Delta Reviews

I bought this grinder new at Lowes, and did not use it for about 6 months. Once in my new shop, I installed a new light bulb following the easy assembly of the components, turned on the motor and the light bulb blew out instantly, probably due to the heavy vibration from the imbalanced wheels, and within about 1 minute the variable speed control would not function. I managed to balance the wheels with the dressing tool that is supplied, and the grinder runs on full speed now all the time. I will probably buy a new speed controller from a local electronics store to fix it myself. I am reluctant to buy any more Delta products due to the poor quality of this tool.

Bought the machine at Lowes a couple years ago(2003). I've had no problems whatsoever with it! I use it to both grind and buff various materials. Plenty of torque and the variable RPM lets me fine tune the SFPM for buffing everything from plastic to stainless. Not a production type machine but good cost/benefit. A really fine diamond dressing tool was included which keeps the grinding wheels running smoothly. Note: I worked in manufacturing for 30 years and have used 12-15 HP grinding machines (grey iron foundry) and 6-8 HP buffing machines (plastic and soft metal CNC machine shop).

I was making mortises in red oak and the bit broke on the 12th hole. I am not happy with the quality of the bit. Everything else I have that is Delta has has shown itself to be of good quality.

I ordered this set to replace the one that came with my mortiser. The original had cut probably 80 inches of 1" deep mortises. I expected that because it was "Austrian" that the Quality would be better. NOT! The amount of metal in the bit is roughly 1/3 the metal in the OEM bit. I should have known better,I put it in the Machine and made just two cuts before it snapped. I will be calling Delta in the morning to find out if they have anything available that will match the OEM Ouality. Tool crib customer Service could not tell me.

First unit lasted 10 mortise cuts (3/8" deep)in red oak before bit broke. Unable to find replacement bit, bought second set to finish job. Bit lasted 12 mortises. If it is this fragile, replacements need to be readily available. I am not a rookie. This was not abuse of the tool.

I agree with the other reviewers. This is a poor design, obviously an after thought. I have DJ-15 that is a few years old. I have no intention of drilling holes in it. Also, the outlet is 5 inch, not 4 inch. I sent mine back, I plan to take the suggestion of the other reviewer and tape on a plastic one. Delta makes then for their newer 6 and 8 inch jointers.

Come on Delta, you can do better than this!

If you plan on buying a DJ-20, buy an inexpensive square table saw dust connector (about 1 ft. x 1 ft.), use 1 in. double sided foam tape (like the kind used to hand posters and such), and stick the connector to the side of the DJ-20. You won't be forced to drill any holes in your new expensive jointer, and you'll get a perfect seal around the connector.

My wife ordered this for me, since it was on my wishlist. She had purchased my Delta DJ-20 8" jointer from Amazon for my birthday, nice wife! Anyway, this dust connector is mounted with the included screws, but there are no holes in the side of my DJ-20 jointer. I'm going to have to drill holes in the side of my expensive jointer to use this connector. Would have preferred a simpler solution.

I received this supposedly factory reconditioned scroll saw today and set about putting it together. First, not all the parts were there. Second, the tilt table gauge was bent nearly 60 degrees out of whack. The variable speed knob just spins around and around and has no effect on the speed of the unit.

This thing belongs in the trash can. If I don't get some satisfaction from Delta and The Tool Crib, it's sayonara to both of them.

This saw is junk when it's brand new. Buyer beware!

The product is less than I had expected; basically a poorly engineered blade fastening system..Breaks blades with great frequency and discouraging to operate.

Instructions for the model make references and photos of component parts not part of the saw. Name tag felloff, taped it to hold in place.

Since purchase have observed new scroll saws for the same pricing.

Bill Cunningham

Ok where do I start. well i got my Delta SS250 on August 22nd of 2005 I couldn't wait to get it put together to start sawing. But the saw had other ideas. first there were parts missing . I needed a clamp assemble. and two hex socc set screws to put this clamp assemble on the saw. So I had to call Delta 1-800 number and talk to a lady to tell her what parts were missing when i got the saw. so she take down the parts and this was on August 22nd. Monday afternoon and So when the parts came I sit down to put the saw together again. the Clamp assemble went together fine. so I thought I would put table on the machine. Wrong the table and the scale would not fit or line up with the holes in the machine. they were the wrong ones for this model of scroll saw. So again i had to call Delta's 1-800 number and i had to tell the lady on the phone what had happen and what parts where the wrong ones for this saw. she took down the infomation and said you will have the parts By Thursday of this week. Come Thursday the parts were delivered. So that night husband sit down to put the table and the scale on the saw . But again a problem the screws that were for the scale to be mounted to the machine would not fit this new table and scale they were to small around. So on friday we just bought screws at a hard ware store in a near by town. So on Sept 4th We decides to try and put the saw table and scale on saw this time every thing fit right.Husband put new saw blade in saw and I cut 6 different things out of 1/4 in plywood that afternoon. the saw is great now.it runs smooth is very Quiet and doesn't have any viberation at all. it is very heavy So i bought a stand to mount it on. I will say for all the problems I had with this saw, Delta tech support is great they were very nice and understanding to me on the phone and i didn't have to pay anything for the replaceable parts that i needed. I love My delta SS250 scroll saw.

Total junk. I would not own it had this purchase not been made with a gift coupon and this was the only 105" 3TPI blade I could find for sale by Amazon. The weld is crooked, I had to set the thrust bearings a good 1/8" behind the blade, otherwise the weld would contact the bearing as it passed by.

Save your money and buy a Timberwolf, Lennox, or Starrett. If you have one, use it for cutting cruddy stuff like MDF & particle board that you don't want to use a good blade on.

I used this for re-sawing walnut burl. It's VERY slow but like the other reviewer said, use this instead of a more expensive blade. The weld on my blade is acceptible but I suspect that's a hit or miss thing. I would return it to Amazon if it's bad. The cut was very rough, which is fine. I sent the pieces through my drum sander and everything was okay. For the burl, I ran about 30'x6"x3/8"(2), then threw the blade away. That's about 40 cents per board foot (I think), which is 1/2 what the lumber yard charges. I don't expect too much for $12.

I bought a pair of these with the idea of making my saw more accurate. Boy was I wrong. The edges are so far from square that they are not as true as the stamped steel extensions. If you buy these you should expect to go to a machine shop to have them machined square or use a bunch of shims to make the table top flat. This company has been making this kind of thing for decades, so you would think by now they would be able to get it right. Very disappointing. Brad Scher

Was rather disapointed in the accuracy of Delta's extension wing. I thought I was "up-grading" to a Delta saw. With the wing tightened onto the table top, the top as a whole was not flat. This is perhaps not that unusual but the disappointing aspect was that the manual gave no instruction whatsoever as to how to correct this. My old Grizzly did.

I purchased the unit 4 days ago and now I'm retuning it due to the lack of customer service and poor quality control. The first problem was with the table top which angles up on one side and not perpendicular on the edge where the wing extension attaches which causes it to angle down. The second more pronounced problem is with the spindle housing which is badly tilted towards the front of the table. I have tried for two days to get a hold of Delta's customer support with no luck. They have not returned my emails and their answering machine says the voicemail is full and cannot take my message with no alternative to speak to a live person. I was able to get a hold of a local Delta repair station where they told me there was no way for me to "true-up" the unit and it would have to be brought in to, "see what they could do with it." For the amount of money I was spending I expected more.

I purchased this tool at a special price during a sale. There was also a rebate on it at the time. So I bought...

The shaper is good quality and I've had no problems with it. Delta offers accessory spindles from .5 in. to 1.25" as well as a spindle to allow use of 1/2" router bits. They are overpriced...

The fence system is good quality but I don't care for the design. It looks cool... Delta has incorporated a system of hold-downs into the fence that look pretty but aren't terribly functional. I would prefer the simpler wood fence with the spring hold-downs. The micro-adjustment is nice.

Overall, 3 stars... The shaper works well and is a nice tool. The fence is not a good as it looks. In my opinion, there are better values to be had from other manufacturers.

I've used this machine on several occasions at the shop where I work. Delta has many great products in its stable, but this is not one of them. First off, the machine is way too light. a router/shaper (...) should be heavy in order to reduce vibration. Secondly, the top is cast aluminum. Good Lord, and with those horrible grooves. And my final point (though I could go on ad infinitum), the table is too small.

Overall the item performs well. I use it to cut styles, rails and raised panels for cabinet doors. This model includes a dust shroud for chip pickup by a collector which is helpful when using on curves and other applications. Only drawback: When adusting the the the cutter head height I have to estimate additional travel of the head when the cutterhead lock is applied. Overall it is a good deal for the money espectially if you're on a budget or novice wood worker.

Looks like and feels like a cheap tool. Flimsy. Nothing like any Delta product I've ever seen.