Customer Reviews

Powermatic 1660760K Model 66 10-Inch Left Tilt 3 Horsepower Cabinet Saw with 50-Inch Accu-Fence and 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, 230-Volt 1 Phase

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I received the saw and all 7 boxes. Driver was very helpful in delivering directly to shop. From one of the previous reviews I read here, I had put together the mobile base (bought separately) first and was able to move the saw base from the pallet to the mobile base. This is definitely the way to go.

First the good. I had always heard that the Powermatic 66 was the "best". I was impressed by the fit and finish of the saws that I had seen. I still feel that the finish on the top is the best anywhere. The packaging provided good protection. The extension wings went on easily and were easy to align properly. I got the wood extension table and it arrived intact without problem.

Now the not so good. Installing the front rail for the accufence, the instruction manual has you ensure exactly 2 27/32" from table to front rail and that this dimension is critical. However, after attaching the rail to table, it was not possible to achieve this "critical" dimension. Contacting Powermatic by phone(don't try the URL address provided, it doesn't work), they informed me that as long as the offset is consistent from table to rail that acceptable performance can be achieved (i.e., 2 14/16 or 2 13/16 was OK as long as this was consistent along the length of the table. (So much for critical). Not having this info initially cost me a couple hours unnecessary setup time. I also had difficulty getting the guide bar to be a consistent length from the table to the bar. The Powermatic rep(different individual) I contacted assured me that this had never been a problem before. (so I must be making it up?). I started removing mounting bolts from the underneath of the guide bar and found that one of the holes was offset enough to prevent the guide bar from being paralell. Once removed, it was possible to properly align the guide bar.

Once the fence was set up, I attempted to adjust for paralell. I spent a lot of time and was never satisfied with results, but the dimensions from the infeed and outfeed side of blade to the fence were equal or the outfeed was a hair greater. I never got a smooth cut. I assumed that the blade I was using was at fault, and bought a Forrest blade (very nice). I tried again and got better results but still not what I expected. There was always a gap between the wood and the fence on the outfeed side or I would get binding if adjusted the outfeed side further in.

I decided to invest in a rather expensive precision gauge to measure for exact paralell. What I found is that the accufence side plate which is UHMW plastic is concave, going in approximately 8 mils at the center of the cut. I am still working on getting this right, I ought to be able to shim it.

In summary, when the saw is up and running, it is very smooth and powerful. Very heavy arbor, low vibration, excellent lift and tilt mechanisms. The surface finish is excellent, but the fit of the fence was disappointing to say the least. I suspect this will be an excellent tool when finally adjusted. I had an inexpensive craftsman before and required a lot of adjustment and aftermarket add ons to make it work smoothly. I didn't expect the same from Powermatic. I am convinced top quality tools are worth the expense, but I expect top quality. I can recommend the HTC mobile base and the Forrest blade that I bought for this tablesaw, but the verdict on the saw itself is questionable.

Update 9/04 - I have had the saw for over a year now. I attached a steel plate to the fence which came with magnetic feather boards which I had purchased separately and this resolved the issue with the concave fence. The saw cuts smoothly and accurately each time now. I am very happy with the saw.

I treated the table surface with talc powder like recommended in the book rather than waxing as I have done with past saws. I was initially satisfied with this, however, I keep the saw in a garage which is not heated. One very warm day in February, I opened up the door to the garage and to my horror watched the mirror surface of the saw turn almost the same color gold as the saw body from the moist air condensing on the cold metal top. I was able to subsequently clean it up again and then applied a wax coat and have had no problems since. I am very happy with the saw currently and would recommend it but still am disappointed that it took so much extra work to get it set up initially to cut correctly.

The Powermatic 66 is a wonderfully built tool that has both finish details and thoughtfulness of design that make it far superior to any other tool in or out of its class. The table arrives perfectly flat. Blade tilt has stops that are set to within 0.002" from the factory (0 deg. and 45 deg.). You can adjust these if you need to.

The blade guard functions wonderfully and is very simple to adjust and use. It is easily removed and offers surprisingly good visibility. No matter what the gripes are about the blade guard, I think Powermatic should be commended for trying to offer something more substantial and functional than any other manufacturer's stock guard. The guard alone is worth the price difference to the near competitors. A lost finger would also make up the price difference if you opted for a machine with an unusable guard.

The miter gauge is very solid and stable. The motor is a Baldor industrial TEFC that runs ever so quietly. My saw developed a quiet rattling after a couple weeks of use. The Powermatic tech support was brilliant in diagnosing the noise and talking me through its adjustment. They will give you a direct number to a person who knows the machine inside and out and they are available and patient in helping you. They'll send you parts under warranty, if they were ever needed, instead of making you go through the hassle of taking the machine to a dealer or service center.

A stable, quiet, powerful and massive machine with not a single flaw.

Three years ago I sold my Unisaw, which I had had for 25 years, and bought the PM 66. I thought it was time to own the saw that many consider to be the benchmark standard of the industry.

Almost from the beginning, the motor would occasionally have a strange sound upon starting. The Tech people claimed that dust had migrated into the (sealed) magnetic switch, and I should just blow it out. I don't use the saw everyday, but this would happen every few months, and I would drag my air hose out once again.

Well, one day last week the motor screamed, heated up and died.

Took the motor to an authorized service center for Baldor. They said motor was completely shot, and was defective from the getgo. Said a new motor would be less expensive than fixing this one.

Cost of new motor = $412.

Wrote and called Powermatic. They were sypathetic ("yeah, that happens sometimes"), but said they could not help because the warranty period had expired.

Went up the chain of command, and finally found a guy that said he would give me a new motor for $200. Tired of the battle, and frustrated, gave him my credit card number.

MORAL OF THIS STORY: If you have a problem, don't procrastinate, and don't take no for an answer. That motor was defective out of the box. I knew it, and so did the people at Powermatic. I should have pursued the issue more zealously at the first sign of a problem. And even now, I know I should not have accepted their settlement offer ($200 for a new motor) so meekly.

Overall I'm disappointed in the 66. I love the saw, BUT comparing it to what I had previously (an old 8-1/2" craftsman beater) is the reason for that.
I expected top of the line for top dollar. The 66 I have has had problems from the start. Quality control is lacking on Powermatics part BIGTIME. They have tried to be helpful to me though. I have a saw that had mis-machined trunnion parts, which Powermatic denied was possible until I sent them pictures.
The boring and threading on the splitter mount was done off center of 90 degrees (making the blade guard and splitter useless, and a poor pulley/arbor fit out of the box, resulted in a wobble and related rattle and vibration that just would not go away. I spent hours trying to reset the setscrew, lock it with Loc-Tite, and moving the pulley slightly from side to side, to no avail, only to find out from Powermatic, that, "Yes, were having problems with some of those. Powermatic sent me a new arbor and pulley and bearing set, (different than original, so perhaps they knew FOR SOME TIME they had a problem with the other type of arbor, which would not secure well to the motor shaft, despite my repeated tries to pack it with various shims of paper plastic and steel to eliminate the annoying wobble.) I HAD tried everything.
They gave me free stuff for my trouble. I really appreciated their help, they are a great bunch of guys in the office down there.
None of that changes the fact that I got way less than the "out of the box experience" I expected. Having looked at other available saws on the market, I think if I had it to do over again, I'd either spend a thousand more,(on a larger saw) or buy the Delta left tilt. Too bad too, I was really expecting this thing to be what so many others have said.
Perhaps I was just unlucky. My recommendation to ANY serious shop owner regarding Powermatic, would be to buy old stuff and refurbish it. (The old green ones are the REAL "gold") That's the stuff that made their reputation. The new stuff is just overpriced JUNK with a little more meat.
The Delta saw out at this time, I have seen, seems a little nicer, but then I guess a lot of others here were very happy with the 66, so maybe I got a lemon.

I will also point out 1 thing I think is VERY IMPORTANT to all buyers of this saw. I shaved off an eigth of an inch from the back of the green start button inside the switch case because although it was flush with the black electrical box, I tested it and you could bump it on if you tried, (with your knee) NOT A GOOD SCENARIO!! This switch should be recessed slightly from the factory
It was an easy fix and I'd recommend it to all.
I removed the green switch and beltsanded a little off so it would be recessed and impossible to turn on, say, when you were changing the blade to a dado or whatever.... pretty scary if you think about the possibilities.

Just another example of how Powermatic is dropping the ball.

Won't be long before they can't even ride on the old reputation if they keep this up.

I had many problems with this saw because of defective parts. The fence rail was bent, the table top was not flat (out 5/32" from side to side). The material on the side of the fence was cupped. Powermatic service did replace all these parts but this isn't where the problems ended. After set up finally was complete,I powered the saw up and a great deal of vibration occurred. Come to find out when the machine was manufactured the set screw on the drive pulley for the blade was missing.So the pulley was drifting on the shaft. Easy fix but by this time I thinkin' lemon. I could write a 100 pages of adjustments and problems I have had with this thing but I will spare you all the details. Just to let you know a little background on myself is I'm a mechanical engineer and have a great deal of understanding when it comes to equipment. This is not what I had expected from Powermatic

The Powermatic is all I expected it to be. What suprised me was the service from Amazon and Powermatic. A small problem with a chip in the extension table. The response from Amazon and Powermatic was exceptional. I will always buy from Amazon. The only problem I see is if you buy an 8" Dado, BE CAREFUL!! You can raise it into the dado insert that comes with the saw. NO I didn't do it. But I came close. Oh yes. You will need a 30 Amp. circuit for this saw. The saw runs perfect, is a breeze to set up, and runs like no other saw.

Actually I recieved my saw from Amazon.com (Toolcrib)over a year ago, and all I can say is I still am happy I made the big purchase. The saw comes crated on a pallet with about 5 other boxes. Everything arrived fine, I did have some minor blemishes, despite the protective film and lube coverings on the cast iron leaves, but was able to polish that off. Setup is time consuming, as I assembled it together myself. I had built an outside workshop last summer, so I had to get 3 others to move the saw in crate about 100 feet and up some stairs. Tip: have a dolly handy when the saw arrives, as delivery literally means a motorized tailgate dropoff.
Directions were good for assembly, I also had purchased the mobile base for saw and table. As my workshop floor is not level, it required leveling the saw and base before rails and fence assembly. I also had to adjust the fence off the saw table surface using the shims and tightening the fence screw sets (they should have been tightened better than this). Wiring the motor (10gauge) was easy enough, I need to move my saw around in my small shop so I have plenty of extra flex conduit running from my subbox, something to think about before assembly if you plan on being mobile.
Overall, saw runs very well, like everyone says, weight keeps vibration to almost nil. Saw designed well for maintenence, fairly easy to keep cleaned up, fence even slides easier with a little wear on it, I also tend to check fence alignment very regularly and adjust accordingly. . Am I happy to have this beast. You bet.

The eagle has landed!!! I finally added the PM66 to my arsenal of tools and it's a beautiful site. I haven't finished the assembly as of yet but here's what I've found so far:
1) The extension tables will not sit flush from front to back. The center area seems to be bowed ever so slightly on both sides.
2) The 1/4-20 screws that connect the front guide rail to the saw are crap. I've already broke two of them. I DID NOT OVERTIGHTEN THEM. It just seems that there will be so much stress and strain on this front rail that a larger, coarser thread should be used. I have purchased stainless steel screws to replace the 3 cent garbage shipped with this $2200 saw. Come on PM, for this kind of money you can't use a better screw???
3) I was told that the saw DID NOT come with a dado insert and I purchased one when I picked up my saw. The insert DOES come with the saw.

I can only hope that the reat of the setup goes smoother than first two steps. I spent the additional money for quality which I can only hope is what I get.

I received my Model 66 a couple of weeks ago and wanted to use the saw for a little while to make my review more accurate. I received the saw in all of its glory from ABF Freight in excellent condition. It took me two nights to upack and assemble the saw and another afternoon to make certain the blade and fence were properly aligned.

I, too, had a little problem getting the fence to be exactly 2 27/32" from the table top. But, I found that drilling through the predrilled hole on the fence rail on the far left into the left cast iron table wing took care of it. The holes on the rail want to make the fence rail move slightly when they are tightend. I used the same drill bit to ever so slightly enlarge the predrilled holes in the fence rail to allow the rail to be at the proper distance when tightened. For a saw that weighs 600 pounds or so, I didn't think this was a big deal.

Aligning the blade to the miter slot and the fence to the blade was a piece of cake. It took a little time, but considering how much I will use the saw and how sweet it is, I don't consider this wasted time.

I previously owned a Jet contractor saw which I had pretty much tweaked as much as I could. I loved my Jet contractor saw and was able to get some really nice cuts on it. However, it wasn't in the same league as the Powermatic Model 66. This rascal is so heavy and stable, it cuts like a laser. I highly recommend this machine to anybody looking for a table saw. I think it is worth the extra money to get the best. When you figure how much use you will get out of it and the fact that the saw will probably last longer than the user, the extra money is well spent.

First let me start by saying that I am a product engineer for one of the largest high quality furniture manufactures in the world. Believe me when I say I know what kind of quality equipment it takes to get the job done right. I did a lot of researching before making my decision.

After I purchased my model 66 in March of '04 I had no problems with the assembly. Everything fit just like the instructions said. I did have to make an adjustment to the top to get the miter slots parallel to the blade. I encourage everyone to check this from the start. This makes it a much easier task to square the fence or any other sled that you make.

After seeing the mobile base at a local woodworking show, I chose not to purchase one. It appeared to be too weak and too expensive at $199 to hold a 600 pound saw. I went to a local steel distributor and purchased the materials I needed to build my own. I also purchased some swivel casters from McMaster Carr. With all that in mind, including having someone to help me fabricate my own mobile base, I have less than $100 in it. I believe my base is far better than anything you can purchase - not to mention cheaper.

In the 6 months since I purchased my 66, I have had nothing but success. I had even read one review where someone had taken a penny and placed in on the top on its edge, turned the saw on and off without the penny falling over. I had to try this myself - it's like magic. Absolutely the smoothest running saw I have used. I was ripping 8/4 lumber with very little effort. By far the smoothest gluing edges I have seen yet. I find it hard to believe that some people had a poor review with their 66. I have heard since purchasing my model 66 that a cheaper Taiwan built saw is available. Could be that someone got one of those. I recommend staying with a USA made saw - this could be the difference. Although the Delta and Jet are a little cheaper, the powermatic is well worth the extra spending. Let face it, you are going to spend $1500 to $1800 anyway - what's another $300 to $600. There's an old saying; you get what you pay for. Being a professional furniture engineer and a woodworking hobbyist, the powermatic model 66 is simply the best saw and investment you will ever make.