General International - Quality?

[KRead]

Hi, New to this news group, lots of great information.

I am interested in purchasing some tools: - 50-250 Table saw - 40-250 Shaper - 80-100 6" jointer - 10-110 2HP dust collector - 30-300 20" planner

All equipment is General International. It will be used for hobby type activities, but I go not want to out-grow of them.

Two questions: - Is General International of good quality? - Any thing wrong with the above listed equipment?

Thanks, Ken

[Specter]

I have a few General International products. They, like most items in the GI line-up, are of excellent quality. If you want more first-hand info from a wide range of users, you should visit one of the Canadian woodworking forums:

or

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"KRead" wrote ...

[Mike]

Hi Ken,

I have the table saw, the jointer....everything is great... I've never heard anyone complaning about General International except about their 14" box steel band saw, so don't be afraid...

Good lucks

[Bob S.]

yeah but......gotta be careful with them Canucks ya know. We got one here that hangs around a bit, David whatsis name and awhile back he damn near got arrested for hiding some weapons of mass destruction in his garage. Actually made him go get a locker to put'em in I hear tell.

But I gotta give'em credit, he put me onto the GI mortiser when I was checking on mortising machines and I was pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of it. Not made by General you understand but they have their finger prints on it. Only problem I had was a fence part was machined slightly wrong and needed to be replaced. Not a problem - says them but it took a bit over 3 months to get the part from China since they do not stock any spare parts in Canada - or so I was told. That was almost 2 years ago so you may want to call their 800 number and ask about part availability.

Bob S.

[Clint Neufeld]

I don't remember hearing anything good about their dust collector (or was it their air filter... Too much Christmas cheer, I guess). I'd try to find some more details on that, if I was you. I've got their GI contractor saw. The saw itself is fine, the manuals suck, however. Since this was the first saw I'd ever put together, it made it "interesting". But if you know what you're doing, you shouldn't have any worries.

Clint

[Grizzle]

I recently purchased the GI 80-100L 6" long bed jointer. It has a 55" bed instead of the standard 46". Its 75 lbs heavier than the equivalent Delta. Only problem was with one of the table extensions had not had the adjustment screws threaded. I called GI's 800 number and within 3 days I had a new set at my door by courier along with a prepaid w/b to return the original set. Have used it to build my new maple top workbench and it works great.

Ray

[BeerBoy]

I've got this jointer too. I'm very happy with it. One note though, GI's manuals stink but they are working on improving them. Customer service is great though. I emailed them with a problem and got a phone call back within a couple of days from a very helpful person.