Has anyone ever used the Steel City products? I live in Ontario Canada and am looking to purchase some equiptment for a wood class I run. I like the fact that it has a 5 year warrenty but I have never used their products.
I've got their 17" drill press, my oldest has their 6" jointer and their 15" planer. We both think they're a better bet in fit, finish and machining than the other big two. Features and price are very competitive as well.
You should stick with General (not General International). That big red maple leaf on the side will make you happy every time you turn on the lights. The tool will make you happy every time you throw the switch.
Steel City is nice (run by a bunch of old Delta guys), but they're still off shore produced--the General stuff (not G-I) is home grown in PQ.
The made-in-Canada General is really nice, but they're also fairly expensive and don't always get you all that much more. I bought a GI table saw--I wanted the General one but couldn't justify spending almost
60% more for hobby use. Their 8" jointer is more than twice the cost of an import, their bandsaw (while nice) costs as much as an Italian one with three times the power, and they're all old designs...at some point they're going to need to wake up and revamp their lineup.To the OP...I've got the steel city 18" bandsaw. The table was out of flat and needed replacing (but so was the table on the GI tablesaw, so it's not just Steel City). They shipped me out a replacement table which was acceptable. I also did some surgery on the blade guard to allow me to change wide blades without removing the guard. Other than that the saw has been fine.
I almost bought the Steel City 8" industrial jointer, but ended up with a King because it had a magnetic switch, was $150 cheaper, and their pricing was more honest. Also, there is a King dealer in town.
(Steel City's Canadian list price started out $900 higher than the US list, but rebates and "sale" prices reduced it by $950 and got it down within $250 of the US price....why not just have real list prices to start with instead of artificially inflating them?)
Chris
Well, if you're going to talk about cost...
I've got a Steel City 16" bandsaw. It is one of the best built 16" bandsaws I've seen, especially at its price, well made and nicely designed, two cast iron trunnions, and generally put together nicely. Not much assembly...table, fence, light. The light is decent, the table is excellent, overall I'm more than pleased.
Why not buy Canadian made? It so happens Canada (and the USA) makes some of the best tools in the world. I can understand buying an import item at times, but certainly not when home-grown is better.
You're right. I'd buy General (not General International), but price is an issue and one has to decide if the extra bucks for General is worth it. I think so, but some don't. And along the same lines, as I've just been informed, Festool is not available in Canada. (thinking about the Festool Domino) and wondering the best way to get one up here to Toronto or even if I should.
Use the time honored Canadian method--buy one in Buffalo and smuggle it across.
Married to a Beamsville Canadian whose family's households are full of small appliances delivered in trunks of cars.
Ain't that the truth.... I serve as Mailboxes Etc for my BIL in Montreal.
I just purchased my first Table Saw and it was a Steel City. I am very impressed with the quality of the product. It took a little while to setup, but when I got it together finally, I was cutting wood like it was butter!
The industrial fence is a dream and is dead on accurate. I am now in the market for a new jointer and am thinking about going Steel City again.
Adam
The drill press, without the laser.
Like it. Used the hell out of it a few months ago drilling about a hundred precision holes for my granddaughter's cradle (sorry JT). It made a long job a lot easier. I know I could get by with a 3 1/2 inch spindle travel but having six inches let me go a lot longer between setups. Even used the spindle lock.
Have their 10" hybrid cabinet saw, couldn't be happier. Cabinet mounted truninons. Clean castings, good fit and finnish (powder coated). Easy alignment adjustments (love the set screws in the extension wings, beats the crap out of juggling shimms). Runnout is minimal, top is flat, and they use the same size throat plates as the deltas (3 3/4" X 13 3/8" X 1/2") Biesemeyer type fence with heavy steal rails, adjustable for toe in/out, and perpendicular to the table top. HMWPE slabs for fence faces. (only had to shim one at one end). Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with the steel crate it came in.
JDH
I put mine up on Craigslist and had three people inquiring about it. Got rid of it in about a week!
FIL had a John Deere L & G franchise and they shipped the lawn tractors to him in steel frames. He had a standing list of people who wanted them to convert to deer stands.
Frank
Why would you want to convert a lawn tractor into a deer stand?
For easier tracking of the deer...
Duh.
:-)
jc
...
Builtin headlights and chair -- what more you want/need? :)
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Holy Cow!!! That would be one heavy tree stand. You'd need a bigger tractor just to get it out into the woods. So... what did your FIL ever say to John Deere when they told him he was required to send those shipping crates back to them? They charge a pretty hefty fee if those aren't returned.
Have no idea what you are talking about. These were light angle iron frames that formed a box over the lawn mower/tractors, I'm guessing covered with a plastic film. Never saw them arrive, only saw the frames sitting in the field behind his business. Hunter's would deck them for stands.
If Deere wanted these shipped back, I'd be surprised. The cost of freight would be far greater than the value of the frames.
Frank
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