Thread: Not another table saw!!!!

thats one crazy looking overhead guard.
i dont have one of these saws, but it looks to me like a solid unit (but what can you tell from a picture).
check the country of origin, if china check it out in person if you can, if taiwan it should be ok (metalwork = taiwan = usually good kit). Taiwan has been making machines for longer than mainland china and have placed themselves in the market as being better than china.
the det contract number suggests it will at least be student proof.

Thanks BF,
I have seen this unit and it does look like a very sturdy little beast, but I do not know where it was made. I'll have to check it out.

the det contract number suggests it will at least be student proof.

To quote an famous expolie "Please explain"?
Les

det = department education of and training and as I understand they have contracts with many machine tool suppliers for equipment that meets the safety and functional requirements for use in schools, tafe etc.

by sutudent proof i meant school kid proof and that would mean reasonably robust in its components and build as school kids, when learning, can break things (I know I did)

so tell us more brisbane fitter, were you useing a hammer,crowbar,or a 24 inch shifter when you....

all of the above, and then some.
we thought one day it would be funny to see how far we could feed an 8mm drill bit up into a piece of 4140 bar stock on the lathe before it was glowing red and throwing small sparks, you know the normal sort of curiosity that apprentices have.
another time we had a small competition to see who could take the deepest cut for the longest length before the tool broke broke down completely.
then there was the widest face cut on the quickest feed at the deepest depth possible comp, that was a good one
oh, and dont forget who can cut the longest slot with the smallest slot drill.

then the accidental things like crashes into chuck, crashes into vices and beds and the like.

Can't say I ever did crazy stuff like that. The only things we did in school was throw chiesels at each others feet to see who moved first. Nothing much......

now i would consider that more crazy than our antics, a sharp chisel embedded into your foot couldnt be too pleasant if you didnt move.

It looks like the same saw that I bought from MWE about three years ago.

My table, fence and guard are a different configuration but the machine is probably the same.

I have the 3 HP , 240V motor.

Mine works fine. Solid saw and good power. I do test it with rough sawn slabs occassionally and it is happy to handly them if you feed it steadily.
I have Freud blades and I get nice clean cuts.

I chose it over the Jet saws because the working bits under the table were heavier and I thought it wood take more punishment.

I had a similar saw a few years ago. This one has a much better rip fence, overhead guard and sliding table support. It looks like it has addressed most of the problems that I had with my saw. It's based on a Metabo machine (can't remember the number). Three issues that I had with mine that may not have been addressed:
1. The handwheel which tilts the blade bears on the sheetmetal work of the base. When you tried to lay the saw right over to 45 degrees the metalwork would buckle. I had to reinforce the casing to prevent this and make it possible to lay it right over.
2. The scorer blade runs off the main blade using a rubber o-ring belt, twisted around, in order to get the counter-rotation. The belt supplied was sloppy and didn't give enough tension. I went to using orings (the original was like a bit of occy strap sewn into a loop) which worked fine, but they do need to be replaced fairly often as they wear out.
3. The scriber blade was a single blade with the teeth tapered to the tips. Width adjusted by lower or raising the blade. I found that I had a fair bit of blade protruding to match the width of my main blade. This would tend to snatch smaller workpieces out of your hand as you fed them into the blade. I could've fixed this by getting the blades diameter reduced, but in the end I sold the saw and bought a 2nd hand full sized panel saw. This fixed the other problem I had with the saw which was that it was just too small for the work I do.

This machine does look a lot sturdier and I was using mine commercially to build kitchens so I was asking a lot of it.

Mick

The link in Les's post has been hijacked...

does anybody know if this model is capable of supporting dado blades?

Thanks guys!
Journeyman Mick and Scally - Both of your replies have been very helpful. I have decided to go back out and give the unit a thorough going over in the New Year. It looks like it might be the one to go with. It will set me back around 5.5k.

The link in Les's post has been hijacked...
Harry72, do you mean that Al Qaeda has infiltrated the forum???

Brisbanefitter - I sometimes wonder how I managed to get to my current age in one piece!

Misd669 - I asked the exact same question, and the answer is, yes it does up to 20mm I think. But I will check with the guy at MWE and make sure.

Again, thanks for all your help guys.
Les

You're welcome Les.

Mine has a long 30mm spindle.
It has no trouble with the Freud Dado blades.

Originally Posted by Les99

............. It looks like it might be the one to go with. It will set me back around 5.5k. .................

At that price of you have the room and access to 3 phase power it would be worth considering a 2nd hand full size panel saw. It's possible to pick them up quite cheaply (anywhere from $1K+) depending on age, condition, size, brand and accesories. You'll need about 6m x 4m minimum space for one though.

Mick