Popular Woodworking 2005-11 № 151, страница 90

Powermatic Rethinks Mortisers, Builds a Retro Table Saw

The WMH Tool Group (Powermatic and Jet) outdid themselves this year, offering the widest range of new products. Two available this fall from Powermatic (800-274-6848 or powermatic.com) made us take notice.

Being carefully billed as "not a replacement" for the venerable Model 66 cabinet saw, the new PM2000 10" Cabinet Saw has many features that will make a 66-user happy.

The new left-tilt saw will be available with either a 3-hp or 5-hp motor, a full cabinet, beefy trunnion design (though different than the trunnion design on the 66) and a quality Accu-Fence system that is much like the beloved Biesemeyer system.

But the newest features are what really caught our eye. The saw has a fully integrated mobile base that disappears when not needed. It's operated by one of the handwheels used for moving the saw's arbor (very cool). The blade guard is a significant improvement, too. It moves up and down with the arbor like a European-style guard. At the show, Powermatic was not showing the saw with a European-style riving knife, however, which we would like to see. A riving knife would allow through cuts while protecting against kickback. Stay tuned to see how the market responds.

Other nice tweaks include a large cast-iron table, an arbor lock that allows one-wrench blade changing and a shrouded blade for improved dust collection. Add a slick retro

design and the 3-hp PM2000 with a 50" fence is expected to retail for about $2,299 and should be available in early November.

And this isn't the only new table saw from Powermatic. Look for even more info later.

Powermatic has also upgraded its bench mortiser (Model 701) to address many of the shortcomings of mortisers on the market today. The hold-down on the 701, always a weak spot on many other benchtop machines, looks like a winner. Hold-downs rarely actually hold anything down for long. They tend to work loose and come up off their post after a few mortises. Other problem s with hold-downs include the fact that they never seem to be able to work well with narrow stock or really tall stock. The 701's hold-down is an L-shaped fork that can be turned upside down to handle narrow stuff. And, most importantly, it has a large hand-tightened threaded nut on top that keeps the hold-down locked down.

Another nice feature that you've never seen before is a built-in spacer that allows you to set the tool's chisel the proper distance away from the auger bit. Usually you have to use a dime to set the spacing, or guess, or just burn up your bit. The 701 has two little integrated spacers that slide in and out to help set the chisel quickly and properly.

We also liked the stop on the machine. Some, but not all machines, have a stop that tends to slip, usually ending up in you boring

a nice mortise in your machine's table. The 701's stop rides on the same dovetailed channel that the head moves on. We put all our weight on it and couldn't make it slip.

The machine is powered by a ³/4-hp, 1,725 rpm motor, has a reversible handle for use on the left side or right side of the machine, a rack-and-pinion fence for quick adjustments and a nice tool holder that will even accommodate your machine's sharpening cones. Look for it to price at $399.

— DT and Christopher Schwarz

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