Steel City?

[John Gustafson]

I'm finally going to build the shop I have wanted for years, 30 x 40 and finally will have the room for a decent table saw. Well aware of Grizzly, Delta , Jet and others. Question is Steel City. Are they still a viable operation? A few years back they were kind of the new bad boy on the block. Reviews were really good then it all got quiet. Saw some thing that said they went into bankruptcy in Oct of 2009 but web site still is up. Bunch of new ones showing up on e-bay as closeouts

Anybody have the full story on them?

[Ryan Baker]

Search for the existing threads here about them -- there is at least one thread with the gory details of what happened with them. The very short version is that the company went through some "bad times", and many people (and vendors) gave up on them. The company is supposedly back now, but I haven't heard much info about how they are actually doing these days.

[Myk Rian]

Delta engineers went to Steel City, then to General.

I have a CI top Hybrid TS and love it. Solid machine.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I'm finally going to build the shop I have wanted for years, 30 x 40 and finally will have the room for a decent table saw. Well aware of Grizzly, Delta , Jet and others. Question is Steel City. Are they still a viable operation? A few years back they were kind of the new bad boy on the block. Reviews were really good then it all got quiet. Saw some thing that said they went into bankruptcy in Oct of 2009 but web site still is up. Bunch of new ones showing up on e-bay as closeouts

Anybody have the full story on them?

I just saw a full page ad in Wood magazine for their granite-top TS, and their spiral cutterhead planere (about $600 - might be a good deal).

[Van Huskey]

Not directly on point but to the underlying question regarding table saws: considering the money you are spending on the shop itself I would suggest one of the top end TS:

Powermatic PM 2000
Delta Unisaw
SS PCS or ICS
or a European slider from Felder group Minimax et al.

If the budget is there these are the only saws I would consider but some would add the Canadian made General as well. SC just doesn't have a contender at the top end of table saws, though they do have solid saws in the mid-range.

[Mark Henshaw]

I have a Steel City cabinet saw made before the financial problems and find it to be a very good saw. 52" fence, arbor has very little to no run out and no vibration while it is running. 2 - 3 years old and no problems yet.

[Will Overton]

When I picked up my SS at WoodCraft I asked about Steel City. The manager said that Steel City had solved their problems, and he was looking forward to getting them back in the stores.

[Bill Blackburn]

"Saw some thing that said they went into bankruptcy in Oct of 2009 but web site still is up. "

Bankruptcy so common in the business world today it is ridiculous. They mainly get some financial breaks and it's business as usual. No doubt there is $$ lost by many when it happens but they all just pass the losses on to ..... yep. We be the bottom feeders who get the hook.
Funny how they hollered and screamed about all the harm done by individual BK's few years back. The sky was falling on everyone.... lol. Business BK's keep going up and up in number. Somehow that was always OK. Go figure.............

Regardless - that would not sway me from buying from them . Good product by all accounts and a friend even got great warranty service while all was going on. That to me says a lot.

Bill