The Assembly, Phase 2
It took less time to complete the rest of the assembly than I thought. The directions really are amazingly well written and the saw is well designed for easy assembly. I still need to move it into it's final position and I have work to do building a new crosscut sled and outfeed table but the saw assembly is complete and it cuts like a dream.
Some observations now that I've actually cut something:
- It's the smoothest running saw I've ever used.
- The saw blade was perfectly parallel with the miter track and by looking at the docs it should be real easy to adjust if I ever need to. My General saw was out when I bought it and I've had to adjust it about 4 times over the last 4 years.
- The saw blade that it came with is a decent blade. I still like my Freud combination blades better but it did a decent job of both ripping and crosscutting some 8/4 Hickory.
- The fence is really solid, better than any Besmier I've ever used.
- The fence has has 2 gauges, one on each side for cutting on both sides of the blade. And the rail has markings on both sides.
- The 52 inch rails will actually cut 53 inches.
- Even without a dust collector hooked to the safety gaurd and the guard removed it does a significantly better job of keeping dust out of my face.
- Even without the braking system, this saw is worth the extra money.
Number of trips to Home Depot to get the correct plug: 2.
Apparently there are 2 sizes of 3 prong locking plugs and of course I got the wrong one on the first trip. I'm glad Home Depot is only a mile away.
Number of head bumps: 1
That's pretty good considering how many times I had to get up and down from the floor. All I hit was a piece of plywood sticking out from a shelf so it was pretty minor and no blood.
Number of times my wife freaked out when she found empty bandage wrappers in the bathroom: 1.
When I took the safety guard off I slipped and my finger hit the spring loaded teeth that are there to stop kick backs. Considering how sharp they are I think they'll work pretty well.
Here's a photo of the saw fully assembled:
Now I just have to move it into it's final place, build a new outfeed table, build a new crosscut sled, buy some more dust hoses and adapters, hook up the dust collector to the safety guard, get the mess cleaned up, and figure out where the remaining bolts were supposed to go…