Customer Reviews

DELTA 36-980 10-Inch Left Tilt 1-1/2-Horsepower Contractor Saw with 30-Inch T2 Fence and 2 Cast-Iron Extension Wings, 115/230-Volt 1-Phase

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I helped a friend put this saw together last night. I would rate it about 4 and 3/4 starz. This saw has many improvements over past Delta contractor saws!

I own two Delta contractor saws.

Improvements that Delta has made:

There is more room for your hand when lowering and raising the blade.

The operation is even smoother than before.

Cast iron wings are beveled like the main table.

The cast iron on the extension wings and table were of excellent quality.

No swirl marks. Very nice finish.

The saw comes with a quality built in mobile base now.

The saw comes with a built in dust collection funnel for a 4" DC or 5 gallon bucket underneath.

The saw comes with a better gauge for 0-45 degree setting.

Problems:

We had to slightly ream out the holes on the cast iron wings so that they would align properly. 1/4 star deduction.

Suggestions:

I suggest that on the parts package with all the bolts and nuts that you do not open them from the back where they are preforated. Use a utility knife to cut through the package on the front so that you can read the label of what each part is.

This is a much improved saw with extras like the cast iron wings, mobile base, better dust collection, better finish on the saw and cast iron top and left tilt. I didn't like the left tilt at first until I realized that you now can use your right hand to tigten the arbor nut and of course the added safety of decreasing the chance of pinched wood between the blade and fence when making 45 degree cuts. The T2 fence slides like butter and is very stable.

Delta did a really nice job with this one. If we didn't have to ream out the holes on the wings to align them properly that would be an easy 5.

1-9-09 Update: I talked with my friend the other day. He switched it to 220 volts which only took about 15 minutes. The saw comes up to speed instantly now and SEEMS to have more power in heavy cuts. (Yes I know the formulas, however, perception is 90% reality- right?) He continues to love the saw and doesn't regret the purchase at all.

Great job Delta.

Bobby Stanley

I must say this is the best contractor saw I've used!

I bought this saw to replace my old jobsite saw that I had outgrown--what an improvement!

From the beginning, I decided on this model with the T-square (T2) fence primarily due to price. I looked at the Unifence option, which is amazingly versatile, but I just couldn't justify the extra expense for it. You can also get this saw with a Biesemeyer fence, but it's a pretty expensive option and not very much different from Delta's T-square fence.

When you get this saw home, I hope you have a strong friend to help unload/move this behemoth. I had help getting the saw and fence box in the back of my SUV, but getting it out was all me! The saw is packed in one HEAVY, huge box and the fence in a second. I wrestled the box out of the car, onto a dolly and into the garage, hoping I could get it inside and nearer to the basement stairs, where my workshop is located. I didn't make it past the garage as the box was just too heavy for me to pull up the two steps that separate the garage from the house. I unpacked the box in the garage and carried the pieces down to my shop piece by piece. Let me tell you, after getting everything downstairs, I felt like I had been in a fight!

The assembly was fairly straight-forward, although lengthy.

One word of advice, have a 13mm ratcheting box-end wrench when you go to assemble the stand. When you put the wheel mounts on the bottom of the legs, you'll be required to get a nut way down inside where it's nearly impossible to reach and hold the nut.

A second word of advice, be prepared to do some cleaning on the cast-iron pieces. They are heavily coated in cosmoline, or a similar product and are a mess to deal with. The flip side of that is the cast iron parts were all in perfect condition without even the smallest speck of rust.

After most of the day spent assembling, I finally got it put together and went to check the settings. Everything, blade, fence and miter gauge was nearly perfect right out of the box. The fence required only the smallest tweak on the adjusters to get it perfectly square.

The T-square rip-fence is heavy and solid as a rock. I couldn't get it to deflect without a very forceful push on the tail end--such a force would never be present when cutting. The fence slides on three nylon pads that in turn ride on the heavy steel rails bolted to the front and rear of the saw. It slides like it's on ice! Amazingly smooth, accurate and nearly effortless to move.

I had no need for any blade adjustments, so after a fresh coat of wax on the table I was on to the test run!

I found this saw does pull a good bit of power when starting up. Even with nothing else on the the 15A breaker, it frequently tripped on start up! Fortunately my home's wiring was able to support a new 20A breaker. So fewer problems with power although the saw does still trip occasionally when starting! I would think one would be better off having this saw run on 220v, although I realize that's not an easy option for many of us.

I am amazed at how quiet this saw is! When running there is little more than a high-pitched hum from the blade. I made several cuts in various material and never felt I was even close to needing hearing protection. This saw is quite an improvement over my last saw that shrieked like a banshee!

The motor seems plenty powerful. In cutting some test material, I never noticed it lug down or lose speed even when ripping with a 50 tooth combo blade. I've used it to rip some 8/4 cherry and it did so without complaint.

I initially installed the blade guard/splitter assembly, but then removed it. I've never been a big fan of them and I get annoyed quickly when I can't latch the guard up when measuring from fence to blade. This one is no different. The guard does not lift very high and does not latch, meaning you'll have to hold it up with one hand while measuring. The lack of clearance is also a pain when removing the table insert. The insert is held in place with a single screw that is partially blocked by the guard. You either need a short screwdriver or have to push the guard sideways to clear the screw. The guard is designed to latch up when the table insert is removed to allow easier blade changes but even here, it sits too low and gets in the way of the blade wrenches. If I had to point out a flaw with this saw, this would be it. The guard just plain sucks.

The saw's roller system is fantastic! Moving this 300lb tool around takes little effort and it sits solidly when in place. What a great design!

I really feel you'd be hard-pressed to find a better built, more solid saw with a fence anywhere near as strong in this price range. Delta has made a near perfect saw that will be a pleasure to use for years to come!

*Update* I finally lost patience with the saw tripping my breaker. With the 20a 110v breaker installed, it helped, but the breaker would still trip once in a while. To fix this, I bit the bullet and ran a 220v line into the shop, justifying the hassle/expense as I could convert several of my larger tools to run on 220v as well. The saw starts instantly now and seems to run stronger.

For context, I'm a beginner in woodworking and my last table saw was a Delta model that they now call "Shop Master". This table saw is outstanding in comparison. Easy to assemble, easy to zero alignment and measurements. It took me several hours to assemble as I did so carefully. Some manual directions seemed off from the assembly hardware but not enough to effect assembly, or it missed something. This saw easily gives me clean cuts to 1/32" with the rip blade provided. Very quite operation compared to the cheaper models out there as well as MUCH less dust when hooked to a shop vac. Note, you will need a dedicated 15A 110V outlet, do not use any other items on the circuit while using the saw's 1.5HP motor. There are many good saws but you will not be disappointed with this purchase.

I needed a saw desperatly when my previous Delta (20+ years old), finaly gave in. Amazon couldn't (read: wouldn't) try to beat another online deal, so I went with CPO Delta. Saved $37 & had it delivered for free right to my shop within two days!

Now, about the saw. What is the difference between this and a cabinet saw? The cabinet! It is a large heavy and heavy duty saw that is so accurate it is amazing. Let's face it, we want the saw to look nice and have some nice features, and it does, but the real critical factor is accuracy and this saw delivers.

One of the other very noticable features about this saw is how quiet it is. I actually have music playing in my shop and still hear it with the saw running. I will admit that I am a total Delta fan and have several pieces from them, but I guess that is a product of being a happy and satisfied customer. [...]

Yeah... HEAVY.

Just to qualify myself... I am a contractor of 25 years with extensive knowledge working with, assembling, dismantling and repairing all types of tools.

It took a hand truck and one other guy to get it into my shop. After that I was able to handle it by myself until the final few steps. Assembly was simple with good instructions. The fence instructions were a little off in a few spots (I think they upgraded some fasteners but not the instructions) but if you have some basic mechanical know-how, you can figure it out.

The parts all fit together as they should, and all the small parts were very well labeled. I spent about 2 1/2 hours total to get this from a closed box condition to fully assembled and operational. Those who complain in their reviews about hard to reach nuts an bolts.... suck it up folks. You only have to do it once and it's really not a big deal.

I was able to assemble it with standard american and metric socket and open/box end wrenches. I had help at the end with Dan the Man holding the wings to line them up perfectly with the main table while I turned the wrench. There is a slight (1/32 or so) play in the height adjustment of these wings, and I wanted them 100% flush. I could have used some C-clamps to hold it, but I had my helper there the next day anyway. He was also helpful in holding the fence rails while I bolted them... again a few C-clamps could have replaced him. So theoretically, if you have good mechanical knowledge and you're a guy in decent shape (I'm 6'4", 250 lbs) you could put this thing together yourself in an afternoon.

The saw runs very smooth and cuts perfectly with the included carbide blade. The finish on the cast iron is awsome. After cleaning off the packing grease/oil with mineral spirits (also not a big deal) I put a coat of flooring paste wax and buffed it out to a sweet smooth finish. The T2 fence works like a dream, locks tight, slides like silk and was dead on perfect right out of the box.

I have this in my shop with many other stationary power tools (planer, jointer, bandsaw etc.). I would recommend a 20 amp circuit for any such equipment. Since I only run one large tool at a time I have most of them plugged into this one dedicated circuit. There is also a lighting circuit and a workbench circuit for smaller power tools ie. grinder, drills etc.

Counting my jobsite table saws, this is my fourth one and I would highly recommend it. You'll be hard pressed to find any other saw of this quality at such a reasonable price. One final note... I was going to buy this at Amazon, but it was priced better at Lowes AND I got them to drop the price even lower! Big box stores like Lowes are willing to play with their margin on big ticket items like this. Give it a try. What have you got to lose!?

I most admit that I bought this saw somewhere else. I want to leave a review here because this is where I research many purchases and buy most of them. This saw came packed on a crate. There were two Boxes one the saw the other the fence. Both were packaged well and came with out damage. My shop is down in my basement so I carried it down in pieces. The main saw I strapped to a hand truck and bumped down one step at a time. Assembly is straight forward it takes time but is not overly difficult. There are those two bolts on the base that are a bear. They are very hard to reach with your hands but not impossible. Take your time and stay patient and those nuts go on. Use a 13 mm open end wrench (not a ½ inch) and it goes well from there. Quality is great, everything lined up and went well. I only needed an extra set of hand once to turn the upside down saw upright. After it was assembled everything was in line and ready to run. I'm happy with what I got. I ran some hard maple through it at it cut like butter.

Update:

Yes the guard is cheaply made. I took it apart so that I could just use the splitter. Even that turned out to be more than easy. I had to enlarge the holes in the splitter mounting bracket to get every thing lined up. It will be nice to use a splitter now and then. I still really like this saw. Check out the price of the 36-979 saw (same saw no fence) and the T2 fence separately you may save money.

I bought this saw to replace a Sears "Homeowner's" saw that lacked the precision that I wanted. The saw came in boxes, and is heavy! I'm not large, but it wasn't much of a task to put it together by myself. The table wasn't aligned well, and I had to buy a trunnion alignment kit to get it square. Now it is dead square.

With a sharp thin kerf blade, this saw has plenty of power to cut any hard wood I have tried to cut.

There are lots of saws around that are very much inferior to this one, and they all cost a lot more!

DM

The Delta 36-980 table saw was purchased as a gift for my boyfriend to help up us build our new garage. He has never used one before, but I used to have one and knew what they could do. He was taken back when he used it for the first time on 4'x8' paneling. It is quieter than the older model I used to have. Cuts are easy to do and rides smoothly across the saw. Making angle cuts on long boards are a breeze. It came with the stand which made life easier. The 30" fence stayed in place and the cutting guide is true in measuring distances from the blade. My boyfriend threw away his old hand saw! It's the best little unit for anyone that works with wood, novice to expert. As far as I am concerned, Delta tools are the best.

If you are thinking about buying this saw, I strongly urge you to read B. Robson's review here very carefully. The saw is a high quality product but not easy to assemble if you have to do it alone. In addition to the weight, some of the bolts are nearly impossible to install because of obstacles. And while I am absolutely loathe to run a table saw without a blade guard/splitter, the one on this saw is so awful I'm afraid that I will have to remove it permanently. I bought this to replace a very old Craftsman which had a great blade guard and was very easy to assemble. The new Craftsman costs 50% more than the Delta, and strikes me as being inferior in many respects, but, all things considered, I would probably buy the Sears if I had to do it over. Nonetheless, 4 stars because, except for the problems mentioned, this is an awesome saw