"Leon" wrote in message
. com...
Well I walked into my local machine dealer today and right up front and
center sat a work of art. The new Powermatic 2000.
If you have not seen it yet is worth a look simply for the entertainment
value. It looks old school with all its bulges and curves. Fit and
finish was immaculate. The cool improvements over the 66 are numerous and
I would want every one of them IF I were in the market again for a cabinet
saw. This new model comes with a snap out riving knife, snap out kick back
paws, and snap out blade guard. No tools need to remove any of these
pieces. For those of you that struggle with tightening and loosening the
arbor nut the arbor shaft now has a lock pin so that 1 wrench is all that
is needed. No need for a block of wood or a second wrench. Surrounding
the blade under the table is a dust shield with a 3" hole in it with a
flex hose that leads down to the 4" collection outlet at the back of the
saw. You can remove the tube if you want the cabinet to catch the dust.
I do not recall how the old PM66 motor is mounted but the motor on the
2000 is attached on the end near the pulley to a flat machined surface.
Like the 66 this saw is also a left tilt. The bevel gauge on the front of
the saw is not painted or simply a stamped piece of metal attached to the
cabinet. It is a work of art. About 1/2" thick and all degree increments
are molded into the metal piece. 2 adjustable angle indicators attached
with dove tail shaped clamps ride along the gauge for an easy reminder of
where to set the bevel. They do not however act as stops like those that
stop at 45 and 0 degrees. The saw weighs about 750 pounds. The miter
gauge is a great improvement. It beats the pants of the competitions
stock miter gauges. It has a fence and IIRC you turn a knob to adjust the
angle. The switch now has a button to push to start the motor surrounded
by a protruding donut shaped ring. Pushing the donut shaped ring turns
the motor off. Above the switch is a magnet button key. To lock the
switch simply remove the magnetic key. Last that I can remember and my
personal favorite is there is no need for a separate mobile base. The
saw has built-in, inside the cabinet, a set of 4 casters. You pull out on
the bevel adjustment wheel and it and the shaft pull out about 2
additional inches. The blade tilt disengages and the caster adjustment
engages. Crank the wheel and the saw lifts up off the floor. Walk to the
end of the right table extension and lift the support legs up and push or
pull the saw to where you want.

$2199 Made in Taiwan.



Yeah, get Powermatic to put it in writing that parts will be available for
some period of time (even a week) after it's been discontinued. (They're on
my permanent s***list for a Taiwanese shaper I bought from them for just
this reason.) I know the magazines are going ga-ga over the 2000, but then
if they didn't, what would their advertising revenues be? Thanks, but I'll
stick to either General or even suffer through a Delta from a toaster
company. (I hope B&D isn't screwing up Delta and Porter-Cable as I already
own a lot of those brands and like them quite a bit.)