OMGA Mitre saw

[Karl Brogger]

Anyone ever use one? Came across one on an online auction.

They're almost $1600 new, looks like a nice unit for a bench. Not too sure about it be being 3phase either.

http://www.omgainc.com/images/products/10/resize_MEC_300_ST_LARGE.jpg

[David DeCristoforo]

You can get a single phase version. It's worth the dough. It will outlast a dozen of these "athletic shoe" looking plastic saws that cost four or five hundred bucks a pop. Just one issue. The blade takes a loooooong time to spin up. I mounted mine on a bench and rewired it, replacing the trigger with a switch after the first day of using it and having to spend half the day waiting for the blade to come up to speed. Other than that, it is a top quality "industrial grade" machine.....

[Jeff Duncan]

David, I think you should have your wiring checked out, I have the T50-350 and it comes up to speed just fine, less than 2 seconds.

As David said they're great machines for a shop. However, be aware these are not portable machines. Mine weighs about 200 lbs, so it doesn't move. It's a stationary machine that will cut all day long without a sweat. Also most of the Omga saws do NOT have the ability to do compound cuts as you can on most of the portable saws. They may make one version that bevels, can't recall at the moment.
In short if your doing a lot of precision cutting like FF parts or door parts the Omga is a great machine. If your doing installs though, your still going to need one of those cheap plastic screamers.

Oh almost forgot, the Omga distributor on the US has been great to deal with and the parts are reasonable. I had to replace parts of the guard on mine and they were very helpful.

good luck,
JeffD

[David DeCristoforo]

"...it comes up to speed just fine, less than 2 seconds..."

I just timed mine and it takes just about five seconds to reach full speed. I plugged my jointer (Delta 8") into the same outlet and it jumps up to running speed almost instantly. The circuit is about a thirty foot long run of ten gauge wire on a twenty amp breaker so I'm thinking it "should" be OK. I'm no electrician though....

And you are completely correct about these not being the best choice for a "portable" saw!

[Jeff Duncan]

10 gauge huh, yeah I don't think you'll be overtaxing that anytime soon:D Is that the only machine on the circuit? I have 2 machines in my shop on 10 Gg. the smaller is 7-1/2hp, almost everything else up to 5hp is on 12 Gg.

I was actually thinking about the saws wiring only b/c you mentioned you re-wired it and replaced the switch. Not sure if that would cause the slow start problem mind you, but I've used several of these saws in the past before I bought mine, and it's definitely not normal. You may even want to give them a call, it's possible that it's an easily solved problem.

good luck,
JeffD

[Karl Brogger]

The auction had an inspection day today, so if I don't spend too much on the clamp rack I want, I may scoop up that saw if it goes for less than $500. I just have bench use in mind, so carrying that thing around isn't an issue. What I don't have is 3phase power, so it'll end up being yet another piece of equipment sitting around until I get into a new building. Or I could look into swapping motors I guess.

[Jeff Duncan]

Keep in mind that it's a European made saw, I'm not sure how easy it would be to find a replacement motor for it? Probably not an off-the-shelf mount.
Then again $500 is awfully optimistic, I wouldn't get to hopeful. I don't know how auctions are going in your neck of the woods, but around my way there's still plenty of buyers spending money. Got another one coming up in a couple weeks so we'll see if my lucks any better.

good luck,
JeffD

[Karl Brogger]

Stuff has been going dirt cheap, but who knows. I'm not really wound up about it unless I can get a good deal, and if it sits on the shelf for a bit untill I can get the new shop built, not a big deal either. I was hoping to build a 4200 sq/ft shop in 08', but everything slowed down so much that I'm actually glad I didn't. But I'm in 1600 sq/ft right now, and its really tight.

[Mike Heidrick]

Karl what clamp rack were you looking at? I have a JLT 8' panel clamp rack that I love. You going powered?

[Eric DeSilva]

There's a custom decking place down in Woodbridge, VA that shut down and they keep posting ads for OMGAs on CL. I wanna say $300, negotiable. Don't think he will ship, but if you have a friend that can hold if for you in the DC area...

[Jay Jeffery]

I picked up one of these last winter from someone on Craigslist.

The seller originally listed it at $200, but when I went to pick it up from him, I found it had 4 wires (I don't' have 3 phase power) and not the 3 wires he said it had. So I went to Lowes and bought a piece of junk Hitachi 12" miter saw. It never cut straight and fell apart after only a few uses. It went back to Lowes and the guy had relisted the OMGA at $125. He'd listed it several times and just couldn't find a buyer. I had a NIB Bosh impact driver that I traded him for the saw.

The saw has no motor breaking, so if you are brave, you can start it on single phase power by getting the blade spinning, get your hands out of the way and then hitting the power switch. It's not advisable, but I started it that way a few times to make sure it worked right before building a phase converter. My hands were never near any of the carbide teeth as they were covered witht he blade gaurd.

Right now I just have a start capacitor opperated on a push switch. Eventually I'll add some run capacitors, but I don't know what values I need to buy and all my tool funds from the last 6 months have been sunk into the money pit that is my router table.

I miss being able to cut 4X4's, cut compound miters and being able to move the saw without a lot of exertion. But the saw cut square once I adjusted it, which the Hitachi never did.

[Karl Brogger]

Karl what clamp rack were you looking at? I have a JLT 8' panel clamp rack that I love. You going powered?

12' JLT clamp.

[Jeff Duncan]

Good grief....the saw blade will cost you more than $125:eek: I already have an Omga and I'd still buy it if I saw one locally for less than $200.

I looked at a clamp rack also at the last auction I went to. Like most of the stuff there it went for a reasonable amount. Still worth going though, never know when you'll get lucky.

JeffD

[Jay Jeffery]

Good grief....the saw blade will cost you more than $125:eek: I already have an Omga and I'd still buy it if I saw one locally for less than $200.

JeffD

The market for used 3 phase equipment is not kind to private party sellers. It is in many ways a piece of specialty equipment, so services set up to match up buyers and sellers can take a nice cut, but these things do go pretty cheap on the used market.

I should also mention that the machine was not in remarkably good condition. It had a heavy buildup of some kind of laminate glue and a couple parts were seized up. The blade was rusted and it was clear the saw had seen a lot of use, but not in a while, despite being 6 years old. It was a gamble that it was worth anything more than scrap (of which there would be a fair amount in this saw). But it cleaned up pretty well. I've been happy enough with it, but not enough that I've bought a really good blade to put on it, just a Craftsman branded Amani. If I were to move, I don't know that I would take it with me.

[David DeCristoforo]

Is a "good machine" that has endured years of hard abuse still a "good machine"? A tool that has been thrashed is not likely to be a "good buy" at any price. The fact that the saw you bought is not good for much more than a boat anchor is no indication of the overall quality of the machine in general.

[Noah Katz]

"What I don't have is 3phase power"

VFD

[Jay Jeffery]

Is a "good machine" that has endured years of hard abuse still a "good machine"? A tool that has been thrashed is not likely to be a "good buy" at any price. The fact that the saw you bought is not good for much more than a boat anchor is no indication of the overall quality of the machine in general.

The point I hoped to make was just the opposite. This saw was used hard for a few years, neglected a few more, wired up to run on power it wasn't designed to use and I won't buy it the blade matched to quality of the saw, yet it still cuts better more accurately than anything you could buy at Home Depot.

But it still a 12" chop saw that can't cut a 4X4, can't do compound miters, weighs too much to carry anywhere, and takes 220v to run. In other words, this saw has enough limitations that hobbiests or others strapped for space (like me) might be better off with a standard miter saw.

[Jeff Duncan]

I agree and disagree, in general I try to avoid abused machinery, too much risk. But these particular machines would be hard to kill. It's a simple and robust design that can withstand a good amount of punishment. The only parts on it that aren't really thick and heavy cast iron are easily replaceable and fairly reasonable. Though mine is the 14" so there's no cheapy Sears blades for me.
The Omga saws are not really meant for the hobby or trim markets. They're targeting pro shops that can handle the high entry fee and need to cut dead accurate all day long. The last one I saw at auction was smaller than mine and in pretty decent shape and it went for $575. 3 phase power doesn't deter guys around my way nearly as much as it seems to elsewhere. I'm sure it keeps the hobbiests away, but there's plenty of other pro's out there looking for a deal.

BTW, most shops that own Omga's still have at least one box store chopsaw around. I have a couple for taking to the jobsite.

JeffD

[Larry Edgerton]

I have wanted one for years but I have a pair of old Delta cast iron miter saws that are tuned to perfection so I don't have the justification, especially as work sucks here, but I really want one! :)

I have a Omga 700 radial arm saw and it blows away the heavyweight Dewalt industrial I replaced for accuracy, and I have not had a problem other than the cord spring mount broke.

Good luck on the auction.

[Thomas Bennett]

I bought one of the 12" Omga saws about six years ago. I was makeing hundreds of face frames for some school furniture. I had been using a Hitachi slide saw, which I loved for all the various cuts you can do with it...but , when cutting a hundred parts to the same size on the Omga, you get a hundred parts exactly the same size. The Hitachi just couldn't keep the tolerances.
My machine is three phase, and seems to go to full speed almost instantly. One thing I did not like about it was the switch. I removed a little spring , in the switch, so I could keep the switch on , instead of the switch shutting off after each cut. For repetative cuts, I found I wanted the saw ON, possibly dangerous, I know.

[Karl Brogger]

Turns out the one that I'm looking at is a 460V. According to my electrician neighbor getting it to work in my shop will be a royal pain in the rear. So, if I do get one, it'll probably be new, and single phase.

[Noah Katz]

"Turns out the one that I'm looking at is a 460V. According to my electrician neighbor getting it to work in my shop will be a royal pain in the rear."

Lots of 440V motors can be reconfigured to 220V; then just get a VFD.

[Karl Brogger]

There's also this on the auction and its 230V. I had heard of the OMGA brand, but Rema is a new one to me. Looks real similar in design. the only price reference I could find was for an auction in Florida where a used one sold for $450.

http://www.k-bidirect.com/kbidpics/August09/RainbowWoods/27.JPG




http://www.rema-sa.pl/pilarka,2,25,3,2_11.html

Its Polish made. Kinda has that eastern bloc look to it too.

[Eric DeSilva]

Sorry if this is a double post--I went back and refreshed and didn't see it. Maybe it is too early.

Anyway, the OMGA I referenced before is back in the DC craigslist ads. He has an OMGA RAS, as well as 13 OMGA T50-350 miter saws. $150 ea. They are 3PH.

At 5% of retail, I may have to get one just on principle.

[Jay Jeffery]

Turns out the one that I'm looking at is a 460V. According to my electrician neighbor getting it to work in my shop will be a royal pain in the rear. So, if I do get one, it'll probably be new, and single phase.

The plate on mine indicates it can be wired for either 460 or 230, 3 phase (the voltages are from memory, I may be off by a few volts). The terminal box has about 12 wires in it, so I believe that it could be reconfigured. There are a few plates that shunt terminal strips. My guess would be that moving those would change the coils from parallel to series, doubling the voltage needed, but that really is just a guess. You would want to have someone with more experience at wiring motors look at it.

[Jeff Duncan]

Anyone from DC coming to New England in the near future??? For $150 I'd buy one as a backup! Just a little too far to drive.


JeffD

[Karl Brogger]

The OMGA sold for $626 + 10% buyers premium. I didn't buy it

The Derda sold for $220 + 10% buyers premium. I did buy it. Hopefully its a decent unit. Gotta be better than the other crap mitre saws out there anyway.

The 12' JLT clamp rack I was looking at sold for $900 + 10% buyers premium. I bought that too. Pretty happy about the price, as it looked almost new.

[Alan Schaffter]

Karl,

Are you spending all your sailing money? You've just spent a new set of sails.

[Karl Brogger]

Karl,

Are you spending all your sailing money? You've just spent a new set of sails.

Not for my boat, that wouldn't even cover the spinnaker, much less a $1700 main. :D

Its not fun money, its work money. It'll bring production up, so I can do more, faster, to make more money, to buy more tools with, to make more money, to buy more tools with, to make m.......

Its a vicious cycle.

[J.R. Rutter]

The OMGA sold for $626 + 10% buyers premium. I didn't buy it

The Derda sold for $220 + 10% buyers premium. I did buy it. Hopefully its a decent unit. Gotta be better than the other crap mitre saws out there anyway.

The 12' JLT clamp rack I was looking at sold for $900 + 10% buyers premium. I bought that too. Pretty happy about the price, as it looked almost new.

Good job! Those are very gloatworthy!

[Karl Brogger]

Good job! Those are very gloatworthy!

Except I have zero space for the clamp rack. The current plan is to put it in the in-laws machine shed untill I can get a new shop built, which probably won't be for a while. :(