Check to see if there is sawdust buildup on the screw or if there are stops that might have moved. I have a Delta unisaw and I doubt there is a lot of difference between them unless yours is a lot older. I haven't had trouble with the height mechanism but I have with buildup on the tilt. I changed the stops on it to be past zero and 45 so that I can adjust to the right size without having to clean the stops first. I made a ZC insert for mine and you still won't be able to lower the 10" blade enough. If you can get a circular saw blade or an 8 or 9 inch blade they will lower far enough to do the job.

 

+1.

I still have my old Rockwell (hasn't sold yet). Clean the mechanisms. There was 2 stops for up and down and 2 stops for vertical and 45* on mine. I noticed that on mine when I first got it that it didn't go below the surface. One of the stops was out of adjustment. Even after adjusting it, it still didn't go down as far as most saws, but it did go down below the top surface of the insert. Like Charles, mine has a zero-clearance insert and the top of the blade is below the surface when lowered, but it still will not lower to below the bottom of the insert (always inside it).

 

Louis,welcome to Router Forums, glad to have you join us.

 

I made a ZC insert for mine and you still won't be able to lower the 10" blade enough. If you can get a circular saw blade or an 8 or 9 inch blade they will lower far enough to do the job.

I like chuck's idea. Another option is to use a single blade from a dado set if it is the same width as the blade you will be using with the zero clearance insert.

 

First--welcome aboard Louis, lot of wisdom in this group. Then there is me.

Mike--along the same question, when i made mine I first used a 7 1/4" blade to cut the original notch, but it was slightly narrower than my Freud thin kerf so the 10" blade bound up. I ended up doing a very stupid thing on a miter saw and got away with it that time, but NEVER want to do that again. Didn't think about using a blade from my dado stack but that would have been wider. I guess the question is--when we make a zero clearance insert, how critical is it to be dead-on "zero"? Clearly, the closer the better and the less tearout on fine cuts--but how close is close enough?? Thanks.

Back to Louis--not meaning to hijack your thread, but the question kind of fits here i think. Thanks!!
earl

 

First, Mike's idea is better because the dado blades and a full kerf blade should be within .001" of the same kerf.

Earl I don't know if you can set a figure on that or not. I would say the test of whether it is good enough is whether you are satisfied with the job it's doing.

 

Welcome to the forum Louis.

 

Glad you could join the fun. I think the 7.5 inch blade to make a starting cut into the ZC insert sounds most practical. I used to have a Delta saw that needed constant cleaning up. Sawdust would get caked into every crevice. I use a lot of construction grade pine and Redwood for outdoor projects, which really gunk up a saw's works.

Setting the stops a bit further than where you'll use them sounds like a good idea. I'd rather have a little room to overshoot than have to crank down so tight to get to 45 or 90. My cleanout problems diminished greatly when I got a new Laguna saw, which surrounds the blade with a dust collection shroud. The majority of sawdust is now pulled down and into dust collection. The older saws don't seem to have this great feature. Doesn't end cleanout entirely, but it is much less frequent.

 

Great topic ... and a first topic, at that. Good job, Louis!

 

I seen in an article I read where someone had this issue and made a spacer insert and put the blank over it, clamped it down cut through it and then removed the spacer and put the cut one back in to use it.
Allen

 

Good idea Allen. The only thing I would add to that would be to clamp a board on top of the assembly to hold it tight to the saw top so that the blade doesn't tend to launch it when it makes contact. I don't like to hold something like that. It would have my fingers too close to the blade.

 

Maybe a little off subject, but again maybe not. I have a hybrid saw that works just fine. When I think about a nice unisaw I know that I sure would like to have one, then I find myself asking what one would do that my present little saw will not do, after all, the only thing that a saw can do is go saw boards, and mine does that just fine. I can't afford to buy a Unisaw and if I could, I really couldn't justify the expense as I am just a hobbist. But I sure do, for strange reason every now and again get an itch for one of Grizzly's cabinet saws that cost about half of what a Unisaw does. I guess it's just part of being a tool junky huh? Wonder if I am alone with this itch, I doubt it.

Jerry B.

 

I never regretted buying it Jerry. Mine has 52" cut and lots of power. I would look at General, Powermatic, and Grizzley too though. There were no dealers that handled those brands close to me at the time. I bought for the same reason I bought an 8" jointer and a 16" planer. I didn't want to be limited by the size of my equipment. For me that was the right choice to make.

 

I bet you haven't Charles, sure sounds like a sweet set up to me.

Jerry

 

You could make your insert, then put an 8" blade in there to bring it up through. Just my 2-cents.

 

What I did with mine was that I made a pattern of my original metal blade insert. I made it out of MDF. Bandsaw to rough it out. Sanding belt to bring it into shape and into final form (smooth). I had drilled the hole through it oversized, and put in small pieces of tubing to use them as drill guide bushings, to drill holes into the insert blanks. I had cut the slot through the "pattern" using a smaller diameter blade to start it. Then finshed off with a 10" blade.

I use double sided tape to attach my insert blank stock to my pattern... That way I could take that to the band saw and rough it out... Use a router and a pattern bit to take it down to size. Sand it smooth. Drill the holes. And while still attached to the pattern, mount it in the insert throat with long screws, to bring the blade up throuhg the slot in the pattern to start the slot in the new blank.

I remove the pattern, then run them through my thickness planer to get them to a finished thickness. I usually make about 4 inserts at a time. On that Rockwell, I also use 6-1/2, 7-1/4, 8" blades and 8" dado's. So have inserts made up for those sized blades for various kerf sizes.

One thing I do extra to them is to add a wooden splitter to the rear of the slots. What I do is to extend the slots to the rear and glue in a vertical wooden shim. This is just a safety thing to try to prevent kickbacks. And I'm telling you it does work.

 

Is that a digital miter gauge? How well does it work? I just got an Incra HD.

 

To get the blade to go lower, loosen the large nut on the end of the shaft pictured below, until the blade is at the desired height. Do this by putting a wrench on the nut & holding the handwheel. After the blade is at the desired height, you will need to readjust the stop collar on the other side of the casting. You will also need to loosen the set screw on the height adjusting handwheel & move it in after the adjustment.

Some of the older Unisaws had 2 stop collars instead of a nut. These are harder to adjust, but can adjusted.