Customer Reviews

JET 708776K JWSS-10PFX Supersaw 10-Inch Left Tilt 1-3/4 Horsepower Intermediate Saw with 52-Inch Xacta II Fence, 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, Table Board, and Legs, 115/230-Volt 1 Phase

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First some of the good stuff - the saw cuts very well, is very stable, has low vibration, and is easy to set up. Assembly took less then two hours but would probably be faster with help from a second person. Alignment checking and adjustment took another hour or so. The blade was already parallel to the right miter slot but the 90 degree stop had to be adjusted. The left wing, which contains the left miter slot, had to be shimmed at the front to be parallel to the blade and right slot. The main table is flat but both wings are bowed, one up and one down slightly less then a 1/32", while the extension table sags a 1/16" in the middle.

The fence does flex a little, about 1/16", at the rear when pushing it over by hand, but even at it's max flex it is not noticeable at the front of the blade and doesn't seem to alter the cut at all. The only way I could get it to flex while cutting was when ripping a full sheet of 3/4" ply, but it still didn't affect the cut. When you lock down the fence as tight as possible it slides to the right during the lock down about a 1/32". When you lock down lighter, Jet tech support's solution, it does not do this but when cutting large or heavy stock you have to lock it down tight or it can shift a little. I was only able to do this with the full sheet of ply as well.

The controls are very smooth and accurate. The miter gauge, blade guard, magnified cursor, and splitter work very well. The micro adjust works as long as there isn't too much dust on the front rail. The throat plate had a small bump at the front that had to be filed off to make it level with the tabletop. After that the adjustment screws could level the entire plate with the tabletop.

Dust collection is very good with this saw as well. A little dust escapes at the front of the blade using a shop vac as the collector, which may be the reason, but everything else is captured.

All in all I like the saw and it works very well. I believe it to be a great value. The only thing that really upsets me are the extension wings, which I am trying to get replaced with flat ones through Jet's tech support.

Really 4 1/2 stars.

The all cast-iron construction gives quiet and smooth operation that has to be heard to be believed. Smoooooooth. The motor's power is very good for 120v. The table is dead flat, but the fence is not, not even close. Laid the fence on the table for use as a straight edge as instructed in the manual; wobbles like a hobbyhorse. Contacted Jet, they sent a new one that is just as bad. But at least it locks down better than the old one. However, if you push firmly on the rear of the fence, it moves and stays there.

The cast iron wings have a sharp 90 degree edge on the front, they ought to match the nice bevel on the main table. And a very minor problem: the miter assembly hold-down bolt threads were defective, Jet sent a new one.

The blade guard is well designed except for the anti-kick-back-pawls, they are sharp enough to cut you and the spring is built for STRONG, certain to mar any wood it contacts. Overall, though, the saw makes most work easy and fast. And at this price I'm willing to put up with the fence, it's good enough for now. And if absolute precision is ever needed from the fence, then there are several replacements available.

If you own a Supersaw, or are just considering one, join the Yahoo Supersaw Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supersaw

After using the Super Saw for 7 months I have mostly negative observations. The few positive observations simply do not outweigh the myriad negative, thus the two star rating.

First the negative:

1.) The fence is not flat, does not stay aligned, and has a large amount of deflection with even moderate pressure. The deflection problem was noticeable even just after each adjustment. Four adjustments were required in a month and were not noticeably prolonged when the bolts holding the adjustment were tightened very tight. Lastly, I used several precision rules to check the fence for flatness. Enough variation was evident to make me worry. I ended up purchasing the Vega fence and have been quite happy since. I suggest anyone considering this saw do the same.

2.) Dust collection does not work as advertised. After a great deal of searching on the net and several calls to Jet I finally took the plunge and enlarged the holes in the base of the cabinet. Dust collection is better but not great. Considering I have a 1 ½ horse power dust collector 8 feet from the saw, I expected much better results.

3.) Saw table and wings are not flat. Granted, they are not out by much: .005 to .007 at the maximum. But considering what I paid for the saw I expected tolerances to be somewhat higher.

4.) Timing belt broke within the first 3 months. This is the belt controlling blade height. I was surprised at how hard the belt is to get to and was not happy with the quality of parts. I can see this being a problem in the future.

5.) Accessories are hard to come by. In particular, the distance of the miter gauge slots from the saw blade makes 3rd party accessories unusable. For example, I have yet to find a tenoning jig that will fit this saw. Also, my choice of fence was limited by the location of the fence bolts and by the configuration of the saw. My preference was the Incra fence, but the manufacture advised me that it would not fit even thought is advertised as fitting almost any saw.

6.) The blade guard and kickback paws need some work and are hard to remove. In addition, no third party options (that I know of) exist.

7.) Lastly, Jet service is sporadic. Depending on who you are connected with, you may or may not get good information.

On the positive side:

1.) Motor runs well and does every job I have asked of it. Including, cutting 2 ½ inch hardwoods like maple and oak. Just make sure you have a sharp blade.
2.) When you do get a good Jet rep on the phone service is quick.

3.) Saw is quiet and smooth.

I think you can see, considering all the negatives I don't think this saw is a good buy. At some point in the future, when the problems are fixed, it will be worth a look. Until then, stay clear and don't be fooled by a feature list that does not deliver.

I really like the design of the saw but the quality control and customer service leaves a lot to be desired. The sliding table box was missing the hardware kit, the little bag of nuts & bolts to attach it. I called Jet 3 weeks ago and they promised to send a replacement, but today they say the parts are back-ordered and it will be *another* 4 weeks. And the fence locking handle broke right off under normal hand pressure! Not only are fence handles back-ordered for at least 4 weeks, but the ones that are due in are all spoken for already. Apparently they've been breaking a lot of them and I'm not expecting the replacement to be any more durable. It's going to be at least 2 months from the time I bought the saw until it's actually usable! This seems like a great design and that's why I've given it 3 stars but I'm really disappointed in Jet's low quality and poor service.

Mike Idleman of Buckhannon, WV. I had waited all summer for this saw to arive and finely in Nov. I found one! It was well worth the time, first it was well packaged, every thing was there. It went together good, but a bit of advice if you plan to move this beast buy a mobil base! This mechine is very heavy with cast i ron wings it is solid as a rock, the finish is great also! I put the saw together by my self, another persone would have helped. The fence has a magnified curser on it and moves easy. The extension table could have been made beter. after assemble the adjustments were checked and were good from the factory. Next thing NO BLADE came with the saw! All in All this saw is very good it's quiet, no viberations and good power for a small to medem shop. It's qulity through and through Thank's Jet!

I looked at the Dewalt and the Jet side by side before deciding on the Jet. I have not had any dust collection problems and I'm using a small (5 gal.) Rigid shop vac. For me, setup took 5-6 hrs. but has been well worth it.The fence works great, the miter gauge is decent. I switched mine to 230 volt. The main table is perfectly flat as far as I can tell, the right wing is
bowed down about .003" and the left wing is bowed up about .003". However, I was not expecting perfection for the money I spent. I have been a professional auto tech. for 27 years and have invested over $30,000.00 in hand tools. If you step onto a Snapon or Matco tool truck and spend $1000.00 you will probably not need any help getting your purchases off the truck. I can give this machine 5 stars based on value alone.

Bought the Jet Supersaw because it had an enclosed dust collector, other features and it was cheaper than a cabinet saw. Imagine my surprise to find that the cabinet dust collection system was engineered to not provide the expected dust free environment. The dust collection floor has very small hole through which the dust is supposted to be circulated out. This had not been the case, even though I hooked up a powerful shop vacuum. The dust just collects. In addition, the dust comes up through the opening for the saw blade. This is the case even if you use a zero tolerance insert. I called Jet technical support, and the technician acknowledged that there was a problem. He suggested that I drill the holes larger, or cut out the bottom altogether! No suggestions about what dust collectors to use. Nothing that really could solve the problem. I highly recommend that any one thinking of buying the "Super saw," think again and consider a DeWalt.

For the money this is a good saw. I have to agree with the comments about the dust collection. I have enlarged the holes now it draws fairly well. I stopped at the Jet display at a local wood worker show to ask about a mobile base they said to use the Jet mobile base and some extensions but they weren't quiet sure which extension kit to get. That was a little weird. Other than that I like the saw.

Enough said. I have to give JET an F for Supersaw. Why? Because JET absolutely failed to fullfil a major function of a table saw design, that is proper dust collection. In fact, the dust collection doesn't work at all. Any sizable sawdust will clog up the dust collection compartment. Be ready to manually vacumm the compartment every time you rip several 2x4s. No joking. The little holes in the dust compartment are so small, that only the most powdery sawdust can go through. And not even power dust can go through once sawdusts clog the holes. JET engineers simply decided to ignore this big flaw. How can they manage that? A prominent woodworking magazine recently compared Supersaw to Dewalt counterpart. Result? Ofcourse they chose Dewalt.