Steel City 35675 10" Cabinet Table Saw 3HP vs. Grizzly 1023SL

[Mike Zozakiewicz]

I am planning on buying a new table saw and I have narrowed it down to these two. Price on the Griz is 995 + shipping (86), and the price on the STeel City is $999 + tax (after rebate). Steel city has their industrial fence, the Griz has the Shop Fox Classic fence.

Any feedback from those who might have compared, or worked with both would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

[scott spencer]

Hi Mike - This discussion comes up from time to time on other forums. Even though it's a 3hp saw, it's worth noting that the 35675 is not Steel City's industrial style cabinet saw, it's essentially the same underpinnings and trunnion system as their "hybrids", which includes the Orion made Craftsman series that is made by the same company. The Orion hybrids deviate from other hybrids in that they do use cabinet mounted trunnions...they also tend to call what many call a hybrid, a "cabinet saw". Owner's of the 35675 typically have mainly positive comments, but I did want to point out that it's not made the same way as their industrial cabinet saws, like the 35618 or 35621, or the Griz 1023. The SF Classic is a very good fence, but the SC fence seems to universally get unusually high marks.

A picture is worth a thousand words...note the huge swing arm of the bottom two vs the connecting rods of the "hybrid", plus the triple belt drives vs single serpentine belt.

A pic from the top of a Steel City/Orion hybrid:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/hewood/sawparts/SChybridtrunnion.jpg

A pic from the top of a Steel City industrial cabinet saw:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/hewood/sawparts/sccabtrunnion.jpg

A pic from the top of a Griz 1023:
http://www.grizzly.com/images/pics/jpeg288/g/g1023sl_det1.jpg

[Mike Zozakiewicz]

Thanks for the info Scott, very telling. That said, why did you choose the Sears over the Grizzly?

Mike

[scott spencer]

Thanks for the info Scott, very telling. That said, why did you choose the Sears over the Grizzly?

Mike

That's an easy one....the unit cost per pound was lower for the Craftsman... $1.41/lb vs $2.15/lb. ($594 vs $1k) ;)

[Wade Lippman]

I bought the grizzly a couple months ago and am happy with it; but it is worth pointing out that the Grizzly and the Steel City weigh about the same, despite the obviously heavier trunnions. I "think" the SC table is bigger.

One of the reasons I chose Grizzly is that I simply didn't believe that SC's 12a motor was 3hp and i don't care for their claim that it is. But I am just a cynic.

[Robert Meyer]

I have the Steel City 10" 3hp Orion saw having purchased it when it first came out. It is a good value but has lots of problems. First of all the single belt squeals upon turning on the saw. Steel City customer support says this is normal and should not be a problem, which it isn't aside from the noise. I have been thinking of putting on a two belt pulley with linkbelts in the saw but have a problem finding a pulley keyed to the motor/arbor shaft. The raising and lowering mechanism is about on par with a contractors saw, not very robust and it squeals also, even after disassembling the worm drive unit and graphiting the heck out of it . The motor seems somewhat underpowered for 3 hp but is more powerful than the 1 3/4 hp one. The fence is ok but nothing special (I had a defective fence they quickly replaced). Steel City customer support is second to none in my opinion and they stand behind their products. Still, I would get the Grizzly saw if I had to do it again.

[Mike Zozakiewicz]

Thanks for all the feedback, but as these things sometimes go, I have to divert $400 to a trip deposit, so that takes me out of a new saw market. However, I am going to replace the fence with a good aftermarket fence, and see if I can find a retired machinist in the area to make me a new arbor for my Craftsman contractors saw that will eliminate the arbor run out issue. That will have to do for now. Look for a new saw in a year or two.

Mike