motor cover. These are available from a US firm that reproduces them in polycarbonate

We like this MUCH better!

This paint scheme really makes the art deco styling pop.

Now if only we could find a 1940s art deco base jointer to accompany the saw...