Well, I was able to sell my Craftsman contractor saw. After some posts here, I decided to purchase the 1023SL. I ordered the saw last Tuesday, got a call from UPS on Friday to come pick up my freight.
The palet was placed in my truck, and I immediately noticed several areas of concern. I asked the UPS guy if he had a damage form, and he said no but go ahead and mark up the receipt. So I noted all of the areas of concern AND took pictures before moving the truck. Another UPS guy came over and offered to cut the straps so I could inspect. There was damage to the black coating on the base, several scratches but no structural damage. Everything else looked good. Got home and unloaded the cabinet on the mobile base. Unpacked all on the contents and did an inventory, all parts accounted for. Took some time cleaning off the shipping grease, what a mess. Pretty easy to clean up, but time consuming (especially the miter slots). I did get the saw assembled without assistance and everything is good out of the box except for minor fence alignment. I do have surface damage to one extension wing, so I am calling today to get it replaced. I also noticed my miter gauge hangs up in the slot right of blade, but it slides perfectly in the slot left of blade. Need to check this out a little more today, make sure I got all of the grease out.
Also had to wire up for 220, which was time consuming. Finished that task and plugged in the saw. First impression was WOW. Lots of power, very quiet and very little if any vibration. The fence is great, slide nicely and it seams very stable. Ripped and cross cut some scrap with a Frued blade and it was like a hot knife through butter. Cannot wait to get some projects rolling.
Matt