Steel City Toolworks New Products

[Paul Wunder]

Back from being allegedly dead, Steel City Tool Works took a full page ad on the rear cover of of this month's Wood Magazine announcing a new cabinet saw with a one piece full size top (no wings) and guaranteeing it to be the flattest in the industry. It is available in cast iron or granite. They invited people to see them at the Atlanta Woodworking Show in August

Their website has yet to be updated.

[Jesse Wilson]

Got mine today as well.... interesting.

[Ellen Benkin]

Would you buy a (relatively) expensive tool from a company that might not be here next year?

[Greg Carr]

Would you buy a (relatively) expensive tool from a company that might not be here next year?

This statement could apply to many established manufactures in many industries in our current economy. I wish them well.

[Paul Wunder]

Would you buy a (relatively) expensive tool from a company that might not be here next year?

Steel City Tool Works is the "visible" brand to us consumers. They own Orion MFG. which is a major private brand manufacturer and supplier of table saws, jointers, and other tools to Home Depot and Sears. I own the Sears "zipcode" saw made by Orion and the design and quality has been widely applauded for its price point.

[Curt Harms]

This statement could apply to many established manufactures in many industries in our current economy. I wish them well.

I agree with Greg. For years, people were willing to pay a premium for Delta & Powermatic because in twenty years they'd still be able to get parts for that machine. Today? I wouldn't bet on it.

[Rick Fisher]

Reality is that if you buy a Steel City, Delta or Powermatic, your buying a saw that was painted a certain color in Taiwan or China.

The company that is closest to be an actual manufacturer is probably Steel City, as its owned by Lee Kai Cheng (spellling ? ) .. who is actually a manufacturer in Asia.

I get a kick out of these distributors being called " Manufacturers" .. they are for the most part " Distributors " of imported machinery... They buy from Manufacturers, no different than we might have 25 years ago.

I was fiddling with Google maps and got pictures of the real "domestic manufacturers" left in North America..

Here is Northfield ..
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/Northfieldmachinery2.jpg

Here is General

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/GeneralMfg.jpg

This is what's left of mainstream manufacturing in North America..

[John Thompson]

Rick Fisher nailed it in his post...

[Prashun Patel]

They're also offering 'the only' helical head lunchbox planer in the sub $600 range.

The cast iron version looks more like a hybrid.

Sawstop, SteelCity and Grizzly are all making their pro level tools a little more budget friendly.

[Maik Tobin]

They're also offering 'the only' helical head lunchbox planer in the sub $600 range.

The cast iron version looks more like a hybrid.



I bought one of these a few months ago and I am very happy with it.

[Will Overton]

Reality is that if you buy a Steel City, Delta or Powermatic, your buying a saw that was painted a certain color in Taiwan or China.




Grizzly might be the only honest one of the bunch. They call themselves;

Purveyors of Fine Machinery


:cool:

[John Mark Lane]

Would you buy a (relatively) expensive tool from a company that might not be here next year?

Precisely! That's why I limit my investment activities to major, long-standing financial institutions. Like Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, AIG, Countrywide, Washington Mutual....

[Will Overton]

Precisely! That's why I limit my investment activities to major, long-standing financial institutions. Like Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, AIG, Countrywide, Washington Mutual....
:D:D:D



So I guess you'll be selling off your tools to put food on the table. ;)

[John Callahan]

This is what's left of mainstream manufacturing in North America..

Rick, there's probably a few folks who make the new Uni in Jackson, TN and Wapauca, WI (castings) that might disagree with you.

[glenn bradley]

They're also offering 'the only' helical head lunchbox planer in the sub $600 range.

Cutter are few in number and HSS, not carbide. Just an FYI.

[glenn bradley]

Precisely! That's why I limit my investment activities to major, long-standing financial institutions. Like Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, AIG, Countrywide, Washington Mutual....

I just blew coffee on the monitor. :D

[Nathan Callender]

Cutter are few in number and HSS, not carbide. Just an FYI.

Glenn - have you tested the SC planer with HSS inserts? I mean, enough to go through a set or two of the inserts? I am not being argumentative, but I've seen this statement from a few creekers several times when this planer is mentioned, and I take it that this is a bad thing, but I've also asked around to people who have actually owned these units and they say that it's not a problem at all. In fact, a few of them think they get better cuts with HSS anyway and they are still very durable with moderate use. What has been your experience with them?

[george wilson]

I would think that if the HSS cutters are shaped similarly to the carbide ones,they would plane figured woods better,because they have more of a scraping cut than ordinary blades.

[Joe Wiliams]

Can the HSS cutters be replaced with 'standard' carbide cutters?

[Nathan Callender]

I've done a little research on the SC planers and their cutterheads. It seems like the original ones had 2 sided cutters that were rectangular. These were the same cutterheads that accu-head.com sells for a bunch of other planers. These use HSS inserts. However, now the SC planer says it has 4 sided inserts that are square, so they must have updated the cutterhead to a new design. They are still HSS though, IIRC. So, 'standard' inserts may work depending on what one you get.

[Kurt Cady]

I read in the last issue of Wood that the cutters are not angled like a true helix head. They hit the wood dead on just like a knife would. The finish left by the Dewalt was graded higher. I think it was poplar and maple they tested. Not figured.

Just an FYI

[Peter Quinn]

Is everyone aware that manufacturing output in the USA has actually risen consistently though modestly as a percentage of GDP over the last 30 years? The number of manufacturing jobs has fallen dramatically, and wages paid for many remaining jobs is also grim due to automation like CNC and robotics etc., high tech manufacturing if you will. But the manufacturing rolls on. What we lost is the labor intensive manufacturing and assembly that consumers didn't want to pay for.

I know a guy that works in a small aircraft parts factory. He makes highly precise parts, sort of. He loads blanks into a CNC lathe, the lathe does all the work, 45 minutes later he loads another part. He spends the rest of his time reading a magazine, or a book, watching the machine for any "gross abnormalities" which rarely occur. He does a basic QA sequence to determine if the part is scrapped or sent to the next QA evaluation. Most parts pass his basic evaluation. Not a highly paid highly trained machinist making things one at a time, but he can make several times as many parts per day as a non automated machinist. And the machine never goes on strike, works three shifts a day, never takes a vacation, works weekends as required, and does nearly perfect work. Yes, what jobs haven't gone to the Chinese have gone to the robots!

Most wood working machines are relatively cheap and simple things compared to an airplane or other really precise machine. Maybe these things are better off being made off shore so we can be freed up to do more important work, like wood working? Or default credit swap trading. Or robbing old ladies of their life savings in other slimy but apparently legal methods. My eventual goal is to fill my shop with so many tools that it becomes too big to fail. Not there yet.:D

[Brett Warner]

Yes, what jobs haven't gone to the Chinese have gone to the robots!


I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.
:p

[Phil Thien]

Is everyone aware that manufacturing output in the USA has actually risen consistently though modestly as a percentage of GDP over the last 30 years?

Sorry, that is false.

[Peter Quinn]

Sorry, that is false.

Phil, you are right. I have misapplied the statistic. REAL manufacturing output has increased over 300% since 1980 for the USA, but manufacturing as a % of GDP has declined from 21% in 1980 to 13% in 2008. The real increase in manufacturing growth has occurred simultaneously with a loss of manufacturing jobs due mostly to automation and the ensuing productivity increases.

So, we have on aggregate been busy doing other things than that nasty dirty manufacturing. Things like flipping burgers, or flipping credit default swaps, or derivatives trading. Or setting up companies to sell goods manufactured off shore

[glenn bradley]

Glenn - have you tested the SC planer with HSS inserts? I mean, enough to go through a set or two of the inserts? I am not being argumentative, but I've seen this statement from a few creekers several times when this planer is mentioned, and I take it that this is a bad thing, but I've also asked around to people who have actually owned these units and they say that it's not a problem at all. In fact, a few of them think they get better cuts with HSS anyway and they are still very durable with moderate use. What has been your experience with them?

No worries, no offense taken. I did not state that they were better or worse. I was just clarifying for any folks who, as I often do, assume that when we say "spiral head" we automatically mean carbide.

HSS is obviously a valid cutter material. I'm not much on it for router bits but that is a high speed application. As to experience, I have been through multiple sets of HSS knives but have yet to turn my carbide cutters even once in the same time period. I am just a hobbyist and there is plenty of carbide and HSS in my gara . . er, shop.

[Phil Thien]

I read in the last issue of Wood that the cutters are not angled like a true helix head. They hit the wood dead on just like a knife would. The finish left by the Dewalt was graded higher. I think it was poplar and maple they tested. Not figured.

Just an FYI

They (Steel City) call it a helical head. The pictures show the inserts arranged for shear. I'm pretty sure those inserts are arranged in a helix.

It wouldn't be surprising the DeWalt scored higher for quality on straight-grained stock, as the helical heads leave a somewhat wavy (very subtle) surface. It sands smooth very easily.

But for stock with insane grain, I think anything with a helical head would outperform the DeWalt.

Finally, on the topic of HSS vs. carbide: HSS wins in initial sharpness (you can bring it to a much sharper edge), carbide wins for longevity.

[Nathan Callender]

What I've heard is that the HSS inserts in the SC cutterhead are set at a different angle than straight knives in the rest of the lunch box planers. (A steeper angle?) This may be the difference in sharpness and longevity that several people report. So, I think I'm going to show this thread to my wife and tell her that, for the sake of the community, I need to make a comparison between my current planer and the SC one. :-) What I can say is that for such a cool planer, there aren't many reviews or user comments about it first hand. That is quite amazing to me, but I guess that the price point is just quite steep for a lunch box planer. For about the same money, you can get a floor model with an upgrade path to a helical head later on.

[Maik Tobin]

What I've heard is that the HSS inserts in the SC cutterhead are set at a different angle than straight knives in the rest of the lunch box planers. (A steeper angle?) This may be the difference in sharpness and longevity that several people report. So, I think I'm going to show this thread to my wife and tell her that, for the sake of the community, I need to make a comparison between my current planer and the SC one. :-) What I can say is that for such a cool planer, there aren't many reviews or user comments about it first hand. That is quite amazing to me, but I guess that the price point is just quite steep for a lunch box planer. For about the same money, you can get a floor model with an upgrade path to a helical head later on.

I really wanted a 20inch floor model, but I was hesitant about attempting to get a 1,000 lb planner down my bulkhead. At 13 inches, the SC was the closest I would get. I have run approx 200 bf through it now and I just turned the first three heads. And that was primarily due to a large portion of the planning was hard maple. I have been very happy with the results as my planned lumber only needs a light sanding to be done with.