Hi,

Today I start the rescue of another piece of woodworking history. It's a Delta 1160 Tilt Top Table Saw.

These first appeared in Delta's 1937 catalog, and had a run that lasted into the early 1960's. There is one on the Vintage Machine website that was made in 1962. These saws are unlike the saws of today in that the table tilts instead of the blade. The particular unit I will be working on is from 1939-1940. It is being assembled from parts collected over a ten year period of time. Although it was a runner it sat in a damp basement for the last five years, and suffered for it. This will not be a true restoration, as I will be using the same color scheme that was used on the Delta 700 Scroll Saw that is not quite finished. That is waiting for me to determine which side to install the drive pulley on. That is due to the fact that I'm after a quest machine to go along with it. That would be an early 10"  Delta Band Saw.

So without further ado,  straight out  of the rustbelt,  just west of the big ponds in South East Wisconsin, Here it is "Old Tilty"  

Believe it or not according to the 1939 catalog the saw with the fence, and miter gauge, minus the over the blade guard (which was an option and did not come with the saw) without the stand and motor weighed in at 190 lbs.  The list price in 1939 was $55.85 for the saw itself (no motor or stand).  The saw was on a combo stand in the basement sharing that with a 1955 Delta 37-220 De-luxe Long bed jointer that is waiting its turn in the restoration line.

So here is the begining of the teardown:

It would appear that I have some part searching to do, as the rear trunion has a hairline crack where the clamp bolt goes through.

Luckily this is the easier to find of the two trunions, as it is usually the front one with the tilt gear that normally goes bad on these saws. To bad Delta made these out of Zamac (a type of pot-metal). More than one of these saws has been sent to the scrap dealers due to the trunions being broken. This one may hold but I will try to find a replacement.  Another part that may need attention is the circular nut on the elevation shaft, it to is made of Zamac, but Delta on the later models of this saw used a solid brass one as you probably know from my 700 Scroll Saw I like Brass 

The threads on the above nut are a little worn, so hopefully I'll be able to locate one of the brass replacements, along with a rear trunion before I reasemble "Old Tilty"

I believe that at least part of this saw was originally my grandfathers, it appears to have his initials stamped into the rear edge of the table top. I located this saw at a rummage sale about 40 years after his passing. The grey paint on the table top, and main saw body appear to be two different shades of grey. The older gentleman that was having the rummage sale said at one point he had two of them. The table was loose from the saw body when I aquired it. Best as I have tried I can't get the initials to show in a photo. Maybe once I clean the rust off they will show better. So in a way this saw has a special meaning to me as it may have been grampa's, I wish I knew for sure.

So there it is, another of my save it from being melted down, drive myself a little more crazyin the process projects. This one has a name "Old Tilty" only because I've got to be a little shy of plumb myself, as most would probably scrap it rather than save it. I can hear them coming for me now, so it's time to go!

Until next time,

Later,

Larry

Wow! Thanks for the great post Larry. I love these pictorial essays. That is a pretty cool saw man. I can envision it's final look and appearance after seeing the rest of your work. I admire the machine guys, lots of patience. I got a question for ya, or any machine guy. When I tore down my Delta Scroll saw, it has the original tags on it, the Delta tag. It has some paint on it, and I used a little bit of something I cannot remember to clean off the paint, but in doing so, I rubbed off a portion of the label as well. The black and red Delta label. What would I use in the future to avoid removing the original paint off the label yet cleaning the tag at the same time?

Please keep us updated on this Larry, I love a good story, specially from a tilted story teller

 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

John,

 I've been trying to figure out what to use on the badges myself, as the ones on "Old Tilty" are to the point that just about anything is removing the paint from them. I may have to just cover them with a decal that is available on the Vintage Machine website. I hate to though as the one on there is a later version of the badge thats on the saw. That or try redoing the artwork that is available to look more like what I have. Since I'm not doing authentic restorations on my equipment I may just use what is available. I still need to get a new printer to make decals for the scroll saw that I modified decal artwork for already.

Regards,

Larry
John Morris said:

Wow! Thanks for the great post Larry. I love these pictorial essays. That is a pretty cool saw man. I can envision it's final look and appearance after seeing the rest of your work. I admire the machine guys, lots of patience. I got a question for ya, or any machine guy. When I tore down my Delta Scroll saw, it has the original tags on it, the Delta tag. It has some paint on it, and I used a little bit of something I cannot remember to clean off the paint, but in doing so, I rubbed off a portion of the label as well. The black and red Delta label. What would I use in the future to avoid removing the original paint off the label yet cleaning the tag at the same time?

Please keep us updated on this Larry, I love a good story, specially from a tilted story teller

 

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John Morris

The Patriot Woodworker

Neat saw you have there Larry, looks like you have all the accessories too... except for a motor! I just noticed you have the tabs for adding a side table too.

 

I'm restoring a 1945 version of the same saw and noticed a couple differences between mine and yours. You have a little bearing at the bottom of the elevation screw but mine has a little brass nut with a smooth center. I wonder if they decided a bearing was overkill for something that only turns when the table is raised? Also mine has the brass elevation thingy

 

Yours looks to be in better shape from what I can tell, here is a before/after from one of my fence rails:

Thanks Larry. I didn't know those decals were available. Feel free to link to other sites too guys to show us what your talking about. Larry, do you have a link for the decals? Thanks!

 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Hi John,

www.vintagemachinery.org , they are in the Vintage Machinery  Wiki/ Knowledge Base. Scroll through and find the decal reproductions, there are decals for several brands of machinery. There is also an article about making the decals.

Regards,

Larry

John Morris said:

Thanks Larry. I didn't know those decals were available. Feel free to link to other sites too guys to show us what your talking about. Larry, do you have a link for the decals? Thanks!

 

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John Morris

The Patriot Woodworker

Hi Will,

Actually the little bearing is at the top of the elevation screw when the saw is assembled. The bottom has a Zamac casting same as the one where the elevation crank shaft goes through the front of the saw, it adjusts to preload the top bearing. The motor I have is not of the same period as the saw. It is still on the combo stand that is still in the basement. I'm still on the hunt for a period correct 3/4 or 1 HP Delta motor with dual 3/4" shafts, as I intend to mount as much of my equipment on a single bench and run everything off of a Delta line-shaft setup that I have. The saw as photographed was put on another stand that I have, to take picturs for this write up. I may have a few of the sideboard clips I'll have to check my box of parts. My fence tubes look about as rough as yours, but I figure that after getting the frame tubes for the 700 scroll saw looking good that these should come out fine. I've got most of the attachments for this saw but am still looking for a couple of them, one being the hold-downs for when making moldings on the saw. It's surprising how many attachments were available for these saws. I'll get them all together when I get the saw reassembled and photograph everything together. As they will get reconditioned also.

So until then,

Later,

Larry

Will Winder said:

Neat saw you have there Larry, looks like you have all the accessories too... except for a motor! I just noticed you have the tabs for adding a side table too.

 

I'm restoring a 1945 version of the same saw and noticed a couple differences between mine and yours. You have a little bearing at the bottom of the elevation screw but mine has a little brass nut with a smooth center. I wonder if they decided a bearing was overkill for something that only turns when the table is raised? Also mine has the brass elevation thingy

 

Yours looks to be in better shape from what I can tell, here is a before/after from one of my fence rails:

Larry

a rolling stone gathers no moss. I will be following along.

 

jack

English machines

Beautiful work Larry.  I will be following the progression of the saw. 

 

Doug

Powermatic 45

Jack,

With your latest toy aquisition, and with what I've seen from you in the past, I would have to say that we're both on a roll. 

I've got five more (plus possible quest machines) lined up behind this one, all Delta's the youngest being 53 years old, but due to limited shop space I stick with the smaller machines. If you saw The Ultimate Restoration on the OWWM website, you would see something similar to what my workshop will be like when done. Your toys would break my converted 24' camping trailer workshop in half.  But then my projects don't require the type of equipment that you have.I'm at the point in life, after 30 years in a factory that the body is telling me to be a little easier on it. So I'm leaning towards smaller projects. Hopefully when I get the shop, and equipment ready I can start making a little supplemental income with it.

 

Larry

Older than dirt, but the same age as my youngest machine!

Hi everyone,

Not much to report progress wise, as I've been searching for the needed replacement parts. Good news is I've found both parts. A real nice rear trunion, and a near perfect elevation shaft nut. I was unable to locate one in brass, but when looking for these old parts you take what you can find. They will be arriving after November first.

In the meantime I will be cleaning up the castings, and getting them ready for paint. I will be using a different method cleaning the castings this time. It's an electrolosis process that removes paint and rust. I've never done it, so it will be a learning process for me also. I'll show pictures when I get it set up. I tried the wire wheel method, but with these castings it's difficult to get into areas.

I'll also be cleaning up, and buffing hand cranks, the fence tubes, and small hardware. I'll post photos as this progresses.

Also I'll be returning to the Delta 700 scroll saw project, more information will be posted there.

So until next time,

Later,

Larry

Larry I think your Grandfather is looking over your sholder. Keep up the good work. 

 

 

jack

English machines

Jack,

I've had a feeling that someone's been watching, as I didn't expect to find the needed parts as quickly as I did. So maybe Grampa is watching, and providing a helping hand from above.

tool613 said:

Larry I think your Grandfather is looking over your sholder. Keep up the good work. 

 

 

jack

English machines

Larry-

I like your blog up on your 1160. I just found one and seeing all your pictures helps me with mine. mine is not as complete, I don't have the upper guard that is on your saw and after seeing your pictures I noticed I am also missing the tin plate half moon cover that covers the lower part of the blade. I will make up a cover of some sort for it and maybe find an original some day.

Great write up!

Randy   

Hey Randy, great to see you here and active! I just wanted to say thanks for hanging out here and jumping into the fray! And welcome again to The Patriot Woodworker!

Randy Gyes said:

Larry-

I like your blog up on your 1160. I just found one and seeing all your pictures helps me with mine. mine is not as complete, I don't have the upper guard that is on your saw and after seeing your pictures I noticed I am also missing the tin plate half moon cover that covers the lower part of the blade. I will make up a cover of some sort for it and maybe find an original some day.

Great write up!

Randy   

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Looks like a fun restoration Larry, and a complete blade guard too  

I have a couple of those in my rathole that I hope to restore with my son some day.

Looking forward to seeing it all restored.

Randy,

The side blade cover is the same for both the 8" and 10" tilt-table saws. The upper guard is specific to the 10". Both guards show up on ebay from time to time. The table inserts are also specific to the 8", or 10". You may find the 10" listed as an 1160, 34-305, or 34-307. They are basically the same saw.

Larry

OWWM Forum Host

Randy Gyes said:

Larry-

I like your blog up on your 1160. I just found one and seeing all your pictures helps me with mine. mine is not as complete, I don't have the upper guard that is on your saw and after seeing your pictures I noticed I am also missing the tin plate half moon cover that covers the lower part of the blade. I will make up a cover of some sort for it and maybe find an original some day.

Great write up!

Randy   

Larry

That is good to know, I will keep a watch out on E-bay for a blade guard. I have another question when I reassemble this is it good to use grease on things or does that just attract sawdust making things worse?

Randy

Larry-

I tried to post a blog on my  1160 to try and get a discussion going. But I may have screwed up in doing so (not too surprising I'm new to this). I might have posted it to the wrong forum somehow or not? If anyone knows where in cyberspace it is please let me know what I did wrong.

I'll get it right at some point. 

Hye Randy, it's not lost sir. It is in the blog cue awaiting for approval as a blog post. Allot of the new guys accidentally post a new post in the blog area thinking it is going to the main forum. But yours ended up in the blog area where we usually post story type of blogs such as long drawn out descriptions of a project with many photos and links to other sites ets.

Yours should have gone in the forum.

I'll message Randy on instructions.

Hang in there man!

Randy Gyes said:

Larry-

I tried to post a blog on my  1160 to try and get a discussion going. But I may have screwed up in doing so (not too surprising I'm new to this). I might have posted it to the wrong forum somehow or not? If anyone knows where in cyberspace it is please let me know what I did wrong.

I'll get it right at some point. 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops