Hi, I'm a new guy to this forum, though I have been reading it for
several months. Here's a letter I sent to Powermatic and WMH tool
group. Sorta long...

Hi,

Here is a story I'd like to share with you.

I purchased a brand new Powermatic model 66 table saw from Amazon.com
after much deliberation and brand research. I read reviews on the
internet, checked news groups and talked to vendors at trade shows.
Your saw beat out the Unisaw, it was close, but the real deal maker
was the reputation of the customer support provided by powermatic. I
heard and read horror stories about delta's customer service and I
didn't want to chance needing them and being frustrated. The fact this
saw is made in the USA was also very important to me, I prefer to buy
American when possible.

There I was Monday night waiting like a kid at Christmas, delivery to
be after work 6-9 PM. Well the truck pulls up at 9:30 and boy am I
excited to see this shinny new Expensive saw made in USA. By the way,
I also bought a Jet 14 inch bandsaw that was being delivered at the
same time.

As I began unloading the saw I noticed a motor cover, which you
description specifically says is not included, that's really nice
except I had purchased a cover before the saw arrived anticipating the
need for one. Now I'm out that $75.00.

The first thing I notice about this saw is the complete and totally
lousy way everything is packed. Surprisingly nothing appears
destroyed, even thought the saw's wood frame is bashed and broken. But
then again I have not completed the assembly yet, because I couldn't.
After I opened the box/crate for the saw I opened the saw door to look
inside and behold, the dado insert has not been wrapped and has
bounced around inside the saw during transport. Now the inside of my
brand new saw is scratched and the dado insert is nicked and scratched
up. Already looks old and beat up, new from the factory, plus
scratched for rust to start. Then there's another box with the blade
splitter/shield stuffed inside the saw. Upon opening this box, I find
no padding or protection of parts other than little plastic bags to
protect the heavy metal parts from rubbing and scratching on each
other. To add insult to the poor packing job, the tightening knob for
the arbor tilt handle has fallen out and gotten lost somewhere between
your place and mine. The other one was ready to fall out, as it had
backed completely out of its treads but held by the edge of the box.
Some tape would have prevented that lose.

How about that new motor cover. There was absolutely no padding or
protection for this plastic motor cover, and the two self tapping
screws were just thrown in the box, where they have managed to scratch
the cover while the shipment traveled from your factory to my house.

I haven't even started unwrapping the fence or table yet. I'm not
going to be surprised if they are as poorly packed as the rest of the
boxes, hopefully not damaged

So now I start trying to assemble this machine. Lets just say the
manual is quite inferior. I knew nothing about how to assemble this
saw prior to receiving it, so I must rely on the manual for guiding me
through assembly and setup. So I read through the manual and then
began the process. Well, first thing I must do is install the blade.
Sounds simple enough except there is no description of how to get the
insert out. So I unscrew all of the allen screws thinking they are
holding it down, nope they don't. Didn't see any description of that
in the manual.

Next the manual shows a guy using a piece of wood to hold the blade
still while loosening/tightening the arbor nut. Well that is fine and
dandy if there is a blade installed. I can't loosen the arbor nut
installed by the factory with the wrench provided because the arbor
shaft turns. I note there are two flat spots on the arbor shaft and
think to myself, "powermatic guys are smart enough to provide a wrench
to hold the shaft while I loosen the nut (my old cheap Delta saw did)"
so I look through the boxes and parts and find no more wrenches. Then
I look through my tools and no wrenches I have are thin enough to
access the flats on the shaft. So now I have a saw that I can't
install a blade till I find a tool that will hold the shaft. Useless
saw for sawing.

Well okay, lets move on. I'll install a power cable to the saw. Since
Powermatic doesn't provide one or even a guide to buying the right
size, I get one the same gauge as the motor cable 12/3 calculating
this will be big enough. I open the switch cover, looking at the
picture in the manual of how the power is routed (which is good
enough), but crap there is no cable clamp to hold the power cable into
the switch box. Not even a note in the manual that one is needed. So
off I go to Home Depot and buy a package of 5 (only comes in packages
of five) for $1.25 or 25 cents each. Come on guys, a 25 cent part you
know is needed and don't supply or even says it's needed. So I finally
get power and the motor runs (without a saw blade of course). Well one
small success.

I start looking at the bolts to hold the table wings to the saw. I
think these are the lowest grade bolts you could find, I think even
the cheap Delta saw I got rid of had better bolts holding the wings
on. I'm afraid if I use them, they will break off in the saw. So I'll
spend a couple more bucks on my two thousand dollar saw and replace
them with higher grade bolts.

I work in aerospace and I know what quality products, good
documentation and sound packaging are. I feel you people at Powermatic
are living on your reputation, falling short of doing what is
necessary to really make a great product. It's not that hard or costs
that much to make that final step. Maybe your quality department has
been laid of to save money? I don't know but I'll tell you this, the
quality of the product, documentation and packaging I received is
shamefully poor. I sure hope you can take this constructive criticism
and improve your product, after all, you are representatives of US
manufacturing. By the way the Jet bandsaw went together great and all
parts where there and well packaged.

Regards,
Larry Penners
Boeing Satellite Systems
310-416-9383