The long and short of it is, the four-footed Unisaw was the
first of the Unisaws. It debuted in 1939 (1) and by 1940
the four feet were replaced by the continuous donut plinth.
To date the serial numbers found on these four-footed saws
have all been an alphanumeric configuration with a single
letter followed by three numbers. See list below.

My own short list of owners and their saws have serial
numbers from A-100 (my own saw) to L-404. See the list
below for the full registry. I have seen with my own eyes a
Unisaw with a continuous base which I remember being in the
*upper L’s* making it something of a smoking gun that the
four-footed saw series ended somewhere in the middle/upper
L‘s (2).

Known Four-Footed Unisaw Registry:
A-100 Keith Bohn (Milwaukee)
A-221 Tim Kuist (to be amended when the time comes)
A-324 Saw sold on eBay by Pete Zweiland(sp?) (year 2000ish)
A-458 Jack Schettle (Milwaukee)
C-309 Tim Kuist (to be amended when the time comes)
C-469 Gary Newland (I also have this as C-497?)
D-450 Rob Sopko
E-313 Michael Parrish
E-566 bilaug (sorry, no name)
F-387 Randy Allred
F-558 Jeffrey McVey
G-325 Chester Gasper
?-??? Bill Simmeth (to be amended when the time comes)
L-404 As seen at a S.E. Wisconsin auction by OWWMer Dean
Gebhardt

Feel free to ping me here or on the back channel with
retractions, additions and corrections to the above list.

To the best of my knowledge the four feet only existed on
the 1939 Unisaws. In 1940 Delta introduced the Heavy-Duty
Shaper. It was always shown in their artwork with a
continuous base. Contrary to this there have been many,
many sightings of four-footed shapers (in fact they probably
outnumber the sightings of four-footed Unisaws) but most of
these shapers have been ID’d as being from the early/mid
40’s. It should be noted the continuous base is not a
Unisaw part. That is, it sports the LSR parts prefix found
on the shaper and not the LTA prefix found on the Unisaw.
Anyway, it’s all something of a mystery and has become a way
of passing the time here speculating the *whys and
wherefores* of the four-footed shaper and why there seems to
be a lot of them of nearly the same mid-40’s vintage.
Parker Brothers, it’s rumored, is coming out with a board
game on it.

Getting back to the four-footed Unisaw, one major difference
you will find with this saw, and I suspect even with early
saws produced after the plinth conversion, is the lack of
spanner nut on the outboard end of the arbor. Otherwise
these saws pretty well share all the same parts 'n pieces
with other saws of the era. The dust doors on the
four-footers were not louvered but that design carried over
for a couple/few years into the continuous plinth/base
years.

As anyone who has studied the four-footer knows Delta made a
lot of the "seven years" that went into the saw’s
development. They make mention of "discarding inferior
designs" for what became the saw that we know of today. Our
own Henry Weiland spotted what he thinks was one of these
"discards" in a private home in Milwaukee. The theory is,
waste not, want not, and a discarded saw would have been
carted home by a Delta employee who was lucky enough to have
been in the right spot at the right time. Anyway, as Henry
remembers it, the saw struck a remarkable similarity to the
Unisaw. *This* is the most elusive of the four-footed saws.

Fast-forwarding to the future we can credit the four-footed
Unisaw with the formation of this very forum.

May I?

It was a lonely and cold day in January of 1999 when this
forum’s founder was wandering the by-ways of Milwaukee and
came across a four-footer. Up to that moment, in his
pathetic and empty life, he had no need or knowledge of old
woodworking machines. No really, he didn’t. He only wanted
to buy a Unisaw. Guided by Unisaw restoration guru/mentor
Marty Escarcega (one of the half dozen or so OWWM Charter
Members) the saw bought and the seed was planted. In a
little less than a year and a half this forum was founded.

Stick that into your cap the next time you think that
there’s a wee bit too much Unisaw Talk here. Rather, you
should take your cap off, cover your heart and "Hail the
Four-Footed Unisaw!!!"

(1) Delta continues to harp on a 1937 debut. Delta does
not know or care, it seems, to correct this. The best
theory for the why on this was discovered by Aloha Russell
(I think it was Aloha Russell) when he discovered that in
some older Delta text there were some copyright dates that
were probably misread by someone at Delta. Anyway, it stuck
and it sticks in my craw to this very day. (kicks soap box
back to the middle of the room)

(2) Before you get out your abacus and begin ciphering that
there were twelve series of serial numbers (A to L) and 999
saws in each series it should be pointed out that Delta most
likely did not produce that many saws in the first year. My
head has not been able to get around the magnitude of the
numbers and what it all means yet. I’m saving this for
later research and continuation of *the quest*. By the way,
in the entire history of the saw there have been over
600,000 units produced and sold. This number goes back a
couple/few years though.

Keith Bohn
Unisaw Serial No. A-100