Shop Fox cabinet saw

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Subject: Re: Shop Fox cabinet saw
Date: 06/25/03
Posted By: r. jones, rj4038@aol.com
#M1295972

I just finished putting my Shop Fox tablesaw together this evening. :cool: Good fit and finish. Run out on the blade at about 8" dia. was .0012 and the fence was off to the right by .003 from front to back. The miter slot was parallel to the blade. It was right straight out of the box. I have the long rails with the Classic fence (the Bies clone) and the Shop Fox mobile base. I put the base together and under the saw w/o help. I had a neighbor help me for a few minutes with the left cast iron wing. Other than that I did it all my self. It easily passed the nickel test. I put a Forrest WW II on it and it cut 5/4 cherry like a hot knife through butter. The cut surface was very smooth. :D The guard/splitter leaves something to be desired but is functional. I'll use it--it is far superior to not using one. :mad:

It is not a Griz with a different color paint job. It has a heavy metal motor cover; I believe the one for the Griz is extra and plastic. The hand wheels are bigger and a little easier to use than the Griz. The miter gauge is improved over the one that came with a friend's Griz. Support comes from a good local dealer and the Shop Fox has a 2 year warranty. Local, to me, is better than mail order in terms of advice and support. There was very little difference in the cost of the two saws when shipping and motor cover were included.

Life in the shop is good!

[Bruce Page]

Congratulations Ron!
The Shop Fox is a good looking machine and it sounds like a well made one too. You should get many years of enjoyment out of it. I’m glad you bought it from a local dealer, I try to buy local whenever I can – just ask Woodworkers Supply of New Mexico!

A PICTURE IS WORTH A 1000 WORDS, but it uses up a 1000 times the memory.

[Bart Leetch]

So what did it cost. Inquiring mind want to know. The people at Grizzly which also own Shop Fox told me that there isn't any major difference because they would have to change the assembly line to make them. The Grizzly G1023SL comes with a metal motor cover. Even if it came with a plastic cover as I understand it, it would only down grade it to the level of PM 66. :D of course I could be wrong about the PM 66 having a plastic cover but that is what they look like in the pictures I've seen.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

It was $1300 and change complete with long rails, extension table and mobile base, including sales tax (6% in Indiana). Add another $100 for the WW II. I've used a ShopSmith table saw at home for years. Man, what a great change! Tilt arbor, not tilt table and not changing setups all the time.

[David LaRue]

:D of course I could be wrong about the PM 66 having a plastic cover but that is what they look like in the pictures I've seen.

You are right the newer PM66's have a plastic motor covers. Mine is quite heavy duty. I actually like the plastic cover, it is durable and won't rattle, dent, or scratch like a metal one. Of course, either type will not effect the operation of the saw. :)

Dave

[Dave Hammelef]

You are right the newer PM66's have a plastic motor covers. Mine is quite heavy duty. I actually like the plastic cover, it is durable and won't rattle, dent, or scratch like a metal one. Of course, either type will not effect the operation of the saw. :)

Dave

I have PM66 and think the plastic cover is cheap, already broke one of the tabs that screw grabs to hold it tight. And when you uncover it you have to find someplace to put that big plasic thing.

[Dave Arbuckle]

Unisaws also now have plastic motor covers. Handwheels also plastic, if I recall correctly. ;)

Dave

[Bob Lasley]

Congratulations Ron,

I have had my Shop Fox about 9 months now and love it. I never put the OEM splitter on mine. I am attaching pics of what I did.

Hate to burst your balloon, but the saw is a Grizz in Fox clothing. You hit on the differences being the motor cover, hand wheels and miter gauge.....and how about that miter gauge? I got this info from a sales guy at the Grizz location in Missouri. BTW, the zero clearance insert for the Grizz 1023SL fits the Fox.

Enjoy the saw and be safe!
Bob

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Bob,
Right on the only differences being the motor cover, miter gauge and hand wheels. I don't care if the paint it purple and orange stripes. It's a good saw for the money. Your splitter looks good. What is the thickess? Do you use an overarm guard or none at all. I am a believer in guards--maybe a result of teaching in and around the wood shop (make that the manufacturing lab) for 35 years.
Ron

[Bob Lasley]

Bob,
Right on the only differences being the motor cover, miter gauge and hand wheels. I don't care if the paint it purple and orange stripes. It's a good saw for the money. Your splitter looks good. What is the thickess? Do you use an overarm guard or none at all. I am a believer in guards--maybe a result of teaching in and around the wood shop (make that the manufacturing lab) for 35 years.
Ron

Ron,

The splitter is made from 1/8" steel strap. I had to do some grinding, filing and polishing on it to get it thin enough not to bind in the kerf. I spent all of thirty minutes making it. It slips over the one bolt behind the blade so it is easy to install and remove.

I currently do not use a guard, but have thought about building an overarm guard. I personally find most guards more of a hinderance than help, I am however a firm believer in splitters.

Hope you enjoy your saw as much as I have,
Bob

[Robert Henderson]

If you have the Shop Fox W1677 then you have a Grizzly 1023SL painted white. The price for the 1023Sl is 174.00 less but the warranty on the W1677 better. Go figure since they are indeed the same saw! Download the manuals from Grizzly and Woodstock International and you will see that both manuals even use some of the same pictures. Grizzly and Woodstock are both in Bellingham, WA and owned by the same man. Bob Henderson

P.S. They are both great saws and are worth the money.

[Jim DeLaney]

My new Shop Fox Cabinet Saw was delivered last Saturday.

I got what I think is a decent deal. The saw was $999, the roller base was an additional $85.00, and delivery (from about 40 miles away) was $25.00.

I bought the saw from Battel's Hardware in Whittier, CA - my 'local' distributor. They set it all up for me, so I had nearly nothing to do but install a blade and a 240v~ plug, and I was ready to go.

I checked it over thoroughly prior to starting it, and found the following:

Table is virtually dead flat. I can barely see light under my Starret straight-edge at the real left corner - about 0.002". Left & right extensions are nicely ground, as is the table itself. The left table was maybe 0.010 high. Took about two minutes to adjust it.

As delivered, the blade was 0.008" out of parallel with the miter slot. Took about ten minutes to get that down to 0.002".

Run-out, measured 1¾" above the table, with a Forrest Woodworker II blade installed was 0.003". This same blade showed 0.007 on my old contractor's saw. Not sure how much of the 0.003" is in the blade, and how much is in the arbor. Either way, it's pretty good...

Overall fit and finish is very good. A couple runs in the black paint on the fence rails, and one small scratch in the motor cover paint. Otherwise no problems. Battel's had removed all the cosmoline, but there were a couple small smears of it left on the edges of the left table extension.

The "Shop Fox Classic" fence - a Biesemeyer clone - needed to be tweaked. It was maybe 0.035" out of parallel with the miter slot from front to rear (rear closer than front - not good) About two minutes with the allen wrench had it dead parallel.

I replaced the rear angle iron for the fence with a piece of 3/16" flat bar so I could mount my Uniguard. No problems encountered there.

Surprisingly, my Uniguard splitter - from a right tilt saw - bolted up with no problem. Since the Shop Fox is a left tilt, and the old saw was a right tilter, I had to change the base just a bit. I pressed out the cross bolt in the base (after removing the "e-clip" and spring) and pressed it in from the other side. On the splitter itself, I removed the 'T' bolt and installed it from the other side. That was all that was necessary. The Shop Fox bolt pattern is the same as Delta's, so the base bolted right up, and the splitter dropped in and aligned nicely.

One peculiarity about this saw, though - All the bolts are listed as 5/16-18 or 3/8-16 (American standard sizes), but all the allen head bolts/screws are metric - mostly 3mm and 6mm. Odd to see a mix of systems. I thought General Motors cars were the only ones that did that. ;-)

All in all, I'm very satisfied with this saw, and the purchase/service. For West Coasters, I'd heartily recommend Battels for any tool purchases you may need. The also carry Jet and Delta, in addition to Shop Fox.