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Help, Delta right tilt Unisaw stuck in blade down position.

dcsipo

Diamond
Joined
Oct 13, 2014
Location
Baldwin, MD/USA
I lowered the blade and now i cannot raise it back up. it is completely locked the little worm gear and the shaft it is attached to will not turn even an arc second. How do i fix this?


dee
;-D
 
I would start by pouring some kerosene into a jar. Then with a toothbrush, scrub both trunnion slots,the worm gear ,and threads on the shaft.
 
I lowered the blade and now i cannot raise it back up. it is completely locked the little worm gear and the shaft it is attached to will not turn even an arc second. How do i fix this?


dee
;-D

Almost certainly you have a piece of debris jammed in the gear. Usually if you can't find it and pick it out brushing with a small brass bristle brush will dislodge it.
 
I would start by pouring some kerosene into a jar. Then with a toothbrush, scrub both trunnion slots,the worm gear ,and threads on the shaft.

what makes me think it is the locking mechanism is that the shaft will not budge no matter how much i am trying to turn it i get nothing. Does anyone know how the locking works? It has a 45 degree point and it pushes against something...



dee
;-D
 
Unplug the machine from the electrical source. Then start by removing the locking rod on the blade lowering wheel. If the blade is in the tilted position, adjust it to vertical. Remove the blade from the arbor. Find the guilty bit or stray piece that is jamming the worm. Regards, Clark
 
what makes me think it is the locking mechanism is that the shaft will not budge no matter how much i am trying to turn it i get nothing. Does anyone know how the locking works? It has a 45 degree point and it pushes against something...



dee
;-D

the locking is made when the round knob torques down on the hub of the crank handle. Can you remove the locking knob? Can you unscrew the setscrew on the crank handle hub and pull it off the shaft?
 
Mine occasionally locks up if I crank it down, too fast. Sometimes it takes the really big grunt to get it to move.
 
thanks for all the suggestions, blast of compressed air, wd40 brushing with a brass brush, copious amount of swearing helped.

dee
;-D
 
D,
I usually post only on the Antique Machinery Forum but happened to look here tonight .
I see I’m a bit late since it sounds like you got it fixed while I was typing.
It has been a while since I had a unisaw apart and there are a few variations but this might give you an idea If cleaning the worm as suggested by others doesn’t do the trick
The 2 small pins that get forced out by your lock knob my be sticking and holding too tightly and may get jammed in and not release when you unscrew the knob.
http://www.sawcenter.com/pointer&bracket.htm
As I recall they expand into the pointer bracket which is come kind of die cast aluminum or other alloy .
I have seen those get scored and galled that could cause the hand wheel to be hard to turn
You might try squirting some WD40 or similar liquid in the lock screw hole and into the pointer bracket and see if that doesn’t help free it up .
You should hit the worm and gear and anything else that moves with some lubricating liquid as well and clean it up later.
You may need to get a new pointer bracket if it is worn badly .
I found the link above here
http://www.sawcenter.com/unisawparts.htm

Look For
Replacement pointer bracket

click here to see the how to assemble

Main Page
http://www.sawcenter.com/

Thanks to OWM site for the link I found here
Delta Manufacturing Co. - History | VintageMachinery.org
Good Luck .
Regards,
Jim
 
thanks for all the suggestions, blast of compressed air, wd40 brushing with a brass brush, copious amount of swearing helped.

dee
;-D

Good. That particular gear and threaded shaft is a difficult part to keep lubricated. If you use grease then saw dust embeds into it and the grease turns into putty. If you use oil it will take the saw dust and the oil will dry out and fall away. The answer is periodic cleaning and lubrication. Would like to hear about a better way....
 
Good. That particular gear and threaded shaft is a difficult part to keep lubricated. If you use grease then saw dust embeds into it and the grease turns into putty. If you use oil it will take the saw dust and the oil will dry out and fall away. The answer is periodic cleaning and lubrication. Would like to hear about a better way....

On my builders saw I used Dri-Slide. Because it is hard to access using the bottle I poured some in a dish so I could brush it on and discovered something interesting. When I first started brushing it on it was fairly thin but as the solvent evaporated between coats it began to act more like moly paint and left a nice black coating.
 
On my builders saw I used Dri-Slide. Because it is hard to access using the bottle I poured some in a dish so I could brush it on and discovered something interesting. When I first started brushing it on it was fairly thin but as the solvent evaporated between coats it began to act more like moly paint and left a nice black coating.

I'm thinking that graphite would probably be good. Sears used to sell a plastic tube which is used by squeezing the end and the particles come out in a small dust cloud. Also good for gun slides if you live in Alaska (no thanks). :eek:
 
I'm thinking that graphite would probably be good. Sears used to sell a plastic tube which is used by squeezing the end and the particles come out in a small dust cloud. Also good for gun slides if you live in Alaska (no thanks). :eek:

The thing about the moly is that it forms a long lasting lubricating coating. Sawdust brushes off easily and it's very easy to touch up the coating when needed and the black color shows where it's needed.

Powdered graphite is good for many things but can make a mess of others. I use it on new powder measures to reduce break-in time. Normally you rely on the graphite coating on the powder but it takes longer.

Years ago I ruined a car door lock by dusting graphite in right after using light oil. I did the same thing every time I re-lubed them. The locks worked real slick for a few years until the driver's side started to get balky. The locksmith who re-keyed the new cylinder said he had seen a lot of locks jammed up that way. The worst of it wasn't paying for a new cylinder plus re-keying. The lock was in a b**** of a location and it was a real PITA to replace.
 
"Lock Ease". is a brand name for powdered graphite and alcohol in a squeeze bottle. Or you can use teflon powder which is white instead of black.
 








 
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