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Delta Rants


Karl S

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I don't remember any bad coments about the Delta jSaw about 2 years ago or I would not have bought one. They clame thatt they will fix it for 5 years, but then it takes them 51/2 months to get the parts, and then tell you you should go ahead and buy a new one after they have had the saw for 3 months . I hope they dond't think that you are going to buy a DELTA, The saw ran good and was nice to use but didn't hold up modre than 18 months and fodr dthis reason I will not recomend a nother DELTA 40-694. and as far as I can see other people have had the same as I have with ther company. 

Delta is looking at Profit only The delta is now my back up saw.

IKE

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On 12/29/2020 at 11:28 AM, Rockytime said:

Did you mean a direct drive is no good? I sold my big Delta Uni-saw because the large footprint did not justify the amount of time I used it. My folding Kobalt fits what do just fine.  Use whatever works best for an individual. Although I agree with most of your post. 

I have a folding Dewalt jobsite saw that works fine for me. I was going to upgrade to a contractor's saw but decided what I have is ok. Now that I have "tuned" it up it works fine. And I saw a video where a guy has installed a 7 1/4" 40 tooth blade in his and it leaves a really small kerf and very smooth edges. It is fine for most cuts.

 

Edited by octoolguy
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7 hours ago, OzarkSawdust said:

"as for the delta TS mentioned- i would stay away from any table saw that is either direct drive or has the motor under the table. belt drive with motor hanging off the back is the way to go."

??? How so? What's the difference, other than $2000+ cabinet saws?

Mine has the motor inside - works like a charm and I use it a lot. Not as much as a professional, but often enough that I turn it on and run some wood through it at least twice a week, sometimes more.

Edited by new2woodwrk
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18 hours ago, OzarkSawdust said:

"as for the delta TS mentioned- i would stay away from any table saw that is either direct drive or has the motor under the table. belt drive with motor hanging off the back is the way to go."

??? How so? What's the difference, other than $2000+ cabinet saws?

Part of it power. The tilting arbor saws usually have a bigger motor. Also, the motorized saws have quite a bit of play in their bearings and the shaft will start to wobble after a lot of use. I've had both types and the tilting arbor saws are far better. I've been seeing a lot of the old Crafstman saws for sale on C/L for $100 on up depending on condition. They seem to be a pretty good saw and have a small footprint. Some of them had table extensions that make the saw wider. I'm thinking of buying one of them just to tinker with and see if I can restore it to it's original look/feel. Here's one like I'm referring to. This one has a side extension but most don't. These things were really built.

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/tls/d/laguna-niguel-table-saw-craftsman/7252826926.html

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Every woodworker I've ever talked to that has had both the belt drive saw like Ray shows in his link and the direct drive all say the old-school belt drive is the only way to go.. Just as Ray said.. There are alot of end play in the bearings and shaft of these motors.. even if it is a good tight motor when brand new.. give it a few years and tell me what you think then.. I don't think you can buy a saw with the motor hanging off the back like that anymore.. Too bad too.. you can't beat them old saws.. built like a tank.. 

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43 minutes ago, octoolguy said:

Part of it power. The tilting arbor saws usually have a bigger motor. Also, the motorized saws have quite a bit of play in their bearings and the shaft will start to wobble after a lot of use. I've had both types and the tilting arbor saws are far better. I've been seeing a lot of the old Crafstman saws for sale on C/L for $100 on up depending on condition. They seem to be a pretty good saw and have a small footprint. Some of them had table extensions that make the saw wider. I'm thinking of buying one of them just to tinker with and see if I can restore it to it's original look/feel. Here's one like I'm referring to. This one has a side extension but most don't. These things were really built.

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/tls/d/laguna-niguel-table-saw-craftsman/7252826926.html

WOW...that is an antique! 

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Just now, OzarkSawdust said:

WOW...that is an antique! 

Yes, for sure. But as stated prior, the old stuff was the good stuff. Cast iron doesn't go bad unless it's totally rusted out. These old saws had a bulletproof mechanism and used sealed bearings. Any motor will work as long as it has enough power.  A belt now and then is all that's required as for maintenance. And one of those segmented belts will last forever and run smooth. If I run across one that appears to be in decent condition, I'm going to snap it up. The one pictured has both extension tables bolted to one side. Not sure why but that would have to be changed. These old saws are great for building into a cabinet with out-feed table etc.

 

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41 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Every woodworker I've ever talked to that has had both the belt drive saw like Ray shows in his link and the direct drive all say the old-school belt drive is the only way to go.. Just as Ray said.. There are alot of end play in the bearings and shaft of these motors.. even if it is a good tight motor when brand new.. give it a few years and tell me what you think then.. I don't think you can buy a saw with the motor hanging off the back like that anymore.. Too bad too.. you can't beat them old saws.. built like a tank.. 

Kevin, most all of the contractor saws are made that way. They are called "tilting arbor" and all have the motor hanging off the back. They do take up more room in the garage and that's the one plus for the motorized saws. More compact.

 

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37 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Every woodworker I've ever talked to that has had both the belt drive saw like Ray shows in his link and the direct drive all say the old-school belt drive is the only way to go.. Just as Ray said.. There are alot of end play in the bearings and shaft of these motors.. even if it is a good tight motor when brand new.. give it a few years and tell me what you think then.. I don't think you can buy a saw with the motor hanging off the back like that anymore.. Too bad too.. you can't beat them old saws.. built like a tank.. 

What does it take to clean up one of these "barn finds" to useable shape? How would you go about it...and would it be worth the effort?

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I have and still use my Craftsman table saw that I bought in 1957 and I use it almost every day, A lot of people don't like them but I upgraded the fence and it was the best improvement I could have done the rest of it is rock solid and I am pretty sure the same drive belt is still on the saw and works super smooth.

 

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1 hour ago, OzarkSawdust said:

What does it take to clean up one of these "barn finds" to useable shape? How would you go about it...and would it be worth the effort?

Mostly a good amount of "elbow grease". I usually look closely at any of the machined surfaces to make sure they are not rusted beyond usability. Then, if it proves to be ok in that department, just a tear down and clean and reassembly. Lubing anything necessary along the way. It's not hard. Just time consuming. My wife buys aluminum sheets for inside of our stove's oven. They are cheap at Walmart. You can put one on top of a couple of saw horses with a plywood top and do your disassembly on that. It also keeps the cleaning solution and debris contained. I see folks all the time selling drill presses and bandsaws that they have restored. There is a big market for these old "relics" because everybody knows how well made they were. My problem is living in a mobile home park I don't have a lot of space to work and I do have to be careful not to annoy my neighbors with noise. Most of them depend on me to fix whatever they need fixed though so they don't say anything. But still, it's a matter of respect. I try to be a good neighbor.

 

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I'd snap that saw up in a heartbeat. I love old iron. I restored a Burke #4 horizontal mill. It was a rust bucket. Evapo-Rust is your friend. I then sold it because I could not find a vertical attachment. Old iron is the best. The saw comes with several inserts too. Good buy! I only have a folding saw because of space constraints.

Edited by Rockytime
Typo
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On 12/30/2020 at 6:57 AM, octoolguy said:

I have a folding Dewalt jobsite saw that works fine for me. I was going to upgrade to a contractor's saw but decided what I have is ok. Now that I have "tuned" it up it works fine. And I saw a video where a guy has installed a 7 1/4" 40 tooth blade in his and it leaves a really small kerf and very smooth edges. It is fine for most cuts.

 

I had a table saw, I made, for about 30+ years and I only used the 7 1/4" blades. They were cheap to purchase and in the early days cheap to get sharpened. Later they became so cheap that they were disposable and you get them in packs of three.
That saw made kitchens, wardrobes, all types of furniture etc.

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21 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Every woodworker I've ever talked to that has had both the belt drive saw like Ray shows in his link and the direct drive all say the old-school belt drive is the only way to go.. Just as Ray said.. There are alot of end play in the bearings and shaft of these motors.. even if it is a good tight motor when brand new.. give it a few years and tell me what you think then.. I don't think you can buy a saw with the motor hanging off the back like that anymore.. Too bad too.. you can't beat them old saws.. built like a tank.. 

i picked up a delta 36-441 on clearance in 2007 ish. could have paid $4 for it. salesman had to manually punch in the amount to the register and punched in 4.00 instead of 400.00. still a great deal- $400 for a $550+ saw.

its been a workhorse. blade was .0001" out of alignment out of the box. ive done a lot of resawing on it along with everything else. never had a problem resawing any species ive used it for- even 4" wide 3/4" thick purpleheart. 

i did a clean up and tune up a couple weeks ago. blade is still at .0001" out of align with miter slot.

only upgrade ive done is an incra miter gage.

think im gonna break down and finally replace the belt soon. even that has held up great.

 

boy kevin- i took a bit surfin for belt drive contractor saws. im surprised i dont see any-not that i didnt look too deep but very sad not to see them any more.

 

edit:

took a trip to woodcraft this morning. the contractor sawstop had the motor hanging off the back.

Edited by tomsteve
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This is an interesting discussion. I grew up around tools my father was a German tool and die machinist. If he didn't have it he made it. We never had the resources to buy a new machine. Most of us have been in the position that we bought or buy the best tool that we can afford. I started that journey in 1980. I then bought mostly by word of mouth and the experience of others. Now with the internet and forums like this we have the ability to do  serious homework before buying anything. 

I still have my Delta Unisaw, 14" bandsaw with riser, and just sold my Delta 16" floor model drill press. My focus on tools has changed as I am more and more a techno junkie, that is why I now own the Nova DVR drill press and lath. Function, reliability and sensible engineering  are critical.  Example the EX style of saw having the table stay level is brilliant in my opinion. Pegas did one better by replacing the EX clamps. So for me the best saw for all around functionality hands down is the Pegas. 

Most important I want to make stuff with a minimum of frustration and fuss. That means reliable tools. Any tool will require maintenance and that is on us. 

In 2004 my wife bought me a Delta SS350 16 inch scroll saw, A huge step up from the very frustrating and poorly engineered Craftsman that I had.  That Delta had the best clamps ever but from day one vibrated and just sounded off. I took it apart and discovered that the links inside were just simple steel with holes no bearings. I put heavy duty grease everywhere and it just purred after that. A year later I bought the Hawk G4 26. Sold the Delta last year.

 

Sorry for the rambling I have not snorted any sawdust yet today.

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On 12/30/2020 at 4:31 PM, Rockytime said:

I'd snap that saw up in a heartbeat. I love old iron. I restored a Burke #4 horizontal mill. It was a rust bucket. Evapo-Rust is your friend. I then sold it because I could not find a vertical attachment. Old iron is the best. The saw comes with several inserts too. Good buy! I only have a folding saw because of space constraints.

Les, this one just popped up and I'm really chomping at the bit. My wife will divorce me if I bring it it home.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/994307567747483/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=undefined

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