Steel City Tool Works

[Russ Massery]

Just read article online from "Wood Online" about a new start up machinery company called Steel City Tools. There isn't to much info on pricing other than there in line with likes on Jet and Delta. One thing that did catch my eye was a table saw top coated with Titanium Nitrite. I won't rust and wears like carbide. Along with some other innovative ideas. They are going to unvail at IWF this summer.

[Norman Hitt]

Just read article online from "Wood Online" about a new start up machinery company call Steel City Tools. There isn't to much info on pricing other than there in line with likes on Jet and Delta. One thing that did catch my eye was a table saw top coated with Titanium Nitrite. I won't rust and wears like carbide. Along with some other innovative ideas. They are going to unvail at IWF this summer.

I wish all my CI tool tables had that coating. If it's anything like the Nitrided cylinders we used to have on Lycoming Acft engines, It will wear really well. It was hard enough that you had to use "Soft Piston Rings", because if you used hard or Chrome rings, the engine would never break in and quit using oil. (The same results as when someone mistakenly assembled an engine using Chrome Rings in Chromed Cylinders).

[Scott Loven]

http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/ezine/toolpreview.cfm

[Michael Gibbons]

Well that just about takes care of the thread we started a couple months ago about what it would take to start a new all-american tool company. Seems that some other folks had the same idea. I'd definetly be up for buying from a new manufacturer if the stuff is made right, on the other hand, some people will surely be wary of something new. Guess it's the "what you don't know is what frightens you" syndrome. I await some reveiws.

[John Lucas]

Well that just about takes care of the thread we started a couple months ago about what it would take to start a new all-american tool company.

Where did you get the "all-american" idea? These products are coming from Asia. My source is another review of the company. "To keep prices competitive, manufacturing will take place in Asia, where the Steel City staff has many decades of cumulative experience." from http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ToolGuide/ToolGuideArticle.aspx?id=26320

And my post here is not to say that "across th epond" products arent good, but just to correct the view of "Made in the USA".

[Mark Aho]

I'm wondering if anyone looked into this company at the International Woodworking Fair? If so, anything interesting to be known?

[Matt Warfield]

There is a blog on popular woodworking's site on their impressions. Their 17" drill press is listed at $469.

[glenn bradley]

I had read about these guys also. they're positioning themselves to come on strong.

http://www.steelcitytoolworks.com/

[Mark Aho]

I had read about these guys also. they're positioning themselves to come on strong.

Yes they are. Did anyone get to look at, touch, or play with any of these machines yet?

I was hoping they were manufacturing the machines stateside, but no such luck.

[Mark Aho]

There is a blog on popular woodworking's site on their impressions. Their 17" drill press is listed at $469.

Thanks for the heads up, the blog was a good read.

[brent lenthall]

I looked at them briefly at the IWF show. Perhaps I'm a little jaded, but to me it was "Same import, different paint". It may be a good alternative to Jet, Grizzly, Powermatic, Sunhill, etc., but I didn't see anything new.

Also, the TS at the show had the titanium coating and it looked as if it was showing wear around the miter gauge.

[scott spencer]

Steel City Tools is Orion, the same folks who make the Sears hybrids, cabinet saw, and jointer. Scott Box is one of the bigger players. Many of them are former Delta employees who parted ways back when Pentair bought Delta and wanted them to relocate.

[Brian Buckley]

I looked at them at IWF and was impresed. The cast quality and finish seemed to be much better than Delta.Even though I did not "look under the hood" they looked better than the average import.

Brian

[Chris Barton]

I am with Brent on this one... I looked them over at IWF but, they do look exactly like rebadged Delta units. They do have a variable speed mini lathe that looks very "beefy" but, otherwise a fairly mundane offering. The company is made of former WMH and Delta employees from around the middle Tennessee area.

[Matt Warfield]

Brent/Chris,

I'm curious if your opinions are based on a 10 foot view or up close and personal. The reviews I've read stated that their machines are beefier where it counts and the castings are much cleaner. That, and they are trying to be price competitive by removing the gimmicks and whiz-bangs.

But, this is just what I've read which is why I'm curious. :)

Matt

[brent lenthall]

Matt,

I took a close look at their 8" jointer and a quick scan of the other machines. I was lless than ten feet away, but may have suffered from WW machinery overload by the time I went to their booth. After hours of looking at the show the threshold for the "wow" factor was set pretty high. I would say they have solid looking machines, (perhaps they even have some refinements that other's overlook), but at the end of the day It's a toss up between the badged imports. (Delta, Jet, Powermatic, and importers like Extrema, Sunhill, Grizzly, Wilke, etc.).

[Matt Warfield]

Matt,

I took a close look at their 8" jointer and a quick scan of the other machines. I was lless than ten feet away, but may have suffered from WW machinery overload by the time I went to their booth. After hours of looking at the show the threshold for the "wow" factor was set pretty high. I would say they have solid looking machines, (perhaps they even have some refinements that other's overlook), but at the end of the day It's a toss up between the badged imports. (Delta, Jet, Powermatic, and importers like Extrema, Sunhill, Grizzly, Wilke, etc.).

That description brings back memories of some of the CES's I've been to. Overload seems to happen within minutes.

I'm toying around with the idea of purchasing their drill press. I'm a little tired of my tool shop brand xmas present and am in the market. The 6" quill travel is appealing to me as I have a few jigs in mind that would benefit from it.

Thanks for the additional insight!!

[Brian Clevenger]

Only owning one of their products, the "Craftsman" 22124 hybrid saw, I don't have anything negative to say about the fit and finish of their products.

After seeing the low closeout prices on the zip code saws, I wonder if SCTW is going to take them away from Sears. I know they already discontinued the 22014 model, so the other two might be next to move out of the Craftsman line.

OTOH, if I were buying a new DP today, I would want to try the 6" travel on the Steel City.

If prices and quality were equal across the major lines, I would give the new kids a shot. I'm already worn out with Delta's loss of CC. I've been happy with my recent JET purchases, but I was always the one to try to hook up with the new girl at school.

[Mike Cutler]

I've seen the jointer/planer/dual drum sander, and tablesaw at the local Woodcraft. They appear to be nice machines. The price is on par with machines in the same spec range.

I was looking at their Dual drum sander specifically. It appeared to be identical to the General International 24" dual drum sander. Retail pricing was about the same.

[Noah Katz]

"Also, the TS at the show had the titanium coating and it looked as if it was showing wear around the miter gauge."

That's disturbing, along with this statement from the Maintenance section of the product manual:

"The Titanium Nitrite (TiN)coating is designed to be
maintenance free and WILL NOT RUST! While the
distinctive gold color of your Steel City cast-iron top is
an indication that the surface is protected against rust
and corrosion, that protection does not diminish if the
gold color is worn away by abrasion due to normal use
over time."

It certainly doesn't square with this statement from one of the linked articles: "Steel City's first attempt to grab headlines is a rust-free saw table that is coated with titanium-nitrite, the bronze-colored coating seen on some drill bits and saw blades. With a surface hardness greater than carbide and just short of diamond, it is designed to eliminate maintenance, the company said."

Reading it more closely, perhaps the gold color is a dye like anodized aluminum, and not the inherent color of TiN.

If the color is that lacking in durability, I'd just as soon they leave out the dye in the first place.