Customer Reviews

Delta 36-431 Limited Edition 10-Inch Contractors Saw

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

 

 

Saw went together easily and was accurate right out the box. I'm very happy with my choice of the Biesemeyer Fence. The blade guard and splitter are very disappointing. They are time consuming and more difficult than necessary to change when going from straight cuts to dados. I can't believe that with the cost and quality of these saws, it requires an additional ($$$) to get a good guard and splitter from Delta. I'd give it 5 stars if not for this shortcoming.

Pro: The cast iron deck, left attachment, and the saw itself is square and cuts accurately. Even tilting the blade to 45 degrees the cuts are very accurate. If you buy the complete kit with dado, extension, roll around base etc. you get good value for the money. The roll-around base is very well made and fits the saw well.

Cons: The right hand extension (laminated particle board) is neither square nor flat - making the fence diffcult to slide accross the top and also making the fence inaccurate when positioned on the extension. The laminated particle board extension is also only laminated on one side, so it is not flat, making it impossible to align with the cast iron deck. The next problem is the blade guard which is very difficult to align with the blade. I finally cut a jig and clamped it to the deck to help line up the blade guard - you will waste a lot of time when you switch between dado blades and saw blade and have to re-align the dang blade guard. I felt that Delta could have done a much better job with this package.

Summary: Good value for the dollar - an accurate cutting saw, but some of the accessories were poorly designed or of poor material.

Saw arrived in 10 days and boxes were intact. The press say this saw requires the most assembly and they're right. But the documentation is all in Engilish and quite clear, though fragmented. I write that kind of stuff for a living. The assembly was long but not difficult. Actually kind of fun.
Others have complained of the fact that the Biesmeyer extention table was not flat. Mine wasn't either but with a straight edge I was able to line up the edge flush with the saw table. The far edge is even with the table also but it cups about .035" - .040" in the middle. The saw table and cast iron wing are dead on so no problem. You have to drill the mounting holes in the extension. In my instructions the locating measurements given were incorrect. I took them from the actual parts and it was fine. The version shown was different than mine but heck, measure three times and cut (or drill) once.

The finished saw is heavy (approx. 350lb), rock steady, powerful, and, for a table saw, quiet. The operation is smooth and accurate. And Hey! Free shipping!

I have owned a Craftsman 10" cast iron table saw for over 25 years...it gave good service; however, the fence system is inferior, and the movement of the arbor up & down was not smooth.
My option was to buy a new Beisemeyer fence for approx $250, or just buy the complete saw. I chose to go for the new saw....Delta 10" contractor series. The arbor movement is smooth, and the mechanism seems much heavier than the Sears. The Beisemeyer fence is great! The solid cast iron left side extension is much better than those cast iron extensions that have the criss-cross lattice...your fingers can get stuck and caught. The solid right side table extension is ok...but the frame wood is rather soft.
The table sheet metal frame leaves much to be desired. There is no foot holes for installing rubber height adjusters. I mounted the frame on a Ridgid tablesaw roller frame...I bought at Home Depot of course. It required small angles to be attached to the legs and roller frame. Now the saw sits up 1-1/2" to a height of 36" AFF. The Beisemeyer right particle board extension has 2 legs with adjustable screws which are just barely long enuff. I rewired the motor for 240 volts...now the lights dont dim whenever the saw starts. I removed the pitiful short power cord and attached a new 25' long one...I do this for my skilsaws also. The saw runs smooth and quiet. I bought a piece of 1/2" polyethylene plastic and made zero inserts with 10-24 setscrews for height adjustment. The saw does not come with a dado insert. The miter end fits into a T-grooved 3/4" channel in such a way you cannot lift it off the table, but must slide it back for removal...not crazy about this design. The T-grove catches sawdust & makes the sliding of the miter fence hard to difficult at best. Keep a airline handy to clear the sawdust from the T-grove or just remove the small button end of the miter. The left cast iron extension has no holes for bolting the Beisemeyer angle to...so it is only held to the table with 3 bolts...I feel you should drill 2 holes in both the angle and cast iron extension for attachment. All in all the saw & fence will give good service.

I purchased this saw after much research, and finally decided after all the reviews this was the one. The saw went together in about 2 1/2 hours,I needed the help of my husband to lift it onto the stand, besides that it was fairly easy. I am extremly satisfied with the Beisemeyer Fence. It's DEAD ON accurate! right out of the box. You can literally throw away your tape measure. The extension table I received, if installed properly is perfectly level with the cast iron table.If debating about the 36-431 and the 36-444, you can't possibly go wrong with the 431. The cast iron wings make all the difference. Spend the extra money you won't be sorry.I also made an extension table the width of the saw and its extension table, and have no problem ripping 4x8 sheets of plywood by myself. As for Delta, I own several other Delta machines, and are very satisfied with there products, and look forward to owning more.:)

I went shopping locally for this saw at Woodworkers Warehouse in Natick, MA. The price was the same as Amazon. The salesman was showing me the comparably equipped Jet saw for the same price. I asked him which one he would buy if it were he. He said both saws are equal in quality but Jet surpasses Delta in terms of customer service. Jet is more inclined to send parts now, ask questions later where Delta is the opposite. I ultimately decided to buy from Delta from the good people at Amazon. I mean come on, free shipping and no sales tax! And what are the odds in Delta excluding some critical parts anyway.

I ordered on a Thursday night and it came the following Wed. by Fedex freight! All boxes were intact...great! I didn't get to set it up until Sat. morning. Inside the main box there was a small thin long box that had a ripped open lid. The only thing inside was the blade tilt wheel. Strange. After examining all the parts, I found the table extension legs were missing! ...

The legs came as promised, a week later. Upon examing them I found they were missing the height adjustment screws and nut. Oh boy. I was not going to go through the same rigamoroll and wait another week. Luckily, I scalped the requisite parts of another cabinet I had built and they were a perfect fit.

If you buy this saw, I recommend the Beisemeyer fence for its ruggedness, and simple assembly. The instructions for the unifence were also in my manual and appeared to be twice the steps and parts for install. Just pray that all the parts will be there!

Al boxes were delivered in fine condition and all parts were there.(I always check before starting.) The setup was a bit slow and some of the instructions and or pictures were not as clear as they should be. Not having the holes drilled in the table extension is kind of a pain, since the measurements are taken off of parts that need to be matched with no easy way to hold them and measure. Table mostly flat and within acceptable tolerances. The guard/splitter is a difficult at best and not user friendly. I haven't yet tried to remove it for dado work, but am sure it will be time consuming. I might leave it off and purchased a better after-market type.

Nice cuts, the bessy is very accurate and the entire unit is rock solid.

I wondered how that box was going to fit in my mail box, and as the time approached for the package to arrive, I'd check all doors to see if it got left. No luck. The first shipment got lost and Amazon responded well and re-shipped. No tracking available on these products. Shipper called in advance and boxes arrived as scheduled this time. I found the directions to be perfectly fine. Taking my time, I still spent no more than 8 hrs in the set-up. For a duffer like me, it was a treat learning as I go so that when, inevitably, things go out of line I'll be able to get it back in play. And, as you'll see with other reviews, there is a common issue with the laminated extension table, a slight negative dip. I wonder if the dip isn't by design, since tolerances bringing the middle of the table up over the cast iron deck would be impossible to deal with. Exact is great, but if there's error, let it be in the right direction. By the way, you'll need a bar clamp on hand to install the table. Made my first cuts last night. Dead on. I'll need to make more inventive excuses about my project flaws, now. As for guard/splitter, I'll learn to live with it. My earlier tablesaw (Sears ~1948) was beginning to terrorize even me.

Everything is great except for the extenstion table. The laminated table surface is not even close to flat and the dimensions in the assembly manual for the legs are incorrect. Aside from these gripes the saw is well made. All parts were included in the shipping boxes, the cast iron tops are flat as can be, and the assembly was very smooth. The splitter guard is a pain. Align the motor well before attaching it!