Setting up a new PM2000

[Edward P. Surowiec]

Next week I expect to receive my first cabinet saw. If anyone has words of wisdom regarding the unpacking and setup of the Powermatic 2000 I would appreciate your comments and advise.
Thanks Ed:)

[John Hedges]

Pretty straightforward if you have a dial indicator and a general knowledge of setting up a TS. The biggest bugger for me was aligning the Riving Knife which was out of alignment. Because it adjusts with 4 screws you have to be sure it is in alignment with the blade from top to bottom and side to side (if that makes any sense). Also check everything. My fence faces were pretty off and they had to send me new ones.

Your going to really like the saw, it is a joy to use.

[Justin Bukoski]

check your mitre slot alignment. mine was off by a good 1/16th when I got it.

If you don't have a dial indicator to check your saw setup, buy one now. Its extremely important to have the saw aligned right.

[Nathan Conner]

I was told, yesterday, in fact, when I went to purchase a Dial indicator at <name removed so I'm not killing anyone's business> - a local place I'm sure you've been to, Justin, "Just use a tape to set up the fence. You never need a Dial indicator to set up a Powermatic. That's just overkill. Those saws are set up correctly out of the box. They know waaaay more about setting up at the factory than you do, they have way better tools than you do, and you'll just screw things up if you futz around with it." Another one of the workers was nodding in the background, "Yeah, see they even have tilt indicators on the saw box, and if it gets tilted by the shipper, you just call Powermatic and refuse the saw from the shipper. That way you know it's never been tilted and it's going to be set up right out of the box"

I nodded and smiled (trying to keep my jaw from dropping) and made a beeline for the exit. I won't be going back there again. Ever. That's some of the most incorrect, just plain wrong information I've ever been given, and they were acting like I was a total moron for even thinking such a thing.

Yes, Edward, I bought a DI for my new PM2000 (at a different store) that got assembled in the shop yesterday. I have yet to slap it on, but I couldn't resist a test cut to hear it run. With the 40T Woodworker II, I burned the 4/4 oak I ripped first, so I guess my eyeball fence setup wasn't quite right.

I managed to assemble the whole thing by myself, but it would be helpful to have a friend nearby, especially with the extension table setup or the cast wings. On the extension table, holding the screwdriver with one hand, the wrench with another, and tapping on the top and bottom with a rubber mallet to line it up with the straightedge...I just ran out of hands. Use the clamps like they show you in the manual, and you'd be ok to do it all by yourself. I'm no manual-reader, and I followed the pictures, it all went together smoothly. Having a small adjustable machinists' square that measures to 1/32" is helpful. I think one of the measurements for the front table bracket is something like 2 27/32" from the top.

The only confusion I ran into was the missing/replaced bolts for the back of the extension table. Supposed to be 1 1/2" lag-type bolts, according to the manual, I think, and mine were more like 3 1/2" full-length threads. I had a hard time finding them in the bag.

Good luck! You'll love the saw!

[Maurice Ungaro]

Ed,
You may want to pick up Kelly Mehler's Tablesaw book. He's got a good section on set-up and routine maitenance. Also, sometime in 2006 (maybe 2005) FWW had an artcile by Roland Johnson that covers tune-up etc., in fact, it has basically the same info as Mr. Mehler's section in his book.

Good luck, and be safe with that puppy! I'm putting my new Unisaw together today as well (it was a screaming deal on a reconditioned U.S. made X5 saw, otherwise, I'd have gone for the PM2k, or a Sawstop!). Don't forget, post some pics when it's all together (I need to do that too....).

[Edward P. Surowiec]

Thank you all for your advise and comments.
I was concerned with table flatness but no one seems to have had a problem with flatness. Most of the other stuff I figure is adjustable or returnable.
Did anyone have damage in shipping. I've never received anything this big and was wondering about unpacking everything before signing for it.

What do you think??:confused:

[George Carion]

I have an interest in this thread too. I'm about to pull the trigger on this same saw. I'll likely order it online.

Here's a question. Since this saw is a beast, and it's headed into my garage, how difficult is it to move this saw from the truck's liftgate and few feet slightly uphill? Needs 2 people? 2 People and a dolly? Should I just let it lay and move it in parts?

Thanks much.

[Allen Koriakin]

Your going to need 4 strong men to handle the saw without a fork lift. I picked the saw up at the store where they used a fork lift to place it in the back of my truck. The box that the main cabinet was shipped in was 485 lbs and let me tell you it took everything that me and three of my buddies could do to get the thing out of the back of my truck.

My saw came fairly well setup out of the box. Just the fence needed to be adjusted but after playing with it for hours and hours I realized the plastic non-stick plate on the fence was just not dead flat. I finally made my own and everything goes through like butter.

The key is to make sure you keep feeding the fellas that are helping you plenty of cold beer!

Good luck with your new saw.

[Tim Lynch]

My Unisaw (456lb ship weight) was delivered last friday by a semi with no liftgate. I was supposed to pick it up at the terminal, but it arrived at my house, so I had to deal with it.

The driver was a big guy and was willing to help. I also had my brother and his sturdy kid to help. We removed the exterior crating and the cast iron wings, then slid the saw down some 2X10 planks. I was skeptical, but it was easier than I thought it was going to be. With a liftgate, you won't have that concern.

Here's the good part: the driver had a forklift-dolly on the truck as well as a 2 wheel handtruck-type mover. It took only the two wheeler and one person to easily wheel the saw into my shop.

Anyway, most likely the driver will have some kind of mover/dolly on the truck and I doubt you'll have any problem at all.

Good luck and congrats! Yellow is a great color!

[Emmanuel Weber]

I did manage to move my PM 2000 from the truck liftgate all the way to my basement with only one help and an applicance dolly. This includes going down a set of 8 steep steps.

If you just have to climb a hill with a "slight" slope you should be fine with one helper. The toughest part will be to move the machine out of the crate.

[Edward P. Surowiec]

My Saw arrived this morning!! Total weight on the shipping paper was 710 LBS. There were five boxes on 1 SKID. The trucking firm had a manual fork lift dolly but its forks were too wide to fit under the SKID. The driver and I muscled the skid onto the liftgate and than onto the ground. We put one fork of the dolly under the center of the SKID and straddled the outside with the other fork. We could lift the SKID but it was off balance so as he pulled the dolly I kept the bundle from tipping off the dolly. The SKID was set down just outside my garage. We so wrapped up in trying to avoid any damage that the Rails were left on the truck, they arrive tomorrow.
My garage has a three inch step up from the driveway so my wife and son helped me to get the Saw into the garage. After removing four of the boxes from the SKID I cut the side panels of the big box and removed the two extension wings. Using a 2X4 to lever the SKID up I slide a flat dolly with four inch wheels under it. The extension wing are mounted and aligned, the table is cleaned and waxed and I'm ready to put the rails on.
So far it has taken about 2.5 hrs.:)

[Maurice Ungaro]

My Saw arrived this morning!! Total weight on the shipping paper was 710 LBS. There were five boxes on 1 SKID. The trucking firm had a manual fork lift dolly but its forks were too wide to fit under the SKID. The driver and I muscled the skid onto the liftgate and than onto the ground. We put one fork of the dolly under the center of the SKID and straddled the outside with the other fork. We could lift the SKID but it was off balance so as he pulled the dolly I kept the bundle from tipping off the dolly. The SKID was set down just outside my garage. We so wrapped up in trying to avoid any damage that the Rails were left on the truck, they arrive tomorrow.
My garage has a three inch step up from the driveway so my wife and son helped me to get the Saw into the garage. After removing four of the boxes from the SKID I cut the side panels of the big box and removed the two extension wings. Using a 2X4 to lever the SKID up I slide a flat dolly with four inch wheels under it. The extension wing are mounted and aligned, the table is cleaned and waxed and I'm ready to put the rails on.
So far it has taken about 2.5 hrs.:)


Where there's a will, there's a way!!! Nothing like a new heavy tool to make someone go the extra mile! Congrats, and be safe with it.

[Derek Arita]

I had a table flatness issue on mine. I never thought you could actually tweak a table into flatness, but I did, to within .003. I used a Starret straightedge and shims on the corners and was able to arrange them so that the table came into acceptable flatness. I know it's not a big deal to others, but to me, I want to know that I'm starting out with as little error as possible.

[Edward P. Surowiec]

Fortunately my table is flat. The insert has a .025 belly in it near the finger hole. This belly tapers up so that the insert is flat at both ends over a 2X2 inch area. Do you think I should request a replacement from Powermatic??:confused:

Well the rails arrived this morning, it turns out that they were never on the truck yesterday.
Mounted the rails and managed to get the 2 27/32 spacing to .003 on the front rail within an hour. After loosely mounting the front rail I used a length of 2X4 wedged under the front rail to the garage floor. Tapping the 2X4 to drive it more vertical I was able to walk the front rail up to the correct spacing. I also used The saw's lowering crank to fine tune the adjustment.

Powermatic should modify their instructions. First the front rail angle iron is not machined flat, so you will get different results depending on where you measure the 2 27/32 from . Second the tools they recommend (7/16 and 1/2) will ruin the bolt nuts. Use 10 and 12 mm wrenches. They fit the bolts and nuts.:cool: