General 650

[Allen Grimes]

Hey guys,

I've been woodworking for about a year now but strictly with handtools. I'm fed up with the suckers so now I buying all the powertools I can afford. After a whole lot of research I came up with the General 650 (I don't believe in starter tools). But now I have a couple questions.

Does anybody know if I can fit this saw through a 35" wide doorway? and
Can anyone recomend a good mobile base?

[Chris Padilla]

We'll be thrilled to help you out with your question (do a search, too) but we are a friendly group here and prefer real names to yell at you with! ;) If this is your real name, my apologies:

Shop Fox makes a real nice, sturdy mobile base. See it here: http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2004/196.cfm?

[Allen Grimes]

Yes Chris Wood Pants is my real name but some people call me Allen Grimes

[Chris Padilla]

LOL...okay, good sense of humor...you'll fit in fine here, Allen! :D

Send a PM to Jackie Outten and she'll be happy to change your name for you. Welcome to the Creek! :)

[Allen Grimes]

Ok Chris,

I sent the PM. Didn't look like she was on though so I dont know when she'll make the change.

By the way, thanks for the link. EDIT: thats exactly what I was looking for.

[Rich Konopka]

Hey guys,

I've been woodworking for about a year now but strictly with handtools. I'm fed up with the suckers so now I buying all the powertools I can afford. After a whole lot of research I came up with the General 650 (I don't believe in starter tools). But now I have a couple questions.

Does anybody know if I can fit this saw through a 35" wide doorway? and
Can anyone recomend a good mobile base?

The base table size is 28X36" so it should fit in a 35" door.

BTW, it is a nice saw and I have had my eye on the General to replace my Delta CS. It seems most of the creekers are PM, Uni, Jet, or Grizzly owners. I have not seen much posted on the General 650. Although a friend on the wreck owns one and swears by it.

Welcome to the Creek.

[Chris Padilla]

The one thing I think a lot of us forget about is that unless we've actually USED/WORKED ON the various large piece of equipment we all seek (TS, BS, Lathe, DP, Jointer, Planer, Combos, Sliders, etc.), we'll never appreciate what "the best" is.

For me, I've use two table saws in my life: My dad's old Craftsman CS and my own Grizzly 1023Z. They are like night and day. Certainly I've seen and heard/read all about the P66 or General 650 or Jet or Delta but I've never taken any of them for a ride so what do I know? I've no clue what I am missing but all I can say is that my TS does what I need it to and it hasn't had a single problem going on 4 years now.

Of course, this is coming from a guy whose first BS was a MM20 and now has an expensive aircraft-carrier monster J/P (sitting in a box) and this combo machine will be his first jointer and second planer! :o ;)

[Allen Grimes]

well I've never used a high quality saw but I have used a low quality one. I've been in going to this ww class 20hrs a week for a year now but because of the lack of money (schools lack) I havent used too many power tools. In a years time I've used the table saw maybe three times for rip cuts I've used a router 3 times and a power jigsaw once. I've been doing everything else by hand.

The table saw I used is such poor quality that I have to plane off the blade marks. I don't even try to use it for cross cuts because it rips chunks out not just splinters.

[Jim Becker]

Allen, welcome aboard. The General 650 gets a lot of great comments. It's a good, heavy sturdy saw and will likely outlast you...unless you get the urge for a Felder or something like that after the lottery hits. :D

[Chris Padilla]

Allen,

That is great to hear about a woodworking program. I think you are learning a lot to use your hands first and electrons second. What school is it...where is it at?

[Allen Grimes]

Im in Mexico, Chris. I bought a house down here about 3 years ago. The class Im in is the only one available. I like it a lot. I learned a lot. The only real problem is Im learning in spanish so when I talk to english speaking WWs it can be confusing, but at the same time, the Im learning the terminology in both languages although slower in english.

[Allen Grimes]

by the way, thanks Rich and Jim.

[Michael Ballent]

Do not discount how valuable your hand tool skills will come in down the line. I started to work on the electron enabled side of WW with a full shop and just now I am looking at getting the hand tools to complement the power tools. Also since you are learning to do WW in Mexico I am sure that you are learning techniques that we have (US/Canada) may have not seen before. I look forward to your stories and welcome to SMC :) We will be more than happy to spend your money :) (Hey that sort of rhymes)

[Frank Pellow]

Hey guys,

I've been woodworking for about a year now but strictly with handtools. I'm fed up with the suckers so now I buying all the powertools I can afford. After a whole lot of research I came up with the General 650 (I don't believe in starter tools). But now I have a couple questions.

Does anybody know if I can fit this saw through a 35" wide doorway? and
Can anyone recomend a good mobile base?

That's a great saw to get started with Allen. Congratulations.

As long as you are going with General, why don't you use the General Inernational base 50-025. It was rated as the Editor's Best Value base in Fine Woodworking's 2003/2004 annual Tools and Shops issue. A friend of mine has two of them and really likes them.

[John Miliunas]

Allen, first off, WELCOME ABOARD! :) Great place to hang! Now, as to the General, I don't have one, nor have I used one. BUT, when I was looking for my own cabinet saw about a year ago, I picked a Bridgewood. What's that got to do with General? Well, it seems that people seem to compare the BW to the PM66 AND, the General! :D I figured my BW was in good company, so that's what I went with. I don't know as to ever hearing a bad word about the 650, so I'm thinkin' you'd be A-OK with it! :D In any event, on your next trip through SMC, you might think about posting a pic or two of some of your work! At 20hrs/wk in a WW class, I'll bet you just might have a nice piece or two to share with us! :rolleyes: Come often, stay long and have fun! :cool:

[Shelley Bolster]

Hi Allen. I replaced my 20 year old Craftsman table saw with the General 650 a few months ago and absolutely love it. I'm about 3/4 of the way through building a bedroom suite with it and I am just so impressed! It saws so dead on, that I have been doing glue-ups straight off the saw without running over the jointer. The manual is the pits - it's good thing the saw is easy to assemble. (it took my husband and I three hours from unloading from the truck to up and running) I would however, recommend that you upgrade to a better blade as the stock blade is mediocre.
I'm sure you will be really happy with it.
Shelley

[larry merlau]

i too upgraded from an old craftsman and have had it for about 3 months now. it is a dream to use, the 650 is definatly equal to the delta and pm66 in my opinion built better than the delta now days. just need to correct my right hand to stop reaching for the stop switch. :D welcome and we dont mind what your name is, just enjoy your stay and vist. oh the picture cops are very adimnt about pics..they "marshall" is tyler ;)

[Allen Grimes]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the warm welcome. As for pictures, I only have a picture of 3 of my first 4 projects. I don't have a camera of my own to take them with, but I'll see what I can do to getting pictures of the good stuff.

[Frank Pellow]

...

The manual is the pits - it's good thing the saw is easy to assemble.
...
Shelley

I have long term plans to purchase some General tools (such as table saw, jointer, and drill press) and have been seriously reading reviews of their tools for the last couple of years. The reviews almost always say how good the tool is but how bad the documentation is. Sometimes, they also say that General is aware of the problem and is going to do something about it. As a sometimes technical writer, I know that it does not take two years to fix a problem like this.

I have two questions:

1) Has anyone seen any evidence that General is, indeed, improving their manuals?

2) Is anyone aware of an "after market" source of good manuals on General tools? The existence of such alternate documentation is very common in the computer industry but I don't know if this is the case in to woodworking tools industry. I certainly have seen no evidence of it if it exists.

[Jim Becker]

The reviews almost always say how good the tool is but how bad the documentation is. Sometimes, they also say that General is aware of the problem and is going to do something about it. As a sometimes technical writer, I know that it does not take two years to fix a problem like this.
Frank, it must be an industry problem...buy any high-end product, like Mini Max, Aganzzi, Festool, etc., and you'll find that they probably make the General, Delta, PM and Grizzly manuals look like the best textbooks on the market. Manuals are not a priority it seems. Fortunately, most stuff with tools is intuitive, too...

[Joe Mioux]

1) Has anyone seen any evidence that General is, indeed, improving their manuals?

2) Is anyone aware of an "after market" source of good manuals on General tools? The existence of such alternate documentation is very common in the computer industry but I don't know if this is the case in to woodworking tools industry. I certainly have seen no evidence of it if it exists.
Frank: The manuals have not improved. The tenoning jig manual is worse than the table saw manuals. General needs to stop photocopying their manuals and start having them printed with professional photographs.

The next General tool I buy is going to be one that was set up by the store:)

[Michael Ballent]

It seems to me that there are very few companies in the WW industry that really care about their manuals. Best in the business has to be Leigh, worse, well let's not go there ;)

[Jay Andrews]

If you are looking for a new table saw that offers you the biggest 'bang-for-the-buck', check out the Laguna Tools TSS table saw. It's worth a look and offers features not seen in other saws. It will take a 10" blade or 12" blade, scoring is an option as is the nicest sliding table you will find on a tablesaw. It is also now available with an 8' slider option. Contact Laguna Tools for a free video.

http://www.lagunatools.com/tablesaws.htm :cool: