Replies

1. 
   GJMID2 | Jul 02, 2004 04:31am | #1

   If I understand the problem, your stock may be out of square. If the face of your stock being cut is not square, the bottom edge might not be meeting the cutter and a gap results. I don't think I've explained this very well, but if you would like to e-mail me direct, I think with a sketch, I can show you the problem....george M

2. 
   pauldowns | Jul 02, 2004 04:52am | #2

   In my experience with many Delta tools, they are never as good as I expected them to be. It's always little things like you describe, but annoying. And I am not buying the cheaper tools, either - I'm talking about professional shop grade equipment. But in their defense, I've never had an experience quite as bas as a recent purchase from Powermatic:

   http://www.powermatic.com/PMWood/ProductPreviews/HPS126-HPS67-PP.html

   which we received about a month ago. This saw cost about $6500. When it arrived, it was totally and completely out of adjustment, and required about 6 hours of set up and adjusting in EVERY possible way: blad angle, blade height, and especially the sliding table. Also, the assembly of the most basic components was screwed up. For instance, if you adjusted the blade angle, after the carraige hit the 90 degree stop the handle would continue to turn until it fell off in your hand, and then the carraige would go crashing back down to 45 degrees as the adjusting screw was hanging free inside the cabinet. That took several hours to fix. A week after we got it set up and running one of the attachement points on the cross cut fence fell to pieces, again rendering the saw useless. Bad weld. The dust collector hose couldn't be installed correctly, and we ended up discarding it and putting in another. Now all of the little quick release handles are breaking, one by one, and we will have to order and replace the entire batch. Personally, I would have rather paid a little more and gotten a tool which didn't fall apart every other week. Are you listening Powermatic? I doubt it.

   So back to your Delta - if you have to spend a little time to get it to work, you're not unusual. Don't expect much from Delta or their Taiwanese minions. Welcome to the brave new world of tool manufacturing. The tools are cheaper in every way.

1. 
   Mackwood | Jul 02, 2004 07:15am | #3

   Really makes a pretty strong case for restoring old iron if you have the time."WISH IN ONE HAND, #### IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"

1. 
   pauldowns | Jul 02, 2004 09:01pm | #4

   I don't. In the ideal world, I would get what I paid for. I'm not afraid to pay more and get more - good tools make me money, after all. What ticks me off is that this saw could have been great with more attention to detail, and I would have happily paid more for it.

   Paul

1. 
   johnhardy | Jul 05, 2004 12:17am | #5

   Paul,

   First, I've to tell you how much I'm impressed with your work. I first looked at your web site after reading the Greene and Greene discussion, and your tables are ... simply fabulous. And ingenious. Kudos.

   But I'm somewhat curious as to why you didn't jump all over Powermatic and require that they fix the machine themselves or take it back. This is unacceptable for machinery at the hobbyist level, and totally unacceptable for professional equipment. I'd have complained long and hard and mentioned other manufacturers (Felder, et al). Looks to me like you're providing Powermatic with free technicians (your expense).

   Oh, I also loved the Mission armoire you did and which is on the back cover of the current FWW. You do simply amazing work. I live in California and don't get back East very often, but when I do go back I'll give you a jingle and try to come by your shop. Would that work?

   John

1. 
   pauldowns | Jul 05, 2004 04:45pm | #6

   Here's why: it's not worth it to wait to have them send someone out every 10 days. It means more work lost than just fixing the thing. It means that all of these repairs happen on their schedule, not mine. Fortunately, one of my guys is a former machinist who can weld, so he takes broken parts home and fixes them. The knobs can be ordered and attained overnight from MSC. I don't trust their technicians to do the set up correctly - if they know how to do it, it would have been done correctly when delivered. I simply don't trust my dealer to manage this. They are very nice people and smile all the way through the sales process, and would do their best with problems like this, but it really isn't their fault either. It's Powermatics fault, for using cheap Chinese junk components throughout the machine (which is allegedly made in Belgium). I figure that posting my experience with this machine will help others evaluate whether they might want to buy it or not. On the up side, when it's working it works well. Just wish it was more durable.

   Paul