179 Saws: BT3000 vs. Delta Contractor's
Description
This article is from the Woodworking FAQ Collection 4, by multiple authors.
179 Saws: BT3000 vs. Delta Contractor's
From: macrakis@osf.org (Stavros Macrakis)
Date: 14 Dec 92 19:31:28 GMT
Below please find my first attempt at a "BT-3000 vs. the Contractor's
Saw" FAQ. I would appreciate any and all comments, corrections, and
queries, which I will try to fold back in. I would in particular like
more information on the Powermatic, both from those who like it and
those who don't. Thanks to my many correspondents for their comments
so far.
----------------
This note summarizes what I've learned about middle-priced table saws.
I asked for the net's advice on table saws a while ago and summarized
the responses. Since then, I bought a Ryobi BT-3000 (henceforth the
Ryobi), put it together, returned it, bought a Delta Contractor's
(henceforth the DC) saw, put it together, and started using it.
For reference, the best recent prices in the Boston area, normalized
to comparable configurations:
Ryobi: $538-49 (with carbide blade, stand, and instructional video) at
HQ, Home Depot, Trendlines, etc. I hear that Hechinger's (none in
Boston) has them on sale for $469 or so (with blade and stand).
DC: $499 at Spag's in Shrewsbury, MA (with steel blade and stand);
Trendlines will match price. For comparability, add carbide blade
($35) = $534. Note: one suggestion was to wait for Spag's lowest
price, then have an HQ store in New Hampshire beat it (they beat
others' prices by 10%, and N.H. has no sales tax). But Spag's
often has _unadvertised_ specials -- and I didn't feel like
studying the ads in the Worcester Sunday paper for six months.
DC + 30" Unifence: $699 at Trendlines + $35 blade + $70 table board -
$50 rebate = $754. Buying a Unifence separately ($250 at
Trendlines) would leave you with an extra wing, fence, and rail.
DC clones (Grizzly G1022, Reliant, AMT, Jet...): about $350 + $35 = $385
Powermatic Artisan 63: I have not seen this saw, and don't know much
about it. It is similar to the DC: some say it's (much) better,
others say it's overpriced. I'll ignore it for the rest of this
posting.
Sears Contractor's: $499. Appears inferior to DC in many ways
(carriage (lighter), miter gauge (no stops), miter slot (not T),
motor (smaller)...), and at same price, so excluded from
discussion. But it _does_ have cast wings.
The Ryobi is probably the most widely distributed, and is available in
most discount home centers as well as tool stores. The DC is marketed
more through tool stores; discount centers sometimes have it, but
usually not the Unifence. Reliant is sold only by Trendlines, which
has retail stores in Massachusetts and also has a catalogue business.
Grizzly has a showroom in Pennsylvania and one in Washington State
(?), and does not have dealers. There are dealers for some of the
clones. Figure shipping costs of very roughly $50 for any of these
saws.
Correspondents agreed that the clones have relatively poor quality
control, and that the DC is better. Even the Trendlines salesman
deprecated the Reliant (their house label). Grizzly seems to have the
best reputation among the clones (cf. FAQ), but I have seen no good
evidence supporting this or any other differentiation among the
clones. Delta isn't perfect, for that matter, either (see below).
So the choice for me came down to Ryobi vs. DC. I had decided to get
a DC+Unifence, but at the last minute (at the store, after discussion
with salesman and another client) changed my mind and got the Ryobi.
After putting it together and fiddling with it, I decided to go back
to the DC. My notes on this below.
My applications include rough temporary shelving and cabinetry to
start, later more elaborate 32mm system cabinetry of various kinds,
and after that other furniture, jewelry boxes, etc.
----------------
Continue to:
My Books
