Sounds like a solid plan. Good luck!

Looking forward to seeing some progress

 

Sounds like a full blown make over .Have fun up grading.

 

Here are the fist pictures; what I am starting with:
( remember that this Unisaw will be 25 years old next November)

very little and very superficial rust on the table

I shall start to work on the Unisaw later today

 

Pretty clean for 25 years old.

Sounds like you are commited to a professional setup.

Lee

 

After one afternoon of work here are the results:

Certainly the table cleaned out very nicely

At one corner a piece of the table is broken

I have issues wiring the new paddle switch;when pressing the start button the motor starts but when I release the button then the motor stop. I shall have to ask some help at work.

The motor starter box is like new

The work on these brackets for the fence is absolutely terrible, I would have done better working on the tail gate of my pick up.

The bolts supplies to instal the rear fence are too small to screw in the existing threads. They are supplies with nuts but there is no way to reach behind to put the nuts. I have some fine thread SAE cap-screws but the threads in the table are no SAE, I have no idea what they are. I finally managed to get some metric bolts to start and to screw in.

I wish the rails were 6 to 8" longer on the left. This saw is right tilt which mean that I shall use the fence on the left side of the blade for 45 degrees and the fence is just too short, in fact just for that I am thinking about getting another one.

The saw with the new fence on.

Something is very intriguing about this saw: it was build 25 years ago yet the paint is without blemishes or scratches, there is no sign of wear on the handles, the inside is of the saw is extremely clean and the belts are like new.
It seems to me that this saw, has been very little used in 25 years.

 

Bert,
Perhaps I'm too late, but here's 2 cents worth. I have a right tilt Delta Unisaw also that I have restored. Mine however came with the original Delta fence which is a mighty iron casting machined on both sides for an L shaped aluminum extrusion. This arrangement is pretty handy for switching sides. You will see more about my saw on my blog when I post some ideas about precision fence settings.
I wish I could remember where, but I read several reviews of the riving setup by Bork and they were sharply negative. When I looked at what he did, I couldn't see the problem myself. They might have been reacting to the fact that you have to sign a disclaimer to purchase one. Just a heads up.
You have a FINE saw there.
Dan

 

Thanks Dan.
Right here on Lumberjocks we have reviews for the Bork riving knife and there are good:
http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/brand/456.
Thanks

 

Because it does not fit properly I have decided to return the fence.
I could get to fit by re-drilling the holes, but then I would also have to replace the tape.
I should not have to do that.

 

I could not get the new paddle switch to work, a wiring issue.
I received the idea to mount the new switch's paddle to the original switch, it works just fine:

( just "for look", I shall paint the wood black)

 

After "agonizing" about spending too much money for a fence, at 2:00am yesterday, I finally ordered the The SHopFox Classic Fence w/ 7' Rails & Legs.
It should be here later this week.
I anticipate having to cut the rails shorter to save space in my shop but the longer rails will allow me to have a good ripping capacity on the left side of the blade ( i have an extension on the left side of the table) as well as on the right side of it.
I also ordered an additional cursor to install for the left side of the fence when cutting on left side of the blade.(this is one of the features which decided me to buy this fence, most fence do not offer the possibility)

 

This afternoon I installed the switch with the paddle modification, it works perfect. I also checked the blade alignment, it was very close and I got it a little bit better.
While typing this I just received the plastic cover to put above the motor.
There is a low frequency vibration when the saw is running, because of that I shall replace the V-belts to see if that would take care of that.

 

Last night was kind of disappointing as I decided the replace the V-Belts to get ride of the low frequency rumble/vibration.
I read in the morning on Lumberjocks how much people like the twist ling belts from HF but I ended up going to Grainger with my old belts and, after waiting in for 20 minutes, I asked them them new ones, cogged as I read somewhere that they are better,even if almost twice the price, for saw application. I requested gates belts bu they were not available, only Dayton were available and only three of them.The counter guy had a time finding a match with the numbers on the belts
(a Caterpilar number!) I suggested that the just measure them, what he did and he came back with belts obviously way to short. So he went to get longer ones, I told him that they still looked to short. He insisted that they would stretch and fit. I took them home, the "almost " fit but they were too still too short , so I drove back to Grainger. Waited in line another 20 minutes or so until a young lady seeing my obvious impatience offered to help me. I asked for 1 inch longer belts, unfortunately they still are too short. Do not tell me that if I had bought the HF ones to start with, I would not have this issue. I KNOW IT.

The new covers for the motor is a full 3/8" thick, compare with the flimsy 1/8" of so on the R4511, this is a massive cover.
After building the router table and cabinet on the R4511, I could no longer open the motor cover , so I modified it as to slide ti open as a vertical drawer.
It words fine.
Even if I should have more room on this saw because of the longer rails, I decided to mount the motor cover in the same way, so I build out of oak some rail to do that.
When I bought the cover on E-bay I could have a replacement door with the cover for the same price so I bought both.
I now have decided to use this door on the saw, instead of the original one, as the louvers are fake, not open and that will help me to keep the dust inside the cabinet.

 

I have been thinking about the dust collection in this cabinet; how to do it and what to use to do it.
I want a very smooth materiel to make it so that the the dust will slide off ti easily.
I was thinking about HDPE or similar,it can be machined easily and ti can be welded together,but I have nothing to weld it.
I have been thing about melamine. I have some left over on 3/4" particle and on 1/4" MDF. 3/4" is too thick and I hate to work with MDF.
This morning I was thinking about using HVAC duct.
They can be bought very cheap in big box stores, they comes in may different sizes, the surface is smooth and it can be easily cut , formed and pop riveted.
I think that is is the way I am going to go.

 

Bert, on my Unisaw I found a piece of straight U channel already bolted to the saw. It extends all the way to the underside of the table and hangs down about to the bottom of the blade. It seems to deflect all the under table particles downward in a very focused pattern. So, I just bolted the end of my vacuum hose to the bottom of this channel and there is very little if any dust escaping underneath. In fact the arrangement is so good that I once forgot to hook up the other end of the short hose to the vacuum, and there was a neat little pile of dust on the floor at the end of the hose.
The U channel moves with the blade tilt so the only thing to worry about is the clearance for the hose at 45 degrees.
Dan

 

Dan , could you send me a picture?
Thanks

 

Last night I stopped by my local HF store ( there are two HF stores equidistant from my house and the are really difficult to avoid) and I bought stuff.
I bought the belts

I bought a dust collection kit (Mostly for the hose that I need and that I prefer to other hoses that I have bought but also for the hose adapters. I plan on using one of them on the Unisaw if possible)

and some tools to build the baffles with HVAC duct inside the cabinet

This morning, I am taking the cabinet bottom door to work with me.
Tonight after work I shall stop at my local Sherwin-Williams store to have pint of paint mixed to paint the covers.
Yesterday I received the Bork riving knife and blade guard, I write somewhere else about my first reaction after receiving them.
Tonight, I also plan on returning the V-Belts to Grainger and to stop by my local Lowes to buy, the HVAC duct and some 3/8×1" fine threads cap screws to install the fence on the table saw.
The new fence should be delivered this morning.
After that the only thing still missing it the extension router table and the insert. I hope to have them next week.

I was thinking that if I could find more good buys , I might do this kind of things again.
Like other Lumberjocks I really prefer tuning and modifying and tweaking my tools rather than to use them.
I "love" to tune a plane and to sharpen the blade extra sharp, more than I enjoy using it.
Already I have been thinking about restoring tools as second income when I retire. I do not believe that there is much money to be made in this occupation but as the name says it would keep me occupied.
I just cannot do nothing, relax or rest. I always need to have project and to be busy.Unfortunately for her, this is not good for my wife as I spend very little time with her and she would like to travel and to go on cruse and so on, things that give me nightmares just thinking about them (this is just a little exaggeration)

 

While driving to work this morning , I was thinking that it cannot be that difficult to make a riving knife and a blade guard for the Unisaw (I could be wrong).
I shall have only a little time to work on the saw this weekend but I shall look into making my own riving knife and blade guard.

 

Hi Bert,
Finally got time to get the picture. Also a picture of a riving knife I made for the saw. I have no top guard yet.

In this picture you can see the channel I was talking about and the hose down below. It's a 3" hose just bolted on to the channel using an existing hole. I've been making a few cuts without the vacuum, so there is more dust than usual present.

The riving knife bolts on and follows the tilt but not the height It's just a piece of 1/8" brass I had hanging around. It's the same bolt that the factory upper guard uses. The factory guard is supposed to act like a riving knife. Dan

 

Thanks Dan, I noticed tonight that on my saw there also is some kind of channel in front of the blade. It seems to be factory made. I shall post pictures tomorrow.

 

Last night after work I first stopped at Grainger to return the V-Belts then at Lowes to pickup a few items.
Here is what I picked up:

A pint of high gloss latex paint (thanks to modern technology, the color match is perfect.)

3/8" fine threads cap-screws to mount the rear fence to the table

HVAC 6" duct to make the dust collection baffles inside the cabinet.

Using the HVLP spray gun that I bought at HF last week I spray-painted the covers using the paint right out of the can with out any dilution and it worked perfectly!
As many other people have said before me , the spray guns from HF work wonderfully. This is the second time that I use them and they work way better than the Earlex station that I had before.In addition they are much easier to clean.
The color match with the original paint color is also perfect.

Then I made 3 belts for the saw with the twist belts I bought at HF.
When I made the belts I noticed that the materiel and the color were different between the two belts I bought.
When I mounted the belts on the saw (not an really easy job) I noticed that the belt in the center was loose compared with the outside ones.
I took the belts back out and then I noticed on the package that one belt is made in the USA and the other one is made in Italy

On the belt made in Italy, the color is darker, the materiel is different and the links are slightly narrower. I removed a link from the belt in the center and I mounted the belts on the saw again. The tension between the three belts is now more equal.
I turned the saw "on" =no more vibration.
These belts really work great.

Then I removed the saw from the mobile base, all by myself.

( I am having issues with my browser or the website which does not let me load pictures. I already had to restart my browser 4 or 5 times)

Then I removed the cover on the "dust collection " port on the back of the saw.

( I guess that the people at Delta support must be kidding when they say that this saw is already equipped for dust collection because it has one port at the rear. This saw does even have a bottom!).

Now about dust collection in my shop:
I am becoming ore and more allergic to saw dust.
Whee I step in my shop in the morning, what ever saw dust is left floating in the air is enough to trigger me sneezing and my nose running.
When I built the shop , I wanted to install the dust collection ducting on the concrete floor and then to build a wooden floor on the top of it. This still is what I would like to do but the cost so far prevented me to do it. I now am going to just run PVC or ABS piping on the concrete floor and I shall have only one place where I shall have to step over it.
I replace my sliding miter saw about two month ago. I now have to rebuild the bench for this saw also as the new saw does fit the old bench.
My existing R4511 table saw port is on the rear of the saw, going straight out to a hose laying under my worktable. ON the Unisaw the port also is on the back of the saw but I believe that I now went to exist with a 90 degrees to the left HVAC fitting as to connect a PVC pipe right to it and to connect this one the main dust collection duct which will lay on the floor at the base of the wall behind my stove.
I had a roof built around my shop.
I am now going to move my HF dust collector and my air compressor outside the shop under the roof, mainly to free room/space inside the shop.
I started t work on the baffles inside the cabinet last night. So far my progresses are not very impressive.

My idea is to eliminate all the edges inside the cabinet so that the saw dust will not accumulate on them and to direct he dust toward the outlet port.

Here is the dust deflector in front of the blade that I am talking about somewhere else.

 

At 45 degrees the motor fully retracts inside the cabinet, which will allow me to open the motor cover not as a door but as a vertical drawer. In turn this allows me to build a cabinet for the router with a minimum clearance.
Because of the 7 feet long fence, which will be delivered this morning, I do not think that this will be an issue but just in case.

Notice the new paddle on the original switch, it works very well and it looks like if it was made just for that.

 

Bert,
More about my saw. I have a router mounted in the table to the right just beyond the motor cover door arc which swings wide. Plenty of room.
The saw cabinet has a "floor" which is tilted high on left and low on right apparently to divert dust to the right. I don't remember any "port" in the back, just on the right under the door near the floor. The dust collection hose which is attached to the blade channel comes out to the floor under the shelf so there is no walking hazard. It's a natural to run the hose clear to the end of the table to a vertical that is also connected to the over blade guard. I haven't done mine that way yet (like you, cost is an issue) but I've seen them done that way and like it.
I wonder if that black base ring can be turned 90 degrees to place the port on the right?

Dan

 

"I wonder if that black base ring can be turned 90 degrees to place the port on the right?"
Very good idea, I shall check. (In my case I would want it on the left side)

 

Dan, now you got me thinking (which is always dangerous).
I was going to build a platform or base under the Unisaw to bring at he same height that my existing out-feed table and to make it more comfortable for me to use ( as it is , it is too low for me). I was ready to lift the saw to try to turn the base but now I am thinking about building a entire new base at the height I want and with the dust port integrated in the base and on the left side.

I bought this dust collection kit from HF with all these hose adapters in, they are 4" . This is the size I have been using, but now I wonder if I should go t0 5".

 

Man, you are on a tear! That's some serious progress over a short period of time!