Mike Cutler
02-15-2006, 12:47 PM
Last weekend was my birthday, and LOML took me on a shopping spree to the local Woodcraft store in Warwick RI.
I had decided on getting a dovetail jig, and was trying to decide between the Leigh and the Akeda, tough choice. So I was sort of wandering around the store trying to decide when I noticed that they had started carrying the General Line of tablesaws. After looking them all over I decided that my 15 year old Jet contractor needed to be replaced. It had recently started vibrating and thumping like an 80's disco, so it was time to look around some.
I came away with the General Model 50-220 "Hybrid Saw". It is essentially a contractor saw with dust collection capabilities, but it is really well executed. The bigger General was just to large to fit in my shop, and I didn't want another contractor saw because of the lack of dust collection. The 50-220 seems to really fit my needs.
I also noticed the JessEm Mast-R-slide on another saw. Wow! It was sweet. I've had a love/hate relationship with my Incra 2000 since I bought it, and this was going to be it's replacement. I had to have one of these.
In the end I walked out of the store with a General Model 50-220 tablesaw, the JessEm Mast-R-Slide, a nice Jet mobile base, and an CMT combination blade. All courtesy of LOML( She really twisted my arm to get these toys, hard.;) )
I have the saw and the slider setup now. I'll really be able to check it out more fully when the weather warms up a bit, but the initial cuts I did to line everything up were very positive. Nice machine(s) I believe that I am really going to enjoy them.
I haven't given them complete once over but these are my likes and dislikes.
The General was very poorly packaged. It is essentially loose, and sitting on the pallet under the cardboard box. Luckily it only weighs about 250-300lbs, so there were no incidents when the saw shifted in the box as I was getting it out of the truck.
The fit and finish of the saw are excellent. Everything was aligned, so there was very little fussing about to do, with the exception of modifying the fence rails to mount the JessEm. The tables are flat in all directions and polished. Very nice.
The JessEm simply is "as advertised". What a nice accessory. This is a high quality addition to any tablesaw, and I'm really looking forward to getting used to it. It get's my hands away from the blade, and it is very solid.
Here are the pics of the machine assembled. It's about 20 degF. in the shop right about now, but when I get a little more time I'll try to post some more complete critiques.
I had decided on getting a dovetail jig, and was trying to decide between the Leigh and the Akeda, tough choice. So I was sort of wandering around the store trying to decide when I noticed that they had started carrying the General Line of tablesaws. After looking them all over I decided that my 15 year old Jet contractor needed to be replaced. It had recently started vibrating and thumping like an 80's disco, so it was time to look around some.
I came away with the General Model 50-220 "Hybrid Saw". It is essentially a contractor saw with dust collection capabilities, but it is really well executed. The bigger General was just to large to fit in my shop, and I didn't want another contractor saw because of the lack of dust collection. The 50-220 seems to really fit my needs.
I also noticed the JessEm Mast-R-slide on another saw. Wow! It was sweet. I've had a love/hate relationship with my Incra 2000 since I bought it, and this was going to be it's replacement. I had to have one of these.
In the end I walked out of the store with a General Model 50-220 tablesaw, the JessEm Mast-R-Slide, a nice Jet mobile base, and an CMT combination blade. All courtesy of LOML( She really twisted my arm to get these toys, hard.;) )
I have the saw and the slider setup now. I'll really be able to check it out more fully when the weather warms up a bit, but the initial cuts I did to line everything up were very positive. Nice machine(s) I believe that I am really going to enjoy them.
I haven't given them complete once over but these are my likes and dislikes.
The General was very poorly packaged. It is essentially loose, and sitting on the pallet under the cardboard box. Luckily it only weighs about 250-300lbs, so there were no incidents when the saw shifted in the box as I was getting it out of the truck.
The fit and finish of the saw are excellent. Everything was aligned, so there was very little fussing about to do, with the exception of modifying the fence rails to mount the JessEm. The tables are flat in all directions and polished. Very nice.
The JessEm simply is "as advertised". What a nice accessory. This is a high quality addition to any tablesaw, and I'm really looking forward to getting used to it. It get's my hands away from the blade, and it is very solid.
Here are the pics of the machine assembled. It's about 20 degF. in the shop right about now, but when I get a little more time I'll try to post some more complete critiques.