Just out of the crate. General 650R...the pics

[John Ricci]

Literally just out of the crate. I've yet to even clean the shipping poop off of it but back when I posted that I had ordered it I did promise some pics. Sorry if these are a bit dark but every time I went to snap a shot it seemed to cloud over and the saw is sitting on my engine hoist inside the barn...not the best lit area or its final resting place.

The first couple of shots are pretty much self explained but the third shows how the RK attaches to the saw. Simply pull out on the little black knob and out comes the knife/in goes the knife/guard setup which only takes a couple of seconds.

Oddly, they ship a 3hp cabinet saw with a no-name TK carbide blade??? I guess I can use it for the setup and first couple of test cuts then switch to the good stuff later. I can't wait to set up the ext. table, fence and rolling base to put this bad boy through its paces! In the first pic you can see the Shopsmith in the background giving the General the evil eye (it sucks to be second string).

J.R.

[John Hedges]

Great looking saw. I am jealous. General makes great stuff.

[Rick Gifford]

Theres a new sheriff in town. His name his General. :D

Thats gonna be a sweet saw!

[Brent Smith]

Congrats John. I'll be interested to hear what you think of the riving knife after you've put a few miles on the saw.

[John Ricci]

Congrats John. I'll be interested to hear what you think of the riving knife after you've put a few miles on the saw.

Brent, I am excited to see how the saw itself performs...as for the riving knife, I have been using the Shopsmith MkV/510 for about 14 years now and it has a riving knife setup and I love it. The dealer where I bought the 650R took my order before the saw was released for shipping even though they had several of the old model 650 in stock when I said I would wait for the new one and didn't want the 650 (they still have a few to sell before they will stock the 650R). The RK setup is what I'm already used to so why go, in my opinion "backwards" to a standard splitter? I fully expect the 650R to be my one time, last purchase TS.

J.R.

[Rob Grubbs]

I just got this exact saw on Tuesday. I have been getting it set up over the past few days and today I added the Exactor ex60 sliding fence. It took me most of the day to get that thing set up, but I think it is finally running right. I haven't had a chance to run the saw much, but I think I am going to like it.

[Narayan Nayar]

I fully expect the 650R to be my one time, last purchase TS.

I thought the same of my General 650 when I bought it 3 years ago, and though the riving knife is a great addition, I don't really consider it an upgrade. Don't get me wrong--were it available when I purchased it, I certainly would have done exactly as you did--pass up the "regular" version and gone to the knife. But I doubt I'm going to either pay to upgrade my saw to have that feature or swap this saw out to bring a new one in. My Shark Guard is doing the job just fine so far.

But hey--many congrats! It's a fantastic saw and I'm sure you'll love it.

[Walt Caza]

Congrats John!
Your new cabinet saw is a beauty. It will serve you for your lifetime,
and also serve someone else long after your gone. You call that quality!
That maple leaf flag looks good in your shop.
Thanks for sharing pics,
enjoy your new saw,
Walt

ps what are you building next?
:)

[steve reeves]

Congrats! A great saw that will give you many years of enjoyment.

[gary Zimmel]

John

Sweet looking saw. Another congrats on the new toy.

Let us know how the first test drive goes...

[Brent Smith]

Brent, I am excited to see how the saw itself performs...as for the riving knife, I have been using the Shopsmith MkV/510 for about 14 years now and it has a riving knife setup and I love it.

J.R.

Hi John,

I guess we learn something every day. I didn't know Shopsmith had a riving knife!! At any rate, RK or not, you got yourself a sweet saw there.

[John Thompson]

The Generals are tanks... enjoy!

Sarge..

[Steve Clardy]

Congrats on the new toy

[Dave Lehnert]

Hi John,

I guess we learn something every day. I didn't know Shopsmith had a riving knife!! At any rate, RK or not, you got yourself a sweet saw there.

Yes us shopsmith owners have been getting a kick out of everyone talking about the "new" riving knife. We wonder where everyone been :D:D

And hey! How about them new variable speed drill press that Powermatic and Delta is crowing about. We Shopsmith owners has had that since what? The 1940"s?

[Bob Slater]

I have an older version of that saw with a 5hp motor. I love it. I hope them continued success making quality tools in rural Quebec. Hoping to buy more North American made tools.

[John Ricci]

ps what are you building next?
:)

I believe I'll be building my bank account back up...this thing wasn't cheap but worth every penny I spent:D

J.R.

[Don Bullock]

Your Shopsmith has good reason to be filled with jealousy at that new saw in your shop and not just because it's green. ;):D Congratulations on your new table saw.

[Mark Carlson]

Hi John,

Thanks for posting the pictures. I have a 3 year old 650 and love it. Congrats.

~mark

[Rod Sheridan]

Nice saw John, you will love it.

I've had a 650 for a few years now, great cabinet saw, although if I had to do it again I'd like to get a slider.

Regards, Rod.

[Jerome Hanby]

I always like to see Shopsmith getting a bump, but to be fair, it's pretty easy to have a riving knife when it never moves and the table does all the work. Still, that might give me a second thought about having never used the table saw mode...



Yes us shopsmith owners have been getting a kick out of everyone talking about the "new" riving knife. We wonder where everyone been :D:D

[Gary Curtis]

John, unless things at General have changed since 2006, the instructions for mounting the rip fence are meager. My dealer had an engineer draw up a little diagram showing the bolt patterns. It helped me a lot, whereas the official literature was dead-wrong on a few points.

If you'll send me a PM, I'll Xerox the sheet and mail it to you. Need your address. (I've got the 350 right-tilt model)

Gary Curtis

gary.curtis@hotmail.com