TS – Any comments about General
Charles_Wilson
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
Any comments about General woodworking machinery? I am looking at both the hybrid and contractor saws.
Thanks,
Chuck
Replies
There are two lines put out by General. General (Or General Canada) is still made in Canada, is the higher quality line (it also comes with the pricetag). General International (GI), is the foreign made stuff. I own lots of the GI stuff and it's great.
I bought the Hybrid two years back. It's rates at 2HP, but has a slightly smaller AMP rating than the contracor saw. I've run 8/4 Hard Maple over it, and it eats it up pretty good. I've been using Frued thin kerf blades with it. The only real issue with General Machinery is the poor manuals. They said they were working to improve it... The customer service is second to none, it's on par with Lee Valley.
In my opinion the Hybrid is the way to go. Extra weight, better chip collection, less space... I have yet to see a real downside. Make sure you get it with the General T-Square Fence.
If you're in Canada, I don't think that there are many machines that are of this quality. I would however avoid the Rona "Star Workshop" machines... They take the little extras off.
Mount a 90 mm gun on one of the General top of line TS's and it could fill in for the Canadian Armor Corp in a budget crunch as a tank!
Regards...
Sarge.. jt
as a information update canadian forces over in the sand box will be shortly getting the new Leopard 2 tanks which were recently reviewed on the history channel
they were rated the top tank in the world , the abrams made #3
perhaps we could lend the us a few to help you out over there (joke)
Morning dude...
Dude has a familiar ring to it from the early nineties. :>)
I haven't seen the Leopard on the History Channel and admittedly there's not much on the late night HC I haven't seen. I must be spending too much time in the shop lately.
But I would like to see it as I am not only a history buff, but a military buff also. I love machines even though I didn't get to ride one on a permanent basis when I was in a war zone. Just a short chopper ride and they booted me out while they went home to play. ha.. ha...
Perhaps all should paint Leopard spots on their General for the make-over from "Hoss" to Leopard! That should "spruce up" a lot of garage shops from Canada south through the U.S.
Regards...
Sarge.. jt
the review was the before last and was very interesting
the current leopards we have are 30 years old and were being scrapped before we got heavely involved in afgany land
our 1 year old govt is updating the forces big time right now and seems to have public backing that wasent there before when the lefties were in power for what seemed forever
Hey Dude...
Several of my Canadian customers told me that the military was placed on the back burner. If I remember correctly they had a fleet of C-130's that was ready for the scrap pile.
What's the matter with those lefties? They must not be planning to invade anybody in their term! he.. he...
Regards...
Sarge.. jt
the new government is conservative minority
they are getting new transport planes from boeing the first is due in august
as for troops we are on a hiring spree and seem to be doing very good at recruiting volunteers who are high grade applicants according to the military
our snipers are the current best in the world and have been decorated by the US military even though our liberal govt at that time wouldent acknowledge them
a friend who is ex military said they were training some US military
Our JTF2 unit is expanding like rabbits currently and even the opposition parties in govt dont ask what they are doing or where they are in afgany land
we just lost 8 good men last week a record for losses in one week over there
I figure all thats gonna do is piss off the others and allah better help the talaban when the canucks come gunning for them
here very little is mentioned about taliban losses even though reporters are embeded with them the reporters seemed to have turned a little right wing after being so left wing for so many years ( freedom isent free seems to be the motto these days )
another aspect is that the economy here is very strong and we are exporting 40% of the oil we produce and the pipe lines are running at max capacity
a major nickel deposit find was just announced the other day even though they were looking for diamonds , it is in the north west territories ( we currently supply 15% of the world diamond supply )
this country has been running a surpluss on govt income for years now which is probally why we can spend more on the military which is now enjoying more popularity than in any time i can remember
Forgive my ignorance of Canadian things, seeing as how I live in the US - on the other border - but are you guys for real when you say that the Canadian military is growing, modernizing, and has the public's support? If that is true, and long-lasting, then God bless Canada!!! I had all but given up hope for our northern neighbors, just like I'm giving up hope for England now.
mich : what does other border mean ?
the military here was gutted by the liberal party of canada over the years as we played peace keeper all over the world and got shot at all over the world
the current govt is a conservative minority govt in that it did not win enough seats in parliament to out vote the opposition parties if they gang up on it, however right now the opposition parties dont want a ellection as they are dropping in the poles and will only get less seats if they force a election right now
it seems the conservatives are doing a good job of tapping public sentament for the military even though we lost 8 men in afgany last week plus 1 this week due to a accident , this is a very high number for the public here to normally absorb
the opposition parties arent doing their usual rant as they seem to have discovered that a rant against the govt seems to equate to support for the taliban in the poles
we just finished re dedicating the rebuilt Vimy memorial in france where in the first world war canadian troops defeated the germans after unsuccessful attempts by both the french and the british at great loss of life on their part
a lot of the troops in the canadian contingent were american volunteers eho came north to enlist somthing that was recently mentioned in the press
as a cdn i personally dont like wars but if you are going to a gun fight you should bring the biggest and best gun you can get your hands on is my philosophy !
cheers from north of the border
Thanks for your response and info. The "other border" is the US border with Mexico - the one you hear about constantly in the US, as if there is no other border.
sorry to have askedb that question as we seem at times to be overly sensative about somethings god i dont know why cheers !
having lived in th US i have seen some differencesis but they werent much as i actually felt safer there as i was liscened to carry conceiled and not even a citizen
he
so do we make the crimanals fear us or do we fear them seems to be the question
re i can not even get the same licansome no mater what
Dude,
Interesting post, I like your comments and point of view and of course Sarge's as well.
You sound like you may be in the West perhaps Alberta.
Blackbird
how did a talk about tablesaws turn into talk about talk of war. come on fellas.
eastern ontario
Hi Dude,
I could of sworn you were a friend of mine living in Alberta that originally came from Thunder bay and was in the reserves, he has the exact same story on the Canadian military to tell in the same words you chose.
I traveled Ontario and Quebec thirty years ago for a months vacation, amazing countryside. I really enjoyed Algonquin National park and Black Creek Pioneer village. I took particular interest in learning about the square log era.
Since this thread has mentioned war along the way it is interesting that way back in the square log era logs were hewn square for packing into ships for export back to colonial England for use in the making of war ships by carpenters.
Blackbird.
spent a few nights sleeping in algonquin park years ago while travelling to a cottage we had on the other side of the park
i dident realize square timber was common to this area as there are so many bldgs around where they were used in ( as a kid my family lived in a log house on a farm ) as for military activities due to the fact that headquarters is here and i have met a number of people who are either in it or are civies working there it gives a person knowledge maybe not available to some others. My wife at one point was the personal secretary to the then Chief of the defence staff but as she said at the time i probally would of understood better the things she saw or heard than she did but she did not tell me what she saw or heard !
In early 2006 I bought a Canadian-made General 350 tablesaw with their sliding table. I got it with a 5hp motor (single phase 220) and General's sliding table. The workmanship and materials are the best. My friend recently bought a new Delta Unisaw with a 3hp motor.While his more or less vibrates and rumbles, mine simply purrs. The instruction manuals could use some help, but I understand they are revising many of them. Customer service is excellent. General is kind of picky about their dealers, which works in your favor. General International is made in Taiwan. Equipment from there is usually a bit lighter weight, and motors aren't made by Baldor. Here's the true test. A used General machine will bring about 80% of the new price. Gary Curtis ---north of San Francisco
interesting test 74 , glad you are happy with your purchase and remain happy for years to come
We use a lot of General (made in Canada) equipment and have found that it is of excellent quality.Several of the 350saws are over 20 years old .the 330 planer is more like 30+.lathes are 260's we have bandsaw ,a couple of shapers and a drill press.All have been really worked like donkeys and have required little maintainance only simple replacement of belts bearings etc.However they do get aligned, lubricated and any nasty bits of operator removed(hamburger is very corrosive).General machinery is low tech ,built very solidly and reliable in my experience.I have no practical knowledge of G.I. but I feel that for me I just don't need the gamble.Certainly GI machines are made to sell cheaper so there will be trade offs in quality for $ saved .I see poorer machining and finish just looking at them.But as the expression goes "If you will settle for the oats that have passed through the horse once it is considerably cheaper " :-)
I like your assesment of General Canada tools. I think the real proof is the number of General saws and tools in the hardest work environments around... High Schools. It's really amazing how well these machines stand up in an environment less inclined to actually take care of the tools. I've even seen GI tools that have stood up over many years.
You're completely correct that the GI tools are not as well constructed as General Canada. But as a hobbiest, GI is a great value and in my opinion is a huge step up over many of the comparable Asian made tools available. At least in the Canadian market.
I have the General top end cabinet saw. It's way better than any other I ever had (Delta, Sears). The machine is solid, a top ground like a mirror, superb fence.
Hello Charles,
I have the general 650. I like it very much and would buy it again. When I originally received it Ihad some difficulty with the fence rail setup, I called their customer service and left a message (it was evening) and received a call from them the following morning. I cannot comment about their imported line, because Ihave no experience with it.
Good luck in your search
Eric
Eric,
Just saw this today. I've dealt with General customer service on a few occasions.
The first like you, was with te table saw fence. I e-mailed them on a Sunday evening. The local rep called me at work the next day, when I said I wasn't home he asked me to call him back in the evening... Any time before 9:30... and he would help me out.
Later I bought a used General Lathe. I contacted the company in the evening, and by lunch the next days they had sent me a PDF manual for it. With an offer to mail a hard copy.
That's great service.
Buster
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