Quote Originally Posted by Van Huskey View Post
First, I agree with conventional wisdom and would prefer cast wheels BUT as long wheels made from cast or aluminum are concentric, true and well balanced I would submit you would never know the difference in my hobby sized saws without opening the door. The extra mass would help when encountering a knot in the wood for instance but the flywheel effect will be so small and short lived it isn't really worth much, now when you are talking about something like a 36" Tannewitz the extra mass in those wheels has a lot of stored energy and might actually be useful. When comparing the 513P to other saws in the price range I would rather have the 2hp motor than cast iron wheels.
I don't get why people like CI wheels, all that extra mass takes more power from the motor to spin the wheel decreasing the saw's cutting power. If you look at high-end saws like Northfield or Tannewitz, they don't use CI, they use Al or steel disks for wheels.