My "Almost" Dream Table Saw

Congrats Lenny!! I’m sure the sweet wrrrrrrr-r-r-r will make your retirement even sweeter :)

Cangratulations!! It is a beauty! May you and she make beautiful woodwork for many years to come. I hope your wife doesn’t get jealous!

-- Behind the Bark is a lot of Heartwood----Charles, Centennial, CO

Goodbye tension, hello pension! I love a happy ending. That is one beautiful TS. Enjoy.

-- david roberts, houston area, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but that has never been a problem for me."

Nice!!!

Be aware that it’s perfectly normal for the nickel to budge at start up. Belts can take a set if you don’t use the saw every few days, but it’s once it’s running that counts. I’ve seen many a high HP cabinet saw that starts with an authoritative POP, if it hasn’t been used in a few days.

Nice saw!

-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...

Cool saw .It’s going to be way better than a radial arm saw. congrats

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture ,maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

I’m really happy for you Lenny this looks like a great saw!!!!!!!

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

wow…that is a GREAT STORY!!! I am nearly to tears man…ok…not really..but seriously…that is great…I think the cheaper and sooner beats the personalized colors and name badge…you can probably find a metal worker and painter to do the same job for $900…

I am really happy for you…32 years…that is nice…I am a loooooooooong way from retirement…but i get a pretty nice ‘mini-retirement’ yearly as a teacher…and i am only on day two—-still buzzing that the school yer is over…so I cant imagine what you must be feeling—and will feel next july…

So—-you will have time to show me around Boston next summer!!!??? just kidding…

GREAT REVIEW…you will have to add another after you get more time using it…but it sounds like its off to a great start…congrats!!!

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Lenny, that is one fine saw that you have in your shop. I am a big Powermatic fan and have always been impressed by the quality and craftsmanship that go into the PM line of tools. And they have really solid customer service as well. This certainly will give you years of service and is a dream saw.

Congratulations on such a fine purchase.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Hi Lenny

Congratulations on your new saw purchase. You are going to love your new saw! I am happy for you. Thanks for posting.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

Congrats Lenny on your new saw.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

Congrats, it’s a beauty. I’m sure it will cut even better than it looks.
BTKS

LENNY,
My fellow Red Sox fanatic fan !!!!....BIG CONGRATS MAN !!! That is one beautiful saw…. I can not wait to see what great creations comes out of it !!

-- Don S.E. OK

Great Saw Lenny, I swear by Powermatic. I’ve used them for years in the shops I’ve worked in and they are solid. I’d say the 1,000,00 savings was well worth it. Now you can afford some wood.

-- http://www.webshots.com/user/jahness

Congratulations Lenny on the new saw. It is beautiful. It will be great to get up in the morning and just work on your projects. Congratulations on your retirement!

-- Vern, Southern CA

Lenny, that’s a great saw! I’m so jealous, I’m still on a basic Home Depot special. You’re a patient man to be able to wait a week before turning it on. I’m happy for you and your new saw. I hope your wife gets to see you at lease some of the time. :)

-- Kansas City, KS "Nothing is as permanent as a temporary solution"

Thanks everyone for the support and the kind and amusing comments. Durnik and Bovine, coincidentally, my daughter told me yesterday that my wife told her I take more pictures of my tools than I did of her and she’s 22! Barry, thanks for the heads up regarding the belt. Napaman, nice to hear from you. If you really want me as a tour guide for Boston, you’d better catch me BEFORE next July. I will not miss that 1 1/2 hours daily commute and it will hard to get me to make that 50+ miles trek for some time. Scott, I know you went with the SawStop and I seriously considered it as well. I can’t say I don’t have second thoughts but for now at least, it will be: enjoy the PM and no looking back! Tom, your review was one that was instrumental in my decision. I have been hoping to see a follow up that covers your use of the saw. As I recall, you hadn’t used it yet. Don, a sweep of the Yankees and two more wins in a row since…the Sox are on a roll right now!

-- And on the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop!

Nice saw and review. Thats the holy grail in convetional table saws, in my opinion. Your a lucky guy!

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

Lenny, Great saw! Trust me, you will love it. I bought my 5hp Powermatic Model 66 almost 20 years ago and I love it as much today as I did when I first got it. My first table saw was a 4×8 sheet of 3/4 plywood with 2×4 legs with a 7 1/4” Circular saw mounted under it with a home made wooden fence (adjustable with “C” clamps. Thought I died and went to Heaven when I started using my new Saw. You will have years of great service from this saw, but one thing to remember with the 5hp, If it wants to kick or bind, you won’t stall it out, it will just dim the lights and send the board back at you. We’re all looking forward to your next project built with your new saw. Enjoy!!!!

-- John @ Myrtle Beach

All I can say is “WOW”. I have a Delta tilting arbor cabinet saw and am not impressed by it. By the way, is the Powermatic left or right tilt?

-- Don, Pittsburgh

Congratulations on both the new saw and the pending retirement. Now let’s see the sawdust fly….............LOL

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

Just wondering what made you choose that saw over the new Unisaw or other competitors.

Thank you Brad, Huff, Don and Jerry. Wow Huff you have come a long way from that very innovative first TS! Don the PM2000 is left tilt. Marc there was a point when I thought I would be buying the new Unisaw. Then during my research I began to see several negative reviews. Of course, one has to take each review with a grain of salt. What one person sees or experiences may not be what the next one does. In any case, the more I read and saw on the PM2000 I realized I saw very little by way of negative comments. To me, that is very telling. I ultimately resolved that the top two saws (in my opinion) were the PM and the SawStop. As I mentioned this was to be my dream TS so money was not a factor. Regarding the SawStop, I really grappled with that one. Reviews/discussions I read addressed the issues of “false triggers” of the brake mechanism, having to buy only their product, the prospect of their continued presence and the fact that other tools in the shop can also be dangerous and they do not have brake mechanisms. I was soaking up all this information when Woodcraft came out with the 20% off sale. Money then became an issue in that I could not pass up the savings given that the PM was a front runner for me anyway. As I earlier commented to Scott, I sometimes have second thoughts as to whether I should have gone with the SawStop but that’s behind me and I plan to look ahead from now on.

-- And on the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop!

Howdy Lenny!! Glad to hear you got your PM2000..as I have stated before I have the PM66 and am just as happy today as when I first bought that saw..I had a craftsman dingy with w 1-1/2 hp lawnmower and I couldn’t wait to get rid of it..in fact..I gave it away FREE..lol you will love this saw many times over and you can consider it the last saw you will every buy.. it has everything you need as far as HP goes and accuracy.. NOW..Let’s see all the great things your gonna make with it! :)

-- Randall Child

Thats my dream saw!!! I just picked up an old Delta Unisaw so it’ll be a while for me. I got an offer I couldn’t refuse. Well enjoy and keep us updated.

-- I'm not here for your amusement. You're here for mine - Johnny Rotten

You will never go wrong with a Powermatic…
I have a Powermatic jointer, Powermatic bandsaw and a Powermatic mortiser. My cabinetsaw is a Grizzly but my next one will be a Powermatic.
Happy Cutting!

-- Each and Every step of any project should be considered your masterpiece if you want the finished product to reflect the quality of your work. Greg Little

That’s a nice looking saw have a lot of happy years working with it. Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

A nice saw, and it should give you many years of service. I am looking forward to seeing your projects that come from this saw.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Very nice and best of luck with her. Just a question on your setup. With only 8’ of space can you get past it on one side? If so I would consider building a nice outfeed/workbench and leaving it in one location if possible.

-- The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary....

Thanks RB, Tomakazi, Greg, Allistair, Bill and Sandking. Once this work thing is behind me, I plan to put her to good use. Well, maybe even some before that time. Sandking, funny you should ask about the dimensions of the saw versus the shop. If I turn the saw at an angle I will be able to use it in my shop and get by it but it will be quite tight. Did your Mom ever tell you that your eyes are bigger than your stomach? Aiming for that dream TS, I wanted the 50” rails versus the 30”. I am having strong second thoughts about that decision in my current shop and I already contacted Woodcraft to see how much it might cost to order the 30” rails. Answer: on sale (10%) about $200. An alternative is that I built a 42” wide door between my shop and garage. The saw is on castors. I can easily wheel it into the garage space and use it there. It will take two flexible hoses to reach the nearest DC drop but it’s do-able. Looks like shop expansion may be the first order of business upon retirement.

-- And on the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop!

“shop expansion” is indeed in order…GO BIG…just keep reminding your wife that she told you to buy it…and now you need to fit the shop to it…lol…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Congratulations. And good luck on your retirement. Work safe.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

i remember when i first opened my table saw and had it running, what a sound…13 years later she is still running smooth and i have the same blade as you do…she is a honey…after a radial arm saw, you will be in seventh heaven….......enjoy!!!

-- The Grizzone

Congratulations!

You’ve got a Rolls Royce there, using that nickel trick.

Looking at the size of your shop, I think the only way to get full use of it, is wheel it to the garage.

Is there a possibility you could put about an 8’ or 10’ overhead door between your shop, & garage.

That way you could set it up near that door, & not have to keep moving it.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Lenny I hear you about your eyes bigger than your stomach. I opted for and love my Incra fence with 72” rails. In my one car garage is it really tough though because I have to move my table saw to the left about 4 feet every time I want to rip a board. The issue isn’t that I have to move the saw as much as as soon as I move it and lock down the fence I leave something I need on the other side of the saw and can’t walk past it. So my options are walk through the house and open the garage door and then back through the house again or crawl under the rails!!!!

-- The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary....

Lenny,

Use it well. This is a great saw for a great guy. Looking forward to seeing the first project!

Mike

Thanks for the comments guys. I have had at least 3 “showings” to the various guys in the neighborhood and have endured the typical “If my lights dim, I’ll know Lenny is using his new toy”. Sandking, wow 72” rails! I didn’t know they were made that long. I will manage for awhile until I decide whether to expand or not. Mike, how are you doing buddy? Thanks for the kind words. I think the first project on the saw is going to be a wall hung tool cabinet that I saw in Wood magazine. I have a 4×8 sheet of 3/4” plywood that was for a project that never came to fruition so I will use it for the tool cabinet. I will keep you in the loop Mike.

-- And on the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop!

Go Yankees! But seriously, I am happy you got your dream saw. I’m still dreaming.

-- Freedom is the right of all sentient beings