1939, 1950 and 1951 ads for the Delta Unisaw. In 1950, the saw was listed at $234, with motor and switch being an extra charge. Click to enlarge.

So, when I told my wife I was buying a really old table saw when I already had the top-of-the-line, “last table saw I’ll ever need to buy” table saw already sitting in the shop, she avoided eye contact with me for a month. Every passionate woodworker knows that the early model Delta Unisaws are legendary workhorses and the grandfather of all modern-day saws. I just had to have one.

Delta introduced the world’s first tilting-arbor cabinet saw in 1939 with its fully-enclosed steel cabinet and polished cast iron top. After leading the market for decades, the mid 1960s and 1970s brought the Powermatic Model 66 table saw into a neck-and-neck position with the Unisaw, boasting the heaviest trunnion assembly (table saw guts) and virtually vibration-free operation. Nowadays, the Unisaw and Powermatic models are still market leaders but most tool hounds would agree that each brand’s no-nonsense, all cast iron and steel, 500-pound-plus models from a lifetime ago are often preferred over today’s state-0f-the-art models.

The Mid 1960s Powermatic Model 66 proved to be the Unisaw’s nemesis, and continues to be today.

We have both in the shop! A vintage 1941 Delta Unisaw and a 2000 (turn of the century!) Powermatic Model 66. At times, the two rival beasts have coexisted side by side, creating one long cast-iron work surface and infinite creative possibilities. We researched our Unisaw’s serial number and learned that it was made in September of 1941, three months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Pretty amazing. The home woodworker I bought it from said I was now just the fourth owner of this 82-year-old industry icon. I couldn’t be more proud.

Period Art Deco design and a motor that looks brand new after being covered since 1941. Click to enlarge.

Original 1940s miter gauge and rip fence. Click to enlarge.

Here’s what the world looked like in 1941, when this saw was made.

Since its debut in 1939, the Unisaw hardly changed for 50 years until the 1990s, and then a bold, rock-the-boat redesign in 2007. Click to enlarge.

Our vintage 1961 Powermatic 65 and 1941 Delta Unisaw.

Update: We’ve added a second prized possession

In Feb. 2020 we found this 1961 Powermatic Model 65 (predates the 66) in near-perfect, jaw-dropping condition. It’s all original with an old-school cast iron plinth, a Century 1.5hp, 1ph motor made in St. Louis; old-style Arrow-Hart snap switch; heavier-than-shit cast iron rip fence; miter gauge; and nearly blemish-free, original Powermatic-green paint.

I searched far and wide for this 65. I obsessed for months, trolled the internet, couldn’t sleep, and grew frustrated after seeing several local, shockingly mistreated 65s selling for way too much money (one had an animal’s nest inside. Seriously?). Model 65s were made from 1955-1965, so there aren’t many around anymore. Patience pays off! I finally placed a want ad online and within 24 hours I received a response. I road-tripped three hours each way to Waco, Tex. to pick it up from Blake Loree, a windsor chair maker who swore by this saw for a year and a half before replacing it with a new-model Powermatic. During the 60 years prior to Blake owning it, the saw had seen very light use in the original owner’s home workshop.