Delta Reviews

This machine has many good points. It is well constructed, it is sturdy and essentially unmovable. The tables are easy to align with the sanding surfaces. It has loads of power and can remove stock amazingly fast. However, to rate the dust collection system as poor gives it a compliment. It is abyssmal. You need to be outdoors or wear a dust mask when using the disc sander for any heavy sanding. The only place on the disc that collects any dust is when you sand on the outer 1 inch of the disc. Any further in than that and most of the dust come out the other side of the disc. A little detective work showed that there is only a small vacuum inlet (about 1 1/2 by 3 inches). Any dust that escapes this vent is blown back into the shop. The belt sander is only marginally better.

I really think this sander rates 4 1/2 stars.

In a nutshell...

PRO:
-Strong Motor (and it is wired 110 volts)

-Smooth Operation - no Vibrations

-This machine is nice and heavy (so be fore warned - I'm 6'6" and pretty beefy - I probably should have recruited a friend to help me get it together).

-Well Machined Parts

-Easy Belt and Disk Replacement

-Easy Ajustments: excellent tracking under use

-Good Fit and Finish

-Good Dust Collection: I have mine hooked up to a 2hp central system (about 20 feet away) and I have no complaints.

Neutral:
-They should offer the larger table for the disk as on the closed stand version.

-The belt platen would benefit from a graphite pad like the $190 Grizzley this sander replaced.

Cons:

-The supplied belt and Disk are abysmal quality. The belt shredded in about 10 minutes and the disk's adhesive was very weak. Both were tossed the same day it was first run.

-Marginal Manual: You get the feeling the person who wrote it NEVER put one together! Here's a tip - install the motor before installing the actual machine to the stand (turn the stand upside down and install the motor). The instructions would have you install the motor (about 50# and which hangs from a bracket) on your back!

It should be noted this is the same machine as the next one up Delta's lineup. For $400 more you get a closed stand, a dust bag, the motor is wires 220 volts, and the better table for the disk. IMHO not worth 60% more in price.

Good Luck!

I purchased this sander about two months ago from Tool Crib to replace a Sears's stationary sander that is 20 years old. Compared to my old sander this is one heck of a machine. Very heavy and solid. Much more powerful than the Sears sander it replaced.

Pros:
Price: The least expensive sander in its category.

Heavy Duty! This is a beefy machine compared to the Craftsman. Appears to be a quality, industrial grade tool. Be sure to run a dedicated 30A circuit for this sander. I ran a new 30A, 120-volt circuit, but ran my shop vac and sander on the same circuit and tripped the breaker several times in less than 10 minutes.

Powerful! You cannot stop the sanding belt no matter how much pressure you put on your work piece. Aggressive sanding with the belt that shipped with the sander.

The 12" disk sander works very well. The tables seem flat and generously large compared to my old machine. The stand, even though having 4 legs instead of a cabinet is sturdy and stable.

Cons:
Not too much of a problem, but worth mentioning: the sanding surface is several inches shorter than the Sears sander (same belt size 6 x 48 inches) because the front roller on the Delta has a much larger diameter than my old Sears model.

There is a small tag riveted to the top of the unit, just proud of, and parallel to the sanding belt on the right side. As you move your work piece side to side while sanding, the tag won't let you move a wide board off the right side of the belt. Again, not too big a problem, just grind off the rivets attaching the metal tag and remove it. Delta should re-evaluate placing the tag there in the first place.

The tracking of the belt that shipped with my sander does move from side to side while in use, and I can't seem to stop the movement by adjusting the tracking. It's possible the sanding belt is defective, I'm going to try a new sanding belt to see if that helps. Even though the sanding belt tracks side to side, it does not come off, and I am able to use the machine. If this is normal tracking for this machine I'll be disappointed, I'd think the belt should track pretty much perfectly straight. But, like I said, it's still too early to say for sure.

The Dust collection port is sized for a 4-inch dust collection hose. I use a Porter Cable shop vacuum with a 2 1/2-inch hose. Delta does not offer an adapter that allows easy use of a 2 1/2-inch hose. At Delta Customer Support I was advised to have an adapter fabricated at a sheet metal shop. That is a dumb remedy on the part of Delta. However, the dust collection hood that was a part of my Dewalt 734 thickness planer came with a plastic adapter that works perfect. It slips over and attaches to the Delta 4" dust port, and a standard 2 1/2" vac hose slips inside the adapter. No hose clamps are needed. The adapters are available from the Dewalt web site, listed as a replacement part for the DW734 for $3 each. Delta should get smart and ship their product with a similar adapter.

Conclusion: Again, I have not used this machine long enough to know everything about it, nor have I used any other sander in this catagory other than my old Sears model to compare it to. I do have a few other quality machines for comparison, old Delta Unisaw, Powermatic 8" jointer, etc., and I think the Delta sander is close to being in that class. Over all, I like the sander, and would purchase it again if I had it to do over.

Are these going to cut flawless holes in wood? No, but how many bits do. Are they going to last for years? Probably not. Are they a great value for the money spent? Yes.

I bought these because I didn't want to pay $85 for a good Freud set. For a beginner, a one time project, or a home woodworker on a budget, this is the perfect set to buy. Any set right out of the box will cut relatively cleanly, its how a bit performs on the 100th hole that tells the story. Obviously, a better carbide set would cut cleaner, longer, but since I could buy four of these sets for the price of the Freud, I still say these are money saved. They allow you to cut reasonable clean (not perfect), flat bottomed holes for less than 1/4 of the cost of a truly great set. Because they are not carbide, of course they will not last as long between sharpenings and ultimately have to be replaced sooner. But, for my needs as a home woodworker, buying this set allows me to get right to work without breaking the tool budget.

for the money these bits are a good buy . cut good , last as long as any other brand . they're not as pricey as carbide and won't last as long . but for a home shop they are the best buy you will find . i recommend them highly .

I bought this exact same stand on eBay for less than half the money. It's made in China, of course, ("they" called it a "Pit Bull" stand) and it is not really heavy enough. It will need to be bolted and bracketed to the floor for stable operation. This is not a difficult thing to do, but it's a good idea.

As you can see from looking closely at the picture, there are only two holes drilled(?) and they are in the MIDDLE of the mounting plate (??). I don't know a your grinder, but mine mounts with a more traditional four bolt pattern. I had to drill my own holes.

On the good side, it is easy to assemble and is 32" high for most people of average height. The Delta sales literature doesn't tell you this either. If you're taller, like I am, you may want to consider a taller (35") stand.

If you simply MUST have this stand, buy it from eBay. There are hundreds of people reselling Chinese made tools there and they are easy to find. Including shipping, mine cost around $28.00.

I hope this help you and Good Luck with your own dreams!

Went together fast, nice and strong. If I had a need, I would buy another just like it.

Not a bad rip fence.. pretty light weight, Only attaches on one side of the table and you need to set it for the drift of the blade. It's not to bad though and it's better than nothing. I got it and I'd get it again if I didn't have it already.

It is light and feels flimsy but I have been using to resaw 1x4 and it works well. The fence comes with a metal bar that attaches to the band saw table and allow the fence to tighten and stay 90 degrees to the table. I have to admit that when I took it out of the box I didn't think much of it but my opinion changed quickly when I started using it. There are better fences out there but you'll have to get a much more expensive band saw to go with them so in my opinion this is a good buy and a good value.

I purchased this blade with the purpose of using it on a Delta 10 inch table saw. What I found was that the arbor on my saw was not long enough to accomodate this type of dado blade. Delta should state either the minimum arbor length or model numbers that this blade will work on. In my case I had to go with a 6" stack dado with the maximum cutting width of 1/2".

With the delta adjustable dado, changes for cuts are quick, easy and reliable. No "settling for" the measure with the stacked dado. Adjustments are accurate for the cut "needed". Numbered settings, ie, 1/8" to 13/16" are accurate and quickly made. One negative usually associated with adjustable blades , the bevell cut as compared to the squared cut of the stack dado, doesn't exist with the Delta Adjustable. Quality, especially for the price, is outstanding. Carbon tips hold sharp edge through many cuts of hardwoods. I am very satisfied with the Delta Adjustable Dado.

My sweetheart wanted a small set of turning tools for making pens and tree ornaments. She selected this set...they are inexpensive compared to some of the sets she looked at. They were not sharp out of the box, no surprise there, but this is when the problems started. These things are tiny...and trying to sharpen them with my usual methods is an exercise in futility. I must admit I have seen a little over a half century so my eyesight and coordination have suffered a bit. Tough to put a good edge on something you can barely see. I finally enlisted the assistance of my nephew, a wood carver, and he managed to get a nice edge on the tools. The only problem now is that as she uses them and they dull, I have to carry them over to his place to get em touched up. I am going to invest in one of those lights with the magnifying glass in it, and see if that doesn't allow me to touch em up at home.
They are comfortable to hold and when sharp, she gets some nice results with them. I realize they are meant to be used with a light touch, which she has, but they don't seem to hold an edge very long. A couple hours of use and they are dull. For their cost they are a fairly decent set of tools, but they are a real pain to keep sharp, because of their micro size. If you are real good at sharpening tools and have excellent vision, these would probably be a good set for you. I rated em 3 stars based on the difficulty in keeping them sharp.

Time will tell how good they are... but they appear to be
of good quality

This does not set it's self apart from the masks at the harware stores at all, except that it fits a little better. It has a cloth piece where it contacts your forehead and the adjustment in the back is done in such a way that it does not pinch your scalp or hair at all. It has a dial in the back to adjust for hat size and a simple belt type adjustment for across the crown of your head. Visor lowers and rises well and is wider than some I have seen, a plus for me. The visor attaches to the unit via small "pegs" on the headset and holes in the visor. The visor is not very ridged, and the unit came with no written material except a warning about what it would not protcet you from. Not a bad piece, just does not stand out from the competition at all.

I have finally given up on finding some comfortable goggles that would fit over my glasses. This face shield turned out to be a good solution. Easily adjustable to one's head size (I have a large head), the visor provides much better vision than goggles. You can flip the visor up when you need to inspect your work more closely. The only problem I have encountered using the face shield is that my ear muffs no longer can go on my ears comfortably. I have since switched to ear plugs. Good value.

Delta usually puts more quality into thier products. I had a bit of trouble trying to get the screw holes on the dust adapter to align with those of the jointer. Once attached, the fit was less that tight, which caused some shavings and dust to leak out when used with my shop-vac. When I hooked it up to my Jet 1100CF vac, these problems seemed to go away.

It tooks about three minutes to pull off two torx screws, two phillips screws, hold the adapter in place, and put the four screws back in. I then folded the wings on the sides with a rubber mallet and this seems to have sealed it well. My only gripe is that it should have something akin to weather stripping to seal it though it's adequate as delivered.

After lots of searching I bought the Delta kit thinking I would get just about all I needed to set up my new dust collection system. Well bottom line there are connections that you just don't need like the 90 degree bends, and not enough of the connections you do need; like Y fittings. I was a bit too discouraged to do the math to see if I would have come out ahead just buying the exact fittings piece by piece at my local woodworking store. If I had to do it again I would probably do that.

After years of using a shop vac for dust collection in my small woodworking shop, I decided too spring for a dust collection system. I settled on a Delta AP 400 which has proved to be adequate, though just barely. I intended to plumb the collector system by buying the bits and pieces individually and improvising as much as possible to keep the cost down. However, I stumbled onto the Delta AP050 accessory kit on sale at Lowes. It seemed to have everything I would need in one box, so convenience won out over economy. The kit comes with four blast gates and twenty feet of hose as well as all the couplings, clamps and hardware to install the system. The only thing I will need to purchase are four inch to two inch adapters to match my router table and jointer. Accually, the price is not too unreasonable considering the number of blast gates, tee and elbow fittings, and clamps included. All in all, the kit is complete, of good quality, and not too expensive. Based on what I've seen so far, it's a good option for a small or medium shop. Now for the one beef I have that cost it a fifth star, there are no instructions, suggestions, or tips on how to set up a dust collection system. Admittedly, this is a minor complaint since there are many books and magazine articles on the subject.

I do understand the slow boat delivery because it was the free shipping. Next time I will option for the paid delivery. The drill press arrived with some damage to the light shade. - Crushed when the drill press shifted during shipping. When installed on the bench, there was noise and rubbing inside the upper pulley housing area. Upon opening the inspection plate, I found the drive pulley, tension spring and pressure washer were floating on the motor shaft. the retaining clip was missing and could not be found inside the machine or packing. I called the number provided from Delta and they were very conserned and helpful and they would send out the clip and a new light and even a new rear pulley. They haven't shown up yet.

This is an great drill press! Sturdy, cast iron throughout, heavy duty. Plenty of power, accurate, all I wanted in a drill press!!