Powermatic Reviews

Have purchased and wore out the first set of knifes. The knives are hard to find and buy. They wear out quicker than I expected. You cannot cut as deep with these spiral blades and the boards seem to stall while the lumber is feeding. Be careful that the speed control does not get stuck in the middle position as the wood will not feed and you might not know why. When the blades are sharp and the cut is not agressive the finish is top rate.
Sid Sutherland, Brush Prairie, Washington

These creations are wonderful. They install quickly and easily and will cut precision mortises at depths that are easily controlled with a drill press. If you like building furnature with real professional quality joints this is the tool to make the hard parts simple.

This is a solid, well built machine. The saw has a larger resaw capacity (9") than other similar sized saws on the market. However, the one-piece construction does not allow for the addition of a riser block which can be used to increase the resaw capacity of competitor's saws to 14". Two drawbacks to the saw are 1) it requires an unusual blade size (102"), which means the blade must usually be special ordered or specially made. This is not a big deal, but is inconvenient. 2) The blade guides are difficult to adjust, which can lead to severe frustration. Otherwise, this is a very good saw.

This blade on the powermatic bandsaw is great for cutting bowl blanks up to 9" thick for woodturning. I've been using it for a couple months now and am very happy with it's performance. Be sure and follow Lonnie Bird's tip from his bandsaw book and round the back edge of the blade with a hand stone.

I bought my saw from Woodcraft with a 12" riser block. I worked many hours trying to get the saw aligned, so the blade would run center on both the top and bottom wheels. I could track it center on the top wheel but it was way off center on the lower wheel. Finally I gave up and called Powermatic technical support. They said I needed to remove the aligning pins from the riser block and manually position the top casting so as to align the top wheel with the bottom wheel. I was surprised that this was their solution but thought I would give it a try anyway. I was actually able to get the wheels aligned by removing the riser block pins, and the blade tracked correctly, but the top casting was about � inch offset and the blade channel/guard on the left side of the machine would not bolt back in place. I disassembled the unit, repacked it, and returned it to Woodcraft for full credit. I was fortunate to have purchased this from a local Woodcraft retail store. They refunded my money without argument.

During this process, I tried to run the saw without the riser block. It would track close to center on the bottom wheel with the blade centered on top, but still not dead-on center like I would expect. So the problem is definitely amplified with the riser block.

I currently own a Powermatic 66 tablesaw and love it. I purchased the bandsaw because of the Powermatic reputation and my positive experience with the tablesaw. I still have to believe Powermatic is a quality company. There are many other positive reviews on this saw. Needless to say I was disappointed in the whole experience, and most of all in Powermatic. I can accept the fact that they let some bandsaws ship with manufacturing defects. I cannot accept the fact that they do not take responsibility for this problem and expect the user to jury-rig the assembly to compensate for a defect in manufacture.

I bought the bandsaw and riser in February 2006. I choose the Powermatic because of the features:

More powerful 1 1/2 motor

Larger table: 15 x 15 tiltable table with 5x15 fixed wing

Carter Quick Blade Tension Release

Roller Bearing Guides

Frame mounted gooseneck light fixture

Cast Iron Wheels (not aluminum)

Cast Iron Table Trunnion

Chip Blower (small compressor on motor)

Included fence and miter gauge.

The saw lost a star because of the riser block alignment issue- well known to the manufacturer, and all the sleep I lost before assembleing it.

Assembly went about like a kid's swing set. I spend 8-10 hours over the period of a week assembling and aligning the saw. If instructions were better and the riser block was right, it could be whittled down to 3 or 4. Don't let the manufacturer's screw up with the riser block alignment worry you. Take your time, follow the ZEN of bandsaw alignment, and everything will align fine. You should either read the books with sections on band saw alignment, or get some help from someone who has, before assembling this saw.

Wheels were round and faces were flat. Table was remarkably flat. Blade guides adjusted right up. Quick tension release is awesome (releases all tension from the 1/4" setting). Everything fit (with some help from the Stanley Tool Company) worked right and was of good quality. Saws like a hot knife through butter (Timerwolf blade). In the end, passed the nickel test with flying colors (it ran with 2 nickels for 20 minutes till I shut it off- couldn't even see the nickels move). The saw is remarkably quiet too.

I had my doubts during assembly and alignment, had to cut off the Riser Block Pins (on advise from PowerMatic Tech Support) as other users did, but now that its done, I made a good decision and bought a very well made, high performance saw that (so far) exceeds my performance expectations.

Read the discussion thread I started (bottom of this page) for details on run-out, assembly, and alignment of Saw Serial Number 05125833.

I have now been using this bandsaw for about one year. It replaced a Jet 14" bandsaw I had used for about three years. So far, this saw has been terrific. It is accurate and easy to set up. It provides solid and reliable performance.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
As I said, I previously owned a Jet 14" (circa 2002). The Jet and the Powermatic have several similarities, including the basic body design. But the Powermatic is much heavier-duty. One way I knew this is when I picked up the upper body of the saw. It weighs a lot more than the Jet 14"! The base is larger and more substantial than the jet, and more solid than other bandsaws I reviewed.

The power switch is the same one used in the Jet 14", which is good since I always liked it. The blade guard, which I also liked very much, is also the same. The fence, which I liked a great deal, is the same, except it is now gold instead of white.

The big differences between this saw and others? The Powermatic has the Carter tension lever. It also has a set of bandrollers, a built-in work lamp, and a dust blower. It also has a cast-iron table extension.

DEEPER IMPRESSIONS:
Putting the saw together starts to reveal several important details about its design and integrity. One thing I noticed right away was that the new saw has much heavier wheels, with more spokes. There is a brush on the lower wheel that keeps debris from collecting on the tires, a nice improvement. The knobs on the doors and other areas are rubberized. The door catches open and close smoothly, another welcome improvement.

The cast-iron table is 15x15, an inch bigger all around than the old Jet 14". I tested the table with a straightedge, and it was flat in all directions. I detected a fine sliver of light beneath the straightedge on the outer part of the table, but not even enough to slip a piece of paper through. The table pin is a new design, with a handle, making it easy to put in and out. As with all cast-iron surfaces shipped from overseas, the table is covered with a protective substance. Once clean, the surface was a bit rougher than my Jet 14", with some visible machining. I burnished the table with #0000 steel wool, and then coated it twice with Topcoat. That got it nice and smooth.

The trunnion on the Powermatic is cast iron. I'm happy about this. The Jet 14" had a steel trunnion, and felt light. The Powermatic trunnion is quite heavy. This is a welcome improvement!

It's easy to set the table square. Just loosen the knobs under the table and tilt it until the indicator reads 0 degrees, then lock the knobs again. The reading is accurate. The knobs are rubber coated for comfort. The same procedure would be followed for any other table angle.

All steel parts are well made. Inspecting the inside of the housing, all solderings were clean, and the paint covers all areas. I saw no rust or dents anywhere on the machine.

The fence goes together nicely, and it locks down securely. This fence also has a very intuitive system for adjusting squareness to the blade.

The miter gauge is light duty. The saw comes with hooks that hold the miter gauge, but I chose not to install these, since I will not be using the miter gauge.

It has a 4" dust port out of the back of the machine, which is much bigger than the little 1 3/8" port on the old Jet. Bandsaws create quite a bit of dust, especially when resawing. Although the dust port is not very effective, you might want to use it whenever you can, so you at least reduce the amount of dust.

INSTRUCTION MANUAL:
In a word -- terrible!!

I was disappointed with the instructions. WMH should have improved the manual for this new saw, but it is actually WORSE than it was when I bought my Jet 14". The instructions leave out steps, they assume certain things are already done, and they refer to the wrong parts several times. For example, they refer to screws using the wrong terminology and the wrong sizes. The pictures in the manual are often of the wrong machine, showing the old Jet 14" model at times. Someone at WMH needs to spend the time to fix this. As it is now, if you have any experience with bandsaws, you're almost better off using your intuition to put things together.

MISSING PARTS:
There were some issues here. The package was missing several screws that were needed at various points, and some of the screws were the wrong size. For example, the pan-head screws included for the power-cord plate were too large. I'll have to go to a hardware store to get the right ones.

TRACKING SYSTEM:
The tracking system is essentially the same as the Jet 14". Loosen a wing nut. Then, while spinning the upper wheel with your hand, turn the tracking knob one way or the other until you see the blade staying in the center of the wheel. This is intuitive and easy to use. The knob on the new Powermatic is smaller, which is necessary so it doesn't conflict with the Carter tension lever.

TABLE EXTENSION:
Included with the saw is a 5x15 table extension, which brings the total table surface to 20x15. It's kind of difficult to describe, but it is inconvenient to install (and the instructions don't explain it very well at all). From what I can tell, you need to take apart some of the lower assemblies to install the extension table. I just had to ask myself, "Do I really need the extension?" The answer, for me, was "maybe not." So I did not install it. A year later, the extension is still sitting on a shelf, unused, and I have never felt that I need it.

DUST BLOWER:
It seems to be that the amount of air forced through the dust blower is not enough to be of real value. With certain cuts, it does move the dust out of the cut line, but with some woods, the dust still collects in your line of sight. Sometimes, I find that the blower hose gets in my way. I guess my feelings on this feature are mixed. Sometimes helpful, sometimes not.

WORK LIGHT:
The work light is a very good idea. It has a long neck, allowing for good adjustments. It swivels out of the way when necessary. It is mounted firmly to the cast-iron frame. I like this feature, and use it every time I run the bandsaw.

BANDROLLERS:
For years, people have been purchasing bandrollers to as upgrades to their 14" saws, often spending $125 or more. Well, I was accustomed to Cool Blocks in my old Jet 14", and I always liked them. At first, the bandrollers felt awkward to me. I found it a pain to get them set just right (they need to be 1/64" from the blade). It's an extra step to loosen the set screws then adjust the rollers with an Alan wrench. With Cool Blocks, it is easier -- you just press them lightly up against the blade and tighten a thumb screw. But after using the rollers more extensively over the past year, I have come to like them. You get used to the adjustments procedure after a few tries. My main problem is that they don't work very well with narrow blades. Also, blade changes with this system are a bit more time-consuming and more difficult.

CARTER TENSION LEVER:
Now here's the best upgrade! I love having this on my saw. You just tension the blade once. Then all you need to do is lift the lever up to tension and back down to de-tension. The Carter system works smoothly, with a nice big knob to grab while making the adjustment. It locks securely into place. It has three positions: fully tensioned, lightly tensioned, and fully de-tensioned. It's not just a lever: the whole tension assembly is better. For example, the tension rod rests on a steel plate, not on the cast-iron frame. Nice system!

MAKING CUTS:
I use a 1/2" blade most often. The Carter lever brings the blade to 1/2" tension very nicely. I can easily adjust the work light. The blade goes into place easily. The fence is easy to move into position and lock down securely.

With this machine, pressing the "Start" button gives an immediate sense of a more powerful motor. There is a short pause, then the motor kicks into high RPMs. It runs very smoothly. I've seen absolutely no vibration on the table -- it passes the nickle test no problem.

Throughout cuts, the rollers hold the blade steady. The cuts are perfect and consistent at whatever angle I choose. I have resawn numerous pieces of softwood and hardwood, including maple and oak. Even when resawing full 6"-wide stock, the blade maintains consistent and straight cuts.

You will want to immediately upgrade to a better blade. The stock blade that comes with this saw is not very good.

CONCLUSIONS:
The Powermatic Deluxe 14" is a well-made saw. The instructions are useless, and a couple of the upgrades (blower and table extension) are questionable. But it has several wonderful upgrades, including a cast-iron trunnion, heavier wheels, a Carter tension lever, bandrollers, generally heavier-duty body, and a built-in worklight.

I look forward to using it with almost every project in my shop!

After receiving a kickback I went on a quest to learn why it happened and how to avoid getting another one. My quest took me to the Merlin Splitter. Lots of great features and fairly easy to install. Unfortunately with a thin kerf blade you really have to spend a lot of time getting the alignment just right. In the case of the Jet, the top side edge of the receiver needs to be ground down as the receiver hits the throat plate. I cannot get it to move 1/64" towards the fence because of the throat plate issue. These are the tolorances you will need to deal with if you want the splitter to work right. Keep in mind that if the splitter is not aligned perfectly it will pull your stock slighty off the fence resulting in slightly tappered cuts. It took me a while to figure this out and caused ma a lot of frustration. With a full 1/8" blad you'll have a little more room to play with but not much.

Like other reviewers pointed out, this splitter is not plug and play and the folks at Merlin need to refine the product and then do a better job in testing it. If you are handy with grinders and don't mind spending a lot of time tweeking it, then there are some good features and benefits to using it. In all fairness to the manufacturer, once they get the configuration right I'd give it 5 stars.

The Merlin splitter, in most ways, is a tremendous improvement over the POS that the factory provides. Setup is not all that difficult. And it is so easy to take on and off the saw! I am much more likely to use the Merlin splitter than I was the factory unit.

The anti-kickback pawls are not as effective as the factory splitter. The spring is much weaker and the pawls don't engage as vigorously. I can often slide a piece backward out from under the pawls (After the blade has stopped!).

The receiver (The part under the throat plate that the splitter plugs in to.) for the splitter interferes with the throat plate when you tilt the saw blade. At 45 the rear of my throat plate was raised about 1/4 inch above the table. I emailed Excalibur asking for help. They advised me to grind away the webbing on the underside of the throat plate to provide clearence. I did so, and it works fine. But I would have preferred a solution that didn't require me to carve away on my throat plate.

The MTK130 apparently will fit even veteran Delta Contractor's saws. I wanted to be sure it would go on my 15 year old unit so I emailed Excalibur to check (they did not respond). I took a chance and ordered anyway and it installed flawlessly in minutes. The instructions were really not required since the replacement parts lined up perfectly with the existing bolt holes. A minor problem did occur in that the included washers did not fit the button head bolts supplied with the installation parts. A bit if filing solved the problem but was an unnecessary waste of time. Aligning the unit was also straightforward and easily done. Contrary to another review posted here the splitter is quite compatible with the thin kerf blades in common use (Forrest, Freud, etc). Overall this is a well built, easy to install unit.

I purchased the Powermatic 15S after my INCA planer/jointer combo gave up the ghost with the planer function. (The jointer still works great.) After unpacking, I went through the setup steps covered in the manual, which, by the way, is comprehensive and well written. My first dissapointment was to find that the supplied power cord is only about 5' long. You would think that with a $1600 machine they could give you at least 8' of cord! Replacing the cord was no problem, but an annoyance. (You also have to supply your own 220V plug, but that's understandable since there is a wide variety of 220V plug configurations in use.) The bed rollers seemed to be set correctly, so I fired it up and fed in a scrap piece of walnut. I have never seen a planer give so smooth a finish! And it's quiet! I don't know if the spiral blades are the reason, but I have never seen a straight blade planer perform this well. Time will tell how how long the blades stay sharp. I also planed some really curly koa; tearout was minimal and far better that I expected. Snipe was minimal, about .002"; you can feel it with your fingers but can't see it.

I did find one minor adjustment that the machine needed: when planing boards wider than about 4", the stock would creep to the left side of the bed. Nothing in the troubleshooting section covered this problem, but a phone call to the customer support number quickly solved the problem, which was to slightly reduce the feed roller pressure on the right side.

What prevented me from rating this machine with 5 stars was the digital readout. Unless you want to calibrate this device every time you turn it on, forget it. This evaluation was also stated by the customer service rep. It also measures in decimal fractions instead of 1/8, 1/16, etc. which is not the way most woodworkers think. On the other hand, the depth scale on the post is in 1/16 fractions and is dead on. I found that when using this scale I could duplicate board thickness within less than 1/64". If the choice was available, I would give it at least 4 1/2 stars!

Planer came well packed...good thing because the trucking co. tipped it over. Fit and finish is close to perfect. Once set up, which for me, was next to nothing, I only needed to reduce the feed rollers tension by 1/2 turn, to get just about snipe-free cuts. I'm talking .002" of snipe. Using Oak, all cuts were very smooth and with the digital readout, accurate to .003". I almost didn't take the plunge with this planer, but I'm glad I did. It's a solid machine and should prove to be great tool. I would highly recommend this machine.

I, too researched the product as well as I could prior to purchase. The good seemed to outweigh the negative, so I went for it.

The machine arrived undamaged and complete. Powermatic should look into hiring an American woodworker to write the technical mannuals for them. This one is composed by someone for whom english seems to be a bit of a stretch. That in mind, it contains most of the info you'll ever need if you supply the necessary adjectives and verbs-in-transitive.

Almost every adjustment on the machine needed some tweaking - knife setting, cutterhead-to-table parallelism, and the cast-iron tables needed a bit of shimming to true them up end-to-end.

I spent ? day tweaking before plugging her in, and oh my goodness...the dust collector makes more noise than the planer when she's cutting hardwood. I have been sitting on a 12" wide piece of tiger maple just to test the planer, and once I reset the lower rollers to eliminate all but about .003" of snipe (which can be reduced to .001" by applying firm hand pressure to the stock as it exits the outfeed table)the results were magnificent.

The finish cut rivals the $12,000 Martin digital planer that was in the last big shop I worked in.

The product this tool produces is worth the effort it took to fine-tune the machine after a somewhat careless assembly. I could not recommend this machine to someone who wants perfect results right out of the box, or someone who does not have digital calipers, 3' precision straight edges, or dial indicator guages about the shop. If you have some millwright blood in you, you'll do fine.

The machine is worth every cent of the purchase price to me.

I am not much for writing these reviews...After having this base for 4 days waiting for the jointer to come in, I finally picked up the jointer from the freight company!!! I am really ticked off at amazon and one other reviewer for saying this base fits the 60B...I can promise you it is too small....I dont know the base size of the 6 inch Powermatic but I measured the 8 inch base on my jointer and it's right under 24 inches X 18 inches...I rounded it up to the next inch, it's only a quarter inch smaller each way...The base is built nice and I am really disappointed that it doesn't fit!!! Amazon, wake up and stock the powermatic mobile bases on your site!!!!!! I'm sure that this base would probably fit the 6 inch powermatic, but don't order it for the 8 inch or you will be in the same boat I'm in...I now have a 400lb machine and no way to move it untill I get the right mobile base!!! I hope this helps someone out!!!

Before I purchased the HTC base I went to the tool store where I bought the jointer and the price was in the $150.00 bracket which I thought was a little high.

I read the reviews on Amazon and there were some concerns about having to shim the sides to adapt the Powermatic to the base. With the price being acceptable I bought assuming I would have some tweeking to do.

It turned out that the only issue was that I had to drill a bolt hole on the front and rear mounting tab of the jointer (they both aligned perfectly with the base cross members) and installed a couple of beefy bolts that hold the jointer exactly centered on the base.

It was a snap and I hightly recommend the HTC base for my new extended bed Powermatic jointer. Its a great value for the money./

The HTC base shown in the Amazon photo with a Delta DJ-15 planer, is actually model HRJ-15, specifically designed for that planer or any tool with a 17" x 27" base. HRJ-15's are available from Rockler dot com. Click on customer photos for images of an HPJ-6 base.

I've owned an HTC HPJ-6 Mobile Base since the early 1990's. This base can support a variety of shop tools - it doesn't have to be a planer. My HPJ-6 supports a Delta 17-925 16-1/2" Variable Speed Drill Press. The head on my Delta press, which is about 6' off the floor, weighs about 150 lbs. So, I was concerned that this base might tip over, especially with the heavy cross-vise and other accessories.

I made several modifications to my HPJ-6 base to accommodate the drill press, solely because the press is so top heavy (click on customer photos):

- Bolted a double layer of 11-ply 3/4" plywood on the support shelves of the base to raise the press and to even out the weight on the base.

- Bolted the drill press base to the plywood.

- Bolted two 50 lb. weight-lifting plates to the drill press base to reduce any tendency to tip over.

- Installed a heavy duty adjustable cabinet leveler at each corner of the base, to preclude tip overs. (Item number 937-023 from woodworker dot com.) Set each leveler to be about 1/16" off the floor.

The drill press weighs 256 lbs., plus 100 lbs for the weightlifting plates, and 40 lbs of drill press accessories - which means this base supports 400 lbs (with no problems whatever). Because my shop is too small to have all tools out in the open, the drill press has to be rolled into place before using it, and rolled back when done. The base & press roll easily, for such a heavy rig. While I could probably push the press over if I tried, it's perfectly stable. I roll the press about by holding onto the spindle handle and the drill head.

Internal measurements (inside the squared part of the frame) of the HPJ-6 are 16.5" x 22.5", although it could be used for a somewhat larger tool if you raise the tool on plywood above the box frame of the base. In addition, the angled area at the single wheel end provides additional space, especially if the tool to be supported has a rounded base.

Pros:

- Clean, smooth lines due to one-piece frame construction, give the base a custom look. Appears to be well made. More attractive than any of the bolt-together bases or my home-made bases. A matter of taste, but I prefer this clean look versus the erector set look of an adjustable-sized tool base such as the HTC2000.

- Have used it for well over a decade with no problems and zero maintenance.

-Three-wheel fixed-size bases cost less than 4-wheel fixed-sized bases of the same quality.

- Three-wheel bases won't wobble, even if the floor isn't flat. I.e., a four-wheel base would wobble if only three of its wheels touched the floor. If there is a wobble with this base, it's the tool wobbling on the base itself (use shims), not the HTC base wobbling on the floor.

- I have other three-wheel HTC bases, for a Delta band saw, sander, and jointer, and they are all excellent. Those tools are not top heavy, so I have no concern about tip-over. I own six HTC bases and they are all high quality.

Cons:

- Three wheel bases supporting a very top-heavy drill press are more unstable than a four wheel base of the same size would be.

- Have to lean over to tighten the plastic-handled wheel lock screws; and to loosen them to roll the tool again. Other bases have a wheel lock operated with your foot, which would be more convenient. The oldest of my HTC bases had the screw simply poke into the rubber wheel to lock it, while newer HTC bases put a piece of flat spring steel between the wheel and screw, to protect the wheel. Both kinds of wheel locks work fine.

After reading a few reviews here, I can understand some of the dissapointments.
We received our planer in good condition and did need to fine tune some of the settings. We consider this fairly normal however. The one problem we experienced out the gate though was that a chip deflector broke from it's weld and fell into the knife head. Since we purchase this unit from a large dealership, Powermatic shipped all the needed replacement parts immediately. Unfortunately, our several hours of labor required to fix the unit were not covered. Not a big surprise though.
If you are a serious woodworker or have a medium or larger shop, I would highly recommend replacing the cutter head with the one offered by Byrd Tool as we did.
The results were more than like night and day. We have had the same knives in the planer for almost 6 months and have yet to change or adjust them. Extremely quiet, vertually no tear out or chatter. Powermatic used to offer this head with a few select machines. We will use this new head design on all our joiners and planers.

the first unit arrived in terrible condition. It was not securred to the pallet and the crating was not designed to ship something of this weight. Amazon went above and beyond when it came to replacing the unit. I received the second unit with less damage but still not an up to standard shipping crate. This time Amazon sent the replacement parts and the unit is a hungry working monster. I love it. A little rust on one of the infeed conveyors. Amazon is king when it comes to something of this size. I was nervous ordering machinery of this magnitude. I would and will buy from Amazon again.

I have to give credit to Amazon for excellent customer service. Within two weeks I placed 2 orders for large format woodworking equipment from 2 different companies. The first was a 20" Powermatic Planer from Amazon and the shipping was flawless down to the liftgate service covered by Amazon. The second experience was with a company that competes with Amazon and the product was an 8" Powermatic Parallelogram Jointer. The second product required many phone conversations with little results and much frustration with regard to shipping. The end result was an additional $60.00 charge for a liftgate and at least 2 hours of phone time to resolve the issue. I was not the tool king as they had predicted that I would be.
The planer has proven to be a great product. It produces a mirror smooth finish on hardwoods and doesn't balk at wide board face surfacing. I have not connected the unit to a dust collector and I can honestly report that without a dust collection device the unit is rather messy. Solid construction, easy set-up, great performance; I would highly recommend this product to any non-production woodworker.

I mounted a new two-horsepower motor on mine, and now it works great. I don't why the manufacturers of 14" bandsaws can't supply motors with adequate power especially since it wouldn't cost them that much more. The rest of my previous review is still valid though. I never did buy a Laguna because I don't have the money for new machine. If I'd known better, I wouldn't have bought a saw with a motor of less than three horsepower.

I mounted a new two-horsepower motor on mine, and now it works great. I don't why the manufacturers of 14" bandsaws can't supply motors with adequate power especially since it wouldn't cost them that much more. The rest of my previous review is still valid though. I never did buy a Laguna because I don't have the money for new machine. If I'd known better, I wouldn't have bought a saw with a motor of less than three horsepower.

Very easy assembly,,,, childs play!
The solid frame/legs were easy to mount on a set of wheels, smooth tilt table,
Very easy to adjustment of the guide bearings
Great saw for the money (I picked mine up at the Wood Workers Show sold by Jet, the new Powermatic owners). I like the option to cut a 9" thick piece, unlike the typical 6" thick on other 14" Band Saws. First time to own a Powermatic tool, I do like this tool, although not high end "STARRETT" quality. A nice addition to my shop.