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Leon[_7_]

On 2/24/2015 9:45 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 24 Feb 2015 19:19:19 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
wrote:

On 2/24/2015 5:44 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 24 Feb 2015 15:48:28 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
wrote:

On 2/24/2015 1:53 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
a piece on my table saw broke and I decided that I will not spend money
on Jet tools again. Too many little things have broken on the two shop
tools I have that are made by Jet.

I've made a replacement piece for the latest breakage from wood and
so far it seems to be fine
the original part is broken into about 10 pieces
a crappy cast aluminum part which was exactly the wrong material
for this application

I can't do that for the other stuff and have just had to fudge it

for example the quick-adjust handle on the lathe tool rest is
stripped.
the handle is spring loaded so you can pull it out, rotate it then
tighten/loosen in a better position. well that crappy aluminum
was a really bad choice as it stripped out and I did not abuse this
handle
I was always careful to pull it all the way out then rotate and
made sure it was seated again then tighten/loosen

I bought a plastic knob and that works ok, but not as much leverage
as the original handle

also the nut on the lathe tool rest that attaches under the bedway
was a flattened nut with a nylon ring. the nylon gave way and
the tool rest could not be adequately tightened to the bedway
replaced it with a plain old nut and so far so good

all these little things add up to sour me on Jet
they may have reduced the cost to pass on the savings to me but now
i lose and they lose

a lose-lose situation or mutually assured disappointment

I can understand your frustration and is the primary reason I buy better
quality tools. But having said that I own/have owned 5 Jet woodworking
machines. They are by far a better quality of any Delta tools that I
have purchased.

I like my Unisaur and Delta 18-300 drill press better than anything
equivalent from Jet. I can't think of any other Delta tools I'd have,
though.

I considered a Unisaw when buying my first cabinet saw in 1999. At that
time there was a lot of comments about new Unisaws having broken
trunnions. The Delta explanation was that the shippers were at fault.
While this may have been true no other manufacturers were having issues.
IIRC some one like Charlie Self had found out one way or another that
the torquing was not correct during assembly, IIRC. Anyway I thought
that the complaints/issues were an anomaly until I visited my local
supplier, 2 blocks from home, and learned that their show room floor saw
had a broken trunnion.

I remember that period. I didn't buy mine until 2009, though. It's
been great (wish I could play with it).

That prompted me to buy the Jet cabinet saw. I
owned that saw until 2013, when I replaced it with the SawStop, and sold
the saw for what I paid for the saw itself. I threw in the HTC out feed
roller and mobile base. The saw cost me $400 to use for 14 years. I
had no issues with the saw at all other than a normal situation that
even the Unisaw on NYW exhibited. I do have a Delta DP and like it, it
replaced a smaller Rockwell radial DP.

The SawStop would have cost twice what I paid for the Unisaw. The
capital expense board didn't have any problem with $1600. Nearly
$3500 wasn't going to get approved. ;-) Remember, it doesn't
represent income, rather outgo.

When I was looking at DPs, I just about went with the variable speed
Powermatic but decided that it didn't go slow enough. The 18-300 came
out about that time and I bought it instead.

I looked closely at the Powermatic VS but was really turned off by the
loud noises coming from the transmission. Way too noisily for an
expensive piece of equipment.

Delta Scroll Saw sucked a big one. Delta 15" stationary planer works
fine but is no better IMHO than the other Jet equipment that I have.
Delta 12" disk sander is useful but it is not a precision tool.
Although it has adjustments for table tilt I would not want to make
those adjustments. Delta 12" CMS prone to break at the guard.

And speaking of the Unisaw, the new one/latest version has dropped in
prove significantly since the first few years of production. IIRC when
I was looking at all of the saw brands again 2 years ago the Unisaw was
in the neighborhood of $3700.00, basically the price of a PM 2000.
Today it can be had for about $1000.00 less. The PM is a little less
too but still north of $3K.

Yes, when I bought my Unisaw the new version was about the price of
the SawStop (silly). Mine was a leftover so I got a steal on it New
Unisaws under $1000?

No, $1000. less that they were introduced at. You can get them now in
the $2500~$2700 range.

Anyway.....it was going to be the Euro version of a Laguna with scoring
blade and sliding table or the SawStop. I chose the industrial version
of the SS and I am extremely pleased with it.

Given unlimited $$ I might have done the same. ;-)

I hear you, selling my work helps justify the expense.