General Contractor Saw

[Charles Wilson]

I was reading some stuff on the Taunton site and one of the articles said that this was the best of the contractors/medium sized saws tested (2004).

Any opinions?

Regards,
Chuck

[Bruce Benjamin]

Charles, if you're referring to the General International 50-185 saw then it's a great contractor saw. There's another recent thread on General VS GI tools, http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=55611 and pretty much everyone who has one agrees that it's an excellent saw. I've had one for several years and I have no complaints of any significance. It has plenty of power for most people. Mine was accurate right out of the box with regards to adjusting the blade to the miter slots. The tables are very flat. The blade tilt mechanism works smoothly. It was easy to assemble. I have the long fence rail version and the fence that came with it works well for me. Even the miter gauge is about as good as you can expect with a stock gauge. You can do much better with one of the aftermarket gauges but compared to quite a few others that I've seen and/or tried it's fine. I don't even have any complaints with the stock guard and splitter. Some others have complained about them but I believe they would complain about any stock guard/splitter combo. You have to look around for a good deal but they are available. There are cheaper alternatives that have similar features but I don't believe there are any that are better.

Back when I bought mine there weren't many of the, "Hybrid" saws available like there are now. For a little more money you might find a hybrid you like better. I haven't looked into these too much since I barely use the saw I have now. I'm an EZ Smart fan and use it for nearly every cut but if you're in the market for a contractor saw I think this is the one to get still. If I didn't have the EZ Smart and I was looking for a less expensive saw I think I would look for a great sale on one of the Craftsman hybrid saws. There are others out there but I've heard pretty good thing about it and Sears sometimes has really good sales on them.

Bruce

[Kenny King]

I have a GI 185 left tilt contractor's saw. It has lots of iron on the table top and a beismeyer licensed fence made in canada. Compared to all of the other comparable saws in the market, this seemed like the better buy. Especially once you consider the fence that comes with it. The fence is made my General in Canada not General International in taiwan and it is excellent.

I highly recommend the saw.

- Ken

[scott spencer]

My previous saw was a GI 50-185. IMHO it's the best contractor saw available. The fence is excellent and the miter gauge is quite good for a stock gauge.

[Craig Kershaw]

I'm new to the forum and new to woodworking. I am finishing my basement and needed a table saw for some finish work. The 50-185 was my first major purchase, I've been very happy with it. The architectural columns I built on a half wall to close in the support columns drew compliments from one of my friends who is a fairly exacting guy. The 50-185 fits the bill for me.

I spent some time researching several boards on the internet and saw a lot of good comments on the 50-185. While it was a little more money than others, what ultimately swung my decision was that the saw was highly rated by Taunten. Now I'm in the market for a jointer, but that's another topic.

[Charles Wilson]

Got any pics of those columns?