An Official member of the Dark Side

[Bruce Cohen]

Well, I sold my trusty 3100 and all the other stuff I had for it, kinda feels like attending a funeral for a friend.
I now own (for better or worse) a Granite Topped Steel City 30" contractors saw.
After some tech support calls (couldn't be any nicer) I finally got it up and running. Great Saw, extremely lousy instructions, both words (and they told me they had to rewrite them, and some of the worst quality (dark and not enough) photos, I got it up and running.
This sucker is quiet, and an excellent value for the money. Got at Lowes, online only, but shipped for free to the store for free. You need some strong friends and a pick-up as it comes in one box on a pallet. They fork lifted it in, we had to open the box and take the parts out piece by piece- It weighs over 350 Lbs.

Every part was there and the saw was not covered with 10 inches of grease, so at least the assembly was fairly clean.
I believe the saw is made by Rikon, who is known for great products and piss-poor instructions. I own the 14" deluxe and I love it, although I still haven't tried out a Woodslicer blade. Been using Suffolk Timberwolfs, which work just fine.

I'm running Forest Woodworker II blade on the saw, and can't complain.

I also got myself the new Incra Miter Exspress slidingtable and the 1000SE miter gauge, What a difference to the BT's sliding table.
And to top everything off, a Jessem Excell II router table with all the accessories, including the Wixley digital lift hight device. Wish it came with a wheel option as the internal threads for the leveling feet are metric and all I could find were casters with imperial studs. Had to ream out the threads to accommodate them.
Havent had a chance to use the table, too busy trying to plat mechanic, (I'm a better woodworker than a mechanic). But it seems to be a very nice piece of equipment. Especially considering the price,

So now that I'm totally broke, does anyone have any wood to give away to an insolvent woodworker with great tools and nothing left for wood.
Thanks for listening.
Bruce

P.S., Do't feel too bad, this was some of the money from you broken ankle lawsuit, which I know will eventually come back to bite me on the butt for being a fool.

[pelligrini]

Congrats on the new toys! How do you like the riving knife and guard?

I thought you were already a member of the Dark Side (the masochist club)
I'm a member too, but I onlt do splinters and cuts. I haven't done anything hard core like taking off part of a finger.

[LinuxRandal]

extremely lousy instructions, both words (and they told me they had to rewrite them, and some of the worst wuality (dark and not enough) photos, I got it up and running.

Did you write those wuality instructions?

[toolguy1000]

congrats on the new saw. was it a 35990G (http://www.steelcitytoolworks.com/pd...ing_lowres.pdf )?hope it delivers all you expect from it. how did that 2 piece front rail work out? some users indicated an alignment difficulty with the two halves, others had nothing but praise for it. surprising that it only weighs 350 lbs. the ridgid 4511, which i think is essentially the same saw, weighed in at over 450 lbs. i wonder what accounts for that 100 lb. difference?

[Knottscott]

Congrats on the new saw. I was unaware that Rikon made it for Steel City, but is good to know...I knew that the SC35990C and Rikon 10-201 were very similar, but I had guessed that both were made by SC. That might explain why the 35990 series is different from the other SC hybrids like the 35925, 35930, 35950, Cman 22116, and former Ridgid R4511.

Enjoy and be safe.

[Bruce Cohen]

Did you write those wuality instructions?

Hey LR, thanks for the proof reading, I fixed the typo
Bruce

[Bruce Cohen]

congrats on the new saw. was it a 35990G (http://www.steelcitytoolworks.com/pd...ing_lowres.pdf )?hope it delivers all you expect from it. how did that 2 piece front rail work out? some users indicated an alignment difficulty with the two halves, others had nothing but praise for it. surprising that it only weighs 350 lbs. the ridgid 4511, which i think is essentially the same saw, weighed in at over 450 lbs. i wonder what accounts for that 100 lb. difference?

Maybe the extra weight is a scam to collect more on shipping. Mine is the granite tops and its the heaviest of the bunch.
had no problems with the front rail, did have to finesse the miter slots when flattening the table and leafs as the miter "groove" is really a rabbit that forms athe grove when the leafs are added. About the only dumb bit of engineering on the saw, But it is easily fixable.
Got the overall flatness down to 0.005", which I assume is good?

Bruce

[Knottscott]

I suspect the extra weight on the R4511 (and 22116, 35925, etc) is from the cast dust shroud. AFAIK, the 35990 has connecting rods that weigh less.

[RodKirby]

The first time you do a bevel rip - you'll celebrate

It was the one thing I HATED about the BT3000

[chopnhack]

As long as he keeps those fingers away from the blade doing that cut ;-)

Congrats and best of luck and safety with your new saw :-)

[cabinetman]

Thought for sure you'd go for a SS. You picked out a nice saw. Enjoy it, and pay attention. This is more "watch your 12".


.

[Bruce Cohen]

Cab,
No, its more like "watch my 9.75".

[cabinetman]

I now own (for better or worse) a Granite Topped Steel City 30" contractors saw.

What were your other possibles?

.

[toolguy1000]

......I now own (for better or worse) a Granite Topped Steel City 30" contractors saw.......

isn't there something about pics and great new tool purchases?

[Bruce Cohen]

Toolguy,
Give me a few days to figure out how to work my new camera and I'll post photos of my financial ruin.

Cab,
I started looking at the Rikon (which is the same saw, without the granite top), and one of the guys on the forum turned me on to the Steel City. Lowes was selling it on line with no shipping if you picked it up at the store. Fortunately, the store is less than a mile from me, and my neighbor has a pickup truck.
Getting it on the truck was easy, Lowes has a fork lift. Getting it off, well that's another story. We ended up taking everything out of the box piece by piece. It came in one box on a pallet.
I also was looking at the SS, but the price was almost double and you still had to add extra for cast wings, a rolling base and some other stuff. If I did that, I wouldn't been able to afford the Incra 1000SE and their sled. I also bought the new Jessem Router table (the one with the wheel crank on the side, along with their fence, base, Digital height gauge, and the new sliding attachment.
And to top it all off, a dust devil for my shop vac.

So if I was smart and got the SS, I wouldn't have all this other neat stuff to hurt myself on. Oh, I bought a camera to replace the one my daughter "adopted".
I will take some photos and post them to prove how little self control I have with money.

Bruce