general vs delta table saw

[william johnson]

I Am Looking To Buy A New Table Saw In The Near Future And Would Greatly Appreciate Any Feedback You Have.i Am Looking At General Contractor 50-185l,and A Delta Contractor 36-981 With A Unifence.also,how About The Delta T2 Fence As Opposed To The Unifence.thanks For The Help.

[Todd Solomon]

I have no direct experience, but the General contractor's saw is a favorite in my neck of the woods. The director of a local woodworking school sets up woodworking tools as a sideline. He's seen a whole lot of table saws over the last couple of decades. He recommends the General over the other contractor saws.

Todd

[Greg Cole]

William,
I've had a General 50-185 for a couple years. Not one problem nor complaint. I bought from a local tool house, so no shipping issues. Set up was s snap and the blade was pretty darn well aligned out of the box.
I have added a twin groove pulley to the trunion and motor, wasn't a necessary uprgade (but I have steel materials & machine tools at work & made them for grins). The Besiemier clone fence is good for a copy and I got the long rail upgrade for free. Make sure you get supports for the long rails if you opt for them, my first attempt to cross cut a sheet of 3/4" MDF resulted in the saw wanting to tip and that isn't exactly a treat tyring to hold the nearly 100# sheet of MDF & trying to shut off the motor and right the saw onto all 4 legs again!
I recently upgraded to the INCRA fence & added the RT and Wonderfence to the left side and moved the cast itron from the left to the right. Everything sits on a SHOP FOX mobile base including the legs for the long rails.
For the $ it's been great, but I do have visions of a cabinet saw or hybrid eventually. If you think you might ever want to upgrade, I'd just hold off & save up and only buy the tool once.

$0.02 from a happy General owner.

[scott spencer]

The GI is an excellent contractor saw. The choice between the Unifence and the GI's Biese fence is really a matter of preference. Both are top notch. The T2 is a good entry level fence, but is basically a lighter duty version of the Biese design...that doesn't make it a bad choice. Where value is a concern, it's priced right.

The 36-981 has the advantage of built in mobility, the GI has a better miter gauge. Not sure if there are any warranty differences...the GI is 2 years. AFAIK, the GI is made in Taiwan, the Delta in China, if that matters to you.

As nice as these contractor saws are, I'd seriously consider choosing a hybrid design over a contractor saw design....there are several advantages with the hybrid. The enclosed base takes up less room, improves DC, shortens the drive belt, and adds mass...which are essentially many of the advantages offered by a full 3hp cabinet saw. There are several near the same price range from Delta, Grizzly, Craftsman, Jet, Sunhill, Steel City, maybe even the GI 50-220C. If you have 220v, a full 3hp cab saw isn't a whole lot more money...

http://www.epinions.com/50-185 (http://www.epinions.com/content_91326418564)
http://www.epinions.com/22124 (http://www.epinions.com/content_184778395268)