My brother in law sent me a link Monday morning to a Rockwell/Delta Unisaw 34-450 on Kijiji that was posted late the night before. It was a really nice looking saw with no damage or no rust from what I could see. They replaced the 3 phase motor with a 1 phase/ 3hp motor and switch by Leeson. The only thing missing was the motor cover. No big deal, because they’re asking $350. And they wrote, “It must go”. Thinking that this is probably too good to be true, I emailed anyway and left my phone number for a quicker response, but not really expecting a response. But, late that night, they called….......she called. She told me the saw was still available. When I asked if it was her saw, or if she knew anything about the saw. She said it belonged to her uncle who just recently passed away. I kind of figured that she knew nothing about this saw, considering the price. They were only selling the saw because they had no use for it, and everything had to go.

So, I meet her the next day after work. I couldn’t find anything wrong with the saw, except the missing motor cover. It looked like an early ‘70’s model, but I will track that down with the serial number later. It still had the original miter gauge and saw guard which was a nice surprise. She also gave me a bunch of zero clearance inserts, the original insert, and 7 saw blades, including a brand new freud blade still in the plastic.

I didn’t want to low ball her, because I knew that this was a good deal. So, I asked her how low would you go to take this saw off your hands (I probably would have paid $500 for this saw). She said to give her $300, and it’s yours. DONE!

On the way home from work yesterday, I stopped into Busy Bee and bought a Shop Fox mobile base.

This was such a great find.
The gentleman who owned the Unisaw really cared about this saw and took good care of it, and now it’s my duty to carry that on.

The two marks under the switch are duct tape residue from the cardboard covering the motor opening.

Rarely do I ever follow plans exactly, and this is no exception. I made it to fit my needs. The plans are for both cabinet tables to flip. That wasn’t necessary, because I wanted one cabinet to hold the router table. The router table is flush mounted in the cabinet. And when I need a flat surface, I just lower the router. I decided to mount my Wolfcraft router table because that’s what I had. I didn’t feel the need (yet) to buy a ‘fancier’ router table insert. Because I was using this router table, I had to widen the cabinet by 8”. Therefore, to keep everything looking esthetically pleasing, I widened the planer cabinet as well. Underneath the router, I plan to make something similar to a Norm Abrams router cabinet.

For the planer cabinet, everything rotates on a 1/2” steel rod. The sides of the MDF top are reinforced with maple for strength. As for the locking mechanism, the plans call for a piece of metal that pivots on a single screw for the four corners, which I never liked. This stopped me in my tracks for a few weeks. I searched the internet for something different, and couldn’t find anything that was strong enough in case I leaned on the table. The best thing I could find was a knob and rod setup that would protrude past the outside of the table. It would be strong, but I didn’t want that. Then one day, it just came to me in a Eureka! moment. I could use a simple door latch. This is very strong because it’s held down by four screws in each corner. And they’re cheap! I made a video on how they work. I filmed it with the iPhone, so it’s not the best quality.

The whole thing rolls on four locking swivel casters, which are rated for 300 lbs each. I don’t know how much it weighs, but it’s heavy. The entire cabinet is made up of maple, MDF, pine (for the braces underneath both cabinets), and particle board. The dimensions are, 70 1/2” x 32” x 34 1/2” high. My table saw is 34 3/4” high, which is just perfect. I have one regret about the cabinet so far. I decided to use particle board for the sides and back because it was cheap and my mindset was that it was a working cabinet, and it doesn’t have to be pretty. But, after all the work I’ve put into this so far, I wish I would have gone with a better wood. Maybe later on, I’ll use wood veneer and cover it. What do you think?

This is mom’s plastic tray to be copied.
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I got out the compass and started drawing a circle on 1/2” MDF.
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Hole cutting bit at the drill press.
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Compass with extension.
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Drawing some reference lines.
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It’s starting to take shape.
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A forstner bit does a better job at cutting the corners, then a scroll saw could.
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Off to the scroll saw.
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The finished template.
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Rough piece of 8/4 walnut. I used two pieces like this.
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Time to plane the rough stock.
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Off to the jointer for the flat edges to be glued together.
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The planer and jointer do a beautiful job at squaring up stock.
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Load up the edges with glue.
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A good set of clamps are a must.
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Scraping off the glue.
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Here I traced out the template to make sure it all lines up properly.
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The template is then screwed to the walnut.
The screws are also countersunk to allow for a smooth surface for the router to glide on.
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I use a forstner bit at the drill press to clean out most of the stock.
I could just use the bowl and tray bit, but this saves on the wear of the bit which is a little pricey.
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The first section is done.
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Now I router out the section to a smooth finish.
I also use a 3/8” thick piece of acrylic for the router base.
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The router bit has a big bearing which rides along the inside of the template.
After the first pass, I lower the plunge router 3/16” and go around the inside again.
After a few more passes, the bearing ends up riding along the inside of the bowl.
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There was a lot of measuring to insure I don’t go right through the bottom.
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Great! One section is done.
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The second, third, and forth sections are done the same way.
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Now I’m trying to find the center of the circle with a speed square and a regular square.
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Now that I have center, I use my compass and draw out the outer edge of the bowl.
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I then put the template back on one last time to route out the center.
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All the inside routing is complete.
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Over at the band saw, I cut the perimeter of the bowl 1/16” bigger from the line to allow for sanding.
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I sanded the insides with a really cool product from Lee Valley, called New Wave sanding discs.
These oversized discs have wave-like edges that curl over the sides of a sanding pad, a design that helps prevent the edge of the disc from digging into the surface of the wood, particularly when working in a tight radius.
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These are a real time saver.
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The outside is sanded down to the line with the oscillating belt sander.
This is a great sander for the home workshop. I just got it two months ago.
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The oscillating sander came with 80 grit. I also bought 120 grit.
But, now I want an even smoother finish.
So here, I used a piece of cut-off from the band saw and sanded with 220, then 400.
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This handy device will prevent any flat spots.
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As you can see, everything is square.
A 1/8” roundover bit will be used for the top, to round things off a bit.
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For the bottom, I used a 3/8” roundover bit, but raised it 1/8” above the tabletop to give it a ‘foot’.
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After a bit more sanding, it’s time for the finish.
I use a food grade, mineral oil.
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The bottom is complete!
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This inside is looking pretty dry.
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The mineral oil really brings out the wood grain in the walnut.
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Done!
Now it’s off to Newfoundland.