I bought one of
these panel saws last Saturday and gave it a bit of a workout making some drawers for a new workbench.
Initial impressions are quite good:
It was easy to set up, only the occasional peek at the manual required
Dust extraction seems adequate (it's nigh on impossible to get all the dust from a panel saw)
The machine cut square and repeated size constantly
The scribe blade was well set up and worked very well. I'm glad it's the tapered type and not the split scribe blade that you adjust using shims, they're a real PITA to set up.
Scribe Blade.jpg
The sliding table moved very smoothly
The blade guard was missing, but a call to H&F and they gave me the guard off the display model
Some of the things I was not impressed with:
The locking pin used to lock the sliding table did not engage all the way, a quick touch up with a round file on the holes did the trick
Table Lock.jpg
The support leg for the sliding table interferes with the swing arm, no matter where I placed it it fouled on the swing arm.
Sliding Table Support 1.jpg Sliding Table Support 2.jpg
The clamp levers for the cross cut table are a bit flimsy. I don't think they'd hold up in a commercial operation, but will probably last me for quite a while.
Locking Lever.jpg
The sliding swing arm is made from RHS tubing and is not machined. This in itself is not a problem unless you tighten the bottom bearings then the bearings bind when you're moving the table through it's full range of movement.
Outrigger Support Bearings.jpg
The mitre gauge is marked to 65 degrees in both directions, however you are limited to just over 45 degrees because the locking wing nuts foul on the handle and prevent full range of movement.
Mitre Attachment 1.jpg Mitre Attachment 2.jpg
These are really minor irritations on an otherwise pretty good machine that is well priced. I would recommend this panel saw.
Hare & Forbes W700 Panel Saw 
