So while I haven't put a ton of hours on this machine yet, I thought it'd be worthwhile to share my first impressions while they were still fresh in my mind.
It looks like I left things off at unpacking and assembly. Again, while the paper instructions were relatively worthless, it went well. All of the hardware was pre-installed (it wasn't a bag of mystery bolts and trying to guess the location) and the machine made it halfway across the globe with only a few scuffs in the paint. Overall, after assembly, most everything was already set up well, level, and true. It did not seem as if this was something they thoughtlessly slapped together.
First of all, a couple of overall pictures of the machine how she sits today:
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Above: General view of it, 2 year old dog for scale. Please excuse the messy shop-- in between my ongoing projects, selling my old equipment, and rearranging the shop there is a lot going on.
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Above: A view of the controls as well as peek at the planer. Sidenote, while I added the magnetic strip for the tools, they included EVERYTHING you needed to assemble or maintain it.
So, first thing I did (after wiring in a new cord with the proper plug and enough length to reach an outlet) was order some retractable casters as you can see in the second pic. I ended up attaching them to some 4" angle iron before bolting them on the machine. It's not super easy to move on the casters-- I mean, it's still 1400 lbs, but I can move it on my own, so that's good enough. I don't anticipate moving it often, so it's not a big deal. It did add about 3" of height to the machine, but it was sitting lower than all of my other equipment to start with, so it worked out well. At the moment I have scraps of wood under the slider outriggers, but I'll sort out a better solution at some point.
Walking through the machine
The slider: Beefy and smooth. I can sit on one end of it and it slides smoothly. There is no play in it and the extrusion seems beefy. However, setting the fence on the slider to 90 degrees was more frustrating than I would have liked. There is a nice, bold angle scale on the table (see pic below, that is 0/90 degrees), but it's off be about a degree.... and riveted down. No adjustment.
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The fence pivots on one end (solid and tight, no play), and then clamps on the underside below the angle gauge. It seemed solid, but I noticed if you gave it a good whack, you could nudge the fence-- there was no hard stop. From another project, I had a mini XY table, so I bolted that on (see pic below), then scooted it over to make contact with the extrusion and locked it down-- ta da! An adjustable hard stop.
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The saw: Runs smooth and true. It takes a 12" blade on a 30mm arbor. Well, it's a 25mm threaded arbor that steps up to 30mm. Because of this, I was able to drop my 10" blade in and use them for a bit... but for a couple of reasons (such as adjusting the riving knife, compensating for it not really being fully seated when measuring, etc.), I think 10"-ers will be more hassle than they are worth. I'll probably sell all of those and pick up a couple of 12" blades. The arbor is not keyed or pinned to the blade-- one single 30mm hole in the center is it. Dust collect on the saw is okay. I was cutting some thin strips that actually fell down the small gap and they were a pain to get out of the dust collection chute/hose-- and there is plenty of saw dust under the saw now-- so I can't say the dust collection is any better than "okay"
The fence: The extrusion is nice and solid and the scale has two sets of measurements-- one for the low side of the extrusion fence towards the blade, one with the high side towards the blade. That is where everything good with the fence stops. The scale is in metric (understandable, though the planer is in metric and imperial) and the 3/4" wide window to read the measurements has no line (see pic below). You have a 3/4" wide window and you get to guess where the fence is. What a joke. It tightens down nicely-- but as you tighten it, it shifts about 1/16 to 1/8" (I probably need to file the end of the bolt, but still annoying). The fence does have an attached metal guard for the jointer I will probably remove (in case you were wondering what the orange metal flap is-- and it's backwards in the main pic). But, all in all, I'll likely replace the fence in some fashion. I have never used or owned a slider before this, so I don't know how much I will use the fence, or in what capacity, but once I figure out what I want to do, this fence set up will be in the trash.
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The jointer: It's a 12" jointer with two blades and is the "normal" design (not a Tersa head). It runs well and I have no complaints. It locks down nicely (the tables flip up to use the planer) and the adjustment is pretty straightforward. The guard design is nice-- it's the Euro style that you can raise or lower depending on the board thickness. However, I had a good chuckle when I realized it was made out of wood (pic below). It's not going to damage the blades if it get's pressed down into them somehow, but I'll have to find a better substitute material at some point.
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The planer: I love it. I am stepping down from a 15" planer to a 12" (it uses the bottom of the jointer as you'd expect), but it's solid and planes well. I never used my 15" to the full width, so hopefully this will do for the foreseeable future. I don't have any good pics of it, but it has a single column that raises and lowers a cast iron platform. The handwheel turns smoothly and easily (though I am already thinking about how to slap a stepper motor on there to automate it), and while the cast iron platform has some rotational play, there is zero up and down slop at all. In fact, I ran some 3 foot oak boards through there the other night and I couldn't see any snipe--I'm sure there's a little bit, but it is nothing like what I saw on my 15" planer (which I thought was already good). I forgot to mention, one thing I'm not a huge fan of is the infeed roller that pulls/pushes the wood through has some SHARP (or jagged) ridges for gripping the wood. If you take a big enough cut, it doesn't matter, but it is stupid sharp. The outfeed roller is nearly smooth steel (some tiny ridges/machine marks that run parallel around the roller) and doesn't seem to be an issue. Also, the planer has only one feed speed, but it seems reasonable. I was content with the quality of the wood surface that came out of it.
The mortiser: This attaches to the side of the planer/jointer (pic below-- inside the orange guard is a drill chuck), but I haven't so much as mounted the table. It looks smooth and solid like the rest of the machine, so I think it'll work well.
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The shaper: Runs smooth and they included a head (with straight blades-- I had a pic attached, but ran over the limit) but I have not run any wood through it yet. It is a 30mm diameter shaft. The also included some guards/guides for using it (not pictured) that look pretty straightforward.
My modifications: Besides the wheels, power cord, and magnetic tool strip I have already noted, I think the only other thing I have really done is mount my Bench Dog cast iron router table (pic below). There was a blue, sheet metal table there (and it was sturdy), but I wanted a router table and the dimensions worked well. I was even able to use the lower supports for the sheet metal table and it's sturdy. I'd be leery about sitting on the end of it, but I have no concerns for anything short of that or general use.
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I think that mostly sums things up at the moment. They included a number of small accessories I didn't show and I skimmed over some details-- but overall I am stoked about this machine. The fence is a joke, but everything else on the machine seems solid, decent quality, and relatively well thought out. For example, I couldn't get the thing to start the other day. After pulling out some hair and taking a multimeter to things, I found the problem. There are a number of microswitches throughout the machine and I left an access door open. With the door open, it won't start. There are a couple on the jointer and planer also. I forgot to mention above that the red e-stop buttons are well placed and work well-- but the plastic is a bit brittle. I wasn't paying attention and hammered one with my knee and did crack part of one, but I'm still considering that not a huge deal. I think I have a couple of those buttons and enclosures in a drawer somewhere (I tinker a lot), so I'll get a new one on there soon enough.
This post has turned into a novel, so I'll wrap things up. Overall I am happy with my ML310G from Zicar/Jaya (and the customer support has been great as well-- I had a question about where a small part was installed and the next morning they sent me a close up picture of it installed and an explanation. Couldn't have been clearer) and look forward to really putting it through its paces.
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Originally Posted by Martin Wasner
