Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey.

I have no vested interest in this, but I saw this come through my email and thought I would share. This company in columbus is dumping the old style Unisaw's for $699.

http://www.woodwerks.com/delta-36812r-r ... -5875.html

That is a spectacular price, and they will even ship it to you.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

That is SICK!! Even at $999 with a 50 inch fence it is still a steal! I look at the new Uni-saws with a bit if envy but then I go use my saw and just can't see how I could be much happier! I bought my unisaw new in 1994 and it has been flawless! I am a uni-fence guy (rather than a biesmier (sp?)) by choice and love the versatility of it. I paid over $2K for that saw over 15 years ago. You will not go wrong with that purchase...at all!! These are professional grade (in a real sense, not the cheasy advertising sense) saws that are one time purchase and will be a woodworking heirloom!

Did I say I like these saws?

Shane

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Canada

Arggh! I bought the Griz 0690 just five days ago.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Send it back!

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Canada

It's already waiting at the local freight depot for delivery Monday morning. Not practical to turn it around. And it does look like a lot of saw--has gotten good reviews in the short time it has been out. Riving knife is a plus, also left tilt, Leeson motor, Bies style fence with wide supports at the rail (but the Unifence has its pluses). Weighs over 100 pounds more than the 1023; I figure that metal has to be doing some good.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Howard,

That saw is quite nice! It will be more than you probably need for guitar making. What I like most about these cabinet saws is the precision, and the extra weight is indeed a part of that I think. The riving knife is indeed a great upgrade, but I don't find not having one a big deal as long as you are aware of the potential for kickbacks. But the HP on these saws is sufficient enough (when coupled with good sharp blades) that a continuous feed rate and a ready push stick for the end of the cut, really reduce the kickback hazard.

Have a blast Howard!!

Shane

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Canada

Left tilt is safer for some rips but I prefer right tilt for guitar making, no reseting the fence scale when changing blades with different kerf size.

Or vis-versa ( )

I am sure that there are reasons that they made these changes but really, a US made hunk of traditional iron for $699 ($999 with the long rails and fence). This is a no brainer as far as I am concerned. There is a reason these saws stayed unchanged and in almost every single production and furniture shop in North America for 60 years. They are super simple, super well built and super reliable. I would have bought a General (they don't use proprietary bearings like Delta does) but I really wanted a Uni-fence because I was used to the versatility of it in cabinet use. But, like right tilt vs left tilt, you can do the same things with each fence with some thought, a bit of wood and the odd clamp!

Shane

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Canada

Thats a nice deal. Freight is $240 if you need residential delivery and lift gate service (most buyers would). $100 only if you go to the terminal and pick it up. Add another $200-300 for a good fence. That is at most $1239.

I do not know how good the grizz fence is... but $1250 for 0690 (free ship) with a riving blade seems like the better deal. And its left tilt.

Mike

I have a unisaw, right tilt (no math), Biesmeyer (sp?) fence and love it. Does anyone know of a good aftermarket riving knife attachment?

At $699 it is a great value!

Danny R. Little

You can make your own Danny. The only difference is that it will not travel up and down with the blade like the new ones will. You can bolt it into the splitter attachment area. As long as you are ripping and cross cutting full height it will work fine but you will have to remove it for cuts that are not full depth (something that you won't have to do with a saw designed for a riving knife). Just google "riving knife" and there are few after market ones there. Typically these knives are made thicker that the blade thickness but narrower than the teeth width, so your specification for material is pretty specific.

I just got a flyer today from Busy Bee and it seems the new Unisaw with a 52" Biesemeyer fence is on sale for $3550 CDN. So for $2500 less you get the same performance (minus a riving knife). An incredible deal as far as I am concerned! It is also my understanding that these saws (the older model) are not being outlawed from work environments, manufacturers are just required to no longer build them.

Shane

Hope that helps!

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Canada

http://shop.walnutacrewoodworking.com/p ... roductId=6

Its the BORK (Bolt on riving kit)

But I have not tried it.

Someone may have already mentioned it, but the Unisaw is three phase where the Grizzly is single phase.
Not an issue for a shop with three phase but a single phase shop would need a three phase converter or a VFD.
Nelson

Edit: I stand corrected. Looks like the Unisaw advertised is single phase.

I used an MJ Low Profile Splitter for 5 or 6 years on my DeWalt portable and it worked great. It's worth a look.

http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES. ... UM=138-329

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Todd, splitter vs riving knife. But if you meant riving knife, I wanna know more.

Splitters are good, but they take up space and get in the way for narrow cuts.

Mike