Hi all,
I am a beginner woodworker who first started butchering wood about 12
years ago (woodshop on an Air Force base; I'm active duty) I have been
speedly devouring magazines and books dedicated to woodworking and have
recently begun equipping my shop and building basic projects.

My current "tablesaw" is a tradesman benchtop model that I purchased
for $77 from the local Lowes. I would love to say that my workmanship
exceeded the operational capabilities of my machine... but to be
honest, I'm not sure... All I do know is that the vibration, ear
splitting scream, and 9 inch ripping capability definately influenced
my project choices

So I began looking at tablesaws.... I researched and searched, called
grizzly and ridgid... I examined the saws available to me (not many...
a contractor saw or two, and a 1960's beautiful cabinet saw (pretty
sure it was a unisaw) at my base shop) I decided that I had two
choices

1. Buy a saw I could afford now- a reasonable contractor saw like the
ridgid or a delta. I could possibly stretch to a craftsman 3/4 cabinet
model if I could find one on clearance. I knew this choice would
possibly lead to me desiring a larger saw in the future...

2. Bite the bullet and purchase an entry level cabinet saw/hybrid saw
from grizzly or woodtek. After calling around, a saw with a nice
fence, a mobile base, and shipping could be found for around $1300

Of course, my wife is my ultimate advisor; and she used the logic "why
buy 2 saws in the next 10 years? Wait for a good deal (there are
usually good discounts, esp for military, around memorial day) and then
find the saw you want and buy it" What man does not love to hear those
words from his spouse.... it reminds you why you married her in the
first place--not only is she pretty and flowery smelling... she's
smarter than you too! (now I just have to figure out what she saw in
me... it definately wasn't my woodworking skills)

Then, two days ago... I saw it on Amazon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shipping estimate for these items: June 1, 2006 - June 15, 2006

Delivery estimate: June 6, 2006 - June 22, 2006

1 "Delta 50-289 Mobile Machine Base for Unisaw with 52" Unifence"
Tools & Hardware; $154.44

Shipping estimate for these items: June 1, 2006 - June 15, 2006

Delivery estimate: June 5, 2006 - June 20, 2006
1 "Jet 708626CK/DC-1100CK Dust Collector with Filter Canister"
Tools & Hardware; $599.99

Shipping estimate for these items: May 4, 2006

Delivery estimate: May 8, 2006 - May 9, 2006
1 "Delta 36-L31X-BC50 X5 3HP Left Tilt Unisaw with 50" Biesemeyer"
Tools & Hardware; $1,382.50
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The price of the saw seemed great. The deal seems even better with the
FREE dust extractor (they deduct the price at the end) and
FREE mobile base (I know lots of folks get this)

With shipping ($99), my total for the saw, base, and dust extractor
($49 shipping)
came to a hair over $1500. It is definately more saw than I was
looking at (I had my head set on a griz 1023) but the deal seemed
waaaaaaaaay too good to pass up on.

I feel like I have just purchased a saw that will serve me for my
lifetime (and I'm not even that old yet and just wanted to share
the experience. If anyone has any advice or expertise you can share
with me about your experience with this saw I would love to read it.
Also, I can't help but feel that I got a pretty darned good deal on
this saw. If I'm deluding myself, I would love to hear this too.. heck
I might even laugh at myself... again)

Thank you, and I look forward to your responses,
Lawrence
San Angelo, TX

On 1 May 2006 09:28:42 -0700, "
wrote:


1 "Delta 50-289 Mobile Machine Base for Unisaw with 52" Unifence"
Tools & Hardware; $154.44

1 "Jet 708626CK/DC-1100CK Dust Collector with Filter Canister"
Tools & Hardware; $599.99

1 "Delta 36-L31X-BC50 X5 3HP Left Tilt Unisaw with 50" Biesemeyer"
Tools & Hardware; $1,382.50

I feel like I have just purchased a saw that will serve me for my
lifetime (and I'm not even that old yet and just wanted to share
the experience. If anyone has any advice or expertise you can share
with me about your experience with this saw I would love to read it.
Also, I can't help but feel that I got a pretty darned good deal on
this saw. If I'm deluding myself, I would love to hear this too.. heck
I might even laugh at myself... again)

You will have a smile on your face every time you use that saw, for
the rest of your life--priceless.

--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net

Proud participant of rec.woodworking since February, 1997

email addy de-spam-ified due to 1,000 spams per month.
If you can't figure out how to use it, I probably wouldn't
care to correspond with you anyway.

On Mon, 01 May 2006 18:27:45 +0100, LRod wrote:

On 1 May 2006 09:28:42 -0700, "
wrote:


1 "Delta 50-289 Mobile Machine Base for Unisaw with 52" Unifence"
Tools & Hardware; $154.44

1 "Jet 708626CK/DC-1100CK Dust Collector with Filter Canister"
Tools & Hardware; $599.99

1 "Delta 36-L31X-BC50 X5 3HP Left Tilt Unisaw with 50" Biesemeyer"
Tools & Hardware; $1,382.50

I feel like I have just purchased a saw that will serve me for my
lifetime (and I'm not even that old yet and just wanted to share
the experience. If anyone has any advice or expertise you can share
with me about your experience with this saw I would love to read it.
Also, I can't help but feel that I got a pretty darned good deal on
this saw. If I'm deluding myself, I would love to hear this too.. heck
I might even laugh at myself... again)

You will have a smile on your face every time you use that saw, for
the rest of your life--priceless.

Absolutely. Unisaws may not be what they once were, but they're still the
gold standard for home-shop saws. When you've built something that you're
willing to show in public, please post pictures at
alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking.

And thank you for serving our country!

--
-Joe Wells

"Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight."
-Ford Frick upon Stan Musial's retirement

You totally did the right thing. Buy once. This saw will easily go 50
years with minimal care. Even if we've moved to lasers in 25 years,
this saw will still do the job. Furthermore, it's a classic kind of
investment. If you stop woodworking for any reason, someone will buy it
for a big chunk of what you paid for it. It will pay for itself over
and over as you use it through the years.

You made the right choice. You will never have cause to wonder if you
have enough tool for a project. It's a solid buy in every way.

wrote:
Hi all,
I am a beginner woodworker who first started butchering wood about 12
years ago (woodshop on an Air Force base; I'm active duty) I have been
speedly devouring magazines and books dedicated to woodworking and have
recently begun equipping my shop and building basic projects.

My current "tablesaw" is a tradesman benchtop model that I purchased
for $77 from the local Lowes. I would love to say that my workmanship
exceeded the operational capabilities of my machine... but to be
honest, I'm not sure... All I do know is that the vibration, ear
splitting scream, and 9 inch ripping capability definately influenced
my project choices

So I began looking at tablesaws.... I researched and searched, called
grizzly and ridgid... I examined the saws available to me (not many...
a contractor saw or two, and a 1960's beautiful cabinet saw (pretty
sure it was a unisaw) at my base shop) I decided that I had two
choices

Lawrence,
I have the rigid table saw. It has had unbelievablely perfect quality
over the 5 years I have had it. Has had almost no vibration, cuts very
well. Not very good dust collectoin I build funiture with morise and
tenon, craftsman, shaker etc. I also have made 2 beautiful and great
to play electric guitars with that saw. I do have 3 blades, a rip, a
crosscut and a dado set for the saw.
1. Are cabinet saws better. Yes but they require 220 and are very
heavy Do I wish I had one. Yes but am very satisfied with what I
have.
2. I have had no luck in initial or even long term quality of delta
with a jointer, band saw, desktop mortiser. (ie my jointers guard very
poorly designed and doesn't work right, never did) Fit and finish
never perfect on delta tools. I also have the rigid planer same age
with no complaints as well.
3. Grizzly is a little bit of a chance but not much. I think they are
at least as good as delta.
4. The jet contractor hybrid super saw looks interesting. The dewalt
same type looks interesting.
Unfortunately everybody seems to own every body company wise so It is
hard to stick to brands.
5. I find it is best to critically, very critically look at models at
the store, then get the one that seems best regardless of price but
that isn't very practicaly always is it.

my 2cents
MBR

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all,
I am a beginner woodworker who first started butchering wood about 12
years ago (woodshop on an Air Force base; I'm active duty) I have been
speedly devouring magazines and books dedicated to woodworking and have
recently begun equipping my shop and building basic projects.

snipe....

Lawrence,

One consideration you didn't address - your status. I retired from the AF
back in 83 and moved on average every 18 months - or sooner and spent half
my career on TDY. Any large TS is not going to ship well - very often and
survive. Plus when it's in storage, you have no control over the environment
(think rust) and who will pack and crate it the way it needs to insure it
survives?

If that is not a concern - go for the gold and enjoy. You won't regret it.
I did wait until I retired before getting the big tools for the same reasons
I stated above.

Bob S.

Sounds like you got a great saw at a great price. Did your overbuy? I
think not.

Too much is not enough!

Post back and let us know how you like it once you get it up and
running.

Thanks for keeping us all safe.

thank you all for your replies.

Bob,

Thank you for your response (and to everyone else that replied, thank
you too)

To answer your question, I am active duty. I'm in a fairly stable
AFSC, and only pcs about every 4 years or so (I just spent 8 years at
the same duty station
am now in a 3 year fixed tour) I do deploy quite a bit, though not at
this duty station (I am an instructor) but decided that I would be
better served by having a cabinet saw available when I am home.

I've already purchased the saw and am anxiously awaiting its delivery.
I hope that my next change of station will be stateside-- if it is I
will be doing a partial
Do-it-yourself move (DITY) and will be pulling my "shop" in a trailer
behind my truck to our next destination. If we go overseas again, I
will be purchasing
50hertz motors for my stationary tools so they can be used. (and
really hope that I made Master Sergeant this year so I can get the
increased weight allowance)

What suprised me about the saw I purchased was the price. I haven't
been able to find anything comparable for anything like the price I am
paying... I was wondering if anyone else had seen these saws selling
for a price like this, or if this was a "super-duper-lets get people to
click on our "too low to show price button" special from amazon.
(update: the price on amazon has now gone back up to around $1900--and
no free dust extractor or base... I guess I got really lucky. I
ordered 2 days ago (Saturday))
Thanks again for your responses, I am really looking forward to my new
tool (and carefully respected toy)
Lawrence

Lawrence,

First off, thank you for serving. I'm second generation military, my son is
the 3rd generation.

Can't speak to the table saw performance, though I have heard good things
about that model, but the Jet Dust collector you are going to love. I have
that model and it performs well beyond my expectations.

RangerPaul

--
Email replies to remove the "nospam_"
before you reply.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/dream-designs


wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all,
I am a beginner woodworker who first started butchering wood about 12
years ago (woodshop on an Air Force base; I'm active duty) I have been
speedly devouring magazines and books dedicated to woodworking and have
recently begun equipping my shop and building basic projects.

My current "tablesaw" is a tradesman benchtop model that I purchased
for $77 from the local Lowes. I would love to say that my workmanship
exceeded the operational capabilities of my machine... but to be
honest, I'm not sure... All I do know is that the vibration, ear
splitting scream, and 9 inch ripping capability definately influenced
my project choices

So I began looking at tablesaws.... I researched and searched, called
grizzly and ridgid... I examined the saws available to me (not many...
a contractor saw or two, and a 1960's beautiful cabinet saw (pretty
sure it was a unisaw) at my base shop) I decided that I had two
choices

1. Buy a saw I could afford now- a reasonable contractor saw like the
ridgid or a delta. I could possibly stretch to a craftsman 3/4 cabinet
model if I could find one on clearance. I knew this choice would
possibly lead to me desiring a larger saw in the future...

2. Bite the bullet and purchase an entry level cabinet saw/hybrid saw
from grizzly or woodtek. After calling around, a saw with a nice
fence, a mobile base, and shipping could be found for around $1300

Of course, my wife is my ultimate advisor; and she used the logic "why
buy 2 saws in the next 10 years? Wait for a good deal (there are
usually good discounts, esp for military, around memorial day) and then
find the saw you want and buy it" What man does not love to hear those
words from his spouse.... it reminds you why you married her in the
first place--not only is she pretty and flowery smelling... she's
smarter than you too! (now I just have to figure out what she saw in
me... it definately wasn't my woodworking skills)

Then, two days ago... I saw it on Amazon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shipping estimate for these items: June 1, 2006 - June 15, 2006

Delivery estimate: June 6, 2006 - June 22, 2006

1 "Delta 50-289 Mobile Machine Base for Unisaw with 52" Unifence"
Tools & Hardware; $154.44

Shipping estimate for these items: June 1, 2006 - June 15, 2006

Delivery estimate: June 5, 2006 - June 20, 2006
1 "Jet 708626CK/DC-1100CK Dust Collector with Filter Canister"
Tools & Hardware; $599.99

Shipping estimate for these items: May 4, 2006

Delivery estimate: May 8, 2006 - May 9, 2006
1 "Delta 36-L31X-BC50 X5 3HP Left Tilt Unisaw with 50" Biesemeyer"
Tools & Hardware; $1,382.50
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The price of the saw seemed great. The deal seems even better with the
FREE dust extractor (they deduct the price at the end) and
FREE mobile base (I know lots of folks get this)

With shipping ($99), my total for the saw, base, and dust extractor
($49 shipping)
came to a hair over $1500. It is definately more saw than I was
looking at (I had my head set on a griz 1023) but the deal seemed
waaaaaaaaay too good to pass up on.

I feel like I have just purchased a saw that will serve me for my
lifetime (and I'm not even that old yet and just wanted to share
the experience. If anyone has any advice or expertise you can share
with me about your experience with this saw I would love to read it.
Also, I can't help but feel that I got a pretty darned good deal on
this saw. If I'm deluding myself, I would love to hear this too.. heck
I might even laugh at myself... again)

Thank you, and I look forward to your responses,
Lawrence
San Angelo, TX

Joe Wells wrote:

Absolutely. Unisaws may not be what they once were, but they're still
the gold standard for home-shop saws.

I always heard that about the General.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

Larry Blanchard wrote:
Joe Wells wrote:

Absolutely. Unisaws may not be what they once were, but they're still
the gold standard for home-shop saws.

I always heard that about the General.



I own a General, and I always heard that about the PM66. G

Ya did good... I have the Jet 10" cabinet saw for some ten years now,
built an 80 foot pole barn, built abig house, built a carriage house,
and still happy with it...
For cabinet work you are not generally cutting thick stock... What I
do for fine work is to put big blade stabilizers on, with the best
blade(s) I can get... The large stabilizers force you to keep the blade
partially lowered to keep the stabilizer from hitting the insert, but
the saw blade runs so quiet and stable that you will be grinning ear to
ear as you make those one tenth of a degree adjustments to get that
perfect fit...

Have fun..

denny

Nice design! I just emailed you my order.

I think your only problem is not with the saw but with the military --
specifically, with the inevitable move(s). Shortly after getting a good
table saw, bandsaw and lathe, I got orders to an overseas site that had a
restricted HHG weight allowance, followed by an assignment with no space for
a workshop, followed by another restricted weight assignment, followed by
retirement and another overseas job that kept my tools in storage for
decades. I was able to sell the bandsaw and table saw, but the lathe went
into storage, and 25 years later it's still under wraps, as my free time and
interests (but primarily free time) changed over the years. -- Regards --
wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all,
I am a beginner woodworker who first started butchering wood about 12
years ago (woodshop on an Air Force base; I'm active duty) I have been
speedly devouring magazines and books dedicated to woodworking and have
recently begun equipping my shop and building basic projects.

My current "tablesaw" is a tradesman benchtop model that I purchased
for $77 from the local Lowes. I would love to say that my workmanship
exceeded the operational capabilities of my machine... but to be
honest, I'm not sure... All I do know is that the vibration, ear
splitting scream, and 9 inch ripping capability definately influenced
my project choices

So I began looking at tablesaws.... I researched and searched, called
grizzly and ridgid... I examined the saws available to me (not many...
a contractor saw or two, and a 1960's beautiful cabinet saw (pretty
sure it was a unisaw) at my base shop) I decided that I had two
choices

1. Buy a saw I could afford now- a reasonable contractor saw like the
ridgid or a delta. I could possibly stretch to a craftsman 3/4 cabinet
model if I could find one on clearance. I knew this choice would
possibly lead to me desiring a larger saw in the future...

2. Bite the bullet and purchase an entry level cabinet saw/hybrid saw
from grizzly or woodtek. After calling around, a saw with a nice
fence, a mobile base, and shipping could be found for around $1300

Of course, my wife is my ultimate advisor; and she used the logic "why
buy 2 saws in the next 10 years? Wait for a good deal (there are
usually good discounts, esp for military, around memorial day) and then
find the saw you want and buy it" What man does not love to hear those
words from his spouse.... it reminds you why you married her in the
first place--not only is she pretty and flowery smelling... she's
smarter than you too! (now I just have to figure out what she saw in
me... it definately wasn't my woodworking skills)

Then, two days ago... I saw it on Amazon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shipping estimate for these items: June 1, 2006 - June 15, 2006

Delivery estimate: June 6, 2006 - June 22, 2006

1 "Delta 50-289 Mobile Machine Base for Unisaw with 52" Unifence"
Tools & Hardware; $154.44

Shipping estimate for these items: June 1, 2006 - June 15, 2006

Delivery estimate: June 5, 2006 - June 20, 2006
1 "Jet 708626CK/DC-1100CK Dust Collector with Filter Canister"
Tools & Hardware; $599.99

Shipping estimate for these items: May 4, 2006

Delivery estimate: May 8, 2006 - May 9, 2006
1 "Delta 36-L31X-BC50 X5 3HP Left Tilt Unisaw with 50" Biesemeyer"
Tools & Hardware; $1,382.50
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The price of the saw seemed great. The deal seems even better with the
FREE dust extractor (they deduct the price at the end) and
FREE mobile base (I know lots of folks get this)

With shipping ($99), my total for the saw, base, and dust extractor
($49 shipping)
came to a hair over $1500. It is definately more saw than I was
looking at (I had my head set on a griz 1023) but the deal seemed
waaaaaaaaay too good to pass up on.

I feel like I have just purchased a saw that will serve me for my
lifetime (and I'm not even that old yet and just wanted to share
the experience. If anyone has any advice or expertise you can share
with me about your experience with this saw I would love to read it.
Also, I can't help but feel that I got a pretty darned good deal on
this saw. If I'm deluding myself, I would love to hear this too.. heck
I might even laugh at myself... again)

Thank you, and I look forward to your responses,
Lawrence
San Angelo, TX