DELTA 36-L51X-BC50 10-Inch Left Tilt 5-Horsepower Cabinet Saw with 50-Inch Biesemeyer Fence, 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, Table Board, and Legs, 230-Volt 1-Phase
by Delta
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of DELTA 36-L51X-BC50 10-Inch Left Tilt 5-Horsepower Cabinet Saw with 50-Inch Biesemeyer Fence, 2 Cast Iron Extension Wings, Table Board, and Legs, 230-Volt 1-Phase
Customer Review: Amazing Saw
Summary: 5 Stars
After nearly a year of saving, I ordered my Delta 5hp left tilt unisaw. What an incredible machine. During assembly everything went together perfectly, including the rolling stand. The saw performs flawlessly. The Biesemeyer fence is a joy to use. I had doubts about whether 5hp was overkill -- not at all! The extra power makes sawing a smoother and, therefore, safer task. As I put the saw together, my twelve year old son was on hand. This is the one tool in my shop that I am certain will be his someday.Customer Review: Clarification
Summary: 5 Stars
The previous reviewer, Richard, stated that he used 18 AWG wire to replace the cord on his saw. I believe that is a typo and that Richard meant 10 AWG wire since 10 ga is the recommended wire size for a 30A circuit. I bought a length of SOOW 10/3 with the same NEMA L6-30P plug and NEMA L6-30R receptacle that Richard recommended. Don't forget strain relief on your cord, especially if using an overhead outlet. I used the Hubbell 073041279 bus grip attached to a hook screwed into the ceiling.Customer Review: Just a good saw
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this saw easy to assemble. The extension plates ran out about .020" from main table, but I feel that is a petty issue. The Biesemeyer fence is easy to read and accurate. I especially appreciate the on/off switch. It's location and ease of use is quite helpful. The adjustment hardware is tight. When I bought this saw the website said that this motor required a 40 amp slowburn fuse, which I installed. Upon getting the saw I found that it is a 20 amp motor. I found this frustrating, but I guess I can't fault the saw for that. The motor is quite strong. I can't think of why you would need more than than this delivers.I also don't have a dust collection system, and found it best just to leave the side cover off - just because it fills up so fast with dust. The blades that come with the saw are good quality.
In short, the negatives are petty, the strengths are great, and I'm happy with it.
Customer Review: Delta's Instructions Really Stink
Summary: 3 Stars
After years of using a Delta Contractors Saw, I always wanted to upgrade to a Unisaw with a Biesemeyer fence. I figured this high-end saw would come with good instructions. This is not the case - the manual is awful. The text descriptions are totally lacking in detail, the pictures are so poorly exposed you can't even tell what you are looking at, and the lack of a actual-size drawings of the nuts, bolts and washers makes it hard to find the right parts. My son and I spent the better part of day assembling this saw. With good instructions it could have been done in 2 hours.
Unisaw problem #1:
The threaded holes on the table saw are loaded with metal shavings and need to be cleaned out before tightening the bolts. I used a combination of WD-40 and grease, while threading in the bolts, which allows some of the junk to come out. The manual says nothing about this.
Unisaw problem #2:
The manual doesn't tell you which edge of the wings to attach and doesn't tell you that the wings are interchangable. We stupidly chose to attach the edge that had threaded holes to the saw - BIG MISTAKE. We couldn't get the wings to snug up. We interchanged them and filed the edges - neither of which helped. Finally we clamped them to the saw with pipe clamps - which helped some. After convincing ourselves that we'd never get the wings properly align (and that we should have purchased a Jet) the next step exposed our mistake. Mounting the switch involved using a hold in the left wing that didn't exist. IF ONLY THE MANUAL HAD STATED WHICH EDGE OF THE WINGS TO ATTACH. The mounting of the wings goes fairly smoothly when using the correct (non-threaded) edges. We were a able to snug the wings up nicely, although both wings are slightly warped, so that a perfectly flat surface was not achieved.
Unisaw problem #3:
In order to mount the switch properly, one of the bolts on the left wing has to be removed. The instructions should tell you about this before you attach the wing so you could do both at once. Fortunately by this time I was getting pretty good at attaching the wings.
Biesemeyer problem #1:
The rest of the Unisaw assembly went smoothly. Now on to the Biesemeyer fence. Since this company was at one time independent of Delta, I figured their instructions would be better - WRONG. They actually have followed Delta's format with non-descript text and poorly exposed photos. The first problem was mounting the front rail. There are a million holes and they leave it up to you to figure out which ones to use. I finally figured out that the vertical slot in the rail should align with the blade and you want to use the 2 threaded holes on the unisaw base (not the wings). Believe it or not the manual doesn't share these 2 critical details with you.
Biesemeyer problem #2:
After getting all the equipment attached, we put the fence in place to find that it wouldn't lock. This problem actually is covered in the manual, although not until the next step. A guide piece can get lodged in a wrong position - just flip it up and you're all set.
Biesemeyer problem #3:
They tell you to align the fence to the mitre slot of the saw. We did and it wasn't even close to being square. This step does not mention there is an adjustment for this (again it was in the next step and it should have been referenced in the current step). We actually took off a Unisaw wing (again), thinking that its slight protrusion from the base was causing the fence rail to be out of square - thus effecting the squareness of the fence. This did not help. But there are two set screws on the fence that align the fence - if only they had reference this fact in the current step.
Hours of wasted time and frustation could have been saved by Delta producing good manuals. If anyone at Delta is listening, take a look at Grizzly's manuals (available on their website). I actually cancelled my order for a Delta dust collector and bought the more expensive Grizzly because of the better manual.
Customer Review: trunion not in the guides
Summary: 1 Stars
Just unpacked the 5hp unisaw and very disappointed. The rear guide the steel trunion rides in/on was not in the groove. Looks like I need to go out and buy a 3/8" allen wrench and remove the table and rear trunion suppurt so I can fix it. How could this have made it past the quality controll, guess there isn't one!