Robert Strasser
06-08-2007, 3:10 PM
I recently received a new Felder K 500 sliding table saw. This is the third saw I've purchased in 6 years. Each was an "upgrade" from the previous saw.
I'm now reflecting on how each of my previous table saws met my needs and expectations. So I thought I'd run down the list for those that might be thinking of a saw purchase. I often see posts on this forum that asks for advice on which saw to buy.
I owned a Sears contractor saw for years. To set the fence accurately usually required some tapping with a hammer. It was not a very good saw. But it filled the need before I started making furniture.
My first upgrade was a Delta Contractor Saw with a Unifence. I purchased it mail order in October 2000. It was delivered in several boxes. The extension table was destroyed in transit and was immediately replaced. The saw came with all parts accounted for and good instructions. I had the saw put together and running within 6 hours, working at a leisurely pace. It fit together well for a contractor-type saw. There are many sheet-metal parts for the stand and legs that always seem to take a little wiggling to fit right. But all the holes lined up well enough. The saw top was in very good condition and the fence needed only very minor adjustment which is easy with a Unifence. I also switched the saw to run on 240 volts which was easy to do since the instructions where right on the motor. Another modification I made right away was to the blade guard. I kept the Delta splitter, but replaced the guard with an Excalibur overhead guard. I was very happy with this saw. I especially liked the Unifence. It is still my favorite type of rip fence. I had it for almost 3 years and it did everything I needed most of the time. I did stall the motor cutting some thick hard wood a few times. Overall, good instruction manual, good fit and finish, and easy to use. On the quality scale, the Sears was a 2 and the Delta Contractor Saw a 6.
My next saw cost 2 1/2 times the Delta. It was a Powermatic 66. I purchased it from Woodcraft in February 2003. Shipping was no problem since I took it home my self. This saw came with excellent instructions and all parts were accounted for. I easily had this saw together within 4 hours. All holes matched exactly. Adjusting the cast iron wings to match the top only required a light tap of a hammer with a wood block. The top was more level than I could measure. I tried to measure the arbor run out. The needle on the dial indicator barely moved. The blade was lined up with the miter slot within the accuracy I could measure. The fence was lined up with the miter slot. There was a quality control sheet that came with the saw that showed all these items were checked and given a value. Everything was more accurate than I would ever need. The blade guard I considered junk. I didn't put it on. I used a Biesemeyer Snap-In Splitter and my Excalibur blade guard. This saw easily passed the nickel test. It was smooth. The Biesemeyer clone fence was ok, but I missed my Unifence. The only problem I had with this saw was the magnetic start switch. I pressed the off button one day and the saw would not turn off. This is not good. The switch was made in China. The remainder of the saw was made in the USA, including the Baldor motor. I liked this saw very much and I had to really think hard before replacing it. On the quality and long-term use scale, I'd give it an 8.
My new saw that I just received is a Felder K-500 sliding table saw. I bought this from Felder-USA in Delaware. My saw was made to order in Austria. It took about 6 weeks from order to delivery. This saw, including all the accessories, cost close to 4 times the Powermatic 66. The main reason I bought a sliding table saw was for safety reasons. Another reason is I just liking working with good tools. I consider this saw safer because I will be using the sliding table for nearly all cutting, including ripping hardwood. I've already made a jig to cut rails and styles with an accuracy and finish better than I could with the PM 66. This saw is safer because it just about eliminates kick back and my hands will never go close to the blade. I've never cut myself on a table saw, but I've had kick backs. One of the kick backs broke a window that was behind me. The saw was delivered on a 4 by 7 foot pallet and weighed a little over 1,000 pounds. It was very well packaged and there was no shipping damage or loose items. The user manual and assembly instructions were in German. So I only had the pictures to go by. I called Felder-USA on this and they said the English manual is being printed. The K-500 saw is a new model, but I don't see this as an excuse. This is very poor planning. I did receive an English manual via email for a similar saw that I could use. Fortunately, nearly all the assembly is just putting on the rip fence and sheet metal extension table. I then spent allot of time just checking the saw construction and alignment. Fit and finish of these parts were average, but not great. I also purchased a mobility kit that works great, but was a little difficult to put on. The rip fence required some adjustment. Actually it came with loose bolts and a micro-adjustment feature that did not work at all. This took half an hour to fix. The outrigger table and fences are easy to put on and take off. They were also aligned very well. Then I found a major problem. The splitter was not aligned. It was way outside the plane of the blade. It was also twisted. I fixed this problem with instructions received from Felder-USA. This saw has excellent dust collection, with a dust shroud around the blade and a dust port in the blade guard. I finally got a saw with a good and usable blade guard. I've only had the saw a couple weeks, so I can't give it a long-term quality rating. However, for a saw of this price range I found initial quality to be poor. Especially compared to my PM 66. But I'm still happy with the purchase and I've done enough tests to be confident it will do what I expected it to do. I've cut panels with the outrigger to as perfect as square as I can measure, and I've ripped hardwood on the sliding table with ease.
I'm now reflecting on how each of my previous table saws met my needs and expectations. So I thought I'd run down the list for those that might be thinking of a saw purchase. I often see posts on this forum that asks for advice on which saw to buy.
I owned a Sears contractor saw for years. To set the fence accurately usually required some tapping with a hammer. It was not a very good saw. But it filled the need before I started making furniture.
My first upgrade was a Delta Contractor Saw with a Unifence. I purchased it mail order in October 2000. It was delivered in several boxes. The extension table was destroyed in transit and was immediately replaced. The saw came with all parts accounted for and good instructions. I had the saw put together and running within 6 hours, working at a leisurely pace. It fit together well for a contractor-type saw. There are many sheet-metal parts for the stand and legs that always seem to take a little wiggling to fit right. But all the holes lined up well enough. The saw top was in very good condition and the fence needed only very minor adjustment which is easy with a Unifence. I also switched the saw to run on 240 volts which was easy to do since the instructions where right on the motor. Another modification I made right away was to the blade guard. I kept the Delta splitter, but replaced the guard with an Excalibur overhead guard. I was very happy with this saw. I especially liked the Unifence. It is still my favorite type of rip fence. I had it for almost 3 years and it did everything I needed most of the time. I did stall the motor cutting some thick hard wood a few times. Overall, good instruction manual, good fit and finish, and easy to use. On the quality scale, the Sears was a 2 and the Delta Contractor Saw a 6.
My next saw cost 2 1/2 times the Delta. It was a Powermatic 66. I purchased it from Woodcraft in February 2003. Shipping was no problem since I took it home my self. This saw came with excellent instructions and all parts were accounted for. I easily had this saw together within 4 hours. All holes matched exactly. Adjusting the cast iron wings to match the top only required a light tap of a hammer with a wood block. The top was more level than I could measure. I tried to measure the arbor run out. The needle on the dial indicator barely moved. The blade was lined up with the miter slot within the accuracy I could measure. The fence was lined up with the miter slot. There was a quality control sheet that came with the saw that showed all these items were checked and given a value. Everything was more accurate than I would ever need. The blade guard I considered junk. I didn't put it on. I used a Biesemeyer Snap-In Splitter and my Excalibur blade guard. This saw easily passed the nickel test. It was smooth. The Biesemeyer clone fence was ok, but I missed my Unifence. The only problem I had with this saw was the magnetic start switch. I pressed the off button one day and the saw would not turn off. This is not good. The switch was made in China. The remainder of the saw was made in the USA, including the Baldor motor. I liked this saw very much and I had to really think hard before replacing it. On the quality and long-term use scale, I'd give it an 8.
My new saw that I just received is a Felder K-500 sliding table saw. I bought this from Felder-USA in Delaware. My saw was made to order in Austria. It took about 6 weeks from order to delivery. This saw, including all the accessories, cost close to 4 times the Powermatic 66. The main reason I bought a sliding table saw was for safety reasons. Another reason is I just liking working with good tools. I consider this saw safer because I will be using the sliding table for nearly all cutting, including ripping hardwood. I've already made a jig to cut rails and styles with an accuracy and finish better than I could with the PM 66. This saw is safer because it just about eliminates kick back and my hands will never go close to the blade. I've never cut myself on a table saw, but I've had kick backs. One of the kick backs broke a window that was behind me. The saw was delivered on a 4 by 7 foot pallet and weighed a little over 1,000 pounds. It was very well packaged and there was no shipping damage or loose items. The user manual and assembly instructions were in German. So I only had the pictures to go by. I called Felder-USA on this and they said the English manual is being printed. The K-500 saw is a new model, but I don't see this as an excuse. This is very poor planning. I did receive an English manual via email for a similar saw that I could use. Fortunately, nearly all the assembly is just putting on the rip fence and sheet metal extension table. I then spent allot of time just checking the saw construction and alignment. Fit and finish of these parts were average, but not great. I also purchased a mobility kit that works great, but was a little difficult to put on. The rip fence required some adjustment. Actually it came with loose bolts and a micro-adjustment feature that did not work at all. This took half an hour to fix. The outrigger table and fences are easy to put on and take off. They were also aligned very well. Then I found a major problem. The splitter was not aligned. It was way outside the plane of the blade. It was also twisted. I fixed this problem with instructions received from Felder-USA. This saw has excellent dust collection, with a dust shroud around the blade and a dust port in the blade guard. I finally got a saw with a good and usable blade guard. I've only had the saw a couple weeks, so I can't give it a long-term quality rating. However, for a saw of this price range I found initial quality to be poor. Especially compared to my PM 66. But I'm still happy with the purchase and I've done enough tests to be confident it will do what I expected it to do. I've cut panels with the outrigger to as perfect as square as I can measure, and I've ripped hardwood on the sliding table with ease.