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I'm familiar with the Delta Unisaw 3 hp shop saws, but not with the Powermatic of similar size. Does anybody have experience with both. How do the two compare? Any problems with the single phase 5 hp motor?
I am familiar with the Powermatic 66 and the Delta Unisaw, I investigated both before deciding to purchase the powermatic. It's heavier and in my humble opinion a better saw. Too much for occasional shop use. the Unisaw is totally adequate for most contractors shop use. The powermatic is a true commercial duty saw. One that you can run day after day and will chew up whatever you throw at it. Just remember that Powermatic was bought last year by Jet. I believe that the companies are being run as two seperate entities owned by the same parent.
Being in the kitchen buisness I have used both the saws you mention. when it came time to buy my own though I bought a jet. Although the P.M. is considered tops the jet saw has operated flawlessly. Finely milled top, great fence, good warranty and 700.00 less. Hope this is helpful.
Being in the kitchen buisness I have used both the saws you mention. when it came time to buy my own though I bought a jet. Although the P.M. is considered tops the jet saw has operated flawlessly. Finely milled top, great fence, good warranty and 700.00 less. Hope this is helpful.
The key difference between the two saws is the trunion, the chunk of cast iron below the table that holds the arbor and raises and lowers the blade. I don't recall the numbers, but Delta's is made of several more pieces than PM's. The effective difference is a single machined chunk of iron versus an assembly of pieces. In a heavy environment where is saw is used all day long by both demanding craftsmen and incompetent high school kids on summer jobs, the PM will abide all. In a small professional shop, the Delta may require tweaking every five or ten years, and your aging son may have to rebuild it. And on a personal note regarding Jet, etc...Something sticks in my craw about buying a Taiwanese exact copy of a Unisaw. And the fence sucks by comparison.
I just bought the Jet cabinet saw. General quality looks ok, but careful inspectionwill reveal castings and parts not up to the standard of PM or an older Delta unit.You cannot expect to pay 1300 dollars and get a 2300 dollar saw. But for my purposesit will do fine. If you compare it to a contractors saw it is worth the extra money.Yes, as most reviews say, it is a good buy, a good value for the money spent.On par with the commercial saws? No.
Thanks for all your advice. I remembering using a 10 inch 5hp Rockwell unisaw that Delta bought out. It was a great saw that you could push anything through. From your collective experience it appears the the PM is the best saw but the Delta will do fine for most things. If I have to buy new, I will probably buy the PM unless I can find a good deal on a used PM or Delta in good condition. Thanks again, Hal.
I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that the Delta blade tilts over toward the fence, and the Powermatic tilts away. And, depending on year make and model, PM has a t-fence slot, Delta??
You can buy a Delta, Jet or PM cabinet saw with either left or right tilting arbor and with T-slot fence (Accu-fence or Bismeyer)or standard fence (Delta Unifence). Delta and PM low-end products that cost less than $1000.00 are generally made over sea just like any of the Jet products. Typical things to consider when buying a saw should include how well is the fence design, trunion design (ball brg vs sleeve brg), arbor run-out (0.001" vs 0.003" TIR), number of v-belts (3 vs 1), motor enclosure (TEFC vs ODP) ect. will likely determine quality of the product.
I bought a Powermatic 66 with the 50 inch extension table in October of 98. It is on casters for portability. This saw has seen a lot of use and has held up extremely well. The original carbide blade is still on it. It is a Budke, and there is virtually no grain tear-out on either side of every board that is sawed; whether cross-cutting or ripping, it makes no difference. Mine is a 3 HP 230 volt set-up. Fence is a Bieysemer design and locks easily and parallel. Absolutely no vibration on table top surface when machine is running! Only gripe is the locking mechanism when locking in the blade height. It's design is a handwheel with a long bolt on the end that when screwed in far enough, acts like a set screw for locking purposes. The bolt length on mine needs to be longer. I can run it in all the way and yet the blade height is not firmly locked.
All in all, well pleased with machine. Yes, Jet did take over Powermatic, but this saw is still being manufactured in McMinneville, Tenn.
PM saws can be bought with either a "left-tilting" or "right-tilting" blade. I opted for the "left-tilting." Don't have to move fence to other side with this set-up. Works great.
I examined a Delta Unisaw before buying the PM. The unisaw was a tad lighter in weight and in other components. I felt the PM was beefier in all respects; including the trunion (though someone here mentioned that Delta's trunion is thicker & heavier? Didn't appear that way to me.) I think I made the right choice.
Would not say that buying a Unisaw is a wrong choice either. I believe it would be a very good saw. Also examined the Jet. It was a lot cheaper in price, and for the money, definately better than a contractor grade saw; but as earlier mentioned by Will, it's not in the same class as the Unisaw or Powermatic.
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