Powermatic 1660812K Model 66 10-Inch Left Tilt 3 Horsepower Cabinet Saw with 50-Inch Accu-Fence, Rout-R-Lift, Cabinet Table System, and 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, 3 Horsepower 230-Volt 1 Phase

by Powermatic

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Whether you’ve outgrown that bench-top saw, surpassed the creative limits of the portable circular unit, or just need more stability than your current table saw offers, you can’t go wrong with the grandfather of cabinet saws, the Powermatic 66. This saw’s cast iron table is precision-ground and polished to a fine mirror finish. A left-tilting blade prevents stock from binding between the blade and fence, substantially reducing the possibility of kickback. The left-tilt feature also helps make clean miter cuts without tearing out the topside of the workpiece. A wide-stance, heavy-duty, one-piece trunnion has a C-flange mount that reduces stress at the saw-arm pivot shaft for smoother raising and tilting of the saw blade—a nice feature for getting just the right cut depth. The saw is equipped with a T-slot for a standard miter gauge. The unit’s exclusive 3VX-belt drive distributes torque more efficiently and generates less heat while operating virtually vibration-free. Magnetic controls ensure smooth operations and less downtime. The saw’s 50-inch Accu-Fence System offers straighter cuts when working with larger stock. A built-in dust collection port means cleaner workpieces and healthier lungs. -- Brian OlsonWhat’s in the Box
Motor with magnetic controls, Acu-Fence, 4-inch dust port, standard left and right 8-inch cast iron extension wings, blade guard and splitter (with anti-kickback pawls); arbor wrench; motor pulley, miter gauge, enclosed stand, blade, power cord

Product Details

Product Manual [1.08mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 643.7 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00005OQM9
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: 1660812K
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #513,819 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great machine, easy set-up (updated), April 23, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Powermatic 1660812K Model 66 10-Inch Left Tilt 3 Horsepower Cabinet Saw with 50-Inch Accu-Fence, Rout-R-Lift, Cabinet Table System, and 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, 3 Horsepower 230-Volt 1 Phase (Tools & Home Improvement)

Ok, so I've been spoiled rotten. I used this saw in the shop at the university where I taught for several years, and when I moved, I had to buy one for myself. For a serious furniture maker like me, it's a great saw-- powerful, precise, heavy, and it turns out, easy to set up, if you have help. My husband and I put it together over the course of a day and a half, with very little disagreement or confusion. I suppose you could assemble it alone, but an extra pair of hands makes wrestling the hefty thing into place, alignments, and leveling a lot easier. There are five different instruction booklets and as many boxes and bags of hardware, but the directions, along with the pictures, are quite clear, and every nut and bolt is accounted for. This is the first time I've ever set up my own saw, and I really expected assembly to be far more difficult than it was.

The Rout-R-Lift is a worthwhile, space-saving addition, with clever, well-made hardware. The March/April 2002 issue of Fine Woodworking has a review of this router-table mechanism, along with some others, and they are quite complimentary about it as well.

I have only a few reservations about the whole package, all fairly minor. The first is that this tablesaw requires you to jam a piece of wood into the blade in order to loosen the arbor nut. It would be so much better if there was some other mechanism that didn't endanger the blade, your fingers, and the arbor nut. I hope Powermatic (now owned by Jet) will address this in subsequent models. I'm also not crazy about the splitter and blade guard, which seem clunky and distracting. I plan to replace them with a Biesemeier removable splitter, but I haven't decided what to do about the guard. Seems as if being able to keep an eye on the blade and your fingers' relationship to it might be the best kind of safety device, although I know there are others who would disagree. My second reservation is that the legs on the cabinet, while easily assembled and adjustable, are made of plastic, and only plastic! I think I might eventually replace them with something a little more substantial. They are set up rather strangely in the picture above, by the way. All the legs go on the cabinet, not right up against the tablesaw. If you want to put the entire thing on a mobile base, or set up the cabinet and router lift separate from the tablesaw, they have instructions for doing that as well. One other helpful thing about set-up that is mentioned in Ian Kirby's tablesaw book is that you should be sure to clean off the thick gunky grease that is slathered on the movable parts for shipping and storage (mineral spirits will take care of this) and replace it with some light machine oil, or the sawdust will collect in it and eventually bog the mechanism down.

I am thrilled to have this machine. It is expensive, but I expect to still be using it when I am an old lady, many years from now.

This is an update-- I've now had the chance to use this machine for several months. I still love it, but some of the things I thought were problems are not, and a couple others are that I hadn't really noticed before. Here goes... Plastic legs-- not a problem, I don't even notice them anymore. Blade changing? Also not a problem-- I got one of those plastic things you fit over it to protect the blade and it works fine. The router mechanism is great, very easy to set up, change bits, etc. The only problem I've had with it is that I don't yet have my dust collection system in place, and ALL the dust from the router ends up IN THE CABINET! Yuck. I think this will improve once I connect the dust collection, but in the meantime, the cabinet is virtually useless. The other problem is that on the Powermatic, anyway, you apparently cannot use a Biesemeyer splitter with a Forrest blade-- they bump into one another. NOT GOOD. Powermatic and these other 2 companies need to get together and relocate their connectors, and they would be a great team. The splitter was great, while it was on my machine with another blade, but I like the Forrest blade even better than the splitter. So guess which one is in use?