Delta Reviews

I bought this because it was a good compromise; my husband wanted a rain-shower head, and I wanted the hand-held option.
After fining tuning the intallation with teflon tape to stop the massive leak that occurred with installation, this shower head worked like a charm. However, we have now owned the shower head for 9 months and it is falling apart. It is cracked on the side and we receive almost no water pressure from the head. It is made of plastic and is pulling apart. We have had to tape the handle together to receive any water out of the head.

There is a reason this is such a great price - my advice would be to invest a little more and you will not be shopping for a new shower head in 9 months!

Originally, I selected this model because it's one of the few all white rainfall-type showerheads you don't have to special order. WaterPik doesn't make a Cascadia model that connects directly to the supply pipe; so, I chose the hand-held model because I didn't like the gooseneck model. Because of its giant pancake shape, using it as a hand-held is a bit like waving a frying pan over your body. But, as a straight showerhead, it's really effective so you don't really need the hand-held feature. I took out the flow restrictor (it's in the instructions) on this showerhead and it really is a "Downpour". The concentrated power spray setting is even more intense. The hose hanging down is a bit annoying. If WaterPik made an adaptor that allowed me turn this into a straight showerhead and get rid of the hose, I would have given it 5 stars.

I'm extremely happy with the waterpik. I bought the hand-held and I think it works great! Just what I was looking for.

I've had a GR250 for slightly longer than the warranty period. In this time, I've only used it for a few hours, probably less than FIVE! The only use I had for a grinder was establishing a quick hollow grind on edge tools. The stock tool rests stink, so I had it set up on an MDF base with a Veritas rest.

Recently, I took up turning, so I've needed to use a grinder more. As soon as I started using the GR250 for serious work, I found excessive runout in the _shafts_, which no stone truing or balancing can correct. Also, my variable speed quit, and the grinder will no longer run at anything other than full speed.

Need a good grinder? Spend the cash for a Baldor or equivalent, 'cause this isn't a precision machine.

I have several Delta machines, including a DJ-20 and X5 Bandsaw, and have noticed that the quality of lower priced Delta products has really hit the wall over the last few years. Other than paint, marketing and advertising, I see no difference in quality between this unit and some of the $29-39 Chiwanese imports.

Last point - the design of the base on this unit prevents a OneWay Wolverine jig from being mounted underneath the wheels.

Before buying this tool I found myself in a common predicament - I needed a grinder with some decent features and I didn't have a lot to spend on it. That being said, I chose this model for the following high points:

1. It has variable speed - mine has worked flawlessly thus far, but I use it at the lowest speed 80% of the time anyway.

2. The worklight is a huge plus - no more straining to see because you are in too much of a hurry to set up a proper light.

3. The combination of white and grey wheels - the "white" wheel does a great job of fine tuning the work done by the "grey" wheel.

Now for the downsides:

1. There is a fair amount of runout in the motor shaft. This doesn't affect what I use this thing for, but I can see where it would be a big issue for some.

2. The tool rests are terrible. If you mount them as instructed there is no way to get them square to the wheels. I had to shim the edges of the mounting brackets with thick washers to come anywhere close to square...

All of that said, I feel that this is not a terrible tool for what it is. I had no problems with assembly (10 minutes) and I find the power of the motor to be very adequate. If Delta were charging $20 less for this thing I would readily give it another star...

This problem is overcome by placeing a washer between the 2 surfaces

I came to this site to order a Delta 28-262. My main reason is that I own lots of Delta equipment and have always been pleased. After reading the reviews I have changed my mind. I guess I'll go to Grizzly. If I'm going to buy overseas products there is no sense paying top dollar for it.

First things first... For those of you who own this saw already, somebody wrote in a review of it that it's a pain to have to tilt the table for the lower inner blade guide bearing adjustments. I found an extra allen wrench that fit, and ground the short end off with a bench grinder, down to about a quarter inch. It's still a pain, but you can just fit it in there to loosen the setscrew without having to tilt the table.

PS: Amazon.com ROCKS!

Now on to my review...

I have a few real problems with this saw. First the blade size is practically unavailable, whereas it would have been easy for Delta to make this saw in some very common blade sizes quite close to the 136" that it requires.
Second, The guides flat out SUCK. Everything on the upper end of this saw is weak. The guide adjustments are pointless in almost every fashion, because poor quality machining on cast iron parts that don't fit well make setting the guides an exercise in futility. COME ON DELTA!!! This is the most important part!
I have an old 14 inch wood and metal cutting saw that has a SUPER lowering arm. It's about a 1 inch steel bar that fits perfectly in a 1 inch steel track, with a couple of straps holding it in place. How SIMPLE. It's perfectly accurate. Delta's wind up and down guide arm, AND the bearing holder castings are JUNK JUNK JUNK! I'm considering buying the material to make an arm that is like my old saw. It doesn't wind up and down, but hey, if it stays put on the vertical plane, (which Delta's definitely DOES NOT, then who cares.

Third this saw has a fairly weak table and trunnion setup for a saw of it's size. I would NOT recommend this saw to anyone....Except maybe my old landlord ;-)

The power, frame, and wheels are good on this saw. It's a SHAME Delta has let the junky guides get through on these. I think Delta, Powermatic, just to name a couple, are riding on the name these days. There are much nicer sturdier products available from other importers, like Grizzly, and Bridgewood, that kick these old faithful American names butts!
Too bad it has to be that way.
If I could get anything close to what I paid for this saw, I'd sell it in a blink of an eye, and buy some old beater machine thats twice or three times as heavy and needs rebuilt. In the long run that would be a much better investment. I would suggest Bridgewood or Grizzly for the re-saw bandsaw category over, either Delta or Jet's 18 in. saws. You can get more there for your money, if you really want a NEW saw. Grizzly has some pretty junky equipment, BUT they also make some really good stuff. I think after seeing their showroom, I would definitely buy a mid to upper size bandsaw from them. Bridgewood has great bandsaws, for a new import.

The Good...
This saw has a tension LEVER. Very good idea.
The cast iron wheels are nicely made, and run very smooth.
Good power.
Saw frame is FAIRLY sturdy, but could be a little beefier.
Nice fence
Switch is magnetic, and located well.
Dust collection design is good, but needs an upper wheel brush added for best results.
Table is pretty flat.
Motor pulley and speed adjustments are easy.
Neat inboard table extension idea. (For those companies just too cheap to actually throw a big cast iron table on their saw.)
REGARDLESS... DON'T buy this saw.
The crappy guide parts and lowering arm overrule all the goods listed.

I got this saw the other day. Very beefy saw. Fit and finish are good. Agree with other reviewer that lower blade guide is tough to adjust since you have to tilt up the table just to be able to access it. First the bad parts:

I will go further and state that I think for a saw of this quality, Delta should have put much better upper and lower blade guides that what was included with the saw. The castings for the mounts are cast iron and are not very high quality. Not smooth finished and the upper guide bearings that ride on either side of the blade do not even ride parallel to each other. The bearings ride on eccentric shafts that are held in place with a setscrew to adjust the distance to the blade. The rear upper guide bearing sits on a cast iron piece that is held inplace with a set screw. It is adjusted for distance to the blade by moving it by hand in and out. No screw adjustment or any fine tuning available. Also it and the lower rear bearing adjustment have plenty of slop in them. So much that the bearings can droop down (not parallel with the blade) by about 1/8th of an inch or more. Given the fact that this is one of the more expensive Taiwanese 18" saws on the market, this lack of quality is unacceptable. Other competitors saws have much better QC and designs for their blade guides. Unfortunately Carter does not yet have a retrofit blade guide kit for this saw. So far I have not been able to get the saw to cut strait when trying to resaw a 3" piece of hardwood.

The good: As I said, fit and finish is good. Power is good and I think the overall design of the saw is good. Comes with a magnetic starter, table extension and a good solid fence. I have ordered some replacement parts from Delta and their response was very good. Unfortunatley, the design of the blade guides is critical to the working of the saw and these will probably get replaced when Carter comes out with a replacement kit.

UPDATE: Since I posted the review I have been able to retrofit a set of carter guides on to the saw. Delta should have fitted the saw with guides of this quality to start with, but with their current state of affairs (buyout by B&D), who is to say what will become of the company. I noticed another reviewer that had issues with the blade length. Frankly, saws of this size are not that common yet (not like the 14" standard, 93.5" blades) and you will have to get your blades custom made. Not a big deal nor a costly option either. Several places on the internet sell them and all you do is tell them the specific size and they make them up. No real price difference that I can tell.

Also, I dont think the table trunions are all that bad. Table is plenty sturdy and they use an additional support in the back. Now if you want to see cheesy, look at the wheel bearing assembles on a Rikon 18". They use four bolts to hold the shaft and adjust it into plane.

Still feel that with the current cost difference between the delta and the other brands (grizzly for one) you would be better off with something else till delta fixes this machines shortcomings or drops the price a few hundred (yeah right).

If you are on a tight budget and need a bench-top table saw this saw is good choice. At half the price of the DeWalt and Bosch bench tops and $150 less than the Makita benchtop the Delta is a great value for what it can do. Its a basic saw that performs adequately. The fit and finish is only average.

The positives are that it is quite light compared to the DeWalt and Bosch, about as light as the Makita which makes it easy to transport from job to job. It has a very strong motor every bit as good as the DeWalt or Bosch but a bit noisier. It has not bogged down on me even when ripping wet pressure treated lumber.

Negatives are that it has a crappy fence although a lot of saws do. DeWalt wins hands down for the best fence. Miter slots are too small to use standard accessories except the miter gauge that comes with saw. Bevel adjustment is somewhat difficult to set and disengage. No insert for a Dado blade. Insert plate sits out of flush with table so that your work piece can get hung up.

Bottom line: Great for those on a budget that do not need high performance out of a bench top.

Update: After using this saw for 9 months now I have to give it only 2 stars at best. I am pretty tough on tools because they get transported to job sites and bounced around in the truck. This saw just has not held up well at all to jobsite use. It now has so much vibration that you will get very heavy blade marks when ripping even with a brand new good quality blade. Parts have fallen or broken off. Its got a strong motor but overall quality is lacking. It is now only useful for rough work. There are better choices out there for portable saws.

This review is an update reflecting a couple of months of regular use. I've deducted one star for the throat insert, as detailed below.

ASSEMBLY: Assembly took over an hour, due mainly to the time required to positively identify the many fasteners.

SETUP: Heel-to-toe blade alignment, miter gauge alignment, and fence alignment were acceptable out of the box. Blade tilt stops and indicator were off, and after adjustment they did not return dependably to the preset stops.

PROs and CONs: This saw cuts well and produces clean, accurate cuts. However, as has been my previous experiences with Delta Shopmaster tools, they are a decent value for the price, but attention to detail is lacking. My main complaint with this tool is the crappy insert that doesn't sit flush with the table, causing boards to sometimes hang up on the exposed lip when ripping with the fence. This not only decreases accuracy, but leads to frustration and potentially dangerous situations when ripping thin material and cross-cutting short workpieces. Another problem is the non-standard miter gauge slots which do not accept after-market accessories such as featherboards and tenon jigs.

You already know it has a smallish table and non-standard miter slots. So let's call this half a table saw. I paid $179 for mine. That's half a table saw at a third the price of a "real" table saw. So I couldn't resist trying it out.

In brief, you can do everything with this little saw that you can with a contractor's saw, plus one thing more: You can heave it around your shop, or up the stairs, or into your station wagon. With careful setup and adjustment, everything locks down straight and true. The measuring tape on the rip fence rail is amazingly accurate.

I have one major complaint: Would it have killed Delta to make the miter gage slide a little longer?

I'm chronicling my experiences with this tool at http://benchsaw.blogspot.com

For a more complete review:

• Why I bought it
  
• Setup
  
• First cuts and a miter gage improvement
  

I'd recommend this saw to cheapskates like me with limited shop space and a tendency to make their own jigs and fixtures, since you can't use store-bought ones.

I ordered one of these saws last week based on mostly positive reviews. I was really looking forward to this addition to my shop and happy about what seemed like good value. I have to say that I was horrified when it actually arrived. The cabinet components are made of plastic. Mine arrived with all of the cabinet pieces broken or cracked. There were even shards of broken cabinet lying in the bottom of the shipping box. The plastic is obviously extremely brittle.

My main complaint is the upper blade guide. Mine came snapped in half in the box. Made of cast aluminum, it's a little larger in diameter than a pencil. The 90 degree angle where the guide post becomes the blade guide is all one casting, very thin material and sure to break. Also, the clamp that holds the guide post to the body of the saw is very flexy. This means that the that the upper guide twists easily with relatively little force.

All in all, I would say that this saw is a toy, not designed to last at all. I sent mine back and replaced it with a Harbor Freight saw for $20 more, on sale. The bigger saw has no plastic parts. It has a solid steel guide post. It has twice the horse power. It also has virtually the same footprint, so it doesn't take up any more space than the Delta 10".

Check around for discount prices. It's not worth the $199 most places have it listed for. I only paid $76 for it (new in the box). That said, you are not buying a high-end professional band saw; if you need it, spend the extra $$$ for a "high class" saw.

A good starter band saw for small projects. It gives you the little extra strength over the Delta 9" and includes a stand. When all put together it's rock solid! Mine came with the bottom door hindge bent a little, but that didn't effect operation and something you can't blame Delta for (rough shipping was obvious). Setup is pretty straight forward, all the tools except for a 1/2" wrench was included. The manual is rather sparse on assembly (A. Assemble base to match the finished picture.....) A little common sense and it's pretty hard to do it wrong; I had my 3-year old put the nuts and bolts together. Moving the bandsaw after assembly is VERY difficult, which is good because it's so sturdy. I'm going to purchase the Delta univeral base (50-345) to make it easy to move around. It took about 15 minutes after assembly to make all the adjustments. The included 1/4" blade works wonderfully. The saw is quieter then I would have thought and does a great job on 1 1/2" hardwood. The fine tuning adjustments make all the difference in performance, so take the time to get it set right.

Like I said in the beginning, if you can find this locally for $100 or less, buy it! If you have a Lowes store nearby, they normally have one set up so you can "kick the tires" and see what you are getting.

I am a luthier and just odered a bigger Delta model but this bandsaw is a great little one. No vibration and yes powerful enough to resaw 7" at the condition that you buy a decent blade and take the time to set it up well like any other bandsaw. This is really the best deal for an advanced hobbyist. Really recommended.

I thought it was a great value for a Delta tool.

While unpacking it I heard rattling inside, opened it up and found a bolt and washer for the motor mount had come off. That was easy enough to fix.

I did not much like the way it looked on the inside -did not see effective rubber gaskets to keep water from getting to the motor housing, the two belts for the reduction gears appear to be nylon rather than reinforced rubber. But I figured "it's a Delta, the design should be okay and it was only forty bucks".

Ten minutes into using it one of the belts slipped -had to open it again and noticed a lot of play in the pulleys sliding on their axels. I decided not to muck with it, just put the belt back on the gears and after another five minutes it slipped again.

It's back in its box ready to be returned.

Delta sure went cheap on this one.

I was impressed by the size of the product. I used it right away and am pleased with the results. The only negative is in adding the water. You have to be careful to avoid over filling as it will spill out the back. Also, you have to pour water very slowly or it will push out the back. The first unit I received, had a broken motor mount.

I bought this little grinder at a local home center for twenty bucks...close out sale. I have it sitting next to my wood lathe. I use it to touch up my lathe tools while doing projects. I don't use jigs and only use the tool rest to rest my hand on. I touch up the edges using my hands and mark one eyeball. Since the wheel turns so slowly it's pretty hard to mess up an edge after a little practice, even on the gouges. If you take your time and use a little patience at first, you can produce a good edge. Its not meant to reshape or grind out nicks, etc. Its basically an overgrown honing stone. It does a good job. I use it dry and clean the stone every so often. If I have a real bad one I go to the 8" grinder to shape and establish the edge, then use the small one to finish. My neighbor has the Tormak, and its a wonderfull machine, he's got all the jigs, holders, etc. But I can put an edge on my roughing gouge and be making chips before he gets set up to sharpen his. Guess its all in what you want to do....I just want a sharp tool. This little machine delivers what it says it will, but nothing more. It's not a do-all. I would reccommend it to anyone as a honing tool.

Overall, this is a very nice grinder for the price. When I turned it on, the first thing I noticed was how quiet it ran. However, when I adjusted the speed, passing through certain RPM ranges caused it to vibrate a little. But once the motor reached the set speed, the vibration stopped.

After dressing the stones (with the included diamond dressing tool), I sharpened a pair of mower blades, and was quite pleased with the performance. I had no trouble getting a good edge, and the grinder stayed put on the bench thoughout the process.

The only other issue I have is that the side of each tool rest comes a little too close to the wheels. This may have just been a minor issue with mine.

I know that most of Delta's offerings are no longer made in the States, and I guess I have to accept that. I normally find vintage tools & equipment to restore and use at my shop, simply because those machines were built better back in those days.

I needed a decent bench grinder to be put in the back of the shop to make small cutting tools, and I didn't really have the time to find an old Baldor to fix up, so I settled on an import.

This particular grinder is going to shape those cutting tools, before going on the Tormek sharpener. I opened the box and noticed how many accessories are included, one of them is a diamond dresser that is normally $15 at Wood Craft. The tool rests were surprisingly made of cast iron, those will be going on a surface grinder to be trued up, that always makes things more accurate. The wheels are made well, and will get balanced so no vibrations will be felt or heard, the vibrations the others noticed were probably the quick-change wheel covers, something that is easily fixed with some rubber grommets. Please note that removing any vibrations will only add to the quality of the grinding work you are doing.

I am very pleased with the power for my applications, but would like to add that grinders are normally direct-drive motors, there is no gear or belt reduction to add power to the grinding wheels... so sometimes people put too much force on the machine, not realizing that if one lets the wheels do the work, the job will go smoother and safer.

Overall, a very nice imported grinder for the price, like all tools one usually makes them suited for their particular trade, and this grinder definitely has a place in our shop.

I bought this grinder despite the poor reviews that it got here. I haven't had problems with either noise or vibration on any of the speeds (this includes using it without it even being bolted down). I haven't done any real heavy grinding on it yet, but have sharpened some chisels.

The price seemed right and it appeared well built. But I found the table frustrating to use.
Pros
1. Solidly built
2. Relatively easy speed changes with speeds clearly marked
3. Good manual
Cons
1. Table too small
2. Awkward adjusting table height
3. Underneath of table is open and ribbed which makes clamping difficult
3. Depth guage on left side fell off during assembly
4. A little rattle at the higher speed. Just enough to be annoying. Never could pin it down.
Summary
5 stars for functionality and good construction
-2 stars for the table
-1 star for the depth guage
====
2 stars overall.
The frustration of working with the table may steer you to the 12 inch model. It appears to be the better product although at twice the price.

Have used this press for about a year and have drilled through metal, hard woods and soft woods with out any issues. It is easy to assemble and is small and light enough to barely make the "portable" grade. I utlimately ended up purchasing the 12" version because this version isn't compatible with the many Delta accessories, and if you have stock on the table thicker than 2 inches there isn't any clearance between the bit and the stock. If the drill had been compatible with the various Delta accessories I would have rated it a 5.

In response to a previous reviewer, changing speeds involves adjusting a belt in the upper housing. This is very easy, and takes less than a minute after dealing with it once.

Obviously not intended for heavy work, but great for small weekend/hobby jobs. Doesn't take much space. Changing speeds isn't bad if you're not changing bits very often.

I recently purchased a Delta 36-680 table saw with the recommended 50-354 dust collection system for the bottom of the saw. Well come to find out it did not come close to fiiting ,because it was not designed for this saw----it was designed for an older model. I learned this info. from a service center and a tech. at Delta. Apparently they had several hundred of the 50-354 left over,and chose to continue saying that it was an appropriate accessory in the catalog. Please be advised it's not wide enough (plastic part and the metal brackets holes do not match up.I bought Delta because of reputataion. Now I'm wondering,and am hoping the saw is better than the accessories. By the way,neither the tech. guy or the guy at the service ctr. we're surprised.They heard it was an economic decision from higher up.

The dust collector plate is simple enough to install. On a saw already set up, it takes about 30 to 40 minutes. If the saw was new and this was installed as part of the assembly process, it would add about 10 minutes.

Others mentioned the gaps on the sides. I closed them up with duct tape. This still leaves the back of the saw open. Contractor saws are not easy to set up for dust collection for this reason. I used a pice of 1/4" plywoods and closed off most of the back. I cut a slot for the drive belt and the motor support, then mounted it with two sheet metal screws. It goes up about 2/3 of the opening so air can be drawn it for proper dust collecting. When tilting the saw, the enclosure must be removed though, until I come up with a new and better method.

Overall, it works well enough and it better than some "universal" systems.

Delta specifies this one for the 36-431 saw and it installs quickly but it still leaves a gap about 3/8 inch wide on both sides which causes sawdust to escape. I really feel that the design of this unit could be improved to create a better air flow (such as a swirling effect, maybe) in the saw chamber to get more of the sawdust. Although it gets nearly all the sawdust with a 50-850 1200 cfm dust collection system, it leaves just enough to require more cleanup after the cutting is finished.

Although this kit contains several fittings, tees, angles, screw on connectors for the 4" tube, clamps etc....NONE OF THE FITTINGS seem to fit each other. I have been forced to grind the inner diameter of any part I want to fit.

Have tried to contact Delta by phone several times. No support e-mail address that I can find.

Perhaps you could get somewone at Delta to contact me....Thanks:

Walt 719/845-1091 or lobos@starband.net

As designed, this unit provides barely sufficient dust collection for one tool with 4-inch outlet. However, once the inner surface of the bag is covered with dust, if the hose runs are long, and/or the outlet is less than 4 inches, suction drops off dramatically. Since the climate where I live is fairly mild, I connected a 5-inch duct that goes through the wall and into a bin outside my shop. I keep the hose lengths short and move the collector from machine to machine. I also added 4-inch port openings on all machines. The ones with 2-inch openings performed poorly - worse dusting than with my Shop Vac connected. Also, unless the floor is level, the casters will rattle and the unit rolls around by itself. I replaced them with rubber leveling legs. After these changes, the AP300 works very well for my small shop. All of my machines are on casters and the AP300 tucks neatly under my saw table when not in use. I do not have room for even the smallest of the tall double-bagged units. Other observations:
- A 1-inch larger diameter impeller could've been installed for slightly better performance. The opening in the housing is large enough for a larger and deeper impeller to be installed.
- A DPST switch instead of a SPST switch would make 220V conversion much easier.
- The metal impeller cover and outlet flanges are too flexible and dust leaks from the seams.
- The tee, elbows, blast gates, and mounting brackets are useless since this unit does not have enough power for a multi-machine permanent installation. It would be better if they included male quick connect hose ends with the other accessories.
- A larger 1HP or 1.5HP motor would be nice.
There are probably marketing reasons for keeping the AP300 a low-cost, bottom-of-the-line unit, however a few changes would make this a far superior dust collector for small shop use.

I have a larger Delta dust collector that I have used in my shop for many years. I needed a dust collector for the opposite side of my shop where the larger collector wasn't doing very well due to a long run of pipe. I would recommend this collector for machines (band saw, radial arm saw, etc) that do not generate a lot of large chips and where short pipe runs are involved. A planer or jointer would fill the bag very quickly and, I believe, would not be suited as general shop dust collector. It is not very mobile as the dust bag tends to drag behind the collector when it is wheeled about. Overall, it has been a good purchase for me and does all that I expected.