Excalibur EX-21

For a review/comparison of the EX 21 and Hawk BM 220 see my discussion under the review topic for the Hawk BM 20.

Got my EX21 last week. I love it.

Some things that I never noticed in the reviews, and which I never had to think about with all my previous saws;

• My lower clamp seems to grip the blade at any depth of the blade shank, whilst the top clamp only worked when the top few millimetres of the shank were fed into the clamp. The blade just never locked in place if I tried to fit too much of the top section into the clamp. Also I knew my reverse tooth blade was not working properly at first. I had the blade set too low so that the reverse teeth were always below the table. I ended up fitting the lower blade first and had the clamp gripping the bottom few millimetres then raised the top arm with the tension knob to suit the blade length. That way the reverse teeth are now back in play and the top clamp just grips the top of the top shank. Changing holes is now a doddle with the blade just slotting right into the top clamp as if on auto. and I have never had to adjust the tension knob unless I change blades.
• I have really only tried bottom feeding so far but the top arm lifting out of the way makes hole changing super easy. I have difficulty with my efforts at top feeding so far. I'll have to find an interesting pattern and force myself to top feed the whole pattern so I'll be well practiced at top feeding.
• Vibration is still an issue. When it arrived vibration was very bad at high speed and  noticeable at lower speeds. I followed the manual {eventually } and adjusted the motor so I moved the vibration levels away from the speed I normally use {about 45% speed} so I'll see how it works when I vary the wood type or the blades.

Bob