Powermatic - PM2000 3hp w/50" Accu-Fence (Rating: 3)

I finished the assembly and setup on this tablesaw last night and wanted to share my observations good and not so good.

Shipping: Arrived in good shape overall, one minor shipping rub on the cabinet base through the yellow paint to the black base paint and one minor rub on the black extension table. My two bothers lifted the saw as I yanked the pallet out from underneath, no hoist required.

The good

1. Mobile base is great, all four wheels rotate so its easy to maneuver the saw in any direction. It does take about 140 cranks on the wheel to raise it up and down its geared low.

2. Massive fence rails as a former machinist I was impressed.

3. I was looking forward to reporting the table and wings were absolutely flat sadly at the 11th hour last night I found a crown on the table, more on that in The Not So Good section below. Other than this the table and wings assembled absolutely flat, verified by my certified flat Starrett 24" rule.

4. Just about every component is heavy duty, wheels, locks, base, the plastic arbor lock excluded it won't be long before I snap that off.

5. Everything fit properly without having to hog out holes larger or bash together which has been my experience with older less expensive saws.

6. Paint and finish quite good, I was also impressed with the construction of the wood extension table its heavily crossed braced underneath.

The Not So Good

1. Accu-Fence needs to get a clue, they included 1 1/4" bolts for the rear fence rail to attach the wood extension table. It says right in the instructions use the 1 1/4" bolts, 2 lock washers, and 1 flat washer. Extension table is 3/4 inch thick, the rail is 1/4 inch thick, the 3 washers are 1/4 inch thick leaving not a single thread to start the nut on (face palm). Off to the hardware store to pick up six 1 1/2" bolts.

2. Only two measily bolts hold the rear fence rail on, Accu-Fence states you can drill a hole and throw in another bolt if you want to, I did.

3. I found a crown right dead center over the arbor in the table late last night as I was adjusting the zero clearance throat plate. The front and rear of the throat plate was dead flat but oddly my 12 inch rule was rocking in the middle, I took the throat plate out and it still rocked so there's a high spot there in the table. I can probably knock it down with a file but on a $3k plus saw I shouldn't have to.

4. The blade to miter slot alignment was way off, on the order of .020, the 90 degree stop was off close to .100 huge. The fence was pretty good about .005 off and the 45 degree stop was dead on accurate out of the box. The good news is the miter slots are machined absolutely parallel. I picked up a fancy electronic angle guage thing-a-ma-bob and it confirmed my trusty Starrett square still had its mojo the blade measured at 89.8 degrees and 45.1 degrees.

5. I know they are no longer polishing PM's to a mirror finish but I was not impressed with the table and extension wings finish. Its not bad but I have seen as good a finish on saws costing half as much.

6. Instructions state the riving knife should not need adjustment yet it was way off out of the box, kind of cramped getting my large hands down in there and a brand new razor sharp Forest blade didn't help things.

7. The included throat plate looks like it was ground with a 36 grit grinder I have never seen one that course before, I threw it in the toolbox and it will likely never see the light of day again. I picked up a Leecraft zero clearance throat plate at Woodcraft, its premilled for the riving knife. I'm probably going to drill some small holes in it for improved dust collection per a tip I read on the forum here.

Setup Results: I wasn't satified with my setup just using the Starrett square so I picked up an Align-It jig with a dial indicator, the standard kit not the deluxe. Blade to miter slots alignment is now dead on +- .000, there is about .001 runout at the arbor which is within published specs and a wobble between -.001 and +.001 at the blade teeth also within published specs, Forest blade by the way. Fence is adjusted dead on at .000 with the miter slots at both the front and back with .001 to .002 variance as the Align-It jig travels along the middle of the fence. Overall I'm quite happy with this setup, now just to deal with the crown in the table.