A test of my patience leads to a very satisfying outcome.

I know this is already listed under the tablesaw reviews but the previous ‘review’ wasn’t really a review. I’ll do my best to give you my thoughts on this.

This review is from a perspective of ‘once the machine is put together’. Complaints are at the end.

Power – SUPERB! Everything just melts as it goes through this thing (if you know what I mean). I came from a Ridgid TS2400 (I think that was the number). Granted – this isn’t an apples to apples comparison. You can’t bog this thing down. Cuts through 8/4 maple and walnut without a single burn mark (once I tuned it properly and learned to trust the saw). I pushed wood through it too slowly because I was use to my old saw that wouldn’t handle the speed.

Features – MANY! I’m sure anyone who is interested in this saw knows about the features. Riving knife (several options – regular kerf, thin kerf, low profile, regular); Arbor lock which is great!; Split blade guard; Wheels – they give you a workout when raising and lowering but couldn’t live without them in my shop; Superb raising and lower of the blade – this is my favorite part of the saw. It works so easily that if you aren’t careful and lock the blade down it might move on you; Large table surfaces – enough said; Fence – very nice and locks solidly in place; Dust collection – so, so in this category. Not sure it is the saws fault. Just typical of most saws. If you use a zero clearance insert you are guaranteed of dust coming at you from the top.

Cost – expensive but worth it (in my opinion). I got mine during a special PM sale. I think I paid $2299 for it including the 50” fence.

Weight – Oh my gosh! I think this thing is throwing off the earth’s rotation a bit (at least from my house). If you’ve ever spun one of those cheap plastic kids balls that you find in the big wire rack at the grocery store you know what I mean. I think the earth spins this way now that I have this thing in my garage. Sorry if your equilibrium is off – it’s my fault.

Customer Service – Absolutely phenomenal. I own several PM tools and have had to call them a number of times. They are very friendly, very prompt, very knowledgeable, and very quick to ship anything you need at no cost and no question. If an item is under warranty that is the way it should be. You describe a problem. They figure out what is wrong and ship you the replacement immediately. I submit to other companies – why is this so hard to figure out and model in your own companies. I can list 10+ tool companies where the CS is horrendous. I’m going through an issue with my new Omnijig (I won’t name the company :-) I’ve had two shipments sent to me for an item that wasn’t included in the box. They haven’t gotten it right yet. This was after I went on their site with them on the phone and told them exactly what part # to send me. A month later I still can’t cut half-blind dovetails – argh!

OK – Now the complaints.

Out of the box this thing (at least in my case) was very difficult to put together. The initial fit and finish was questionable at best. Holes didn’t line up. There were burrs in a lot of places. The fence needed significant adjustment just to slide correctly on the table. The table top was way out of alignment with the blade (I’ll chalk that up to shipping). Cheap bolts that hold the fence on. I had one snap as I was mounting the fence. I had to drill it out. I’m guessing PM doesn’t manufacturer their own fence. That is where most of the problems came in. Trying to attach the fence rails to the table was a huge challenge. I eventually got there but it was unnecessarily difficult.

As the title states – once this thing is up and running you will never look back. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

-- ...and remember this: there is no more important safety rule than to wear these — safety glasses - Norm Abram