Customer Reviews

JET 708663PK JTAS-10XL50-W1 10-Inch Left Tilt 3-Horsepower 10-Inch Cabinet Saw with 50-Inch Xacta II Fence, 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, Table Board, and Legs, 230-Volt 1-Phase

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I was in the market for a cabinet saw, so I read up on cabinetsaws in magazines and discussion boards. That helped me narrow it downto 3. The Jet, Delta, and Powermatic. I also knew I wanted to get a left tilt saw because I see them as a little safer than the right tilts (when it comes to pushing stock against the fence on the right hand side).

All the literature I read said good things about all 3 saws. Some people preferred on over the other, but in all the reviews I read, the one thing that everyone said was the the Jet was the best value, the only thing it didn't have in it's favor was the reputation of Delta and Powermatic (some people may over look the Jet because it's not made in the US, but from what I've read it's just as solid as and has a good design). All things being equal, Jet got my money because of the price, which allows me to buy some other things for my shop and something nice for the boss who agreed to let me buy it.

Another selling point was the fact that Jet recently bought Powermatic, so the company plans on being around for a while. Hope this helps. happy woodworking.

Since I think most folks would consider this a major purchase decision for their shop, I opted to write this review only after I had a chance to really give it a workout. I have been using this saw in my shop for about 8 months and must say I have been extremely satisfied with its performance. I haven't needed to make any adjustments since the intial setup except for the table saw insert: small table vibration will change the screw heights so I recommend you put a drop of epoxy down to hold each of the alan screws in place.

Assembly went fairly well with one hitch. There are seven bolts to mount for attaching the front guide rail that holds the rip fence. Only 6 of the 7 holes aligned correctly, so I have to admit I was cussing and swearing a bit when the 7th bolt wouldn't go in. I had to drill and tap a new hole (6 bolts are probably enough but I was determined to get that 7th one in), so I was mildly disappointed that Jet's manufacturing quality let that type of defect slip through.

Things I really like: the handwheels are big, have a nice feel, and they have very little backplay. The lock down knobs that hold the saw's height and angle are real secure. Teflon glides are mounted on the side of the ripfence which gives you a nice smooth action. The fence also sits very low on the table - I have no problem ripping 1/8" plywood. Except for the inductive kick when you start the motor, its otherwise pretty quiet. Table vibration is really minimal, even though I have the saw mounted on a mobile base.

Quality of cutting is superb. I use thin kerf blades and have cut just about everything from 1/8" ply to 12/4" cherry and yes, it cuts like the proverbial hot knife thru butter. There is ample power to keep the blade rpm consistent even through the thick hardwoods - something my 110V saw could never do.

Things that I think could be improved: though its fine when locked in place, the rip fence is cumbersome to move especially when you are making minor adjustments. I'll rationalize my comment as a price trade-off. That's primarily because the fence slides on only the front guide rail. The teflon/plastic screw inserts they use to adjust the heighth and squaring of the fence are a bit tacky - they are hard to turn and should be made better. I also think the blade guard can be improved: to remove it you have to loosen a bolt that's underneath the table insert. I don't like that because first you have to pull the insert, and second you have to put a wrench and your hand nearer to the blade - I think there are good designs out there where the blade guard can be bolted and unbolted entirely from the outside of the cabinet. Finally, I'll note that the primary table top has a bevelled front edge, but the extensions wings do not. I can't figure out why they didn't bevel the extensions wings as well, because you end up with two sharp corners on the front edge of the table where the extensions wing get mounted. I ended up filing those corners down so that there was no possibility of scraping my hands or potentially marring any wood surface.

All totalled, the saw still gets my 5 rating with the comments noted above. I researched and compared this saw to several other manufacturers that I concluded cost several hundred dollars more for the same level of quality and performance. I also recommend buying a left tilt saw - I think it's safer because the saw teeth tilt away from you when doing angled cuts and you're less likely to bind or kick back the work piece.

I owned a Powermatic Model 66 for several years; we used it in our piano rebuilding shop, and then I sold it a few years ago. I did a lot of research before I bought the Jet. I wanted a left tilt saw like the Powermatic; I was just used to that set-up. The Powermatic was a very nice machine, but there are actually some things I prefer about the Jet. The Jet handwheels crank really smoothly and easily, and the trunnion gears mesh better, especially around 45 degree tilt, than the Powermatic's did. Set-up of the Jet took me a few evenings; I know that other people could have probably done it in less time, but I am a stickler for accuracy and wanted to make sure that all the tables were perfectly straight and flat after I assembled them. This took a little time with a straightedge, but was achievable with the cast iron table and extension wings; like the staff in Fine Woodworking, I was able to adjust them so I could not detect any deviation from the straightedge, even out to the ends of the extensions. The extension wings will flex slightly, so you have about.005" either way to play with depending on how you support the wing when you tighten the bolts that attach the wings to the main table. After tightening the bolts, though, they stay. No shims were necessary between the main table and the wings to achieve flatness. I couldn't insist on the same precision from the wood table insert however. It had a slight bow in the center. I suppose I could drill another hole in the middle of the right extension wing to add some support and force the table board up in the middle, but it's not critical right now.

The instructions for the Xacta fence are not totally clear, and it took some going back and forth between the manual for the saw and the manual for the fence to figure out which "table" they were talking about when they referred to either the main table, the extension wings or the table insert. (If you have some mechanical sense though you should be able to figure it out, otherwise just call Jet.) This was probably because the fence is designed as an add-on for other saws, as well as being the stock fence for the Jet. The saw is made in Taiwan but the fence in USA, so if you are assembling the unit with ratchets you will need both metric and U.S. sockets. The rust preventative on the table and wings is somewhat messy, but cleans off quite easily: I just used a rag dampened with some naphtha. The saw makes extremely smooth cuts and the accuracy is exceptional. I installed a thin kerf Freud 50 tooth carbide blade (TK906) and it seems like it may be the only blade I'll ever need. Vibration is very low (it passes the nickel test-you can stand a nickle on its edge when the saw is running) and the motor is fairly quiet. The fence is solid, works well and stays parallel to the blade, and adjustments are very easy and simple. Miter gauge seems to fit slot well and is good for all but the most precision cuts: for those you can invest in a more expensive guage. I am overall very impressed with the saw. I do some precision cabinet work and fitting, and it appears that the saw is everything I could ask for. The only complaints I have are very minor: I think it would be nice if Jet threw in a can of touchup paint like they do with their other tools; the fence got a little banged around in shipping and the paint got rubbed off in a few places; and one of the brass screws holding the plastic fence side on was broken off. When you get it all together the saw is extremely heavy (Shipping weight was 500 lbs, not including the fence, extension table, etc.). So I would highly recommend a mobile base if you ever plan on moving it. I am looking forward to many evenings of enjoyment with my saw. ....

Upon deciding to set up my own shop, after several years working in another, I agonized over a table saw purchase. My previous shop had a Powermatic 66 and I was concerned that my limited budget would leaving me wanting more saw. Upon receiving and setting up this Jet saw, all of my concerns were gone. It is easily a match for the Powermatic 66 and the Unisaw I worked with previously. It has power, finese, and a great, solid feel. I love the fence, a better-than-Beismeyer copy. The fence's uhmw siderails are beautiful and the sight glass for setting cut width has grown on me in the past couple of months. The fence is very close to the table and I am able to cut the thinnest material. The action for setting the blade height and angle are wonderfully smooth and lock solidly. There is no noticeable vibration (it's heavy tool), and I have not needed to make any readjustments after a couple of months of near constant use. The table is large and was machined flat. The motor is powerful but quiet, the tool is solid. All in all, it is now my favorite tool. And I am nothing but pleased with the purchase.

I just wanted to post a follow-up to my other posting and let you know what the saw is like after I set it up.

After receiving and setting up my Jet Saw I'm even more impressed - instructions were very clear and I was able to put the saw together in a few hours (the toughest part was getting in into my basement!). I broke 2 bolts while putting it together - called Jet's support line and they sent me out new bolts ASAP - had them 2 days later, the guy on the phone told me he'd include 2 of the nylon adjustment screws too, as sometimes they wear out - now that's service!

After wiring it up I was amazed to listen to it run! All day Saturday I worked wood with a buddy who has a PM66, Sunday I got my Jet running and it's quieter than the 66!

I am so glad I chose the JET! I'm equally, if not more impressed with the Jet as I am with the PM66 and the Jet was almost $700 less. BTW, I do not work for Jet, nor am I affiliated with them in any way - I am just floored with their quality saw!

I have a 3hp Jet table saw that went up in flames last week. Well at least the motor did.

Keep in mind that I have NEVER touched the motor on this saw.

I was working on the table saw and smelled something very nasty. It was not wood or even a hot wire. It turned out to be the run capacitor on the motor over heating and burning up

The next day I pulled the motor out (not an easy chore as the motor weights over 70 pounds). When I got the motor off its mounting plate and outside the table saw cabinet, I pulled the cover of the outer enclosure where the power wire from the magnetic switch connects to the motor. The inside was PACKED with dust. "Where's the gasket?" I asked myself. Not good.

So I put the motor on the bench and removed the metal covers from the capacitors. One is the run capacitor; the other is the start capacitor. Once again, both of these covers were packed with dust. There are 2 wires running from each cap to the inside of the motor through a hole and I could see dust inside the motor. Not good. A TEFC (totally enclosed fan cooled) motor - right? Well Jet should call theirs a BEFC (barely enclosed fan cooled) motor.

Anyway, the run cap was totally melted down so I took the motor to a local repair technician that spent 2 hours talking to me and diagnosing the motor. He hooked up a new run cap and bench tested it first. Everything sounded fine but a squeal started emitting from inside of the motor. So he pulled the motor apart only to find the inside full of wood dust. The wood entered through the holes in the case where the cap wires pass through. Then HE said "Not good". The windings were discolored. They began to overheat causing more resistance in the windings causing the run cap to overheat causing the cap to catch fire.

He told me run caps hardly ever go bad and that the dust entering the windings were the cause. But he went on to say that the lack of rubber gaskets on the covers was the root cause. Clearly Jet's fault. So I e-mail Jet with my explanation and their response was:

"THE WARRANTY IS OUT ON YOUR MACHINE"

This was their entire response. And in all CAPS to boot!

Now here's the kicker. I am forced to buy a replacement motor from Jet. I wanted to buy a Baldor or Leeson motor. Even a Dayton would be better AND cheaper. But no. Electric motors follow national specifications published by NEMA. NEMA specifies the dimensional characteristics of the mounting plate, shaft diameter, and distance from the mounting plate to the center of the shaft. All critical for a given application, but not with Jet. This motor has all NEMA 56 specs EXCEPT the shaft diameter.

My recommendation:
If you are considering buying a Jet product, check for these gaskets.

I looked, asked around, and mulled over a cabinet saw purchase for several years before finally settling on the Jet JTAS 10-XL50. I do not regret the purchase for one second. First, Toolcrib.Amazon was great in the purchase - get the FedEx $25 door to door delivery. The saw was beautifully packaged, and setup only took about 30 minutes. Only one part was not perfect and Jet replaced it via FedEx in a single day. Jet is also superior in post sale service. The saw has NO vibration, runout, slop in the fence, etc. The finish is like a Lexus car. The fence is highly accurate and the control wheels are too. It's a great tool and fairly priced. My Delta tools have always been 2nd rate, usually missing parts, requiring replacement due to slop in manufacture, and their post sale support is awful. (No flames from Deltans please!) Jet makes a superior tool and I will buy more. 'Nuff said.

The only problem I had is with the fence. The threaded holes for the nylon set screws were so rough you couldn't turn the screws. The allen wrench keeps slipping in the nylon sockets. Had to clean the holes out with a 1/2"x13 tap. That made the holes too loose. A few wraps of teflon tape around the screw threads took care of that problem. The fence face was not square with the table because the poly fence facing on one side extended about a 1/16" below the other. The guide rail was drilled incorrectly and the tape measure was about 1 1/2" off. Way beyond the adjustment range of the cursor. I bought the saw from a local Woodcraft store. They replaced everything with no problem, but we went through 2 fences before we found one that was acceptable. The replacement guide rail fit perfectly, but the finish on this one was poor. It looks like there was no attempt made to sand out the rough spots before it was painted. So far this is cosmetic only. Would I buy this saw again? Yes. But I would first make sure I checked out the fence kit... although that's kind of hard to do through mail order. There is also a clang when you first turn on the saw. Probably from the starting torque and maybe some looseness in the motor mount and/or arbor and trunion, but the saw cuts fine right now. If there is any problem, I'm sure it will show up within the warranty period. I like the design of the fence, but the workmanship in the fence does not match the quality of the rest of the saw. I was told by the store personnel that this is not an uncommon problem. They were prepared with the fixes.

I spent considerable time researching various table saws before deciding to purchase the JET left tilt 10" cabinet saw. This research included reading all of the magazine reviews I could find, seeing the saws in person and reading all of the helpful reviews here at AMAZON. The saw arrived in six boxes (including the mobile base). Everything was in perfect condition and assembly was very easy and uneventful. The extra $25 for FED EX 3 day delivery is highly recommended. I was prepared for the minor assembly quirks mentioned by other reviewers but I did not experience any problems at all--and believe me, I'm not complaining!! The JET compares very favorably to its closest competitor, the DELTA unisaw. The JET cast iron table and extensions are nicer, fit and finish are at least as good (better in my opinion, but that's subjective) and the cost is $200-300 less. I'll be curious to see how it holds up over the long haul but I'm certainly not expecting any problems. This product absolutely deserves five stars.

I went back and forth but finally after many trips looking at each decided on the jet. It is very well built and one fine saw. I have no regrets except that I didn't buy it 10 years ago when I bought the contractors saw I had.