Was at a recent WW show here in SoCal. Some really good buys, by the way. Happened to run my hand over the left extension on a Unisaw. The table thickness and ribs underneath seemed to be paper thin. Well, maybe not paper thin, but awful thin compared to my 6 year old PM-66.
I’ve seen the price come down on Unisaws and other major power tools over the past few years. Are the manufacturers saving some money by going with less “beefy” components?
I went to a couple of my tool mags to find the listed weight on the latest Unisaw models and couldn’t find it anywhere. They used to list this, and if I remember right, it was about 450 lbs. Has this changed?
Regards,
John
Replies
John,
Just checked on Amazon and a 3hp. Unisaw with 50' fence and extension table weighs in at 525 lbs. Comparable Powermatic weighs 640 lbs. I may be wrong (so what's new?) but I'll bet you're just used to your heavier machine.
Jeff
The current Delta catalog lists the Unisaw at 456 lbs.
Are our tools becoming cheaper ( as in cheap construction) or cheaper in price? I have the entire collection of FWW and occasionally like to review older articles. It is obvious that with the increase in competition the prices have been relatively stable. A router that was selling for $ 175 in 1981 is now 190 and in some respects probably better. I believe that if we, the consumers, insist on quality and good service ( What I hear about Laguna certainly steered me clear of their products), we will see better tools in our shops.
John Cabot
According to the inflation calculator at this site, http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi $175 in 1981 adjusted for inflation would be $361 in 2001 (the last year you can choose). So $190 in 2002 is actually a price cut of almost 50%.
Just a few years ago, consumers of specific products did not have a forum where they could voice their collective experiences and opinions. Now we do!!!! And, the manufacturers had better be listening or they will be left with their britches down at the starting gates!
I consider personal experiences to be much more reliable than written reviews in published mags. This forum, and others like it, should with time help insure that product quality stays at an acceptable level.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_KatyPlaneWood
I'll bet that Amazon lists the shipping weight, while Delta lists the weight of the fully assembled machine, sans packaging.
The catalog listing is for shipping weight, but is followed by the phrase "saw only" in parentheses. From this I gather that the weight of the saw does not include the fence system and extension table (since the same weight is listed regardless of Biesemeyer or Unifence). That would probably account for the 69 lbs difference. At any rate, the saw seems to have remained fairly steady over the years in terms of weight and in price (though I have noticed an uptick of about $50 recently).
I think the price increase was more than $50... the 'standard' price for a 3hp limited edition with either the Bies or Unifence is $1,750, that's at least $100 more than last year. I bought 2 unisaws last year and the best price I could get was $1,550.
I'm sure they are cheaper relative to older tools, considering that newer tools and machines often have a multitude of features, and in many cases are actually less expensive than earlier versions. Competition is a big part of this, as is high volume manufacturing, offshore mfg'ing, and improved product designs that are easier to build. Plastics have revolutionized industrial product manufacturing and dramatically changed the cost of build.
But I also know that Delta raised their prices on woodworking machines for the new year. I'm sure the other mfg did the same (just like airline seat pricing).
Edited 1/22/2003 1:02:11 PM ET by JEFFN7
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