# Review of Steel City Saw after a year



## dpetesen23 (Jul 12, 2013)

I have the Steel City/Craftsman hybrid granite top hybrid saw with the 30" fence that I also picked up directly at the Steel City warehouse in Bollingbrook. Mine was new in the box/crate and it is painted blue like the rest of their blue line. I think there must have been a change of plans somewhere along the way and they never ended up including it in that product lineup which is why I was able to get it out the door for only $750.

I've only used it for one project so far, but my comments would be very close to yours. I too would rate my saw at 4/5 stars. Fit and finish could be a little bit better, but overall a great saw once you get it set up. The factory carbide blade is surprisingly good. It's gone through everything I've thrown at it like a hot knife through butter. I'm sure there are nicer saws out there, but considering this is my first, I think I got a lot for what I paid for. I'm sure this saw will do everything I ask of it over the years.


----------



## _Whitey (Feb 25, 2014)

Dave, I remember them having a few blue saws at the warehouse. If I remember correctly, the granite wings did not have their seam at the miter slot, but offset by a couple of inches. A better setup in my opinion. The whole concept of seaming the table at the miter slots is to give the illusion of a seamless granite top. That looks really nice, but the setup needs to be less cumbersome.


----------



## dpetesen23 (Jul 12, 2013)

You are correct Whtiey, my seams aren't in the miter slots. I can see how big of a problem that would be because I still haven't been able to get my wings completely flat. I do like the saw over all and it performs well. I stopped by Steel City's summer warehouse clearance sale to pick up a dado insert last year and came home with their 40640 six inch granite top jointer with a helical cutter head. It had been used once for demo and they let it go for $425 because the paint on the jointer top did not match the paint on the base. I couldn't pass that up.


----------



## Junado (Feb 12, 2013)

About the customer service: I have the Steel City 8" spiral head granite jointer and my guard was missing a retaining ring that held it tight on its axle. I didn't know what I was missing at first so I sent them an e-mail about the issue with the guard dragging on the table. Within an hour I had a reply and my request was forwarded to the local distributor with whom I arranged shipping of the replacement guard assembly. Very impressed with how smoothly and quickly this all went.


----------



## MCTTS (May 21, 2015)

FYI's

The original manufacturer of the portable planers (40100, 40300H, 40200H) will be selling them direct via their website under their CUTECH label. Tentative start date is 7/1. (Hopefully I'm lucky enough to be part of it…read on)

I've also learned that the factory that manufactured some jointers, practically all table and bandsaws, may make parts available to us in the near future. (I have a meeting scheduled in a couple weeks to clarify)

Dave and ******************************…I think I remember you guys.  Those blue saw were 98% identical to the C'man 22116 saws. The Blue color was specified by someone, directly with the factory, and the deal fell through. Being the one and only US operations and warehouse, we got them.

Sincerely,
Former SCTW TS Mgr. in B'brook
M


----------



## MCTTS (May 21, 2015)

Cutech Tool planers are now being sold direct. Their website is up and running.

No mention of parts for saws yet. My guess is they'll make a future decision based on planer sales.


----------



## mattjones99 (Feb 17, 2018)

I'm wondering if anybody has any tips for putting together the riving knife assembly? Mine is apart in pieces, and I'm having trouble figuring out how to re-assemble it so the quick release works. Any ideas?

I also got mine from the bolingbrook location, and I still love the saw. Just frustrated that I can't get the quick release on the riving knife to work.


----------



## dpetesen23 (Jul 12, 2013)

mattjones99,

Are you looking to reinstall the riving knife or the blade guard that clamps on top of it. The riving knife just is easy, but I can't seem to get the blade guard back on to save my life (or fingers for that matter).


----------



## HobbsWorkshop (Jan 8, 2018)

Sorry if this is in the wrong spot. I am having a problem with the riving knife on my SC35926 that I purchased on clearance at the Bowling Brook. I love this saw, but had to remove the riving knife assembly because the plate that was supposed to hold the splitter in place, did not apply pressure to do so. Turning the spring loaded lever would not tighten the plate. Now that I have removed the riving knife and the plates that are held together with the two lock nuts and the "special bolt" I am unable to position the locking nuts at the proper location. This is frustrating.


----------



## _Whitey (Feb 25, 2014)

Follow-up: About a year ago I sold this saw. I parted with it for 2 basic reasons. 1) My shop situation changed, and, despite the mobile base, the long table made it very cumbersome and over sized. I would have cut the fence and table down if it weren't for 2) With the company being out of business, I had a couple of parts that were fixable by me that failed, and I fixed them, but what if something major breaks? I did not want to get stuck with a boat anchor that couldn't be fixed with no company back-up.

The problem I had was very similar to the comments above, when I installed the riving knife, I forgot to tighten on of the handles, it caught on the cast Iron and bent the knife. I had to replace the handle and bend the knife back into shape. I also found that in a small shop where the saw must be pulled out to use, and put away regularly, that movement of the unit made the granite a lot more susceptible to chips and breakage.

By the way, I will never buy granite again. The pros do not outweigh the cons. I love using magnets on my saw, that was out the door. You are always focusing on not ruining or cracking your saw top, which can be very distracting. Miter gauges do not play nice with granite. After 4 years of owning this granite-top saw, I'll say I am glad I got the chance to own one, and I liked the way it felt, the weight, the way the material slid across. But It was just too fragile which made for an unstable shop environment.


----------

