General 50-220C Table Saw

[Joe Mioux]

HI Dave: Welcome to SMC

As Frank Pellow said, I'll be the Guinea pig on this one. I put my money down, but while I'm waiting, I'm trying to decide if the 50" Bies. makes sense for a garage shop.

Dave

I have 50" rails on my saw and I am really glad I went this route. I have the saw on mobile base in the garage and it is not a problem to manuever the saw around. You may not need to saw 45", or 46" or longer pieces of wood very often, but you will (if you go with 50" rails) set the fence at 33" or 34" or 36" (you get the idea) a lot and that is where the 50" rails are valuable.

Joe

[Dave Sharbaugh]

HI Dave: Welcome to SMC



I have 50" rails on my saw and I am really glad I went this route. I have the saw on mobile base in the garage and it is not a problem to manuever the saw around. You may not need to saw 45", or 46" or longer pieces of wood very often, but you will (if you go with 50" rails) set the fence at 33" or 34" or 36" (you get the idea) a lot and that is where the 50" rails are valuable.

Joe

Joe,

That's what I needed to hear. Thanks for the input! Of course, garages may be bigger in Illinois...

Dave

[Dan Stuewe]

Dave,

In Irvine, are you even allowed to do woodworking in your garage? Can you leave your garage door open for more than 15 minutes?

As for the longer rails...I think it is really personal. For me, right now, I don't see myself making a bunch of large objects (entertainment center, kitchen cabinets, etc.) so the shorter rails will probably be what I get (some day).

[Dave Sharbaugh]

Dave,

In Irvine, are you even allowed to do woodworking in your garage? Can you leave your garage door open for more than 15 minutes?

As for the longer rails...I think it is really personal. For me, right now, I don't see myself making a bunch of large objects (entertainment center, kitchen cabinets, etc.) so the shorter rails will probably be what I get (some day).

Ouch, Dan, you cut to the quick! I I file the proper form, I can do woodworking M-W-F between 10a.m. and noon

I'm ordering the longer rails. Here's why: they can be cut down later if they prove to be longer than needed, and they are about a hundred bucks cheaper if you get them with the saw.

Gotta go close my garage door...

Dave

PS We send our son to the Waldorf School there in Costa Mesa.

[scott spencer]

I'm ordering the longer rails. Here's why: they can be cut down later if they prove to be longer than needed...

Good move on the long rails Dave....before you go to the more drastic step of cutting them down, you might try shifting them to the left so they don't hang quite as far to the right.

Enjoy!

[John Miliunas]

Dave, glad to see you've made your purchasing decision! Of all the things I've heard of General, it's a good company with good products. Congrats!

As to the rails; I'll echo what Joe M. said. No, not too often I run the fence out to the max (though I *have* done exactly that a time or two!), but it's the stuff which 31"+ is needed for, that you'd be missing it! That, plus if you cut them down, it'd be bloody hard to add them back in! You're going to be wheeling whatever you buy back and forth from the wall into an open area, so the major space concern is when the unit is "at rest". Why not do like a lot of other guys around here have done and utilize some/all of that 20" extra space under the table for storage? If you use the right side for a router table, you would literally have enough room for a full-fledged router cabinet and could also store all your related router schtuff in it!

[Dave Sharbaugh]

Exactly my thinking, John. Where this is headed, it'll slip right over my compressor (I think). In any case, the router table's a good idea, and I've got no shortage of things to "hide" under that space!

Dave

Dave, glad to see you've made your purchasing decision! Of all the things I've heard of General, it's a good company with good products. Congrats!

As to the rails; I'll echo what Joe M. said. No, not too often I run the fence out to the max (though I *have* done exactly that a time or two!), but it's the stuff which 31"+ is needed for, that you'd be missing it! That, plus if you cut them down, it'd be bloody hard to add them back in! You're going to be wheeling whatever you buy back and forth from the wall into an open area, so the major space concern is when the unit is "at rest". Why not do like a lot of other guys around here have done and utilize some/all of that 20" extra space under the table for storage? If you use the right side for a router table, you would literally have enough room for a full-fledged router cabinet and could also store all your related router schtuff in it!

[Dick Tysen]

Dave
I have the general 50-200 it has a 2hp motor and 50 in rails.I can not compare to any other machine this is the only one I have used.It was easy to put together and very accurate.I have cut 8/4 white oak with no problems.I have the 50 in rails and in two years I have not need the length yet.The fence is fine but the rail support bracket for the legs are awful.I have a moble base and it is great if you need to move it because of lack of space.I have enjoyed this machine and I wish you luck with yours.
Dick Tysen

[Norman Hitt]

If you can possibly fit it in your garage/shop, get the 50" fence, as it just makes so many things much simpler. I've seen many who said they wished they had gotten the longer fence, but only one that cut his down, (due to space after he moved).

Good Luck, and welcome to The Creek.

[Dave Sharbaugh]

Well, after a LOT of soul-searching, budget analysis, forgiveness from my wife, and consultation with my Canadian friends, I bit the bullet and went for the 650-T50. Just had to have that flag on the front...

Should arrive tomorrow. Next job is where to put it. Garage is going to undergo a major transformation over the next few months.

When it came down to it, I've never regretted spending too much on a tool but I have regretted spending too little.

Dave

[scott spencer]

I swear after reading your post, I'm greener than that saw! Congrats on buying yourself MY dreamsaw!

Enjoy and be safe!

[Mark Singer]

Dave,

Welcome! We are practicaly neighbors! I love the Beismier fence...I have it on my Powermatic 66 and it is really accurate and predictable.

[skip gleichman]

I do have the General 50-220, with the 50" rails. I love it and have been very happy with the quality of the materials and the performance. I have ripped a lot of 8/4 maple, walnut and cherry so far and the is not even a hesitation. The saw is also quiet with a very cool industrial sound to it.

The dust collection works good and the fence is great. It is rock-solid, easy to adjust (once) and is accurate. This saw has not only made me more confident, it is always calling my name to "cut something".

I made a router table with the extended fence rails and installed a Jessum FX lift which has yet to be used very much. I did flush-trim the ends of a 72"x24" bartop with it though using a flush-trim bit and a strait-edge... that was cool.

Recommended.

[Dave Sharbaugh]

Mark,

I think we're also neighbors in profession.

I believe you are an architect? I'm an industrial designer. I know all industrial designers are frustrated architects (well, at least this one is), are all architects frustrated industrial designers?

At least folks understand what architects do. I am usually reduced to describing what I do by relating it to architecture: "I do to products what architects do to buildings."

My prior "big-saw" experience was with a Powermatic in the model shop of a design firm. Had to love that saw. Had I not had that experience, I would have had an easier time resisting the upgrade on my purchase.

Saw arrived last evening from Eagle Tools. Am waiting for my 9 year old son to arrive home to put the rails on and wire her up.

Dave

[Bart Leetch]

"Saw arrived last evening from Eagle Tools. Am waiting for my 9 year old son to arrive home to put the rails on and wire her up."

Your 9 year old son must be very smart & strong.

Ya I know I just couldn't resist.