Old cast iron, still cutting true. Which used saws, jointers and lathes to buy, and what to check first.

Yes, with a converter or a drive. Most homes have single-phase power, which is why so many good three-phase machines come up for sale. A VFD turns single-phase into three-phase for one motor with soft starts and speed control, which is especially handy on lathes and drill presses. A rotary phase converter runs several machines at nearly full power, if its idler motor is well bigger than your largest motor. A static converter only starts the motor, and makers say it then runs at about two-thirds of its power.

Start with the plate. A Milwaukee address means 1952 or earlier and Pittsburgh means 1953 or later. Delta didn't use serial numbers before 1941. After that, numeric serials, two-letter Tupelo prefixes and, from 1982, 8-digit date codes that start with the year all appear in VintageMachinery.org's serial tables. Details like the Unisaw's cast-iron motor cover, used until 1967, help too.

Read the serial on the badge. From 1968 to 1977 it's one year digit and then the model code, so a 1968 Model 66 starts 866, and from 1978 it's two year digits and the model code. The paint backs it up. It's gray to 1958, green until 1981, gold from 1982 to 1995 and mustard yellow from 1996.

The three digits before the decimal name the company that built it for Sears. 113 is Emerson Electric, 103 is King-Seeley's Central Specialty, 102 is Walker-Turner and 101 is Atlas. The digits after the decimal are a Sears catalog number. They mostly tell you the package, like saw only or with legs and a motor, not the year.

The big Emerson and Sears recall, from 2000, covers Craftsman radial arm saws with 113 model numbers, about 3.7 million of them, because they had no guard over the whole blade. It doesn't cover the 113 table saws. Since 2019 the radial saw remedy has been a payment for disabling the saw, and the guard kits are no longer available.

Rub it with synthetic steel wool or 400-grit wet-or-dry paper and mineral spirits, on a rubber block. A phosphoric-acid rust remover, sprayed on and wiped off after five minutes, also works well in magazine tests. Then protect the top with a dry, silicone-free coating and keep it covered.

Check it with a straightedge along each edge and down the middle, sliding feeler gauges into any gaps. The usual rule is to have a table reground only if there's a gap of more than 0.005 in over a large area. A slightly crowned saw top matters less than a dished one, and a droopy jointer table can sometimes be shimmed before you resort to grinding.

Take off everything that comes off, like fences, wings, motors and guards, and bag and label the bolts. A drop-deck trailer lowers to the ground so you can roll a machine on, and freight carriers can deliver with a liftgate, which typically handles 1,000 to 3,000 lb depending on the carrier. Big Olivers weigh more than some liftgates can lift.

Old saws came with a splitter, which stays put, rather than a riving knife, which rises and falls with the blade. UL has required riving knives on new table saw designs since 2008. On an old saw, make sure the guard, splitter and anti-kickback pawls are there and working, because those are what the saw was designed around.