Popular Woodworking 2004-08 № 142, страница 74

Delta 36-240

Delta:

800-223-7278 deltawoodworking.com

At first glance, the table on this saw looks like it was designed to resemble the "Star Trek" Enterprise. While futuristic in appearance, it's not as cool. But we do have to admit that the support provided by the big table is appreciated. And as an added bonus, big rubber feet kept things from sliding around, so we didn't have to worry about permanently attaching the saw to a stand (though that's still usually a good idea).

The zero-clearance throat plate is a solid plastic insert. The factory made the initial cut and, in the process, cracked the insert. While this kind of insert (when not cracked) is good for zero clearance, you will make a mess of it when you make bevel cuts, rendering it quickly ineffective. The saw's slide motion was a little resistant and the plunge spring was stiffer than we like. There were no extension tables and no apparent way to add extension bars. This was likely because this saw is designed for use with

Delta's mobile stand. We felt the fence height was on the short side (1³/4" at the point where it was closest to the saw blade) but at the outside edges of the table the saw's plastic stand did add support up to 3 "-high for the last 2".

One feature that we really liked was the ability to lock the table in any miter location by merely releasing the up-front lever - pretty slick. Most of the saws tested required us to lock that setting in place with a separate handle. That said, we found the table too tight during operation, making it hard to easily stop at the detents. This may loosen up with time, but we found it pretty frustrating.

The depth of cut adjustment was difficult to figure out, but easy to use. The fences were square to the table and within accurate alignment to each other. All the tools you need for adjustments to the saw were stored on board.

The blade provided with the saw was a unique 39-tooth blade. We hope the broken-off tooth was just an anomaly. The quality of cut, although nice, was improved by adding the Freud blade.

All said, Delta priced this saw at $420. But we'd happily spend another $60 for a few small upgrades. A bonus Spock action figure might be fun.

GMC

SMS250LSRUL

The price of the GMC saw ($220 less than its closest competitor) was too attractive to overlook. But it didn't take us long to discover why it's so cheap (note the word "cheap" instead of the kinder phrase "less expensive"). There were some definite trade-offs for economy.

On paper, this machine really looks great. For less than $200 you get a saw with (get this) a laser guide. It's a battery-powered laser (activated by an on/off switch) that actually does a decent job of illuminating the cut (to the left side of the blade kerf). If the setting isn't perfect, the laser can be

GMC:

866-307-0132 gmcompany.com

adjusted from left to right.

At this point we started running into the too-good-to-be-true stuff. There is no brake on this saw; the only one lacking in the tested machines. Waiting for the blade to free-spin to a stop creates more opportunity for you to injure yourself and increases the time between cuts. The sliding and mitering table actions are not particularly smooth but they do function

without too much resistance. While the saw wasn't tippy, it's lightweight (the lightest in the test and 5 pounds lighter than the next heaviest saw) and should be permanently attached to something.

The locking mechanism (a screw-knob) for mitering in any location other than the standard preset detents is positioned at the rear of the table behind the fence. Functional, yes, but not very sophisticated or convenient. The throat plate is a solid plastic insert, but it's not a zero-clearance plate. It comes with a fixed V2" opening, with no adjustment possible.

The miter scale is crude and the stock blade offered a poor cut. The machine's fences were adequate (though a little short) and of the difficult-to-adjust one-piece design. But they were within accuracy tolerances out of the box.

Overall this isn't a machine we can highly recommend, even at $200. But it is serviceable and - with a blade upgrade - would serve an infrequent user adequately, especially for carpentry jobs where accuracy is less critical. For example, if you plan to use a saw to build a deck and you'll never use that saw again, by all means check this one out.

But if you're attempting any type of fine woodworking or plan on using this saw on a daily (or even weekly) basis, we'd suggest looking past the price tag (and the laser) and buying one of the more premium saws recommended here.

72

Popular Woodworking August 2004