Nearly 90 years old. Still cutting.
A Delta Tilt-Top 10" circular saw and 6" jointer combo, built in Milwaukee around 1937. It sat forgotten in a dusty corner until I brought it home for fifteen dollars and put it back to work in Ellington, CT.
Before & after
How I found it
I was brand new to woodworking when I came across this Delta combo — a 10" tilt-top table saw and a 6" jointer sharing one stand and one motor — for fifteen dollars. After reading through posts on OWWM (Old Woodworking Machines), I had a feeling I'd found something special.
The plan was simple: clean it up and make it my go-to saw.
When I posted it on OWWM.org, longtime members dated it to about 1937–1938 from its badges, and pointed out that the rip fence is an early Delta style, replaced once the Unisaw came out in 1939. It even came with an orphan shaper fence.
— Members of the OWWM.org community
Imagine what it's built.
I'll never know who ran this saw before me, or everything that passed across its table. But nearly a century of sawdust leaves you wondering.
Delta builds it as the country climbs out of the Great Depression, made for the home workshop in a garage or basement.
Maybe it cut shelves and wooden toys from scrap lumber, when every board counted and many dads were overseas.
New houses, new families. Perhaps a cradle, kitchen cabinets or a backyard picnic table came off this table.
Birdhouses, derby cars, a bookcase for someone's first apartment. Tools like this were passed along, not thrown away.
Now it cuts serving, charcuterie and cutting boards in my Ellington shop, carrying the story forward.
Every board I make carries a little of that history.
Bringing it back
Why old iron?
Machines like this were built from heavy cast iron to last generations. With a cleaning, a tune-up and some care, a Delta approaching its 90th birthday can work as well as many saws sold today.
[Optional — a line about how this saw fits into making your boards.]
Read the full thread on OWWM.org →See what it makes
Serving, charcuterie and cutting boards, planters, home wood decor and so much more…