general vs. general international.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, my home shop has a combination of General, and General International machinery.

The Canadian made General line of machinery is some of the best available in the world, with a price tag capable of supporting the design/comstruction of the machine. It was always superior to the Delta brand, including when Delta manufactured equipment in North America.

General International is indeed made in Taiwan, to strict standards. It is designed to compete with companies such as Delta, who also manufacture their equipment in Taiwan. The GI equipment will cost more than the Delta, because it made to higher standards.

I would be very surprised if you were disaapointed when comparing GI to Delta, or to any of the other machinery manufacturers who build their products in Taiwan.

Regards, Rod.

[Aaron Mills]

I was fortunate enough to use a lot of General, Delta/Rockwell, and Powermatic tools throughout most of my time in high school woodshop. In the last few years we also brought in some newer General Int'l and imported Delta tools. From these anecdotal experiences and my observations, I don't feel that the negative comparisons about the accuracy and durabilty of General against General Int'l are warranted. At least as much time was spent by shop technicians tuning the old General 480/1180 jointers and General 430 planer as was spent on the General Int'l dual drum sander (15-150). Few of the machines ever delivered the precision that many people here at SMC demand, but I think a lot of it came down to how well tuned the machines were and the repeated abuse that would put them out of sync. I think both the General and General Int'l machines did an admirable job, even in a high school shop environment, with their shortcomings emerging from setup/abuse not the quality of the machines itself.

[Brian Penning]

I'm another satisfied General Int'l owner (50-250 Cab saw, mortiser, air cleaner, & DC unit).
And FWIW(very little, I know I'd rather have an overseas made tool than a North Am. product anyday.

[Aaron Mills]

With General and its General Int'l division, I feel that a large part of the differences in the machines are small things that certain customers demand and want, but do not necessarily have a huge impact on their abilities as a woodworking machine. Having rebuilt several General machines, I think that these cost discrepancies arise from 1) the Meehanite castings and 2) name brand (Baldor/Leeson) motors. None of the small parts for a General machine are particularly expensive, but any cast iron parts command a small fortune. As an example, consider the price difference between the General 350/650 ($2599 CDN) and the General Int'l 50-250/50-260 ($1799 CDN). The $800 CDN price difference is probably the smallest discrepancy between comparable products from General and General Int'l. At those prices they are both 3 HP cabinet saws with the Canadian made T-fence and 30" rails.



Ultimately, only a small fraction of the General Int'l line-up of tools overlaps with the General machines. Keep in mind, few of the Canadian made General machines actually utilize innovative designs or technology. In fact a lot of them seem to be based off of other companies machines that General bought out or at one time manufactured for (Delta/Rockwell, Jos Poitras, etc.). It doesn't seem as if General is in the market to engineer or redesign many of their machines or expand their line-up of Canadian made machines. The majority of machines from General Int'l actually add to the offerings from General. Thickness sanders, spindle sanders, dust collection, power feeders, and even most of their table saws, band saws, jointers, etc. merely fill in holes in the General line-up.

General has continued to do what they are good at (producing many of the same machines they have for decades with minor changes) while maintaining a foothold in the woodworking marketplace that has seen an increasing number of machines become available to the hobbiest woodworker at reduced prices and a shift in the manufacturing process for many of their competitors.

[Gary Curtis]

Last year I bought the General 350 10" Cabinet saw (made in Canada) with the General sliding table (made in Taiwan). The workmanship on the saw itself phenomenal. The sliding table was quite well-made, though in a few places the material was not quite as thick or heavy. I evaluated different brands for 18 months and am very happy with my selection.

The operating manual for the slider was one of the best I've seen on any machinery. General International equipment has won best awards in Fine Woodworking Magazine and other publications. One standout was the GI Contractor saw. I believe one of their jointers and a bandsaw have also garnered those awards.

Since the original design has much to do with quality, I would compare each machine with models made by other manufacturers.

Gary Curtis
northern Calif.