Powermatic's PM2000

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  • Powermatic's PM2000

    I was lucky enough to get a pm2000 for christmas, and it's been an interesting upgrade, to say the least.

    The good:

    This saw is powerful, cutting through 3" red oak without any trouble. I've ripped, cross-cut and taper cut that stock for a table project I've been doing. The built in casters are a nice feature, nicer than a mobile base, as they retract entirely leaving the saw very stable. The riving knife design is truly inspired. The entire mechanism can be removed to allow for a cross cut sled in less than a minute, it's my favorite part of this saw. The work surface is huge, 30.5" deep. The throat plate is large, it's easy to change blades, ample finger room. The arbor lock is nice, but not necessary. I'm not sure that it makes changing the blade any easier, to be honest. The large switch is easy to bump off with my thigh.

    The OK:

    The included miter gauge is pretty good I suppose, but I'll keep my Incra. The height and tilt adjustment locks are ok, but basically screws, they work but I found them odd. Dust collection is pretty good, but dust comes through the guard, soon it'll be time for a shark for this monster. The guard is a standard Jet guard, with 2 sides that move independantly. This is very good in some ways, but bad in 1 important factor, the front and sides of the guard are 3 seperate pieces, and thus allow for dust to escape.

    The "Bad":

    None of this is really all that bad, but....the manual isn't great. There is absolutely no doc on the caster system. To get it working I downloaded a video from the web site and watched it. The casters work, but don't lift the saw very much, I have a wooden floor in the shop, and the saw weighs enough to deflect it such that the apron of the saw brushes sometimes. For the money, I was surprised to find that no blade came with the saw. All that was included was a push stick (which is pretty nice). The motor mounting system makes it impossible to put anything under the left wing of the saw. I don't have a huge shop, and previously that is where my jointer lived.

    Conclusion:

    I'm a pretty happy guy with this saw. It was aligned nicely "out of the box" only the rip fence needed a bit of adjustment. It was a large pain in the butt to move into the shop, weighs 700lbs. Overall I am quite satisfied with my purchase. At 2200$ retail (normally), it's a bit more than a unisaw, but for me the saftey features were worth the extra $$$.

    • spratone
      #1
      spratone commented
      Editing a comment
      I made the plunge to the dark side myself this week. I was at a local saw shop's grand opening. They ran a 10% off sale and I figured I'd go look at this saw up close as there is not too much info on the net (surprisingly). Well, I decided quickly that this was the saw I wanted. None in stock, so the guy says you can take the floor model and we'll knock off another 10%. They just assembled it 2 days earlier. DEAL!!!

      Got it home and had to adjust and align everything as they just threw it together.

      Good:
      Overall very nice finish. The table is perfectly flat and has a nice finish as well. The miter slots are something I have missed with the BT3, and I think the miter gage is accurate as I have run several test cuts. The fence is the greatest! No more slop like my BT3 and I can accurately adjust it by the tape on the rail.
      This thing is whisper quiet and cuts through all wood like a hot knife through butter. I compared a cut from my BT3 and one from this saw = the PM2K wins hands down and never bogs down the motor.

      Bad:
      The motor cover access is plastic (not a big deal breaker, just lowers the quality look. The extension table legs while metal are screwed into the plywood surround of the top and shake loose when the castors are being raised or lowered. Pretty flimsy for a mobile saw and a must to mod.

    • Gary L
      #2
      Gary L commented
      Editing a comment
      Nice review Drumpriest and good to see you are happy with this tool.

      Don't think you said anything that would sway me against it except the price seems a bit inflated for my shallow pockets.

      On the flip side I also don't think it is fair for Spratone to compare a $2200 saw to a BT3 but I am not suprised the PM wins this contest. I would be very upset with the purchase if it didn't! The BT3 serves me quite well and the entire purpose was to loose about 600 pounds, save a couple grand and still have a saw that could be useful.

      Gary
    Posting comments is disabled.

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