Registered: 06/15/07
Posts: 1486
Loc: Just north of Beantown
Re: think this is worth $100?
06/08/12 10:05 AM
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Here's my thought, if you buy a new motor for say $400 and some new belts and new bearings for the arbor your going to be into this saw for what....$500 or so? That's still pretty good for a plug and play Unisaw.
As far as I know there is only one mounting configuration for these motors. It's either for a Unisaw, or not. There was very little changed on these saw over the years.
Old motors can and do wear out, especially if they've been neglected...which is what would seem to be the case with this one. Bearings are the easy part, if there's other internal damage, (I'm thinking pretty likely with a bent shaft), the costs could far outweigh any advantage to just buying a new one IMHO. I don't doubt the shaft is bent at all judging by the looks of the video. Should be fairly easy to check that part for yourself though.
As far as having an original motor that belongs to the saw....well that's a personal decision you'll have to make. I see a lot of guys get really into trying to perfectly restore their saws and that's all good and fine. The way I look at it though is that these saws are about as rare as sand on a beach. Add to that this is a 70's(?) model, and it's not even one of the more sought after of the billion or so of these saws out there. I'd put the motor in a box on the shelf for sometime down the road when I sell it to someone else who may care about all that. Buy myself a new motor, and start cutting wood.
Or if you just don't want to deal with it re-sell it for $200 and you made a little money!