Unisaw Serial Numbers. Need to fix your 34-450 Type 1 Unisaw? We have parts. Be sure to have either a model number or serial number handy.

IntroductionIf you are of the type who easily follows shamans or gets fooled into get rich schemes you are the one I'm looking for. It's hoped, by me, that by the end of this introductory article you will be hunting down the true meaning of Delta and becoming obsessed with *Born On Dates* and *vintaging* Delta on the fly.

If you are the strong type, not easily duped, please move along. This write up will act as the jumping off point for anyone wanting to vintage an old Delta machine or for someone wanting to submit content on a machine of a certain vintage. It contains the most rudimentary data required to start one's career dating Delta. Please read it carefully as there are subtle nuances and while trying to vintage an old machine isn't rocket science it does require a certain bit of savvy. At the very least you will be able to establish date ranges based on what you read here.

The easiest way to vintage a Delta machine is of course with the serial number. There are guidelines though. Delta began assigning serial numbers in 1941. If your machine lacks a serial number plate or holes to mount one then it is from early 1941 or before. We have divided the serial number plates used by Delta into three styles, as detailed below.

Style 1 plates were made of aluminum and measured 1/2' X 3' with rivet holes approximately 2 3/4' on center. This style was used beginning circa 1939-1940 to sometime in 1942 (probably early 1942), and then again from sometime in 1944 to late 1947. Older Delta Serial Number Plate Style 2 plates are from the World War II era, and are made from one of three materials: brass, steel or oilboard.

Style 2A plates were made of brass plate and are from late 1941 or early '42. They are very rarely seen.

Delta Brass Wartime Plate We have seen two other examples of a brass plate, one of which has red-painted background and the other has traces of red paint remaining. It is likely that the plate shown above originally had a red background. Style 2B plates were made of steel, appeared in 1942, and are quite rare. Delta Steel Serial Number Plate Style 2C plates were made of 'oilboard' (dense coated cardboard) and measured 3/4' x 3' with rivet holes spaced the same as the first style plates.

They were used between early 1942 to sometime in 1944. They are fairly common but are somewhat fragile and are often missing or in poor condition. Delta Oilboard Serial Number Plate Style 3 plates were introduced in late 1947. They are made of aluminum and measure 1' x 4' with rivet holes approximately 3-3/4' on center. Newer Delta Serial Number Plate This aluminum serial number plate is from a 1947 Unisaw, and is attached with screws. 1947 Delta Unisaw Serial Number Plate Some machines, for whatever reason, may have had their serial number plates removed or torn off, making a positive vintage identification more difficult. You can however locate the rivet or screw holes in the machine and perhaps a ghost image of the plate, and use the distance between the holes to narrow down the machine's vintage: 2 3/4' means that the missing plate was Style 1 or 2, and 3 3/4' means a Style 3 plate.

Where plates were located on individual machines would take a paper unto itself. I should also note, plate locations on the same machines weren't always located in the same spot. For instance, I've seen plates on the back of a Unisaw cabinet as well as the front. Keep in mind that machines made prior to 1941 did not have serial number plates at all. Please read the rest of this article though before positively determining your machine's vintage. It's also come to light, from various discussions on the OWWM discussion forum, that Delta used some serial numbers during the same period that don't quite jive with what's known by me.

For instance, some five digit serial numbers on 1x4 plates don't compute with my list or Delta's. If ever this mystery is solved this write up will be amended. Delta's Serial Number List: I received this list from a fellow OWWM member. Someone had given it to him at his local Delta service center with no explanation or additional information. For the most part I have found it to be valid but have run into a couple of instances where it has not been 100% correct. Therefore, take it for what it is, do not expect it to be the 'last word'. If you called them, Delta used to be able to give you the month the machine was manufactured.

This is something you won't get from the list below, and now that Delta has disappeared from these shores, that detailed information has been lost. The serial number list is broken down into three parts. Machines built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Bellefountaine, Ohio had an all-number code. According to the list machines were built in Bellefountaine all the way up to 1976. Machines built in Tupelo, Mississippi had an alphanumeric code. The serial number list starts with 1941. These machines would have been built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin up to 1952.

The following is based on Straight Numerical Series used by Milwaukee-Crescent The strange jump from 15-0000 to 16-0000 is in the original. The Julian Chapter A Wonder Story Pdf. If your serial number lies between these two values then all we can say is that your saw dates from 1941 or '42. The brass serial number tag, above, shows a 15-xxxx serial number.