Popular Woodworking 2006-11 № 158, страница 52

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A quick look at some of the best new tools we saw in Atlanta.

Et isn't every day that you see anew tool company appear out of nowhere with a complete line of high-quality woodworking machines, but that's almost exactly what happened

Works unveiled an impressive battalion of heavy-duty machinery at

Fair in Atlanta.

With more than30 machines in its stable (so far), Steel City's line of tools is a warning shot across the bow of the big manufacturers: Delta, Powermatic, Jet and Grizzly. That should come as little surprise after you learn that the people who thought up Steel City are people who worked for many of those major manufacturers and importers. After years of working in the trenches, they struck out on their own.

"We are building these machines the way we always wanted to build them," says Scott Box, aprincipal of Steel City. "For years (when we were employed

cut costs and quality. Castings got thinner. Things got cheaper."

Box shrugs his shoulders and looks around at the new gray and black machines around him that are branded Steel City. Then he smiles. Of course, the real question is if the customers will be smiling when they turn these machines on. I spent more than an hour examining the machines in the line, and as someone who has seen a lot of machinery in the last 10 years, I was impressed.

Steel City paid attention to the details both big and small as it built these machines in Taiwan and China. Big details: The cast iron trunnions on the company's flagship cabinet saw are massive, like something off an old table saw (or battleship). And small details: The knobs on many of the machines are metal where you expect to find plastic. The table saw fences move feather touch. The

upper wheels of the steel-frame band saws are held in tension with two massive springs.

My first impression (which I hope will be backed up by our testing in the future) is that Steel City has aline of tools that omits all the gizmos you don't need and piles on all the stuff that makes machinery work well, such as cast iron, steel and well-machined parts.

I knowyou're wondering about the price of the stuff. That's good too. I found the prices to be an impressive value once I got my hands on the tools. For example: a 17" drill press with a huge 6" stroke, three bearings on the

allows you to eliminate runout

It's well-manufactured equipment at a fair price.

line of distributors. For more information on the line (or to find a

com or call 615-225-9001.

Freud Launches the Single-blade Solution

purpose table saw blade that's supposed to be the do-everything blade for rips, crosscuts and dealing with veneer plywood.

Every year, the blades get a little better. But this year, it looks like Freud has made a blade that is a good deal better. The Freud 40-tooth Premier Fusion table saw blades will sell for $99 and might very well be the only blade you need on your table saw for your

cut samples in oak and oak plywood and passed them around to the woodworking press. Even to

eyes, the results were flawless.

Torben Helshoj demonstrates the Laguna Tools Circle Master accessory, which allows you to quickly turn logs into round bowl blanks.

68 Popular Woodworking November 2006