# General International 50-200R M1 Table Saw



## greasemonkeyredneck

I know nothing about this saw in particular. However, I own a Ridgid saw. It has the exact issue you talked about with the wings being bevel on front and back, but the main table only on the front. I always wondered why they do this and had never heard any kind of explanation until now. Now I know. It's because they think table saw users are confused easily. Now that makes a lot of sense.

I hope the sarcasm in that last statement comes across like it should.
Thank you for such a thorough review.


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## JimDaddyO

Glad to see a review of this saw. I decided months ago that it will be my next (and last) one. How do you have yours wired? 110 or 220 volts? One of the reasons I choose this saw is that it can be wired 110V (that, and that it is a Canadian company).


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## lj61673

*One of the reasons I choose this saw is that it can be wired 110V (that, and that it is a Canadian company).*

Ummm…this saw is made "overseas".


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## Howie

I bought this same saw a few months back and am well pleased with it(caught it on sale at Woodcrafters) only problem I encountered in set was a slight burr on the right side where the extention and table mounted. A little 400 and WD40 took care of it. I replaced the stock fence (which was ok) with an Incra fence (mainly because my son bought it for me) and use an Incra 1000SE.
I concur with everything you say and it's a good review.
As a side note,my old saw was a 3650 Ridgid that served me well and sometimes I miss it. It took me less than a day to sell it on CL.


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## JimDaddyO

yes made overseas, I said Canadian "company", not Canadian "made"


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## lj61673

*yes made overseas, I said Canadian "company", not Canadian "made*"

Then why mention it?
Why would it matter where the "company" is based?
Made in China/Taiwan etc., means that's where the saw is fabricated and ultimately where the jobs and money goes. 
Is there something we're missing?


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## Dwinkel5

I don't want to open a can of worms… and I'm not an economics professor… but where the company is based does matter.

Labor and material cost only make up a percentage of the cost of the good. The iPhone is a great example.

It costs Apple (based in CA) around $20 in labor and material to make the iPhone. (This money goes to other countries) When someone spends $200 on an iPhone anywhere in the world, $20 goes to the countries of manufacture; a percentage goes to the country of sale (markup), the largest percentage goes to Apple in CA.

It's not as good as made here by a company located here…. but it does help.


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## lj61673

JimDaddyO mentioned Canadian as if that carried some kind of weight or placed this saw on a level above all the imports. It doesn't. It's just another off shore tool no better or worse than the Jets or Grizzlies of the world.


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## JimDaddyO

I'm Canadian, it matters to me. Supporting this company means that people keep their job. Sure, it may be manufactured elsewhere, but everything else is local. From CEO to engineering, to the guy mopping the floor, there are a bunch of jobs there.


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## MarkDavisson

General International is a privately-held company based in Montreal. It is reported to be in the 51-200 employee category, and I'm sure most of those are professional positions and are compensated accordingly. So both profits and compensation stay in Canada.


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## Dwinkel5

JimDaddyO - I agree with your statement. It should matter to you.

There is more that goes into the equation than just who gets paid to physically build the tool. At the end of the day, more money goes to the the country where the brand (headquarter) is based than the country where the tool is assembled.


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## lj61673

How do you know what the division of monies are? This thread is about the quality of the tool not about where the CEO parks his butt or how many floor sweepers are employed. It's a Chinese tablesaw. If it makes you feel better that a guy sitting in an office in Toronto is benefitting than fine. I just don't see how its relative to this thread.


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## Dwinkel5

"*Made in China/Taiwan etc., means that's where the saw is fabricated and ultimately where the jobs and money goes. *"

I know because I work in manufacturing. That's not where all the money goes. It does matter. That's the point I was trying to make.


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## JimDaddyO

Back on track, I am still wondering if it is wired 110 or 220?


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## Howie

Mine came from the factory wired 220. You can tell by the end plug. If it has two flat blades horizontal and it came factory wired it's 220.


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## asloanie

back to the saw review…
Did you get a chance to look at the 50-220R versus the 200? I have looked on the GI site and had a bit of trouble telling what made the 220R worth the extra $700.

Also.. would be very interested if you could give some thoughts on why this one versus the Grizzly 715P. I am trying to decide between the two.


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## jmacz

JimDaddy,

I am using the factory wired 220 volt configuration. I ran one 20A @220, and two 15A @120 new circuits to the garage and built an extension cable with accepts a 6-15 or 6-20 male plug. This allow me to use either a 120 or 220 tool along with the dust collector without issue.

Asloanie,

I was looking for a cabinet saw with the trunnion attached to the cabinet and not the table top (hybrid).

Both the Gr 715P and the GI 220R are hybrids. The motor is also bigger on the 200R. I found comments that the motor was undersized on the 220R.

Even though the trunnions do not extend to the cabinet corners on the 200R, the mount appears to be quite stable based on the cuts I am making. The other saw I considered (Saw Stop Professional) has the same type of trunnion mounts. The Powermatic 66 (discontinued?) also has the same trunnion mounting system.

I do not know why the 220R would be more than the 200R? Maybe its the digital angle display?


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## JimDaddyO

Thanks for the review


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## asloanie

Follow-up and question.
I called General and was told a couple points:
1) The 200 is a newer saw than the 220-R and they see the possibility of the 220-R being discontinued as the 200-R is cheaper to make. He indicated that the 220-R has a dual capacitor which would be better if you intended to run the saw on 110V vs 220v.

*Question on the Fence:*
He indicated that you couldn't upgrade the 200-R fence to their deluxe fence (you can on the 220-R) and indicated that if you bought a 3rd party fence, you might have to drill holes. 
For those of you that own this saw.. (Jmacz and Howie) and replaced the fence, did you have any issues with finding a fence that fit out of the box or did you have to drill attachment holes? What rating would you give the stock fence (A, B, C, ..F)?

Interesting, he was very candid on the power of this saw versus a 3 HP. For a psuedo hobbist..any risk/thought that the saw is underpowered?

thanks,
Andy


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## jmacz

I did not need to drill any holes when mounting the General Canadian made T-Fence.

Having used the saw for awhile, I don't forsee any power issues. His comments regarding power were?


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## asloanie

He said that if you were going to be cutting a lot of lumber (4×8 sheets) you would find it cutting too slow. With the 200 you would need to let the saw take its time working through the wood. I interpreted it to mean that if you would be cutting wood for 8 hrs a day, this would go too slow. If you are cutting a night when the wife lets you into the basement to build something, it probably wouldn't matter. 
I wanted to ask you if you felt it was underpowered not in linear feet processed but more of cutting thicker boards (8/4's).

Also..the fence.. so you bought General's upgraded T fence and just put it on yourself? The cust service rep indicated that the T-Fence would work on the 50-220 but not the 50-200.

Thanks


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## jmacz

The Fusion blade goes through sheets without hesitation; cut 3/4" stuff yesterday. I don't recall any difference when I had the prior blade on or the supplied General combination blade. I have only used a three HP saw a couple of times long ago so I cannot give you any real comparison. Maybe others can.

I have a big hunk of Maple that is over 2" thick. I will make some dust sometime and let you know my impressions.

I installed the supplied fence as well as the Canadian T-fence. The holes line up so no drilling is required. I will post again if I did drill, but I do not recall having to do this for the fence; only for the router table.


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## asloanie

Just to make sure I understand..when you say T-Fence, you are referring to this guy:
http://www.general.ca/accessories/acc_tablesaw/a_t-fence.html


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## Howie

I did not have to drill any additional holes to mount the Incra fence.
I would rate the original fence a B+ to A. I really didn't have any problems with it but my son graciously volunteered to buy me the Incra. I also have a Incra LS-25 on my router. I like my Incra stuff but would have been satisfied with the stock fence on the saw .Power wise, I cut a lot of 4/4 and do not see a power loss. (freud blades)


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## gotnonickname

So it`s now February of 2014 and General Industrial is having a sale on these 50-200R at a good price. To the original posters "jmacz", "Mark", howie", and others who purchased and are using saw, how is the saw holding up. Do you still feel this is a good saw. My concerns are with how the motor is mounted and is there any measureable slop showing up with the blade raise and lower bushings and steel guide posts. Do you feel the HP rating is acurrate as well. Does the saw move well on a mobile base without being to top heavy. I would use the original fence for the time being and will rework as needed for the time being. Just looking to see if you still give this saw an atta boy. I am looking for long term use info, not any opinions from a none owner/user of the saw.


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## jmacz

The power rating is accurate as its much better than my "1.5" hp previous saw. The accuracy is there as it keeps the setting and has very tight tolerances. I have attached a sliding table to the saw and its fine.

But, I have gone through a lot of 50-203 inserts from GI and none have the correct screw location for the table top. The GI solution is to drill new wholes. GI cannot even tell me which is wrong according to THEIR manufacturing specifications; table top/original insert or the 50-203. I want a resin insert for the good blade and have made 5 inserts for other uses. I do not need any comments from others stating to make your own inserts as I have done this and prefer a resin insert plate for the expensive cuts.

In summary, its a good saw for the price but at this moment, "I" would look elsewhere based on my contact with GI support. If this cannot be resolved, this will be going one way or another and I will get the Sawstop PCS like I should have originally.


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## gotnonickname

Thanks "jmacz" for the feedback. From what I understand your saying, the raise/lower design seems to be good and saw holds tune. I see the main issue is zci inserts from manufacture. So what I`m reading here is customer service could be better in regards to the inserts and in general. Safe to say that they do not have a clue as to what the problem is, or if they know, do not want to address the original insert, table design, or zci insert to fix problem. Does the original insert fit correctly in your opinion? Did you purchase the dado insert and does it fit correctly?

Thanks again for your feedback of the saw


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## jmacz

The raise/lower design is solid or I would not have purchased it in the first place. I examined ALL units locally with an engineering square to check if the blade moved on any axis when raise/lower. You would be surprised at the results; I was. If you can, measure a local example of what you are intending on purchasing. I won't be mentioning any names.

The overseas personnel suggested I drill/tap new holes to solve the problem. They should know which is correct as they have the specifications. I have provided very clear measurements and pictures of the differences of the set screw locations for the included insert and the 50-203. Not sure if they don't want to fix the issue or are too lazy to look up the specs. Don't want the "dado" insert as I plan on using the home made ones for the general widths: 3/8, 1/2, 5/8 etc.

Anyways, its a solid performer but I am out from GI products in the future. I am tired of repeating the above over and over and over …

FYI: This could also be an issue for the 50-275 model as it uses the same table top.


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## gotnonickname

So if I am seeing things clearly, the holes on the zci and dado insert are defiantly not drilled correctly. You can see that from the pictures in the manual. It does look like the included insert might be correct. This is something GI should fix. They must get a butt load of complaints about this. It looks like the Leecraft GE3 might be drilled correctly. Have you tried that zci yet? I too would get tired of redrilling inserts. Last question is Thin kirf or thick kirf blades? About taking a square when shopping. I am amazed at what I find when raising and lowering blades. Too many saws that are recommended as the best out there have way too much shift at 90 degrees when blade is raised and lowered. I thought that I only checked that. This is why I have been leaning towards this saw. What I am seeing while shopping is depressing. My current 34 year old Craftsman saw does better during this test than most new saws. Yes the issues you are having are carried over to the 50-275


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## jmacz

The included insert is correct so I not sure where you keep trying to go with this; there wouldn't be any reviews of the saw if it wasn't. I have only used .125 kerf blades. I have no idea about the 50-202 dado insert as I have never looked at nor am I interested in this item. I asked but was not informed of how many complaints they receive about the 50-203 from other owners. The 50-200R insert is very long so I suspect the Leecraft will not work but you would need to check the dimensions and hole location for yourself.


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## gotnonickname

you answered all my questions
thanks


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