I may be somewhat unique in that I had a bad experience with this saw.
It was about $850 at the time (with riser block). Nicely made, but the
guide rod was twisted so the guides would move 1/4 inch left or right as
they were moved up and down, requiring readjustment whenever the stock
thickness changed. 6 weeks for a replacement. Better but not perfect.
Powermatic suggesting loosening the bolt between the top and bottom
halves of the saw, and twisting, which required readjusting the table to
keep it perpendicular to the blade. (They said there was no need to make
any effort to keep the wheels coplanar.) Helped, but still far from
perfect. Lots of "barreling" to the cut, so I tried an Iturra spring and
better blade. The quick release broke. Overall, it never worked any
better than my 12" sears - although I never tried any serious resawing.
I was frustrated enough to get rid of it. I ended up paying $200 more
for a Grizzly 0513x. (The current g0513X2 is $1044 delivered, and looks
to have a better trunnion than mine, although I have no complaints.)
Very happy. Much quieter, tracks perfectly, cuts anything. Everything
works effortlessly. Biggest problem was the challenge of getting it
into the basement!
Good luck
David
Jeff wrote:
> Does anybody have this saw:
>
> http://www.powermatic.com/Products.aspx?nav=ByPart&ClassID=332112&Part=1791216K
>
> I'd love to get feedback from somebody who knows.
>
> TIA,
> Jeff
August 2006. Before and after that there were good reviews on the wreck
and elsewhere. While it just didn't work for me, YMMV. My main thought
for you is that for not much more money you can get a MUCH nicer tool.
The flipside is that you may be able to get a near equal tool (Rikon,
Grizzly) for considerably less (although I personally have not used
them). I think Grizzly will help you find local owners if you want to
see something in person.
The "features" were all nice, but not really necessary. The quick
release (a nice thing, but now available on most saws) bumped into the
light. The auxiliary table is on the back where it is seldom needed. I
never got around to installing it. I'm not sure the blower did anything.
I purchased mine from amazon, and was pleased with their service. They
eventually took it back, minus a healthy fee (because I didn't tell them
I was waiting for the guide post as my 30 day return window closed).
They could have left me trying to sell it on my own.
David
Jeff wrote:
> On Dec 12, 7:14 pm, David <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I may be somewhat unique in that I had a bad experience with this saw.
>> It was about $850 at the time (with riser block). Nicely made, but the
>> guide rod was twisted so the guides would move 1/4 inch left or right as
>> they were moved up and down, requiring readjustment whenever the stock
>> thickness changed. 6 weeks for a replacement. Better but not perfect.
>> Powermatic suggesting loosening the bolt between the top and bottom
>> halves of the saw, and twisting, which required readjusting the table to
>> keep it perpendicular to the blade. (They said there was no need to make
>> any effort to keep the wheels coplanar.) Helped, but still far from
>> perfect. Lots of "barreling" to the cut, so I tried an Iturra spring and
>> better blade. The quick release broke. Overall, it never worked any
>> better than my 12" sears - although I never tried any serious resawing.
>>
>> I was frustrated enough to get rid of it. I ended up paying $200 more
>> for a Grizzly 0513x. (The current g0513X2 is $1044 delivered, and looks
>> to have a better trunnion than mine, although I have no complaints.)
>> Very happy. Much quieter, tracks perfectly, cuts anything. Everything
>> works effortlessly. Biggest problem was the challenge of getting it
>> into the basement!
>>
>
> David: How long ago was this? I'm not feeling good vibes...
>
>
>
Jeff <[email protected]> writes:
> Does anybody have this saw:
>
> http://www.powermatic.com/Products.aspx?nav=ByPart&ClassID=332112&Part=1791216K
I have the Jet deluxe (which is a lower quality version) and wish I
had saved the money to buy the Powermatic instead. It's a better deal
in the long run.
On Dec 12, 3:32 pm, Jeff <[email protected]> wrote:
> Does anybody have this saw:
>
> http://www.powermatic.com/Products.aspx?nav=ByPart&ClassID=332112&Par...
>
> I'd love to get feedback from somebody who knows.
>
> TIA,x
> Jeff
I saw this Powermatic saw at a woodworking show recently. Very
impressive. I'm gonna buy the Powermatic or the Grizzly G0555X 14"
bandsaw. I'm leaning toward the Grizzly. Any opinions?
http://www.grizzly.com/products/g0555x
On Dec 12, 7:14 pm, David <[email protected]> wrote:
> I may be somewhat unique in that I had a bad experience with this saw.
> It was about $850 at the time (with riser block). Nicely made, but the
> guide rod was twisted so the guides would move 1/4 inch left or right as
> they were moved up and down, requiring readjustment whenever the stock
> thickness changed. 6 weeks for a replacement. Better but not perfect.
> Powermatic suggesting loosening the bolt between the top and bottom
> halves of the saw, and twisting, which required readjusting the table to
> keep it perpendicular to the blade. (They said there was no need to make
> any effort to keep the wheels coplanar.) Helped, but still far from
> perfect. Lots of "barreling" to the cut, so I tried an Iturra spring and
> better blade. The quick release broke. Overall, it never worked any
> better than my 12" sears - although I never tried any serious resawing.
>
> I was frustrated enough to get rid of it. I ended up paying $200 more
> for a Grizzly 0513x. (The current g0513X2 is $1044 delivered, and looks
> to have a better trunnion than mine, although I have no complaints.)
> Very happy. Much quieter, tracks perfectly, cuts anything. Everything
> works effortlessly. Biggest problem was the challenge of getting it
> into the basement!
>
David: How long ago was this? I'm not feeling good vibes...
On Dec 12, 2:32 pm, Jeff <[email protected]> wrote:
> Does anybody have this saw:
>
> http://www.powermatic.com/Products.aspx?nav=ByPart&ClassID=332112&Par...
>
> I'd love to get feedback from somebody who knows.
>
> TIA,
> Jeff
My experience is completly opposite Dave's. I bought my saw in
February of this year, I got it for $899.99 with the riserblock kit
and a $100.00 rebate. Took a month to get the riser kit and 6 weeks to
get the rebate.
I assembled the saw myself and by myself (NOT recommended, this thing
is heavy). I adjusted it according to the directions and installed the
stock blade as all the blades I had ordered for it were 105's for the
saw with the riser. I uesd the saw as it was for a month with no
issues but without really straining it. After I received the riser and
installed it, again by myself (really stupid this time), I put on a
nice 3TPI hook blade in 3/4", trued up the table, adjusted the blade
guides and support bearing and started resawing. The saw was dead on,
plenty of power, I was resawing some 8 inch wide bloodwood and some
real nice 9 inch wide walnut.The saw is vibration free and quiet, dust
collection is ok. I do agree that the table extension at the rear is
not a lot of help. I will also say that the fence, while well made and
nicely adjustable, is too short to be of much use and there are no
holes to attach an extension, so I had to drill it.
As far as comparing it too the Rikon and the Grizzly, I only have one
Grizzly tool (a mortiser) and I am not crazzy about it, but it was
cheap. I also like to put my hands on something that I am going to
drop a grand on. The Rikon looked nice, but I was not able to get any
real good feedback on it at the time. If I was doing it again, I would
look more seriously at it.
The end result for me was that the saw "Felt" better, "Looked" better,
had a real Carter blade relase and Carter type guides. I decided to
pay a little more for something I knew to be a quality tool that
worked out to be just that in my shop.
On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 07:17:05 -0800 (PST), Neillarson
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
>I assembled the saw myself and by myself (NOT recommended, this thing
>is heavy).
>
> After I received the riser and
>installed it, again by myself (really stupid this time)
I also did both of those steps alone on my Delta.
I feel your pain! <G>