Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I purchased this to replace an 14 year old Craftsman that I had tricked out with a Vega fence, knee operated STOP switch, wheels, outfeed table and dust collector.
The saw arrived in a slightly damaged crate but no damage to the product. I lifted it off the pallet with a come-along attached to the rafters in my garage/shop. The same technique was used to set it on the mobile base (more later).
I used paper towels to remove most of the grease from the table top and wings before cleaning with paint thinner.
Installing the belt is simplified by using the triangle shaped packing foam to block the motor up in position.
The arbor showed a runout of 0.00075", perfect. The table had a 0.008" dip in the center but was flat side to side. The wings were flat to within 0.005". Having said that I'm not sure what is really required to do quality work, but I believe this will do just fine.
The trunnions were off with the blade out 0.014" back to front.
I found it a pain to align until I realized that by leaving one trunnion bolt somewhat tight I could pivot the whole assembly around that bolt. Then it was relatively easy and it settled at 0.0015" off. I detect no vibration except a tiny bit just before the motor stops; I can't imagine that will cause a problem.
Using a workmate table to hold the wings in position for installation was a big help but shimming was required to make them flat to the top. The wooden extension table goes on easily and certainly does not seem to need the legs supplied with the saw.
The blade guard pushes the (red) table insert foward making the holdown screw hard to install. I filed the guard a bit to improve the fit. Replacing the two bolts used to install the guard with wingnuts means I never have to use the poorly designed 'wrench' supplied with the saw to mount or remove the guard.
The guard is designed so that it is not possible to keep it "open" (off and away from the blade) when you want to check the blade height or distance from the fence. I'm sure this is thought of as a safety feature but it made me want to work without the guard; not a good idea! I used my Dremel to notch the guard so that it can now 'lay back' out of the way.
The miter guage was right on.
The Biesemeyer fence installed easily with the included guage but the instructions are not completely accurate. The fence itself was defective in that the laminated wooden faceplates extended too far below the metal body of the fence so they dragged on the table and caught in the miter slot. You cannot adjust the faces but Biesemeyer replaced the fence and it is a solid, easily adjusted dream to work with. It's a shame Delta does not see fit to update this workhorse with easily adjustable/replaceable faces. It could also use some attachments similar to the Vega product. Oh well, it's a challange to dream up some jigs.
I used the Delta mobile base (lot's cheaper from Hechingers), the same one that fits my bandsaw. It is very sturdy and works well. As noted by others it requires some shimming to keep the saw from sliding around in the oversized base. That was easy to do.
The first project for this saw involves 9/4 steam dryed beech. I could not make long (7 foot) cuts because the wood 'closed up'on the blade after a couple of feet but the saw cuts well with my Forrest blade and has plenty of power at 120 volts. (I wound up making three shallower cuts to get through.) The beech makes a very 'stringy' sawdust and I found the stuff piled up behind the motor (even with a 4" dust collector) and had to be vacuumed out through the access door to keep from filling the cabinet. Interestingly it also wedged into the space in the trunnions that is normally occupied by the mechanism when the blade is dropped. After a time (100' of cut) I could no longer drop the blade below the table surface! I had to reach in through the door and poke out the shavings.
With all of that I think it was easy to assemble. Probably took me eight careful hours of thinking and doing.
It runs like a charm, seems to be very sturdily constructed, is accurate, easy to set up cuts (as modified). The Biesemeyer is solid, easy to align to the miter slot and impossible to budge once locked down. The cursor hairline is down on the tape to minimize parrallax(?) and is very accurate. The storage (racking)provisions for the wrenches, fence and miter are a plus. The two wrench approach to blade replacement makes it a lot simpler than having to wedge the blade and use a single wrench. The stop switch location is ideal for a 'No Hands' shutoff. I use a hex-key to 'lock' the switch in the off position preventing careless accidents.
Overall, after a week of cutting, I think this will serve me well for many years. Only time will verify the quality but I am very happy using this saw.
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