Customer Reviews

Delta 36-844 D Edition-Inch 3 HP Left Tilt Unisaw with 50-Inch Biesemeyer Fence

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been researching the new Delta saws and comparing them to both powermatic and jet models. After extensive side by side comparisons i came to the easy decision to have the 36-844 Unisaw as my main saw until I die.

Many people will tell you that the powermatic is beefier and better built, but i would beg to differ. I found the Unisaw to be rock solid, and more importantly with a better finish in many respects. also with PM being bought out by jet i wonder where that saw is going...already they have changed the PM saw where some parts are pre or post 2001, i think delta has the staying power here... With this new saw the motor cover has been redesigned to improve dust collection (DC) as well as the DC port has been moved to the rear of the saw (port included) (the port is in the rear so that the cabinet can be used for right or left tilt models), with an added interior ramp for the dust to find its way into your hose (when my DC is running the interior of the box is dust free)...also when you compare the two saws try to remove the motor cover on the PM, it is nether quick or easy...try to compare the movement of the height and angle adjustmnent between the PM and delta...I found the delta was much smoother and without slop in the wheel...the PM does have a nice finish on the top, but i think that is only done because you immediately see 'a finely polished top' and think the rest of the saw is as such...look closely and look under the hood...compare the blade guards and how you expect to use them...i always found the PM to be difficult to see your cut line causing me to get closer to the blade to see what i am cutting...not safe...also one thing to look at is the package that you get with the saw, mobile base, decent blade and others make this the new standard for unisaws....I did not mention Jet too much as it did not make the final cut to two saws, i want to be able to give this saw to my son...and his son....

the only gripe with this saw is having to wire the garage for 30 amp 220 power as directed by the local Delta Servicing Center.

A few added points about the saw...set up went very well with every hole lining up and all parts there...the biesmeyer table(box frame construction) is rock solid and stronger/more durable than the Unifence table(single sheet laminated)...connection of table to saw is better with the beisemeyer,

the miter guage was off by .001" and the arbor runout was .001" (no need to change those)...the fence was off by .005" and very easily corrected...I really like the stability of the fence, very square and very stable. I have not checked the top but i don't see that it is off by more than .002" with .003" being the tolerance.

when setting it up the only time you might want someone it to get it from the pallet to the mobile stand...it doesn't hurt to move it gently and not bust a gut...the rest of the saw goes together well with one guy....when it comes time to add the ext.table measure carefully the location for the legs and attach them...turn the table over and put the feet into the corner of the mobile base...the table will not go anywhere or fall over...if the table is standing to high...adjust the feet to make the legs shorter...you will see the table drop slowly to the level of the extension wing...works very well....

the unifence setup comes with a shelf below the extension table...there is not reason you can't do the same...on the body of the saw there will be two holes where the unifence shelf bracket would go...you can either create your own bracket, or ask for the bracket from Delta (~$8) with the same color as the Limited edition paint...then all you have to do is create a wooden cross brace at the legs to support the other side of the shelf....make sure that you take into account the need for the mobile base lifting arm to rotate...you may want to screw a couple of supporting stretchers on the shelf depending on the weight of what you might put there...I store my tenon jig and a couple of sleds....

if you are interested in an outfeed table there is one from Delta that is hinged and will fold down when you don't need it, and one from beisemeyer that is more fixed...another option is to build a table on lockable castors that is 1/8" shorter than the table top...with the wheels you can move it to the center of the shop if you need a workspace...maybe add a couple of fold down wings on piano hinges so the work table has more space, and fold them out of the way when the table sits behind the saw....if you have never tried an outfeed table then I would strongly suggest making one/buying one...once you have had one you can never go back to without...imagine being able to cut full sheets of ply with no help at all...

A few notes about why i chose left tilt instead of right tilt:

you get a safer cut when cutting beveled panel goods the panel will not bind between the fence and blade as easily as with right tilt

you will have the pretty side up when beveling and you will get a much cleaner cut...with right tilt the pretty side will be down and you will have more tear out

on the delta left tilts the motor door will be on the outside of the saw and you will get easier access...you will have more space under the saw extension table for a shelf...

if you have any woodworking questions on the Delta or other WW tools vist the free forum located at woodnet dot net, they will help you with everything from care and feeding the shop wiring..a large and helpful group of guys and gals.

I usually wait 6 months or so to write a review of a tool I bought. That is bacause it usually takes a while to get used to the tool and I find that I usually expect too much at the beginning. Well the Unisaw delivers. I setup and adjusted the saw 6 weeks ago and have used the heck out of it. I checked all the adjustments and they hadn't changed a nit. My old contractor saw required readjustment almost constantly. There is also very little vibration. I can keep push sticks and such on the opposite side of the fence without them walking off the edge.
The Beis fence is rock solid and the extension table very nice. The Delta mobile base is by far the best in my shop, and I have bought just about every brand in an attempt at mobile nirvana.
I have mixed feelings about the motor cover. It is very sturdy plastic with molded in holders for the miter gauge and wrenches. I think I could jump up and down on this thing and it wouldn't get damaged. The only part that is shaky are the clips that hold it on. They are a little weak and stick up to be vunerable to damage while the cover is off. I also wish the dust port was on the side of the saw under the table instead of off the back. This is nit-picky now, but it would be nice to have the flex tubing run under the extension table and not trip over it when walking behind the saw.
From what I've seen, the Jet is very similar and I wouldn't hesitate to buy that either. But this package, with the extras included, sold me on this saw. The Delta mobile base is definitely better than any of the others I've seen. Plus, I like having an american flag on my saw :)

I have been woodworking since I bought my Powermatic Artisan 63A table saw in 1988. I have always wanted a Unisaw but just couldn't justify the price since making sawdust was just a hobby. I decided to bite the bullet and ordered the left-tilt Unisaw with the 50" Biesemeyer fence. My hobby just took a quantum leap forward! ...I had it in my driveway in 4 days. It (and all the other boxes) arrived in perfect condition and went together exactly as the manual described. The rails for the Biesemeyer aligned perfectly with the saw cabinet. I put on a Forrest WWII blade and began my first project, a desk for my granddaughter. It's too bad there are only 5 stars because I would certainly rate it higher! I am totally satisfied with the saw, shipping, shipper, etc. Everyone and everything totally met all my expectations! Now, there isn't a tree in Utah that is safe!

I received my Unisaw about 4 days after Amazon shipped it, not too shabby since it was shipped during the christmas season.
I have used the Unisaw for years, but this is the first one that I have owned, and I am very pleased overall. The overall fit and finish of this saw is very good and is built like a tank.
The table is very flat. I didn't measure it with precision machinist tools as others have done, because I didn't want to know if it was .001 off or not. People have been getting all worked up in these reviews that their table isn't .000 flat. Yes, Delta and other Mfr. could make it happen, but do you really want to pay $1500 more to ensure that quality control is up to those standards. If so then you need to buy a European machine.
... all I have to say is that we are woodworking here, not machining. Wood expands and contracts anyway with the seasons. If this was a metal working machine I would totally agree. But the table surface is very flat all the same.
I took a machinist rule, that I know to be flat, and laid it across the surface of the main table in various places. There was maybe one or two places that I could see where it wasn't totally flat, but I couldn't even slide a brand new piece of paper under it... so hey good enough for woodworking!
The extension wings were also milled flat, and passed the rule test. However, the extension wings is where the pain of putting this saw together decided to rear it's head.
If you want your extension wings to be level as possible with the plain of the main table then follow these simple instructions. There are three bolts that hold the wing in place. Do not tighten them down all the way... just make them hand snug. Eyeball the surface and see where it is not level. Take a RUBBER mallet and gently tap on the wing in the direction the wing needs to be adjusted. Eyeball it till its flat. Take your finger and feel for uneveness. The tips of your fingers are very sensitive. If it feels good the take the machinist rule and lay it across the wing AND the main table. If its flat take your socket wrench and tighten the bolt about 1/4 turn, then the next bolt 1/4 turn and so forth. Start the process all over again! If you tighten the bolts too much or too fast the plane of the extension wing will raise out of plane with the main table.
If after doing all this you still cant get it relatively flat then shim the wing with a thin peice of paper and start all over again. Pain ...isn't it!
I will say this, you will never get the table and the wings to be .000 flat in plane with each other, even if both table and wing are .000 themselves no matter what brand you buy.
After a long time of working on the wing assembly I finally got them realitively in plane with each other. Again I placed my rule across them and although in places I can see light between the surface and the edge of the rule, it was so small I couldnt even get a piece of paper between them, and that my friends is good enough for woodworking!
Don't expect the extension table to be as flat as the saw table and wings, and dont let it bother you. Remember it is only there to support your work and will only affect your cut if it is warped. The only part of the table saw that must be as close to .000 as possible is the main table itself because it supports the portion of the wood to be cut.
Lastly, remember the wood itself isn't even close to .000 even if you ran it through the planer and jointer.
My recommendation is to BUY THIS SAW, just be prepared and willing to go through the pain of fine tuning this machine, but once you do, ah the rewards.

To give the bottom line 1st-This saw is everythingI dreamed it would be. It is dead nuts balls accurate. I bought this saw from a local retailer at one of our big woodworking shows on 12/12/02. With christmas and all keeping me busy I finally got to putting it together this past week. Brought it home in my pickup trk, it comes in about 5 boxes with the heaviest one containing the base cabinet probably weighs about 350lbs or so. I can tell you 2 guys will not off load this thing from a pickup trk tailgate to the ground just by lifting it off. I have a car hoist in my garage backed up to it, we slid it off the trk onto the hoist and lowered the hoist. I had rented an appliance dolly and my buddy and I took it down my basement stairs. This thing is HEAVY. Putting it together wasn't all that hard, instructions were pretty clear. When putting on the wings, put them on and tighten the bolts tight enough to keep them from moving by themselves but loose enough to fine tune by tapping with a rubber mallet. Once the wings are aligned don't tighten each bolt all the way one at a time, but tighten each bolt a little and keep going over all the bolts until they all become tight at about the same time. The beisy fence was almost perfect out of the box, it just took about a 1/32" turn of the adjusting screw to bring it perfect. Once the saw was set up it didn't take me long to see that with the plastic blade guard in place while changing blades is a PITA. The guard gets in the way. The pivot pin that holds the guard in place has 2 push on caps on each side which holds the pin in place. I pryed off one of the push caps took the pin out, threaded it on one side and replaced the pryed off cap with a wing nut, now I can just take off the clear plastic guard when changing blades without removing the entire guard assembly from the saw. Right now I'm just using the carbide blade Delta supplied with the saw, its not bad but I will be getting a WWII. This saw cuts great, I've just been making sawdust with it just to make sawdust. As I said, this thing is deadly accurate on it's rip cuts. I ripped an 8ft piece of plywood and took measurements every few inches along the cut and every reading was identical along the entire 8ft cut. This is one hell of a saw and anyone that is in the market for a REAL cabinet saw should get this Delta.

Setting up my Delta 36-844 left a bad taste in my mouth. The two holes in the back fence rail (Biesemeyer) failed to match up with the corresponding threaded holes in the saw by 1/32 of an inch. Doesn't sound like much, but its a lot when you have to enlarge the opening with a rat tail file. The holes in the front rail fit O.K. but when I started to fasten the rectangular tube the fences runs on I ran into the same problem. 3 of the 9 holes in the front rail did not match up with the threaded holes in the tube. Thus what should have been the easiest possible task turned into an hour of filing and fitting. How could these holes NOT line up?

I'm sure it is a fine saw that I will enjoy for along time, but I will reserve judgment on that until I've put some time on it.

After owning 6 different table saws over the last year...that's right, I said 6 (3 Craftsman, 1 Delta contractor, 1 Jet cabinet saw, and 1 Unisaw) I finally ended up with the Unisaw. If you are as neurotic as I am, and must have the best tools available...save yourself the time and just buy this saw!

By the way, if anyone needs help assembling their table saw, I am now an expert!

I purchased this saw 1/20/03. Per Amazon's notification they shipped it two days later and it arrived in 3 days from South Dakota I think. Free freight was great. The semi trailer truck pulled into my driveway and a very helpfull lady truck driver unloaded the saw with her liftgate onto my flatbed trailer which made it easy to haul the 100 yds to my workshop. I had no damage to the saw from shipping although the cardboard box was ripped on the saw. Duly noted on the paperwork for insurance purposes. With help we put the saw on a dolly and rolled it down a ramp into my shop. Assembly went smoothly. The mobile base moves smoothly. The saw was perfectly aligned, all stops were dead on, table extensions matched nicely. I purchased the Biesemeyer fence system and it's nice. A small adjustment to square it to the mitre slot. The only thing that gave me some aggravation is the extension table top. After assembly and mounting to the Biesemeyer rails it has moved and isn't flat to the table extension so the fence hit's the ridge of the extension wing. It appears the tabletop is slightly bowed. It's made of flake board stuff. I've worked around this problem with a piece of adhesive paper that filled this gap and the fence rides over the wing without bumping. The saw cuts just like it's supposed to. The combination carbide blade that comes with the saw makes nice smooth cuts. The dust port is well designed and clears all the dust out. The motor cover design is just fine. It pulls off easily and reseats the same. Being plastic makes it light and easy to handle. The 3 hp motor has power to spare, and shows it when using the saw to cut dados. I like the Biesemeyer fence system, mounted "T" slots on top for board buddies, first project was to make a Tenon jig that mounts over the fence, works perfectly. Next project after building a woodworking bench is to fabricate an outfeed table. I've used other saws, but never anything as nice as this one.

If I could rate the saw in different categories I would give it 3 stars for the set up and 5 stars for its performance. Here are some of the problems I had. I couldn't easily tell which cast iron extension wing went on the left and which on the right. The wings aren't marked. After researching and analyzing the picture in the manuals in great detail I finally figured out that the left one has a countersunk screw hole in it. Also two of the pretapped holes in the guide tube were misaligned. This wasn't that big a deal because there are a bunch of other holes in the guide tube to use to attach to the front rail. In general there are a lot of holes in the rails and no explicit directions about where they should line up with the cast iron tables. This was easy to address but still mildly irritating. By holding the rails to the table and sliding it left or right I could figure out where to align it. One major objection I have is that the Z bracket system isn't used to attach the extension table to the cast iron wing in the Biesenmeyer model. It's used for the Unifence model. It would really simplify the stabilization and attachment of the extension table. It was a struggle to attach the extension table. In order to align the extension table flush to the cast iron table one person has to hold the extension table up while another one clamps it together. But the underside of the wings and table don't have a convenient surface to clamp together so it ended being misaligned a lot. I eventually just put a long clamp across the table, essentially squeezing the front and back rail against the extension table which held it in place. So the assembly was irritating but it's just a minor inconvenience. Another issue I had was the side extension table is substantially shorter than the one pictured on the box and in the manual. It barely was long enough to get the 50" distance from the saw blade. I was impressed that the Biesenmeyer face was absolutely parallel to the saw blade right out of the box. Also I was pleasantly suprised that the witness line on the fence was only 1/16" off. I think Delta does a good job in aligning things properly at the factory. Overall it was a frustrating set up but the blade/fence are parallel, the table top is flat and stable which is what really matters to me. I didn't go to the lengths that other reviews did in checking the flatness of the cast iron surface. All I did was put a straight edge on the table top and adjusted things to keep the surfaces flush. If your livelihood depended on it I guess such minute differences would matter but I'm a DIY/woodworking hobbiest.

...I've read all the rave about the time it takes to put this saw together; but I got mine already assembled and delivered. After looking it over, I decided to disassemble part of the table and fence rails to see just how hard it would be to put it back together. It took me about 1 hour to remove and reinstall all the pieces. This saw was engineerd for the hobbiest as well as the professional. All the praise you read is true about this saw. It's made in the good 'ol USA and is well designed and engineered. It cuts like no other saw out there. Plenty of HP to take on the tough cuts in hard woods. The Biesemeyer fence is also tops. It is definately commercial grade and built like a tank. A little heavy; but moving it is very easy when it's set up right. My kind of woodworking doesn't require removing the fence that often, so it will stay attached to the table most of the time. The mobil base is a plus and a must have. It makes moving the saw easy and is really simple to operate. You'll need some extra room in your shop or garage for this fine piece of machinery. ...