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Off-shore all the way - I guess that's why it has a relatively good price. The blade guard is poor, I don't think much work was put into this design.
With the height extension the upper and lower castings were no longer alligned. Delta sent me a whole new upper casting, but I found out through great pain that the two mating surfaces were not machined parallel - I had to shim them.
A pretty good saw, but I've had several issues. I'm still waiting for parts (3 weeks now from Delta) for replacement.
The upper guide bracket which holds the bearing and guide blocks cracked, it's due to a round post in a hex shaped hole. The design is bad and needs to be fixed.
Not what I consider typical "old school" Delta, but it's not. No shame to Amazon, they still provide great deals on Delta tools.
I'm only in my second year of this hobby and have been quite satified with their products. I use Newwoodworking.com for advise and use of all my machines. I decided to wait for a year before posting my review. I think all tools will not be everything to everyone. After following advise from this site, (timberwolf blades and the resaw attachment) I find that it has met all my needs and customer service was excellent. I will continue to buy Delta products. This is one solid performer. Thanks Delta.
It is not perfectly level and is a little spongy on the top. No problem, I described the problem, the rep asked me to check another item. The stand is not the most stable stand. There are a couple of issues tho. I have had this saw for about a month now. It is great when a company actually solves a problem with out a lot of Bull****. I contacted Delta. The motor pulley had about 0.030 run out, that along with a balance problem with the motor itself (maybe a loose segment in the rotor) was the cause.
Three (3) days later I had both delivered. The saw had a bad vibration when assembled. Assembly was a snap, less than an hour. I did that and called back, told them the pulley was bad and the motor still vibrated when placed on the bench without the pulley. I am thinking about a solid plate on the underside of the saw mounts to stiffen the top of the stand. It ended up being 2 problems. Problem solved. I am confident that whatever problem that comes up with a Delta product, they will work to solve it.
I do have a big complaint however: the thing wobbles. Well almost gone. After owning the Delta and looking at the Jet (non-deluxe model) in the store, I must say I like the Delta better. A modest push on the saw gets it wobbling way more than it should. It was the lousy V-belt supplied with the saw.
I also tried pushing on a Jet and it was solid. When running, the top of the saw moves around by 1/4 to 1/2 inch, enough that the table is moving around while you are pushing the work through. It's so sensitive that I'm not surprised it wobbles when it's on. The nickel has to be placed a few times to find a spot it won't fall over. It's build quality and design are both decent, not fancy or high-end but functional.
It's acceptable now but won't win any awards for smoothness. The belt isn't true (would have a gap under part of it when lying on a flat surface), it had a kink. I'll update my review when I have news.UPDATE - Problem resolvedI started spinning things without the blade and without the motor belt on and found the problem. I tried pushing on one in the store and it was worse.
The lower guides are closer to the table and it has a quick release lever. I also noticed the rather significant motor jump on start-up is completely gone with the link belt.I suggest everyone just replace the belt even if you don't have such a severe problem. Overall this is a decent saw for the money. I could see the motor jumping around when it was running and this caused the whole saw to wobble.I replaced the belt with a link belt ($45.). and the wobble is gone. It passes the nickel test, barely. I also have an idea how to stiffen the base by adding feet if they don't have a good solution. It will likely make a noticeable improvement.I'd be happier if the stand was more stable.
I'm not sure if the problem is a poorly balanced wheel or if it's all in the base. My floor isn't 100% flat and I had reduced the wobble by putting some shims under the stand so it seems to be hyper-sensitive to this. I haven't contacted Delta yet regarding the wobble but I plan to. So the jury is out at this point. Anyway it's fully usable now. I think it would benefit by being bolted to the floor.
Back to the subject at hand. Even they are outsourceing to China.
My wife and I put it together in about an hour(we are both 60). When all was put together we easily aligned the belt with a straight edge tightened the motor mount bolts and guess what.
I recently recieved this saw. In our day everything was made in Japan.
No VIbrations. As far as being made in China that is the way of the world now.
I know i recently purchased a Toto toilet (Japanese Co)and it was made in China. This is a good quiet non vibrating saw.
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