My recent Unisaw refresh...... I saw this on craigslist with the headline saying "Save this from the scrap yard". It was approx 200 miles away and just not worth the drive. SO, I "jokingly" wrote the guy saying that if he ever visits Lake Tahoe, I would meet him on the freeway to get the saw.. He wrote back saying that he grew up in the town down the hill from me and he is up here all the time. He ended up bringing it all the way to my house. I always like to negotiate a better price, but I gave him his full $100 asking price.. This isn't meant to be part of my Brand New 100 Year Old Shop because it is way too new but I finally have a Unisaw. I have wanted one since I was 16 years old running one in a furniture shop.. As far as I can tell this is a 1980 Canuck and spent a lot of time outside. I had to fab a few parts because I spent my entire budget buying the thing.. I made the trap door from a back panel from an old stove and the lock knobs from bolts..   I did have to buy some knobs and bearings... 

 

Awesome!!

Wow!! Great job! 

Great restoration. I have a 1947 Uni and wouldn’t trade it for a new one. 

3 hours ago, Ron Dudelston said:

Great restoration. I have a 1947 Uni and wouldn’t trade it for a new one. 

Thanks.. There would be no conceivable reason to trade your saw.. I think they perfected the design in the beginning and set the standard

Wow, you did a fantastic job bring that saw back to life...well done! It will serve you well for a very long time.

Amazing! Progress pictures prove it's the same saw but wow what a transformation. 

Wonderful restoration job!  So I gotta ask, how did you clean before painting and what kind of paint did you use? It looks amazing, very well done indeed!

WOW! Amazing restoration Dexter. You did that saw proud. Thanks for sharing all the pictures of the journey.

5 hours ago, SigmundJake said:

Wonderful restoration job!  So I gotta ask, how did you clean before painting and what kind of paint did you use? It looks amazing, very well done indeed!

Everything that fits in the blast cabinet gets sand-blasted. The main cabinet had dozens (hundreds) of holes that I patched so there was a lot of grinding. Between a 4 1/2 grinder with flap discs and a 5" palm sander, I stripped it completely.. I powder coat everything. One coat over bare metal is all it takes and it's 10X as tough as paint... The scales are embossed and take a little more work with a coat of black, then scrape off the top and a coat of clear. Since the hardware back then was so much better quality than today's crap, I blast and power coat that too.  The cabinet got a texture finish and everything else got a smooth finish

I fully agree with all the comments above except for the term "restoration". I believe that "reincarnation" would be more appropriate! You brought that saw back from the DEAD!!! Beautiful job! Love it!!

+1 on all the above, your time definitely paid off. Have you shared the pics with the past owner?

On 12/8/2025 at 7:50 AM, DuckSoup said:

+1 on all the above, your time definitely paid off. Have you shared the pics with the past owner?

Yes, I did send some pix to the guy I got it from.. He never used it, I think he got it at an auction in that condition then changed his mind.. He brought 15 more machines up to my house a couple weeks ago that he had started to scrap out (and again changed his mind) so I won't be bored for a long time..