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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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POWERMATIC 66 LESS THAN EXPECTED
OK NOT MUCH ON REVIEWS BUT HERE GOES.I BOUGHT TWO SAWS AT THE SAME TIME,ONE WAS FINE SMALL ADJUSTMENTS AND A VERY GOOD SAW.
THE OTHER SAW WAS THE PITS!!! COULD NOT EVEN MOUNT THE BLADE WITHOUT TAKING THE SAW APART AND READJUSTING EVERYTHING,AND I MEAN EVERYTHING.
THE WELDED IN ANGLE THAT THE TILT MOUNTS TO WAS IN THE WRONG PLACE BY 1/4 " TALKING TO POWERMATIC WAS FINE THEY GAVE A LOT OF HELP AND SUPPORT BUT FEEL THAT THERE QC DEPARTMENT SHOULD HAVE DONE BETTER THEY MUST HAVE BEEN ASLEEP THE DAY THIS SAW WAS MADE.
I GAVE A 3 STAR RATEING BECAUSE ONE SAW WAS FINE AND THE OTHER ONE WAS BAD.
NOTE: IF I HAD TO DO THE ADJUSTMENTS WITH OUT LOOKING AT THE OTHER SAW TO SEE HOW IT SHOULD GO IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT HARDER.
Rating: 
-
Best saw on the maket
If you guys are looking for an honest opinion on a table saw then you have come to the right guy. I purchased the saw from a small woodworking shop that sells mostly to professionals. After six months of research I decided to go and see the saws for myself. I looked at the delta 10" carpenters saw and the Jet 10" carpenters saw and the Powermatic 66. The owner of the shop was kind enough to have all three saws set up and ready for me to evaluate them. I gave each one the same tests.s Cross cuts,l ripping and just an overall testing. I least liked the jet. It was loud and had some vibration in it. the delta was ok, but it just didn't overimpress me. When I started up the Powermatic 66 i just stood there in awe. It was so quiet and smooth. No vibration. Just the whir of the blade. The cuts were fantastic and the left tilt is great. I haave a three hp model and I have never even felt the thing slow down, no matter what I was cutting. This saw is now over two years old and I feel the same way every time I start it. it is so heavy duty and solid that I know this machine will be with me until I die. You owe it to yourself to check it out. Oh, and one very important thing it is MADE IN THE USA.
Rating: -
It's too beautiful to be a table saw.
I've had the Powermatic 66 5HP for two weeks, and I hate to run a miter sled over the face, because the polished surface is too nice to scratch. Ok, so I got the wiring done, with a 40 amp circuit, and am starting to use the saw. I have a bunch of relevant information, and here it is.
Don't sweat being able to get it down the stairs, with a 600 plus pound shipping weight. After removing the crating, the table top comes off, with just 3 bolts, and the motor, comes off, with only 2 large bolts. What's left only weighs about 250 to 300 pounds.
The 100 pound motor is easily removed. With the top off, you can tilt the saw over onto a blanket, and rest the motor on it. Then just remove the two large bolts that hold it on. The only adjustment in replacing it, is the belt tensioning.
Everything is adjustable on this machine, including the fence. This one is dead on accurate at 90 degrees, measured with a digital protractor. Their are two allen bolts, which allow fine adjustments as well.
The blade cranking wheel assembly, has stops at 90 and 45 degrees, which are also adjustable with a bolt and securing nut.
The power button question: Yes the on off switch BOX protrudes out toward the front. The green on button is recessed into the box. It's flush with the face. So unless you have something protruding from your body, it won't accidentally go on. The off button on the other hand, sits proud of the box, and could be bumped off by accident. The price you pay for having an easy access off button.
Pertaining to the power cord: The service you need is 40 amp, which requires an 8 gauge wire from your circuit breaker panel to the outlet. Since the motor draws 24 amps on each leg of a 220 line, and the electrical standard allows for 20 percent headroom, you have a borderline 30 amp situation. With a 40 amp circuit, suggested by Powermatic for the 5HP model, you won't ever have a tripping circuit breaker. The 10 gauge wire is usually reserved for 30 amp circuits, but in this case PMatic suggests you use it for the cord from the saw to the outlet.
With the Powermatic, and Forrest Woodworker II 40 tooth blade, the cut is glass smooth. With a lesser saw, you can only run a 24 tooth blade, and that leaves saw marks in your work. Then you need to redress the edge, which creates straightness problems. With the 5HP motor, no matter how thick the hardwood stock, it is going to melt right through it. That is worth every penny of the purchase price.
This saw really is the finest piece of equipment out there. Right out of the box the flatness of the top measured diagonally spec's out at 4 thousandths of an inch. The blade run out was an incredible one ten thousandth of an inch.
Critically speaking, the top adjustment allows me to perfectly parallel it with the blade. The rear mounting bolt does not allow me to perfectly center it with the insert opening. I will have to ream out the opening-slot, so I can center the blade. It must be centered in order for the blade to be able to clear the insert when you tilt it to a 45 degree angle cut. Check it first before installing the fence etc. Also check that the cast iron extensions to the top are as flat and level when installed as the rest of the top. Here's a great tip. If the side extensions are within the .010" tolerance and you want to get that last tiny sliver of light out from under your straightedge, use aluminum foil for a shim. Foil is so slim, even using 4 or 8 folds of it won't show up as even the tiniest gap in the seam on your saw, but it will, due to the way the leverage magnifies over the distance to the edge, result in a perfect, perfect, perfect alignment all across the top. It was a wow when I discovered it, and it technically is an all metal tweaking.
One other minor consideration is that they should spend more time getting the decals, and the Powermatic logo installed. They are not done critically, but then again, I have to stop treating this like a waxed Ferrari sitting in the garage, and realize this is an industrial grade cabinet saw, that is meant to give you incredible results effortlessly. No, let me say joyously. I smile every time I use it, or even look at it.
I can't recommend this saw enough. It really is miles ahead of the competition. Blade adjustment flies. You can easily lock your setting with a locking knob, in the center of the crank wheel. So when it seems like the blade setting is floating, or flying to a new setting, rest assured you can lock it in. Knowing you can come back to a perfect 90 degree setting effortlessly is great due to the stop. By setting it yourself, you can get the feel of how much pressure to put on the stop at the end of the crank. Rarely can you get a perfect 90 with a saw stop, but you can with the proper touch on this one.
I must say that customer support after the sale with Powermatic is second to none. They really stand behind their product.
This saw is still made in the USA as of this writing. I don't think the Taiwan models are bad, I just received the 60B jointer, and the 719A hollow chisel Mortiser, and they really are built to Powermatic specifications. To be perfectly honest with you they were pre-set to perfection right out of the box, and were obviously built by someone who appreciated being given the privelege of doing so.
Powermatic is the one piece of equipment, that can last as long as the heirloom pieces, that are being created by it. A hundred years later, when they love the work, they can say, and this is the original saw that created it. Join the club, Go Powermatic.
Rating: 
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Staggering manufacturing problems, and clearly little QC
Cabinet slots needed to be filed out by a repairman to accept table top, Missing hardware, Scratched and gouged accessories all needed replacing, 2 replacement cast iron extension wings after rust and gouges were found all over the first (replacement still required extensive shimming to be anywhere near level), an entire new fence assembly (first front rail had paint runs and drips so badly, an accurate setup wasn't possible, and the guide tube had clearly been rusted and painted anyway - visible bubbles and flaking of paint - replacement front rail was bent), fence completely unsquare with itself caused an entire 1/8th of an inch off when moving fence from right of blade to the left, plus it was also cupping enormously on the right side.
Finaly, a promise of a second techs visit to file my saw down even more when the fence front rail refused to sit evenly to the table top due to the threaded holes being tapped at an angle...
All this from a factory fresh crate and accessory boxes straight from Powermatic.
3 months later and the worst tool purchase I've ever made in my entire life.
Never an apology, only patronizing explanations that never admitted to total appalling manufacturing.
From what I can see the rumors of the buy out from JET causing quality control issues is true.
Many MANY thanks to Amazon for allowing me to return this so long after the 30 day warranty.
I'm not a tool snob. I was simply after a saw that could be set up, and this simply couldn't. It was pure junk, and the replacement parts were only marginally better.
Look for an old Powermatic made before the buy out, or get a General or a Unisaw.
Months of my life wasted in worry and frustration.
No apology? No compensation? No Powermatic tools in my shop ever.
I'll give it 2 stars...The motor worked, after all. *clap clap clap*
Rating: -
Three years and running great!
OK, so I used that same title for another review! Its' true. This ACTUALLY showed up on time, ACTUALLY was packaged nicely, and has ACTAULLY lived up to its hype. The 5hp is overkill, but I like that. Smooth, stable, quiet, good dust control, GREAT fence. The fence was adjusted when we set the saw up three years ago and it needed its first tweak about six months ago. That's it. I run ply, MDF, and various hardwoods without even a change of pitch from the motor. I use an 8" Frued Dado with no problems at all. I use this saw commercially and I highly reccommend it!
