There’s a 2-hp motor inside the cabinet of the 50-200R M1, and it powered the saw through the ripping test better than any of the other saws. It comes wired for 230 volts, but can be rewired for 115. Another highlight of the saw was how easy it was to switch between the riving knife and blade guard. Just flip a lever and pull up. Unfortunately, when the lever is in the locked position you cannot take a blade off the arbor, so you have to flip the lever up whenever you change blades. The arbor lock also made blade changes difficult because it requires you to push a small pin into a hole in the arbor. The pin barely fits into the hole and depressing the plunger for the pin wasn’t easy.

 

Large handwheels made adjusting the height and tilt of the blade smooth and easy. The power switch is mounted to the front fence rail and made it a breeze to turn the saw on and off. The off paddle is so big that you can easily push it in with your thigh, a good thing when you need both hands to hold a workpiece steady on the table. Dust collection was good, too. There’s a 4-in. port on the outside of the cabinet. It splits inside, with a 2-in. hose running up to the blade shroud, and the other half open to suck in anything that falls to the cabinet bottom.