DELTA 36-717 Hybrid 10-Inch Left Tilt 1-3/4-Horsepower Intermediate Saw with 30-Inch Biesemeyer Fence, 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, Table Board, and Legs, 115/230-Volt 1-Phase

by Delta

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Delta 36-717 Hybrid 10-Inch Left Tilt 1-3/4 Horsepower Intermediate Saw with 30-Inch Biesemeyer Fence, 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, Table Board, and Legs, 115/230-Volt 1 Phase

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 358 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0007SXGJC
• Item model number: 36-717
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #235,283 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
  • #99 in Home Improvement > Power & Hand Tools > Power Tools > Saws > Table Saws

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Value and Performance, August 13, 2006

By 

M. Tawil (Manhattan Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: DELTA 36-717 Hybrid 10-Inch Left Tilt 1-3/4-Horsepower Intermediate Saw with 30-Inch Biesemeyer Fence, 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, Table Board, and Legs, 115/230-Volt 1-Phase (Tools & Home Improvement)

I purchased this to replace an 14 year old Craftsman that I had tricked out with a Vega fence, knee operated STOP switch, wheels, outfeed table and dust collector.

The saw arrived in a slightly damaged crate but no damage to the product. I lifted it off the pallet with a come-along attached to the rafters in my garage/shop. The same technique was used to set it on the mobile base (more later).

I used paper towels to remove most of the grease from the table top and wings before cleaning with paint thinner.

Installing the belt is simplified by using the triangle shaped packing foam to block the motor up in position.

The arbor showed a runout of 0.00075", perfect. The table had a 0.008" dip in the center but was flat side to side. The wings were flat to within 0.005". Having said that I'm not sure what is really required to do quality work, but I believe this will do just fine.

The trunnions were off with the blade out 0.014" back to front.

I found it a pain to align until I realized that by leaving one trunnion bolt somewhat tight I could pivot the whole assembly around that bolt. Then it was relatively easy and it settled at 0.0015" off. I detect no vibration except a tiny bit just before the motor stops; I can't imagine that will cause a problem.

Using a workmate table to hold the wings in position for installation was a big help but shimming was required to make them flat to the top. The wooden extension table goes on easily and certainly does not seem to need the legs supplied with the saw.

The blade guard pushes the (red) table insert foward making the holdown screw hard to install. I filed the guard a bit to improve the fit. Replacing the two bolts used to install the guard with wingnuts means I never have to use the poorly designed 'wrench' supplied with the saw to mount or remove the guard.

The guard is designed so that it is not possible to keep it "open" (off and away from the blade) when you want to check the blade height or distance from the fence. I'm sure this is thought of as a safety feature but it made me want to work without the guard; not a good idea! I used my Dremel to notch the guard so that it can now 'lay back' out of the way.

The miter guage was right on.

The Biesemeyer fence installed easily with the included guage but the instructions are not completely accurate. The fence itself was defective in that the laminated wooden faceplates extended too far below the metal body of the fence so they dragged on the table and caught in the miter slot. You cannot adjust the faces but Biesemeyer replaced the fence and it is a solid, easily adjusted dream to work with. It's a shame Delta does not see fit to update this workhorse with easily adjustable/replaceable faces. It could also use some attachments similar to the Vega product. Oh well, it's a challange to dream up some jigs.

I used the Delta mobile base (lot's cheaper from Hechingers), the same one that fits my bandsaw. It is very sturdy and works well. As noted by others it requires some shimming to keep the saw from sliding around in the oversized base. That was easy to do.

The first project for this saw involves 9/4 steam dryed beech. I could not make long (7 foot) cuts because the wood 'closed up'on the blade after a couple of feet but the saw cuts well with my Forrest blade and has plenty of power at 120 volts. (I wound up making three shallower cuts to get through.) The beech makes a very 'stringy' sawdust and I found the stuff piled up behind the motor (even with a 4" dust collector) and had to be vacuumed out through the access door to keep from filling the cabinet. Interestingly it also wedged into the space in the trunnions that is normally occupied by the mechanism when the blade is dropped. After a time (100' of cut) I could no longer drop the blade below the table surface! I had to reach in through the door and poke out the shavings.

With all of that I think it was easy to assemble. Probably took me eight careful hours of thinking and doing.

It runs like a charm, seems to be very sturdily constructed, is accurate, easy to set up cuts (as modified). The Biesemeyer is solid, easy to align to the miter slot and impossible to budge once locked down. The cursor hairline is down on the tape to minimize parrallax(?) and is very accurate. The storage (racking)provisions for the wrenches, fence and miter are a plus. The two wrench approach to blade replacement makes it a lot simpler than having to wedge the blade and use a single wrench. The stop switch location is ideal for a 'No Hands' shutoff. I use a hex-key to 'lock' the switch in the off position preventing careless accidents.

Overall, after a week of cutting, I think this will serve me well for many years. Only time will verify the quality but I am very happy using this saw.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Saw - except for the set-up, January 4, 2006

By 

Fast Eddie (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: DELTA 36-717 Hybrid 10-Inch Left Tilt 1-3/4-Horsepower Intermediate Saw with 30-Inch Biesemeyer Fence, 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, Table Board, and Legs, 115/230-Volt 1-Phase (Tools & Home Improvement)

I recently purchased the Delta 36-717 cabinet saw, and after sorting out a few issues, I am very happy with the performance of the saw. I would have given it 5 stars if the set-up had gone smoother.
My first concern was with the extension wings. One had a .010 dip in it; the other had a .021 dip. Delta told me that the tolerance for flatness on the table/wings is .012, and offered to replace the bad one. However, I wanted better than that, so I took them into work (I'm a machinist) and ground them myself - they are now both within .001. I should mention that the main table was very good - within .003, and the finish of the grinding on both wings and the main table was absolutely superb. Contrary to what the manual says, I decided to check the trunion alignment before installing the wings and fence rails because access to the undercarriage is a lot easier without them installed. Trunion alignment was off by .012, so I loosened the 4 bolts and adjusted it. The bolts are fairly easy to reach, and in about 20 minutes I had it within .001. It was not hard to do. While I was under there, I checked the drive belt pulley alignment, and discovered that it was out about 3/8". I tried to loosen the (small, metric) setscrew on the motor pulley, but the head immediately stripped! I had to remove the motor and drill out the setscrew. I then installed a larger ¼-28 setscrew in the pulley and re-assembled everything. At this point I decided to run the saw and see if there was anything else that might need tuning before installing the wings. The saw ran fine, but on shutdown the whole saw would develop a shaking motion before coming to a stop. The motor bolts to a cast iron plate, which pivots on 2 pins. I found there was excessive clearance between the holes in the plate and the pivot pins (.012 on one, .018 on the other). Delta tried to tell me the shaking is from the belt, and the clearance is there so the motor can rotate up and down freely! Freely is one thing - sloppy is another. Anyway, I removed the motor (again!), removed the plate and the pins and wrapped the appropriate size shim stock around each pin that would eliminate the play and still allow it to rotate. I carefully re-assembled everything and tried it again. WOW! What a difference. The saw was now rock solid. Now confident that everything was all right, I installed the extension wings and the Biesemeyer fence.
The miter gauge that came with this saw is very good. It has a locking finger (much like a miter saw) that engages at all the common angles each side of 90 degrees, and the engagement points are all adjustable. The saw is not noisy (as tablesaws go), and it has lots of power. On one of the woodworking forums someone was questioning the 3000 RPM blade speed as posted by Delta. All I can say is the label on my motor states 3450 RPM, and both pulleys are the same diameter (2"), so unless the motor is labeled incorrectly, the blade speed is 3450.
For the gentleman who found the blade raising mechanism to be stiff - the engagenent of the pinion in the rack is adjustable - it shows you how to make the adjustment in the owners nanual.
With the saw now running so smooth I decided to give it the nickel test. It was no problem at all to get the nickel on it's edge with the saw running. Feeling confident, I shut the saw off, and the nickel never even flinched! I then restarted the saw - no movement at all. In short, with a nickel standing on it's edge I've started and stopped the saw so many times I've lost count, and it won't topple over! Very impressive.
I don't know if any saw is 100% perfect out of the box, but I feel I had to do more fine tuning with mine than I should have. However, I now have a saw that is a joy to use - quiet, vibration free, accurate, great dust collection, an excellent fence, and I even like the paint color! I'm very happy with the saw.

72 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy this saw yet - it's a prototype with no quality control., October 4, 2005

By 

Lee F. Barry "wood werker" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: DELTA 36-717 Hybrid 10-Inch Left Tilt 1-3/4-Horsepower Intermediate Saw with 30-Inch Biesemeyer Fence, 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, Table Board, and Legs, 115/230-Volt 1-Phase (Tools & Home Improvement)

I bought this saw a week ago and it is still not running correctly. The front Biesmeyer fence bracket had one hole drilled incorrectly and had to be replaced. The back bracket interferes with the blade gaurd. The whole thing vibrates enough to put waves on the surface of a glass of water placed on the table. Delta says the belt just needs to be worn in. I think it's a faulty motor, but I have to humor them by running it for hours to convince them. There is no mobile base available for this saw yet.

If you want to troubleshoot and tinker with a saw that is still really just a prototype, you'll love this saw. If you want to actually use a saw though, forget it. I've lost a week of work screwing around with this dog. They make you assemble and adjust things they could have done just as easily at the factory. I don't want to work for Delta assembling saws. I want to USE the saw. I will never buy Delta again.