I chose this saw because it had high end features at a price that was in my range. The main features that made me choose it were the cabinet mounted trunnions, the built in mobile base, and the cast iron extension wings. First of all, this thing is built like a tank and the motor/belt already comes mounted in the cabinet which helps with assembly. Everything was packed nicely and the freight delivery was top notch. Now comes the only negative part of my experience...the assembly. Assembly was not difficult, however, the instructions are completely useless. The instructions would call for some screws or bolts that clearly were not provided and after a while I basically used whatever bolts would fit the task at hand, completely disregarding the instruction manual. Although a bit frustrating, I still assembled it in about 3 hours only needing help from another person to attach the cast iron wings. The seamless extensions are pretty cool and give the saw a great look and feel. The only issue is that with the seam concealed in the miter slot if the wings are not completely flat/level, the miter slot changes width ever so slightly causing the miter gauge to bind up. After about 30 min of adjusting the wings (instructions say they are leveled at the factory, but for me that was not the case), the whole table was perfectly flat and the miter slot was tight and smooth. The fence is good, but not excellent. It would have been nice for the front rail to be all one piece. The saw passes the nickel test and moves fairly easily with the mobile base. Cuts are smooth and accurate and its actually much quieter than I expected. Although the assembly process was needlessly frustrating, the overall value and quality of this saw is exceptional. In my opinion, whatever money Steel City saved by having a 3 year old write their instructions was worth it since that money clearly went into the quality of the parts. That is why I'm giving this saw 5 stars. Steel City Tool Works 35990C 10-Inch Contractor Table Saw with Cast Iron Table Top
It came down to the Steel City and the Jet contractor table saws at this price. I was able to go to a dealer and check out the Jet. The legs looked as if they where going to fold up under the saw when it moved and the fence did not belong on a $650 saw. This steered me to the Steel City and I am happy it did. I put this saw together by myself with zero help. The assembly instructions were a bit lacking but if you take each section at a time a lay out the bolts and nuts for that section you will not have an issue. Every bolt, nut, and washer were in a bag labeled what part it was to be used to assemble. The right wing was spot on. The miter track was too tight so the left wing so it needed to be moved. Both wings where level from factory. The T-fence needed a tiny adjustment also but that is just a set screw. The T-fence is not as well built as what would come on a cabinet saw but is far better then the Jet model for the same price. I had doubts about the caster wheel system that will move this heavy saw around. When you press your foot down on the pedal it will roll, it works great and also sits very stable when it is down on the legs. The you tube video with four nickels sitting on this saw while it is running is no joke, it has very little vibration. I don't know of a saw in this price range that can come close.
I have been without a table saw for a while, and spent most of that time dreaming and researching on which saw to buy. I feel safe in saying that the major piece of woodworking equipment in a shop is the table saw, and research should be done to find the right saw for your application. This saw at this price is a good deal. The money you will save can be applied to other items to increase the efficiency of the 35990c. Some of the pros to this saw are: enclosed cabinet, cabinet mounted trunions, 4" dust port located in the bottom of the cabinet, quiet opperation, built in mobile base, and good safety equipment. After set up, I was able to spend about an hour adjusting and readjusting until I was content. An hour is not bad since I was not in any hurry. The adjustments are fairly easy, and I do not fear readjusting in the future. There is, however, one bolt for the left table extension that is hard to reach, but it is still not that bad. The table top is made from three pieces of cast iron that conceal the seams in the miter slots. I'm not sure if the seam being visible or not actually makes a difference in performance, but it does make the miter slots adjustable. To me this is a big plus. Lots of people buy incra miter guages for the ability to remove the slack in the miter slot, but this seamless feature of the 35990c allows you to adjust some of the slack with the cast iron extension. I was lucky enough to have both the seamless table and the incra v27. I quickly reached for some scrap stock and made a 90 degree corner to check with an engineer square. I was extremely happy with the results. At a price of $649.00 with no tax or shipping, I find this to be a great deal, but there are some cons to this very positive report. There were several missing bolts, and this is somewhat of a disappointment. The items I was missing belonged to the rail assembly, and I was fortunate again to have some extra on hand. This is a rare occurance since they were metric bolts. You will see in the manual on Steel City's website that everything will arive preadjusted, and you only need to put the pieces together to have a fined tuned machine. Keep dreaming. Fine tuning a saw and then sending it on a several hour journey across bumpy roads to arive in perfect alignment is not realistic. However, at this price I was willing to spend a little more time and a little less cash to end up with a good saw in the end. To say that the instructions were written by a child might be a little harsh, but not far off. They are not easy to follow, and some of the sentences don't make sense. You can refer to the online manual for an idea of what the complaints are about. The fence leaves a little to be desired, but it still serves it's purpose. The rails are not seamless, and this seems to defeat the purpose of a seamless work surface. It is somewhat adjustable, but it just doesn't have that rock solid feel of a beisemeyer or unifence. Once again, at this price spend the extra money down the road and get the ideal fence for you. My bet is you could get an ls positioner add on and still be under the price range of the competition. One more thing to consider is that $600 is an average price for a good name brand portable table saw, but this is an oppotunity to get a stationary saw for only $49 more. In closing, I have had better experiences with machinery, but I definately got every penny I spent. Great saw for the money.'
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