My quest for a new cabinet saw ended Thursday. It's not in my shop yet but the order is placed. I want to thank all who knowingly and unknowingly assisted me in making my decision. (SWMBO didn't think I would ever decide)
I went with the Delta Unisaw, left-tilt with a 30" Biesemeyer fence, purchased locally from Woodcraft on their "10% off day." My reasons are many and I will expound on them below. Those that don't care can stop reading here. [g]
The possible choices in order of decreasing price and theoretical superiority:
1) General 650-T50. Widely considered to be the best saw with the crappiest documentation and customer service. Dealers are essentially non-existent. Only available with a 50" fence. Finely ground tabletop. Lousy dust collection. Top fully assembled when delivered. Built in North America. Reported to have "massive" trunnions. (Ever notice that "massive" always precedes trunnion when table saws are mentioned. Sort of like "Powerful" House Ways and Means Committee.) An email to Wilke Machine asking whether a 30" fence was an option was answered almost two weeks later. They offered to "modify" to 30". Cost was $1,850 plus $200 shipping charge! An email to an alleged dealer in Arizona was never answered.Info sources. FWW No. 136, June 1999; Wood Magazine Oct 2003, private email-Wilke.
2) Powermatic PM-66. Relatively pricey. Many issues with quality of cut, miter gauge slot badly machined and general fit and finish issues. Finely ground tabletop. Table inserts are junk. Lousy dust collection. Can be had with 30" fence although without a right side cast iron extension. Right side laminate table is trouble. "Massive" trunnions. Built in USA. Available locally (Tucson) from Woodworkers' Source.Info sources. FWW No. 136, June 1999; Wood Magazine Oct, 2003, private email-Jack Loganbill-see:
Info sources. FWW No. 136, June 1999; Wood Magazine Oct, 2003.
Info sources. FWW No. 136, June 1999; Wood Magazine Oct, 2003. Dealer visits.
5) Grizzly. The mystery saw. The mystery is whether you will get a good one in one piece or not. Comes with a 30" fence and two iron extensions. Some owners love them and some wish they'd never seen one. A lot of saw for the money and often no more tweaking to get running than saws costing twice as much. Some quality of cut issues. Some fence issues although this is (supposed to be) being addressed. (How do you know?) Motor failures. Delivery is problematic. Lots of damaged saws are reported.Info sources. FWW No. 136, June 1999; Wood Magazine Oct, 2003, private email-Jack Loganbill-see:
I really wanted a short fence. The trend is to 50-52" fences with huge tables. I could park one of these in my garage/shop but actually using it would be a problem. I spoke to a Delta rep at Woodcraft and asked about this trend and why they didn't do an "X" saw package for the short saw. He replied that he has a short one too but today woodworkers want big tables, now with routers installed and he expected that they will soon offer table-mounted TV sets too.
The short fence requirement and their dealer problem eliminated General.
Powermatic is the "gold" standard, but it seems more so with people that don't actually own one. When I visited a local dealer and indicated that I could afford one if there were compelling reasons, he showed me a Jet. Too much money for no obvious superiority.
I shopped for a Jet at Tool Crib (aka Amazon). I've bought a lot of stuff from them, but the guy I spoke to couldn't have been less knowledgeable or helpful. As far as he knew Jet offers 52" fence versions only. Not so.
Woodworker's Source was *very* helpful. They showed me their Jet setup in the shop and offered to "build" whatever Jet system I wanted. They had competitive pricing, actually had the machines in stock and offered free delivery to my shop plus I have a $100 coupon burning a hole in my pocket. It was tough to not buy here, especially with the promise of local follow-on support.
Grizzly was just too iffy. This is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase that I didn't want to regret. A few hundred dollars more are lost in the noise after a few years.
This left Delta. There are a lot of detractors, however, the saw is a proven design with parts and service widely available. It reportedly has a quality of cut second only to General; the industry standard Biesemeyer fence and excellent dust collection.
I shopped Woodworker's Supply for this saw, since their catalog actually shows the "build your own saw" option and I've successfully done business with them in the past. When I couldn't find some prices on their web site for accessory packages, I called on the telephone.
The sales guy couldn't find package prices either and quoted me the individual piece prices. When I said that that didn't seem like a package deal to me he got testy and more or less hung up without trying to close a deal. I emailed some folks there with the info that they had web site problems and Woodcraft's 10% off sale and their sales guy's attitude made it difficult to consider shopping with them.
I got a response that they would beat any local dealer's price if I would call back. I emailed again and asked for a written quote and shipping methods and costs and got back a list of catalog prices with another request that I call back. I know why they didn't want to put it in writing but I was the customer and I had other options.
Back to Woodcraft. Earlier in the week they offered the sale price without waiting for sale day. Since I wanted some other stuff I waited until Thursday. SWMBO went next door to clothes shop. I had my aforementioned conversation with the Delta rep and finalized my decision to buy a 36-831LA. Sales tax of 5.6% will offset much of the discount, but for the money I get eyeball-to-eyeball service and a one-year "if I'm not happy bring it back guarantee." Plus they'll deliver it to my house for $15 for "gas money." At the current price of gasoline that's not much more than it would cost to drive my
454-powered Chevy 4X4 into town. [g]SWMBO returned just as I was paying up. She asked whether I had also bought that dovetail doodad I'd been thinking about (Leigh D4). I said, "No". She said, "Why not?" I said, "Add a D4 to the list."