Delta Reviews

I bought this for a Delta contractors saw. Of course it came with the track slide in the wrong position, so I had to disassemble it and move the slide. When I put it back together using the supplied Allen wrench, the set screw for the adjustment handle stripped. Then I discovered that the jig has too little travel to make tenons in thin material, which was what I needed it to do. I'm throwing away this useless POS and buying the Jet.

The jig arrived within a week from Amazon for $99.00 with free shipping. It arrived in perfect condition and packed appropriately with foam and covered with grease.

The directions say it takes approximately 30 minutes to assemble. It took me 20 minutes to clean and put it together. I only used the directions from time to time and found myself relying on the pictures on the box to assemble it. The directions are terrible. The directions use letters while the packing diagram using numbers. The paint on some parts was already flaking off at the edges by the time I had it assembled. The slop in the mitre bar was hard to adjust. It only takes a slight turn of the set screws to make a big difference. I finaly got it adjusted.

I used the jig to make some sample tenons and found it very easy to use. My problem is with the finish and instructions. I am sure I will run into some of the problems that others have already experienced.

I am having one problem that I didn't expect. I have a Delta 36-675 contractors saw. When I push the jig past the blade the end of the bar passes through the table and will not fit back into the t-slot. You then have to pull it back over the table and reinsert it. This is avoided it you take your time and just push the jig only the blade and return it.

I am going to upgrade my tablesaw next year and I really have my doubts about Delta. I am considering spending the extra money on a Powermatic. I think it will be worth it in the long run.

It isn't as precision as I would have liked. The instruction has a few mistakes in it and the Technical Assistance was poor due to a woman who wasn't familiar with the jig and had to keep leaving me on hold while she asked questions to some other employee.

After reading your reviews on the Delta Mortising Tool I think I will continue Using my craftman drill press with mortising atachment. I thought this was hard enough to set up and keep adjusted sounds like I would just be spinning my wheels to buy a new DELTA MORTISER

I had three problems with this unit. First, the poorly cast fence was not square to the table, allowing the work to rock during the mortising action, yielding mortises that were not square. Second, there is no clamp or foot to hold down the work making it very difficult to back out of harder woods. And third, the chuck and key were poor quality with poor fit and rough action.

In this price range there are pretty much two choices. The Delta and the Jet. I decided to get the Delta. I had no other reason except for my "Delta bias" and hesitancy to get something that's not going to work for me.

I ordered the tool from Amazon. It came fast as stuff from Amazon usually does. The tool went together very easily. You have to install the handle, fence, and pneumatic lifter. It took about 30 minutes to wipe off the protective oil gunk and about 10 minutes to actually put the machine together.

The tool is heavy and it is tall. Since space in my shop is at a premium, I have to clamp the tool on my workbench and then put it away for each project. In addition, the handle in its default position makes the tool fairly tall. I made a large space in my cabinets just for this tool and it has a sliding shelf. This helps a lot when I go to put the mortiser away.

My first cuts were pine. I set up the machine with the premium 1/2" bit that came with the machine as a special promotion. I was building a headboard that required many mortises. They took me less than an hour to cut. I was impressed. You have to apply some pressure on the handle to cut into the wood but not a lot. The bottom of the mortise is not as clean as I like, so I clean it out with a chisel.

I've used the machine on hardwoods and I get similar results. I get acceptable mortises with little effort. The manual suggests positioning the opening of the chisel on either the right or left side. I kept getting packed wood shavings in my mortises. I had to use a screwdriver or chisel to dig them out. If you place the opening of the chisel in the front, facing you, the shavings get kicked out the front.

The one thing that I don't like too much about the tool is the fence and table assembly. It is difficult to adjust and the table is too small. Adjustments are easy to make but the result feels "loose".

If you need to make mortises in thick stock, you can turn the tool around on it's shaft and use your own table. This is not a simple task. You just about have to disassemble the machine. I haven't had to do this yet but when I do, I'll be building some jigs for the machine.

You'll also want to get a nice light to shine down on the area where you are working. The wood shavings get all over the place and it is hard to see where you are cutting.

The chisels that came with the mortiser are okay. The extra set of premium chisels that came as part of the promotion are significantly better, especially in the hardwoods.

I can imagine that both the Jet and the Delta are very similar in operation. They are certainly similar in price and I don't think that you will go wrong with either one.

About a week after I started using the mortiser, my pneumatic lifter failed. I called Delta and they had me a part shipped to me within just a few days. No questions asked. I was very impressed with the support I received from Delta. Since receiving the new part, I've used the tool a lot with no problems.

The mortiser does a good job... not a great job. But considering it is a machine that cuts square holes and it is a lot faster than cutting them by hand or by other means, I believe that it is a good value.

This has been a disappointment from day one. Take a look at my other reviews and you'll see that I'm a straight shooter, and only too happy to give praise when warranted. Here, however, the right rating is one star. The comment about the rests being unsuitable for lathe tools is precisely right. Worse, the one on wheel wobbling is spot on, too.

The stone that came with my unit had a "hard spot" that wouldn't true no matter how much I tried to dress it out. Eventually my dressing stone "caught," and there was an ugly "snap." I opened the unit up and was amazed to find that the main wheel was splined onto a nylon gear. Instead of engineering a steel gear with a shear pin to take an overstress, Delta went with a cheap nylon gear. Mine was in pieces, all over the gearbox.

I won't waste the cash to repair it, and I'm not kidding.

It's been weeks since I endured this, so this isn't a hot-headed review. I am, frankly, amazed that Delta let this piece of junk have their name on it.

If this is what Delta is becoming now that B&D has them, I'm concerned.

This grinder is a very good design and configuration for tool edge preparation. It lends itself to a good rough out then polish of the tool edge.

The flexibility of the large wheel tool rest is excellent. The overall design eliminates all vibration, and runs smoothly.

However two main points of the operation are very lacking.

First the 6 inch wheel rest does not accomodate itself to the angles of lathe tools. Attempting to adjust this rest to more than 15 degrees is not possible because the rest design and attachment point prevent this.

Modifying this attachment by adding spacers to provide clearance will allow securing angles needed. Once this is done though, your rest will be too far away from the wheel. You will then have to add an additional plate to the rest that extends closer to the wheel.

The second detriment, is the speed of the large polishing wheel. The speed this wheel turns is too slow. It is very difficult to hold or guide a tool with an irregular edge across this wheel at the perfect angle without gouging a channel into the large wheel.

Gouges appear almost instantly, and then attempting to dress the wheel to repair these gouges takes way too much time because of the slow speed it turns. Extreme pressure is needed to grind the wheel true. This one aspect, trueing the large wheel, takes many minutes with the best of diamond dressing tools.

It will take considerable practice to use the polishing stone effectively, and the use of this wheel will consume many minutes of your time to use. Time you should be using to use the tool you just sharpened.

If I can recommend to the engineers how to improve this grinder I would suggest to:

Redesign the 6" wheel tool rest to incorporate greater flexibility of angle configuration.

Redesign the polishing wheel gear reduction to increase the rpm's of this wheel to 500 rpm.

If this were done, this would be the perfect tool sharpening grinder value available.

James Holland
Handturnedbowls.biz
cadman013@eartlink.net

I was a little hesitant to buy the Delta after I read the reviews but I really needed a way to sharpen my lathe tools. I did a lot of research comparing the Delta to the Tormek and in the end bought the Delta. My reasoning being I couldn't afford the Tormek and all of the accessories to go with it and the two systems "spec out" about the same.

I am a complete novice when it comes to sharpening but I am able to sharpen all of my tools on the Delta with out difficulty. Here are my thoughts: 1 Yes the 23-700 is a great idea for a tool but it is built a little "cheesy". 2. As far as sharpening speed it is just slightly slower than the Tormek based on RPM 70 vs. 90. No big deal. 3. The small wheel is not intended to "rough sharpen" lathe tools or anything other than drill bits etc. You just don't put a good tool on a 3450 RPM wheel. The tool rest does just what it's supposed to do. This should not be an issue. 4. The large wheel is soft and I do have to dress it often but I don't ever over heat my tools. 5. The wheel does wobble just like all the reviewers have said. Delta really missed this one.

The bottom line is, I am able to put a razor sharp edge on my 10 tools in about an hour. This tool has been much better than expected. (I have considered buying the Tormek adapter for the 23-700 but so far I haven't needed to.)

I'm really disappointed in the 35-535 dado set. The blades create tearout and splintering and leave jagged, cupped dados. I bought the dado set as I thought it would be a good match for my Delta Saw-thinking I'd stay with the brand. Opt for a Freud or other make. I've contacted Delta with my displeasure and will request a refund. I do have other Delta tools-table saw, planer, dust collection and I'm pretty satisfied with those.

i've had this dado set for over a year.i read all the other reviews,boy do some poeple knock it.the first few cuts i made were terrible too. but what i decided to do was buy a real shim kit & throw away that cardboard junk that came with it.shim kits are cheap.since then all the dado's are great.hard wood,soft wood,laminates,ect.also use your head & align the cutters equaly in the gullets of the outer blades,if they are not equally aligned around the blade & the 2 outer blades are not ligned up to each other,you will also have a poor cut.if i had the money to buy the freud super dado i probably would have,but after using this set why bother!!it is just fine.it has produced some beautiful stained cabinets out of oak & cherry.so save your money & get this set!! just remember to toss the cardboard shims!!

Stackable dadoes are the way to go. I get a precision cut. When performing repetitive cuts, setup and cutting time is so much less when using a stackable dadoe vs. a router bit. I've used it to create many drawers and is excellent and convenient for rabbiting work and haven't had a problem.

I too wish I had read the reviews about this machine before I bought. Like most all of the reviews I have now read,I agree with them all. Lousy fence,height adjustment and sharp ribbed top. I guess you get what you pay for ; but don't buy this one. I expected more from Delta.

I purchased this without looking at the reviews, boy I wish I had. This is not up to Delta's rebutation. The fence is terrible and I consider it unsafe. The grooves on the top have too many sharp edges. Larger bits do not work with the size of the opening.

The only thing I like is the thought put into the two wrenches to change the bits.(...)

I rated this tool at 4, and I'll tell you why. It is very easy to operate. The knobs are all easy to read and to get to. It has a nice little adjustable fence, It takes both 1/4" and 1/2" router bits. It also has a depth gauge with it. Very nice work can be turned out on this machine. However, (this is why I gave it a '4' rating). It only has one speed. This means "tear outs" on harder woods. on hard woods such as oak, it requires multiple passes at smaller bites.-I mean 'real small' bites. Also, in order to use any shaper blades, you have to spend additional money to purchase the shaper spindle. It is not included with this machine. I think Delta could have charged a little more, and included the spindle. But overall, it's a good machine, well worth the money.

I wish I had read the reviews on Amazon before purchasing this item. One of the holes for the brake lock screws was not completely tapped. The hardware for the extension wing was not included. The unit flexes when moved.

I tapped the hole myself, bought some nuts and bolts, and made it work. However, I wish I had purchased the Shop Fox portable base instead. I saw one under the same table saw a few days ago at a Woodcraft store and it appeared to be of much higher quality.

I read all the reviews at Amazon.com on this item and still did not believe that the HTC mobile base could be as bad as some folks say it is. After receiving it, I can say that the reviews were right. Without leveling bolts, the base is useless and the wheel lock-downs are made of cheep materials. The base can be unstable on uneven floors. I stood on the center rail that holds the extended table and my 155 Lb weigth caused the base to sag. This was before the saw was placed on it. HTC said I have 30 days to return it with no questions asked. I would except that I invested [money] and two days to beef it up and put levelers on the thing...

I WAS DISSAPOINTED IN HOW ACCESSABLE THE LOCK WAS ON SWIVEL WHEEL AND HOW SECURE IT LOCKED. VERY HARD TO USE

Sheet metal had to be rebent into the proper position to get it to fit. About a 45 minute job.

The editorial review @ Amazon states that this is a REPLACEMENT of the chip chute... THIS IS INCORRECT! The poor quality copy that serves as the instructions never states that you remove the existing chute--thanks to one of the Amazon reviewers for getting this right! It fits over the existing chute. In this configuration, the dust hood works well and is structurally stiff. Mine fit on the planer with no problems or modifications.

As far as performance is concerned, I even forgot to turn my dust collections system (1100CFM) on for one pass and the only chips that came out were towards the front of the machine; with the dust collection turned on the dust chute was every bit as effective as I thought it would be: almost no chips or dust in the work area.

The metal dust hood is a little flimsy for what I usually expect from Delta. The instructions were photocopies of bad photocopies and were nearly useless. The hood goes over the existing chip chute, it does not replace it. This was not clear in the instructions. If you remove the existing chip chute to add the dust collector, it leaves the blades exposed. However, it is easy enough to see how it fits on the planer. The holes, etc fitted well. It works well and collects most of the dust and chips. I hessitated before buying based on other reviews. I think it works well for people using a dust collector with plenty of air flow. It probably does not work well if you are trying to use a shop vac. Overall, it's OK for me. I would not have minded spending a few more dollars if the quality was better.

Suprising because of the Delta name. This drill is just plain awful. Like others have stated, the chuck doesn't hold bits firmly, the battery depletes rapidly needing constant recharging, and it just has no torque. Drilling in soft pine bits bog down, spin in the chuck and stop.

Delta gave me this drill as a promotional "gift" at a Wood Show, for buying $1000 of other Delta gear.

On the plus side, this drill is light, relatively small, and ergonomically designed.

On the negative side, after only 2 years, the batteries are already dying. Although the chuck works acceptably for bits with 6-sided shanks, it won't tightly hold small bits that have round bases. They slip in the work. Also, the batteries (when then were new) lost a charge in about an hour or so of work. Since they took an hour to charge, changing batteries out is frequent. To top it off, this drill is quite low-powered -- try it on a decent sized hole and it bogs down immediately.

Delta should stay out of the entry-level tool business, as it hurts their reputation.

When I bought this drill (I actually bought 2), the only review at the time was for 1 star. I took my chance and hoped for more.

Having had a DeWalt 12V for 10 years, it was time to replace it. I do a fair amount of finish carpentry, and needed two drills to drill holes and then drive screws (usually 3/4 hardwood). Some occasional harder drilling through 2x's might also be needed, as well as things around the house.

After charging the batteries, my first project was to run some romex through a joist, something my 12v DeWalt has done many times, requiring a 3/4" hole to be drilled. The Delta stalled the motor and I immediately could smell smoke. I thought I might have fried the motor, but it did not. The windings did heat up as I could smell the varnish on the them. I've stalled my DeWalt many times, never smelling anything amiss. I guess there is no thermal protection on the Delta like my DeWalt other more expensive drills. No more tough projects for the Delta, I'll just keep it light.

The chuck is somewhat small and not as easy to hold onto when tightening it. It also loosens fairly easily during use; something I do not expect regardless of price.

The supplied bits are not hardened very hard, and damage easily. Instead of stripping the screw head, you'll strip the bit. You'll want to buy some additional Philips bits.

When I first opened the case, I was very impressed. A drill, two hefty batteries, and a very solid charger, plus a good case. What a bargain for the money! The batteries don't last as long as high end models, but they do charge quickly on the nice charger. They also stay on the drill well due to the design. With two batteries and the charger, no complaints here despite the shorter battery life. Too bad the function of the drill doesn't match.

For an occasional homeuser, this drill fits the bill.

For an avid hobbyist, you probably would want to look at other drills.

For a professional or weekly user, save your money and buy something better.

Instead of me buying two drills, I wish I bought one Bosch, DeWalt or Milwaukee. In short, you get what you pay for.

I have owned this sander for over a year now and I'm very disappointed with it. It is under powered and the belt bogs down with minimal pressure. The belt tracking adjustment is difficult to use. The sanding belts and sanding disks are a pain to change. Overall, I think Delta needs to make some major changes to make the 31-280 sanding center worth the money!

Purchased three years ago for a small home shop. Be sure to check belt tension during initial setup. Soft plastic dust covers are easily damaged by retaining screws and sanding belt. The toggle switch seems inadequate and sometimes leaves the machine running after turning off the machine. When the switch completely stopped working recently a replacement cost $34.00. Overall a good machine, tables and gauge slots are true.

I purchased this sander for making poodle toys for sale at craft shows. This sander works very well except the platten spring is too weak....I put on a stiffer spring and now it works great!!

This drill press has been very disappointing. For a bench top, it is too heavy to lift so I made a stand for it, taking up limited space in my small work area. After using it for a couple of months things sort of flew apart. The main reason I selected this model was its ease of changing speeds with a simple turn of the dial. Since I have experience in machine and assembly, took the thing apart and discovered the reason was poor parts and design. While the variable speed mechanism is faily simple the design needs a little work. A set screw to hold the bearing in place on the upper motor pulley would have helped. It worked its way out of place (friction fit?) and there went the variable speed. Next, a little attention to the machining of the cap holding the spring above the motor pulley so it wouldn't bend the retaining ring out of it's grove on the motor shaft would help as well. I believe I have spent more time fixing the thing than it has given me doing the drilling tasks I bought it for.

I received the drill press in great condition and quickly from Amazon. It was easy to assemble and the instructions were well written (there was a lot of grease on every piece that made assembly challenging).

Once together, it functioned flawlessly-----for about 1 day! Then the variable speed function ceased working properly. Upon examination of the pulley system after removal of the top cover (which was nearly impossible to reassemble) it was noted that the spring system on the rear pulley did not work properly. The die-cast (cheap) rear pully had a small crack in it as well. I disassembled it and returned it to Amazon.

Subsequently, I purchased the Sears Craftsman 12" drill press and although you need to change the belt pulley ratio manually to adjust the speed, it has worked perfectly on a daily basis for months now and under heavy loads the motor doesn't even lag.

AVOID THIS DELTA DRILL PRESS!!

(...)Setup: 3 stars (the Delta shipping grease again)
Repair flaw: 1 star
Use When it isn't broken: 5 stars
Broken: Two times in 6 months - 0 stars...

This drill broke again today; the variable speed control snapped inside the housing. This second mechanical failure, combined with the wobbling chuck I have endured the last couple times I used it, have forced me to publicly condemn this machine as unfit to sell. I don't mind maintaining my machines occasionally, but I have put in over 8 hours of labor vs. less than one hour using the drill. Presently I am sick of it and will decide if I should try to fix it again, or just buy one from a different manufacturer.(...)