DELTA 28-475X X5 14-Inch 1-1/2-Horsepower Woodworking Bandsaw, 115/230-Volt 1-Phase Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)After a great deal of studying, reading, looking and touching, I finally bought this saw.I hope this review is of some help to others in the market, the purchase caused me a great number of "sleepless" nights... I highly recommend reading "The Bandsaw Book" by Lonnie Bird (at Amazon for about $14) - it was a great resource and one of the better woodworking books on tools I've purchased.
Overall I think this is an excellent saw.I don't agree with the two gentlemen who only gave it one star.I've only had it a few days but am so far very happy.NO vibration.Runs smoothly and quietly.Switch is fine.I really have no idea how much it weighs; I didn't put it on a scale.I do have some negative comments (below) and will make my final assessment later.
I found the choice boiled down to two saws for me: the Delta X5 and the new Powermatic (made by Jet essentially).I looked at the European saws from Minimax and Laguna but found them to be out of my price range.They are both beautiful saws and if I had the money, I would have looked more seriously at one of them before buying.However, they are both $500+ more than the 14" saws.It also appeared that these saws were better suited for resawing than any scroll work and my intent was more of the latter than the former.
A short comparison:
- Delta claims this saw is the only one "made in the USA."I don't know if that's true or not but don't really care.I buy cars based on quality, not where they're made.It wasn't a selling point for me.
- The PM saw has far more "bells and whistles" than the Delta does out of the box for about the same money.
- I found the casting is clearly beefier on the Delta.The casting on the PM is the same as the other Jet saws.
- I thought the table and trunion mechanism was also beefier on the Delta.
- PM seems to have a better rip fence.
- PM has cast iron wheels, Delta's are aluminum.I'm skeptical about the wheels on the PM providing any "flywheel" effect as the salesman said as they are ribbed and not very beefy (neither are).Delta's are "computer balanced" - a plus for the vibration issue.
- Stand on the Delta has cheap plastic hinges and catch.PM's is metal and nicer (a minor issue).
- PM uses Carter (or Carter style) guides and tension mechanism, which I like better than the new Delta system
The saw:
Assembly was fairly easy and only took a few hours.As with all tools with a motor/belt, the alignment of these is a pain.I think they should come up with a better solution - it can't be that expensive!I ended up having to move the upper pulley out a bit to make it line up with the lower one (which I had pushed as far onto the motor shaft as I could).
Detla claims 100% American and American made - bearings are made it Taiwan.I'm inclined to believe other parts are too.Not a problem for me, I just don't like being lied to as I was by the Delta rep.
Bought the riser block so I needed 105" blades.The "free" platinum pro blade in the box went immediately into the trash.In hindsight, I probably should have used the saw with that blade and then when I wore it out, attached the riser block.A minor thing.
Trunion bolts were missing!This is my biggest complaint.How can they let something so grossly wrong leave their factory unnoticed??I had to go the local hardware store and buy two bolts.Again, a minor thing but poor quality control as far as I'm concerned.
Upper wheel bearing is bent out of shape but works fine.
Extended blade guard is a poor design and should be re-done.It gets in the way of the upper door and doesn't adjust very easily.I had to bend my door out a little to shut past it.It was a simple thing that only took a second and it works fine now.
NOTE IF YOU BUY THE RISER BLOCK:When you remove the rod that holds the bearings and guides, etc. there's a small ball bearing in the casting that keeps the rod from crashing down on the table when it's loosened.Delta forgets to tell you to catch this ball bearing as it FALLS out of the casting when you remove the rod.I heard it bounce and then spent 20 minutes crawling around on the floor looking for it!
I bought cool blocks and Timberwolf low tension blades from PS Machinery.Both great buys.
Good luck.....

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Product Description:
The DELTA 28-475X X5 14-Inch, 1-1/2 HP Woodworking Band saw makes graceful curvilinear cuts and exceptionally smooth straight cuts. The heavy-duty 1-1/2 HP, single-phase motor allows this band saw to reach speeds of 3,000 SFM with either 1/4-inch (included), 3/4-inch (maximum), or 1/8-inch (minimum) wide blades. No matter what size blade you choose, the new quick indexing blade tensioning system keeps the blade tension at optimum levels for more accurate cuts. The large 16 x 16-inch table handles larger stock, and it also tilts 45 degrees right and 9 degrees left for angled cuts. This high performance band saw also sports an integrated four-inch dust port to keep the workspace clean and free of dust and debris.

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