Customer Reviews

Delta 33-830 10-Inch Professional Radial Arm Saw

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

 

 

The saw has sufficiant power and some good features. Advertisments lead you to believe the saw will handle 2X (nominal) stock. The saw will make a 45* cut with the arm swung to the left but with the arm positioned to the right the stock will not reach the fence without contacting the blade. 1" stock works well. The supplied partical board table was warped and is still on back order since Feb. Several calls to customer support, the solution was to offer a full refund toward the purchase price of the 220 volt 12 saw. If your needs include cutting greater than 5/4 consider the 12" saw.

My home was recently struck by lightning. One of the innocent by standers was my Sears 3 HP radial arm saw. I considered replacing it with a sliding compound miter saw, but I have a 12" compound saw, and the extra capacity and dado features on a radial arm made it easy to select the radial arm saw.

I consider the radial arm saw the most dangerous tool in my shop. Manufacturers must feel the same way as few make a reasonably priced unit. I went to Sears and looked at their saw. OK, but a lot of plastic. Rigid sells one also. Cheaper yet. I bought the Delta, sight unseen, based on their reputation. The tool has some features better than my old Sears saw. Some are worse.

First of all. This is a solid tool for the money. Good features include well machined parts and a good solid feeling. After several compound miter setups, I was happy with the repeatability of set ups.

Several features I didn't like include the raise/lower feature (it is located on the column). I am six feet tall and reaching the crank is a stretch. On my Sears unit, it is under the table. Much more convenient. Also, the table and fence are particle board. I will quickly change this to MDF. When I set up the saw, the blade was not vertically perpendicular to the table in the preset locked condition. I figured out how to correct it, but there was no mention how to fix it in the manual. Also, the blade is not perfectly aligned as I draw it through the work piece. As a result, the trailing edge of the blade tears the work piece on one side. I am sure I can fix it, but again, no mention in the manual.

Bottom line, would I buy it again? Yes. My old Sears saw had more power and was easier to raise and lower, but the Delta seems to have better build quality, especially over the new Sears and Rigid Saws.

I have been using this saw for about 4 years now with very little complaints. The blade provided wasn't worth the metal it was stamped out of (but most provided Delta blades aren't). Simple upgrade to a Freud cross cutting blade improved power and handling tremendously. The guide indents were off slightly straight out of the box (as was the 90 degree cross-cut), again standard adjustments corrected that situation also. The saw itself has sufficient power to handle most situations (4X PT requires a slower feed rate) and has presented me with little problems over the years. It is also positioned at a very comfortable working height and yet low enough to offer you adequate control over the saw and stock. I use this saw for home shop and home improvements (and my wife's projects). I selected a radial arm over a sliding compound mitre for the simple reason that the radial arm allows you to use stack dado blades (and I didn't need the saw to be portable). Improvements that could be made would be better blade, slightly higher rear fence, and a better blade guard system. The blade guard, though designed to prevent kick-backs tends to require more lubrication than I would think needed to keep it from sticking. The guard should also better cover the blade and not just the edges for saftey.

I have been very happy with this saw for the past two-and-a-half years. When I bought this saw, I chose this over the Craftsman 10" model because it was very basic. I'm not one to need fancy handles and tools that need a college education to square up. In fact, this saw seems to be designed very closely to an early 1970's Craftsman still used in my fathers shop. Although his slide bearings are worn, the Delta saw came with adjustable slide bearings. The only problem I've had was with a snapped slide clamp are on the overhead cast plate. I called customer service and, at no charge, was sent an entire new plate with all of the parts. Setting up the saw couldn't get easier. When setting up, though, one may want to swap the partical board fence and deck for maple and plywood.

The good news is that the RAS was promply delivered (purchased via Amazon). Also, the documentation is very good and its pretty easy to follow the instructions to set the RAS up and get good square cuts.

The bad news, however, is that the RAS motor ran maybe 30 seconds before it quit! Big disappointment here as you can understand.

More good news: Called the Delta customer service line and got to talk to a live human (with only a minimal delay while listening to elevator music). After maybe two conversations where they gave me things to try, it was determined that the best course of action was to take the motor to a local (about 20 miles away) authorized service center. Turns out that the switch was defective from the factory (contacts fell out). The service rep had the switch on hand and fixed it while I waited. Saw is running fine now.

Another positive: I contacted Amazon (via Email) and they were more than willing to send a truck to my house to pick it up for a return with full refund or replacement.

I'd rate the Amazon and Delta service as excellent ... but the quality control at Delta factory as poor.

The cast iron arm and vertical column are very rugged. I'm extramely disappointed, however, in the sheet metal stand. There is a considerable amount of flexing where the column attaches. With very little force I am able to deflect the saw blade by 1/16? Also, the angle brackets that attach the table to the stand are not bent at 90 degrees. When I clamp the table down, the angles force the table to bow by about 1/8" in the center. I just purchased some steel channel and plan to fabricate my own stand that has some structural integrity. The other problem I encountered was the ability for the stop clamp to maintain position. I had a very difficult time squaring the blade to the fence until I realized this clamp was slipping. I've tightened the clamp as hard as I can and it is easily displaced with the slightest jolt from rotating the arm from 45 degrees back to zero. I plan to disassemble the machine, clean out the grease around the clamp and rough up the surface of both the clamp and the column. Once I've fixed the clamp and have built a new stand I'm sure this will be a nice machine...however, with the amount of money spent I shouldn't have to do this.

A couple of years ago I bought this machine. In the first week of use the arbor (sticking out on the right side) caught the power cord as I pulled the blade toward me. The protective plastic had spun off the arbor earlier... so the metal chewed right into the electrical wire. The biggest concern I had was the potential run-away blade due to the wire wrapping into something. I called customer service and they didn't seem to care. I visited a big chain store recently and tried to see if anything had changed... it hadn't. On a display model I easily replicated the incident (without the power on). Delta needs to make the cord coiled, or shorter, or longer. Maybe the Consumer Product Safety Commission will tell them so after someone gets hurt. I sent mine back. It was too dangerous.

the delta 10in radial arm saw is one of the best on the market,one big factor is ,how easy and quick you can square the saw.this is the most important factor,on a radial arm saw,a out of square saw is useless.the saw is quility made.all steel no plastic.made to last a live time.

This saw replaced an older Craftsman RAS that just wouldn't stay square. I have found this saw to be an excellent value - I did replace the steel blade though. The arm locks right at the column for rock solid miter angles with NO PLAY. I also like that the On/Off switch is right by the handle - 1 hand stays on the saw head while the other is supporting the workpiece. Great saw for the money. Built like my Unisaw - Rock Solid!