Jim Hager
Member
- Messages
- 374
- Location
- N.E. Arkansas
I rarely post anything but I do have some insight that I might share here in this thread. I bought my ss back in October after a long wait for the funds to do so. When I was still teaching shop at the school we bought one there so I've had access to one now for about 6 years or so.
The one we bought at school was a 3 hp. version with a 52" table and fence. When we recieved it there were several pieces of hardware missing, ss replaced them very quickly and I was very impressed with their customer service. We took a Delta Unisaw out of service with this purchase however kept the other one we had in the shop for "teacher use only". I was much more comfortable with the students using the ss, made my life less stressful, however we still ran the dado blade on the unisaw. The 3hp version of the ss was a bit underpowered in my opinion however it did do 99% of what we wanted it to do.
In my own shop before the ss purchase I had 2 delta unisaws, both with 52" fences. One was set up to mainly break down sheets of plywood and the other was equipped with a stock feeder and a sliding table for a variety of uses not including plywood.
Since my ss purchase I now have it equipped to handle plywood breakdown and have one uni for rips, and the other for the sliding table and dado work. It's nice to have 3 for sure. Back to the ss however. I find the ss saw equal in it's ability to do good quality work and measured up against a uni I really can tell little if any difference. I purchased the 5 hp model and it has skads of power and never have needed more. I mainly use it to cut plywood but we also do a lot of rp door rails and often use it to rip long hardwood lumber wider than what we have the stock feeder set up for on the other saw. I am amazed at the ease of the height adjustment but am a bit dissappointed in the angle stop. Sawdust easily settles on the adjustment bolt head and causes the saw to stop on about a half degree to a degree out of square. Just gotta learn to clean it off I guess. The saw performs very well. I am also a bit dissappointed in the clamping mechanism for the fence. It will slip over if bumped lightly but seems to hold it's ground during the cut just fine. I'm sure I can adjust it just haven't taken the time to get it done.
My main reason for the purchase was to protect myself and my employee from injury at the table saw. The other operations at the other saws are guarded by either the stock feeder or the work itself. That being said again I find that it helps to simply know we have some sort of protection from those momentary lapses of concentration that often make some horrible life changing accidents occur.
The one we bought at school was a 3 hp. version with a 52" table and fence. When we recieved it there were several pieces of hardware missing, ss replaced them very quickly and I was very impressed with their customer service. We took a Delta Unisaw out of service with this purchase however kept the other one we had in the shop for "teacher use only". I was much more comfortable with the students using the ss, made my life less stressful, however we still ran the dado blade on the unisaw. The 3hp version of the ss was a bit underpowered in my opinion however it did do 99% of what we wanted it to do.
In my own shop before the ss purchase I had 2 delta unisaws, both with 52" fences. One was set up to mainly break down sheets of plywood and the other was equipped with a stock feeder and a sliding table for a variety of uses not including plywood.
Since my ss purchase I now have it equipped to handle plywood breakdown and have one uni for rips, and the other for the sliding table and dado work. It's nice to have 3 for sure. Back to the ss however. I find the ss saw equal in it's ability to do good quality work and measured up against a uni I really can tell little if any difference. I purchased the 5 hp model and it has skads of power and never have needed more. I mainly use it to cut plywood but we also do a lot of rp door rails and often use it to rip long hardwood lumber wider than what we have the stock feeder set up for on the other saw. I am amazed at the ease of the height adjustment but am a bit dissappointed in the angle stop. Sawdust easily settles on the adjustment bolt head and causes the saw to stop on about a half degree to a degree out of square. Just gotta learn to clean it off I guess. The saw performs very well. I am also a bit dissappointed in the clamping mechanism for the fence. It will slip over if bumped lightly but seems to hold it's ground during the cut just fine. I'm sure I can adjust it just haven't taken the time to get it done.
My main reason for the purchase was to protect myself and my employee from injury at the table saw. The other operations at the other saws are guarded by either the stock feeder or the work itself. That being said again I find that it helps to simply know we have some sort of protection from those momentary lapses of concentration that often make some horrible life changing accidents occur.
