My son-in-law and I just finished putting my new table saw together. It is a Delta 36-675 ( the 1 1/2 HP “Industrial” contractor saw with steel wings). about $470 including $9.95 (!) shipping from Amazon. I am not a woodworker in the sense that most of you seem to be. I am however interested in learning. The assembly was mostly straight forward (I’d give the instructions a “B”) but one trip to the local stock-everything neighborhood hardware store was necessary to get some screws that were missing – the ones used to attach the front and back rails. The instructions said that assembly would take 2-3 hours; it took us about twice that long. I still haven’t figured out how the blade guard hold-up works. It has the 30″T fence which should be adequate for me for now anyway.
To anyone who isn’t really used to this stuff who is contemplating purchasing this or a similar machine remember that those things are heavy! Not maybe Unisaw heavy but heavy enough. Rent a furniture dolly because the delivery guy is only going to get it off the truck – the rest is up to you. Read though the instructions carefully then read them a few more times. Make sure the necessary hardware is all present and accounted for.
Anyway, it’s done and I look forward to the next phase: tuning and playing with it. Thanks to all who post such useful advice on this forum.
Replies
Congrats on the new saw! That's a fairly nice machine that should serve you well. Getting it aligned properly is one of the more critical aspects of getting it to perform to it's potential...that and good blade selection. There's a $20 device from In-lineIndustries.com called the "PALS" that will help make your alignment easier and will help hold it place better...$20 well invested IMO.
Buy at least one good quality blade. Thin kerf ripping blades will maximize the power of your saw when you rip. There's quite a science to blade selection, so read up! (...or just duplicate what others get!)
There are several good books around on table saw setup and care. I like Jim Tolpin's "Table Saw Magic", others speak highly of Kelly Mahler's book. Libraries often have wwing books.
You might want to consider building a crosscut sled someday, or even buying a decent aftermarket miter gauge. Get familiar with featherboards, pushsticks and other safety devices.
You'll want to wax the cast iron surface with paste wax to prevent rust and help the wood slide...not an automotive wax, but something like Johnsons or Minwax paste wax that contains no silicone. Wax the top of your fence rail too so the fence glides.
Good luck and have fun!
Edited 1/8/2006 8:13 pm ET by scotty
Thanks for the advice. I've spent the past few days aligning what I could. And then re-aligning it. I found myself shoulder deep in the machine (unplugged of course) trying to align the splitter with the arbor the other night and I thought "I'd rather be doing this than nearly anything else." Tomorrow I'm going to call In-Sight Industries to order the PALS system. There's a lot of play value to these things, isn't there? As long as one is always aware that this "toy" could bite that is.
Any hints on getting that blade guard to stay up?
Here's a link to "In-Sight" industries to help you out ;-)http://in-lineindustries.com/saw_pals.html
I set up my new saw last year. My 2 cents is take a good couple hours to tune the saw perfectly, with a straight edge, a dial indicator, clean and lube the saw gears.
The additions I find very helpful include, add a Gripper push block( best 40 bucks I've spent ), a pair of magnetic feather boards ( just put down and ready to go), and a non factory spliter, minus the shield. I know its wrong but I FEEL less safe than with a shield.
Get two GOOD blades, I use a Forrest ww2 for general work, and a Freud Glue Line rip blade 30 teeth, for ripping. Keep blades clean too.
Once I properly tuned the saw up, I felt l safer using the machine, on top of really enjoying a good quality machine.
ps ( I second the Jim Tolpin book comment ) excellent guide and then becomes a reference.
Enjoy the machine!!
Thanks. I'm taking my time with it - got a dial indicator and base and I'm waiting for the PAL system to arrive since it appears about 0.009 out of alignment and I'm not sure about whacking the trunions with a mallet. Still can't get the blade shield to stay up even with the insert plate removed. The book will be my next purchase.
Sure is fun though, as long as I keep my eye on the sharp parts.
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