Rockwell Unisaw

Norm's original Unisaw was a Rockwell (purchased for NYW creator Russ Morash by his wife in 1966), and probably looked much like this one (top, left). The fence shown is similar to the one he used, as is the miter gauge.

I had been under the impression that the current saw (similar to left, bottom) was just the original—accessorized. However, a sharp-eyed visitor alerted me to a Shopnote at The New Yankee Workshop website pointing out that sometime around 1994 the Rockwell was replaced with a Delta 34-802 Unisaw.

In fact, the telltale miter gauge, red insert, and Unifence all made their initial appearance in Episode 713—the end of Season 7 (1995—but actually produced in '94). This was confirmed in Episode 1908 (Table Saw 101) as was the news that the saw is the 3 HP version.

In any case, it has had four fence systems—the original Jet-Lock fence, the Biesemeyer, the Unifence, and then the Biesemeyer again.

In addition to the fence changes, the right side table, and an outfeed table were added as well—first seen in Episode 209 and coincident with the arrival of the Biesemeyer—three years before the new saw arrived. Finally a new outfeed table was substituted in the early part of Season 13 (Episode 0104).

Norm also uses a variety of inserts, varying from the original, to red, to melamine, to aluminum with an oak insert, and assorted dado and molding head inserts. The saw in episodes produced in the 21st Century looks markedly different from the saw in Episode 101.