| My father just passed away last week, and as I was cleaning his workshop, I
noticed he has bought a old combination TS and jointer from the next door
neighbor. It's made by Delta-Milwaulkee, has some kind of number cast into the side of
the TS that appears to be TSC-20(can't make out the last digit) It's a jointer on one side of the stand, and a TS on the other side of the
stand. In between, mounted low on the stand in a 1Hp motor with pullies on
both ends. One pully drives the TS, the other pully drives the jointer. On the tablesaw, the blade is stationary, and the top moves up and down and
tilts. S/N on the TS is 61-1921
S/N on the jointer is 58-2798 What do I have here, how old is it, and would it be worth restoring.
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Did you by chance have a talk with the neighbor to find out
any history? Reason I ask is, it always helps to know where
and why a machine or tool gravitated into your hands. All
machines and tools should have a back story. Having your
Dad's machine is always a good start. This is the standard Delta/Milwaukee No. 34-307 saw. It
first appeared in 1936. Check out the Brief History of
Delta on the OWWM site. http://www.oldwwmachines.com/delta/Hisotry.asp Is the stand welded? Is the motor a Delta? Have you got
the pull/push rod connected to the motor switch? Got the
upper overarm blade guard? Got the lower blade cover with
the Delta/Milwaukee tag? It makes a difference in the
whirled of old woodworking machinery. This serial number indicates a 1948 vintage. This serial number indicates a 1947 vintage. What you have is a Delta/Milwaukee Saw-Jointer Combination
No. 37-595. It's not something overly rare but that's not
to say you'll drive down the street and see them in
everyone's living room window. As I said, the basic saw is
a No. 34-307. The basic jointer is a No. 37-207. Both
machines combined onto the common stand and common motor
make it a catalog No. 37-595. It sold in 1948 for $235
without motor or switch rod. Both machines are substantial in their make-up but some
people will poo-poo them for their shortcomings. Namely,
the saw is a *tilt table* and you might find that to be hard
to deal with *if* you do a lot of angle cuts. At least it's
configured that in the tilt position the fence is down and
the piece being cut rests against it otherwise you'd have a
devil of a time making a cut. It helps to cut your piece down in width as much as possible
so you're not wrestling with a large piece on an angle.
Anyway, a lot of people used these machine over the years
and made some nice stuff with them. On the other hand, if you set it for a 90 and leave it
you'll probably do fine. I suspect by now you've noticed
the weight of the saw? Get someone else to help move it if
you haven't already. The jointer is the older NJ style. You'll find the NJ parts
prefix cast onto all the parts. It's a short bed jointer (37 1/2") which some people don't like. Personally I like
the machine because it is so compact. In the end you will
find that if you use it your skill at jointing with a short
bed will improve. Keep in mind that people joint very long
boards with long bed jointers. It's the same difference. See above. By the way, your machine was sold up until 1954.
That year it sold for $302. In 1955 the jointer was
replaced with the newer DJ style *long bed* (42") jointer.
This combination only lasted a couple/few years and was
discarded all together in the late 50's. It was replaced
with a combination machine consisting of the jointer and
tilt arbor saw. I would say so but then I don't own any machine newer than
me (1). What you may find is, restoration work can/will
over shadow your woodworking (2). In other words, you might
find the satisfaction of restoring an old machine to be a
hellavalotta fun. Congratulations. If you do go down this road (slippery slope) you should
contemplate joining the OWWM forum. We're up around 17,000
messages all (OK, almost all) unique to old woodworking
machines. Searching the archives you can find all sorts of
tips from, "how do I clean up a 'chine for restoring, what
paint color (colour David) do I paint this 'chine, how do I
remove the tags so I don't mung them up when I restore a
'chine" and so on. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oldwwmachines/message/17415 I should warn you first. The forum gets a lot of Delta
traffic and while this is fine and dandy there are a few
curmudgeons who aspire to bigger and better (other)
machines. Take their comments with a grain of salt. To a
man/woman it's probably the best online forum you'll find.
The secret handshake ain't all to secret and before you know
it you're one of the boys. It was purposely set up that
way. We don't get overly pissy like the Old Tools forum. There's also the OWWM sister site. It is a place you can
get lost in. Strap a 2 X 4 across your ass and feed out a
lot of rope before entering. http://www.oldwwmachines.com By the way, OWWM Webmaster Keith Rucker has reported ISP
trouble with the site. If you find a page not responding,
try back in a few. He is diligently trying to get things
back in order. (1) This is actually a lie. Of the 20-30 machines I own I
think there's one or two *newer than me*. I will and can
say that the Beatles didn't exist before the newest machine
was made. (2) If you find yourself liking both equally, you've
reached Nirvana. Don't Ask Me How I Know This.
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