I think the 3 hp Powermatics are roughly $600 more than a comparable Delta Unisaw now (both with 50" table and mobile base). When I bought mine they were closer in price, differing by approximately $300. I looked at both and really liked the Powermatic castings. Very heavy resulting in a very smooth operating machine. Even when very dusty I don't have problems changing the blade angle. My Craftsman would gum up and have to be cleaned regularly. I haven't run a Delta enough to offer any opinion although I've never heard or read of anyone complaining about them. The Jet and General lines are supposed to be comparable.
I stopped by the local Woodworker's Warehouse today to look at tablesaws. They didn't have a Powermatic 66 on display so I couldn't compare them. They did have a Unisaw and the Jet competitor on display. It was pretty tough to see a lot of difference in them. You can get them with 3 HP or 5 HP motors - what do you need to be cutting before 3 HP isn't enough?
I've also been looking at the new Laguna Tools tablesaw. It appears to be aimed at the Powermatic market. It weighs a wopping 1,000 pounds. The table is split down the middle instead of in thirds, so the optional sliding table comes right up to the blade. There is also an optional scoring cutter. Its priced in the same ballpark as the Powermatic, but shipping from CA to NH puts it over the top for me. I still don't know what I'm going to buy, I'm still researching.
I looked at table saws when we first moved in but quickly realized that my needs, for the time being would mostly be construction oriented. I opted for a radial saw instead. I can't get the accuracy of a table saw, but its great for ripping plywood and cutting 2 by's. Once the house is in order (yeah right) I'll start looking for a table saw. I already have the New Yankee Workshop's "Home Workshop" video [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
<font color="blue"> Did you ever get a photo of the completed, finished job? </font color>
No, I rarely got to jobsites. I have been in this house on a couple of occasions, but prior to the ceiling job; the ceiling was 5/4 white pine, for paint.
We ran tons of custom millwork for that house in DC, over a period of about ten years. All of it was unique; some inventive design minds were at work there, but it was primarily the contractor who was the genius.
Inside the open part of the drop ceiling was a step-up of about 18", using crown and backband at the top, with hidden backlighting on a display area (for plates and things).
The octagonal stairwell was all lined with raised panelling. One of the tall panel sections I fitted with hidden hinges so the panel itself opened in, away from its stiles and rails. There was a dead corner behind it where the octagon cut the corner off, and this was turned into a hidden gun closet.
Elsewhere in the house, I made a hidden drawer for the wife's jewelry, all lined with velvet. The front of the drawer was a carpeted stair riser; the drawer itself was two sections, because it had to bypass the center stair carriage, and it opened by some electronic device, operated by a switch across the room (I was not involved with the installation of the opener...that was the carpenters on the job).
The Unisaw was my most used utility tool for day-to-day use, followed closely by the Powermatic jointers and shapers.
We also had the luxury of dedicated mortisers and tenoners to make fast work of the joinery (one set for each of the stock mill lumber thicknesses: 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, & 8/4).
<font color="blue">Even when very dusty I don't have problems changing the blade angle. </font color>
At one time (I've been out of the trade since 1995), a major difference between the Unisaw and the Powermatic was the direction the blade tilted. Unisaws tilted towards the fence, which I always thought was the more dangerous approach since it tends to create a bind situation. We just worked around that by either placing the smaller scrap portion between the blade and fence (having a helper to pull it through), or by placing the fence on the other side of the blade for some angle cuts (such as beveling threshholds).
If I had to 45 the long edges of lots of pieces of (ply)wood, I would cut the pieces exactly two inches wider (one inch for each edge), then set the Unisaw's fence so the saw removed exactly one inch to the finished feather edge of the 45. Then, you could cut lots of pieces of a variety of sizes to a finished, mitered size with a single setup.
<font color="blue"> I opted for a radial saw instead. </font color>
If I had to have only one stationary power tool, it would be a table saw, though a radial arm is good for construction-only type of work.
Norm has a jig that adds to the utility of a table saw, I believe he calls it a panel cutter.
I made a similar (but I think better) device before his show ever came on TV. I doubt my idea was unique, but it came to be because of need. It rides in the table grooves, but on both sides at once, with the saw in the middle; a plywood bottom, with 2x4 type wood (I used poplar) on edge across the front and back (this is what held it together after you cut the bottom of the box in half with the blade. The front and back wood had to be tall enough to be higher than the full height of the blade.
I used it for simpe cut-offs (use the fence for a stop for longer things, or a clamped on stop for stuff within the cut-off box). Also can be used for a variety of work with the dados, or with the blade on any angle. When you used dados with the box, that made a quite wide path (hole) down the middle of the box's bottom, which was a nuisance when you then only wanted to use the blade, so we took older cut-off boxes and dedicated them to dado use, other old ones for angle cuts, and the newest one was always simply the cut-off box, so you could see exactly where the blade was in the box's bottom.
Using a table saw and this cut-off box, about the only thing I needed the radial arm saw for was cutting off stock longer than 4 ft. Our three Unisaws typically had a cut-off box on them 90% of the time. Interestingly, Unisaw changed the spacing of the table grooves at one point (changed by only a fraction of an inch, but it might as well have been a mile), so we had to have a separate set of boxes for each saw [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
My choice for a second stationary power tool would be a jointer.
<font color="blue"> what do you need to be cutting before 3 HP isn't enough? </font color>
Anything goes. I have heard the same thing said on TBN, though I don't have personal experience there, yet, since my CUT acquisition will be coming very soon. The lower your HP, the slower you need to feed the work, but you can still do it.
I have resawed 2x6 white oak on a 1.5 HP Craftsman table saw (a very demanding application). You just need to listen and feed according to the saw's ability. You can also compensate by taking smaller cuts, raising the blade incrementally for each pass until you are done.
For most applications, my 3 hp Powermatic is fine. A 5 hp unit would definitely help when cutting thick hardwoods. In my last house I made a mantel and fireplace surround out of Gonsalo Alves, a very, very hard South American hardwood. I had to make shallower cuts but it worked fine. Also, if I were using a dado cutter with hardwoods and routinely making deep cuts a 5 hp unit would go quicker.
<font color="blue"> Check out my TBN profile. I'm trying to reform</font color>
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I did. That L48 is the woodworking equivalent of the 15HP 3phase rip saw I mentioned earlier. Having it around was very useful at times, but we used the 3HP Unisaws for almost everything, and there was nothing you absolutely could not do on the Unisaw.
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