Powermatic Model 2000 tablesaw?

[alexy]

Until you mentioned the larger throat plate and wheels, it sounded like they were taking a close look at the Ryobi BT3100 and using a lot of their ideas!

[None]

PM 2000 is Chiwanese. My local Powermatic Dealer won't stock the unit. They are not impressed with the quality. They do carry the 66 72 and other older design powermatic units. They will order it if requested(I don't know if they have sold any that way)They also have the new Sawstop(which they are impressed with). I believe the last time I was there they said they have already sold abount 3 dozen Sawstops.

[Andy]

Would you mind telling us exactly how long you have been working for Sawstop?

[Chris Friesen]

What, nobody's allowed to like the Sawstop without being paid?

I've played with it in person (not cut anything though). It looks like a good saw, and feels solid. Saw a demo of the safety feature at a wood show.

I don't like their politics, and I think it's overpriced. But the saw itself seems just fine.

Chris

[None]

I haven't been following rec.woodworking for awhile so I guess I forgot how I'm not supposed to like Sawstop. No I don't work for Sawstop(Or any other mfg for that matter. When they tried to force their "invention" on the rest of the companies I got pretty irate at them myself.

I was on a holiday trip visiting relatives when I decided to stop by a local industrial machine outfit to see if the new Powermatic 2000 was in. I've used PM 66 and 72(I own a General myself) but I have also used a large Tannewitz which had a sliding table and a riving knife and really grew to like it(the riving knife, actually the sliding table also). However my next upgrade will probably be something with a larger blade which neither the PM 2000 or Sawstop have. I was interested in at least seeing the PM2000 because it is new and because of the riving knife and I had nothing better to do during the day. When I got to this dealer he was just unpacking a PM 2000 which was the first one they had received. It turns out they also had a Sawstop set up but when he first mentioned it to me I told him I wasn't interested in it.

I spent some time there looking at the PM2000 and some older used equipment they had available and the discussion got back to the Sawstop. They told me they liked the saw and I asked if they had any misfires. They told me one of the first saw they had had a problem turning on(something to do with the safety check) but Sawstop sent someone out and retrofitted a part and it's been ok since then. I don't really remember how many they said they had sold but I think it was less then 15. I took a closer look and worked a few controls. Nice large table area for a 10 inch saw and pretty smooth working controls.

About a month later I was having a general discussion with someone very knowledgeable about heavy duty industrial woodworking machinery and they mentioned they had used a Sawstop. He explained to me that the Trunion assembly was very similar to the heavy duty industrial stuff probably because of the way they had to get the safety gear to drop the blade. He felt even without the "safety" aspect the saw was very well made ands he was very impressed with a lot of small things they did in building the saw.

Like I have already said my next saw will be something with a larger blade but like anyone once my interest was raised I did a little looking and it sounds like they built a very nice saw.

This gets me to the visit to my local dealer and the comments they made when I kidded them about having a new Sawstop on display but no new PM 2000. I been dealing with them for awhile and have faith in their judgment. They showed me a few things I wasn't aware of and although I like and own other Powermatic products the Sawstop appears to be a machine in a class above the PM2000 even ignoring the so called safety features. Worth a look to anyone in the market for a saw of this level of performance along with PM, General and Delta. Nice to see someone come up with a solid new design. Sure surprised me.