Table Saw Wobble

[John Viola]

Howdy all. Been a while since I posted here but I've got something that has me stumped. I have a Steel City 35600 table saw(might be 36500, I checked it quickly this morning). It's a contractor hybrid (enclosed base). It's 4 years old and been sort of a thorn in my side since day 1. The floor model I tested was great and the unit got good reviews but mine has been a pain. Chief among the issues is the entire cabinet wobbles. Typically, this is easy to fix with shims, but when you shim one side, it rocks in another direction. before you know it, there are shims on all 4 sides. When it was stationary in my shop, this was not a huge issue, but it never felt secure. Now I need to keep it in a mobile base and it's pretty much impossible to keep it stable. It's makingme uncomfortable to use it. So I disassembled the entire saw and got it nice and stable as an empty cabinet, but as soon as I started adding the motor and main table top, I got the rocking again. I was so frustrated I had to walk away. I don't know what to do.

I have a couple of other problems with this saw but this is the biggest. Anyone ever have a similar situation? Anyone have the same saw?

Thanks.

[Bob Wingard]

Build or buy a mobile base that has three casters (tripod effect) ... securely mount the saw to said base ... three points of contact CAN'T wobble ... geometrically not possible.

[Steve Wurster]

Is the mobile base rocking, or the saw rocking when sitting on the mobile base? If it's the saw, and only doing it when you start loading it up, I would look into the cabinet buckling somewhat under the weight and therefore pulling up one of the corners. You should be able to deal with that just with shims. I'm also guessing the cabinet doesn't have any levelers.

[John Viola]

True; no levelers. It's rocking on all surfaces, whether on the floor or in the base. I start with shims and it gets to be like an M. C. Escher print. Around and around. I'm off to try again..