OK, somebody tell me what’s wrong with Delta brand tools. I’ve never owned or even used any, so I don’t know. But, there has to be something wrong with them because they are half the price of other brands. I need another portable 10″ table saw, a 12″-13″ surface planer, and a new biscuit joiner, so I started doing price comparisons online. If anyone has experience or info regarding these tools, please let me know.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Skim-coating with joint compound covers texture, renews old drywall and plaster, and leaves smooth surfaces ready to paint.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
i own several delta/portercable tools and generally they are great
just sold a 12 yr old delta chop saw when i upgraded to a 12 inch and still worked great inspite of daily use and falling out of a pickup onto the road twice
have a delta side kick table saw thats crap folding stand is nice though, saw table cracked about 2 years ago and the switch lasted a week
10inch delta table saw in my shop is great but should have bought a more powerful model
caulking is not a piece of trim
Agree, mostly good but an occasional klinker in the lineup. You would need to query on a specific tool or line within Delta to get a really good answer. I have a chop saw that is good and a cheapo ($99) Delta combo 4" belt/6" disk sander that I knew was sub-par when I bought it but wanted something cheap and lightweight for a quick job I was doing.
Bubba,
I own a 3 Delta tools, a 10" table (Uni)saw made in the USA, a 14" bandsaw (made in the USA) and my most recent purchase about 4 years ago, a 15" thickness planer (made in Taiwan) nothing wrong with any, but that last purchase is when I stopped buying Delta. The first two came with big American flags on them, looked all over the planer for one when it showed up. Couldn't find it. In tiny print was the made in Taiwan sticker.
Jon
Ya, plan on replacing the on/off switches.
They're ok for the quick lightweight haul in and out stuff.
Best part is if they get ripped off you won't cry so much over them.
"I need another portable 10" table saw"
I have the Delta portable 10" table saw. The body of the saw is cracked. Yes, it has taken more than it's share of abuse, but the body is still cracked.
I think it would be difficult to get really fine woodworking out of this saw, but with effort decent cuts can be made.
I bought it because it was cheap. I look forward to the day I can get something better that I don't have to fight with quite so much.
Rich Beckman
Another day, another tool.
I have a shop full of Delta/PC, and have been fairly satisfied. I don't know about your low prices, though. I wanted the Delta 14" band saw, but bought the new Jet deluxe and saved a coupla hundred. Bought my 10" table saw about 15-16 years ago and although I want something bigger and better, it does what I ask and gives me no cause to replace it. A few years back I sprung for the 6" professional jointer, and have not been impressed. The fence is shaped like a banana and I had to dismantle the thing and shim the dovetail ways to get the infeed/outfeed tables coplaner.
Got a cheap 10" chop saw from an IRS auction that you can do anything short of dribble down the basketball court and it will still put out, but I haven't used it at since buying a Makita 12" SCMS, ironically from another auction.
PC tools have come under fire lately, I think primarily due to their pneumatic tool line, which seems to be subpar. The mainstay of my shop router-wise is the venerable PC690. Use it for almost everything. Although some of their stuff is not as great as others, I think it is generally a good buy, and a better one if you can find it on sale.
Hi Bubba,
Delta used to be one of the primo lines of American Tools, always solid and good value.
Then about 10-12 years ago, they took on marketing some cheap imported garbage as a secondary line. Many manufactureres have two or three lines now, like sears Paint - Good, Better, and Best - which translates inreality to Barely Acceptable, Run of the Mill, and This'll do just fine.
So delta still has somne fine tools that any craftsman would be proud to own, but the stuff they provide for weekend handymen is not likely to satisfy you for a lifetime.
Excellence is its own reward!
They have two major lines, homeowner/hobby and industrial/commercial. The hobby stuff is not so good and I think other brands are better and more cost effective. The commercial stuff is farily good. A lot of competition in that market. Jet/Powermatic, many imports, but Delta can compete OK there. Don't buy on brand name or price alone. Shop around. You'll probably wind up with every tool a different brand.
even some of the cheap stuff is decent....
just realize what you're buying.
my Dad replaced his old portable table saw with a Delta I got him from Tool Crib.
Not a bad little saw at all .... he's not ripping down framing all day ... just an old guy still doing remodeling for his even older customers ... so it's not getting a daily beating.
His chop may even be a Delta ... or Craftsman. Again .... I'd burn those tools out in a good week or so of trimming out a big addition .. but he's not doing that .... and he doesn't mind spending the extrat time to recheck and realign the fences every other cut.
I have a good friend that's loaded to the gills with craftsman tools ... right outta trade school he had a good opportunity to go out on his own... and his grandmother wanted to help ... so he ended up with a huge gift certificate to Sears ...
this was when they mostly sold Craftsman ... about 6-7 yrs ago ...
he'd be golden now ... with all the other lines they've brough in ... but new tools is new tools ...
and he still does top notch finish carpentry work...
but the best you can afford ... learn the tools limitations.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
Delta like other brands have different lines with varying quality. Like Schwinn bikes,. There is the Varsity ten speed that is a piece of s___ and the Paramount that is a work of art.
The Delta Unisaw is the standard by which all other cabinet table saws are measured. You turn on the unisaw and there is POWER, stability and precision. No fiddle Fu_____g around.
I have a Delta chop saw about 20 years old now going strong. It is a pig to carry but it keeps on carrying on. I use it for framing and it has served me well. I also have a Delta jointer that is also heavy (good) , when you know how to dial it in it is a precision tool.
I think its like anything else some tools they make great and some not so great, TS I love, my jointer is a jet, Ill buy a delta band saw but its like anything else best value for the money each manufacturer has its primo stuff
Darkworksite4:
Estamos ganando detrás el estado de Calif. Derrotando a un #### a la vez. DESEA VIVO LA REVOLUCIÓN
The unisaw has been around since 1939. I'm using one my grandfather bought circa '39 - '41. The company and name have changed ownership a few times down through the years, and quality has varied. There's an "Old Woodworking Machines" web site and discussion group where you can find all the details of Delta history. Google can find it for you.
-- J.S.
Owned a Delta portable 10 table saw and was happy the day it broke. The fence was a joke, the electric brake worked some times(very dangerous because I got used to it working), and the plastic base kept breaking away in 1" chunks every time it was moved. We joked that the blade was going to stick out the base if it kept going away! Eventually the switch broke out of the plastic and I tossed it. Own a Bosch 10 table saw wit the stand now and love it. Nothing has broked off in 2 years and it has seen plenty of work. Delta portable tools aren't worth the cheep price. Their old line of cast iron shop equipment is another story...
thanks for the input. as chance would have it I bought the bosch 10" table saw this past weekend. I already have 2-3 hours on it and love it. the smooth start up is awesome, adn the 4.4 hp motor is unreal. I ripped lengths of hardwood, maple, cherry, and oak for 1 1/2 hrs. straight and never once did it bog down. just awesome.
The products made in Tupelo, Mississipppi are top notch- the Unisaw, the X5 14" bandsaw, the X5 contractor saws come to mind. To be charitable about it, some of the imported equipment leaves a lot to be desired; some of it is pretty good. I've wrestled with some of the bad stuff; it was a miserable experience. This board and Knots is a great place to get feedback on what's good and what's not.
Bubba,
Let me give you a brief view of my life with Delta..
I started out buying Delta because I remember them from wood shop decades ago,, That plus I saw a lot of them..
In a word they are junk
I paid a good price for a contactors saw only to have it go out of alignment so often that in the end i wound up giving it away! That's right free, come and pick it up and evan helped him load it! bought two benchtop portable planners and sold one for $150 and still have the other.. The trash guy wants $35 to haul it away!
I used the parts from one to keep the other working .
sure it had a warrantee, all I had to do was box it up and ship it to them (at my expense)
sure I had the rep check it out,, he didn't know why it went out of alignment so quickly, box it up and they'll send you a new one..
Called the service dept for help and wound up getting a lecture from a snotty operator who refused to transfer me to her supervisor..
I replaced all of my tools with Grizzley.. about half the price of the same thing as Delta and they come from the same place.. Tiawan Grizzley's been super and well over 20,000 bd.ft. later all my equipment comes from them..
My school shop has a good bit of Delta industrial stuff in it....inherited, because I won't buy it (because I've worked on many Delta tools in many shops over the years), and I have a pretty long list of tools I'm pecking at, without a Delta on it. None in my own shop, never will be. Parts are a constant problem with the school shop, because the stuff breaks, because it's often really badly deisgned and porrly manufactured, and Delta's service couldn't be worse.....and their distrbutors in my region....the guys I hound because my parts aren't in....agree, and sell as little of it as possible. As far as Unisaws go....and as far as being some kind of a standard....they were once a decent saw. A long time ago. Now they're mostly lightweight junk...try a General, and you'll know what I mean. Jobsite, DIY, or industrial.....there are better alternatives out there.
Port Cable, on the other hand, I've had pretty good luck with....some dogs, but mostly good tools, at east the ones I've had RO sanders excepted.cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, N.S
Hey Adrian,
Most of the Delta stuff in my shop is 30-50 years old and is excellent quality: unisaw, band saw, and drill press. I purchased their 8" jointer (DJ-20) about 7 years ago and have generally been satisfied with it. Don't have much experience with Delta's newer stuff but there have been enough complaints over at "knots" that I would be wary. But, then again, a lot depends on the particular machine. I've seen the General table saw....pricey but it does look like a pretty good saw. I've been on the lookout for a used Delta contractor's saw to take to our summer home in Nfld but after Frenchy's post I might consider another brand. Are there any other contractors saws out there that one could get used for around $300 that would be a better deal?
Chip
Hi Chip;
Unisaws and General 350's are essentially the same price here, maybe 50 bucks apart one way or the other, depending on who is having a sale.
Don't know that much about the contractors saws, or the used market for those around here....we have one of those weekly bargain newsletters, and there are always machines in there. From what I've seen of the smaller machines, I'd be looking at the portable Bosch, or a Jet....we bought one for a rehabilitation workshop I was involved in, and it's still running strong in a very demanding environment.
cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, N.S
Thanks Adrian,
I'll take a look at that portable Bosh table saw. Last summer, I needed a miter saw while in Nfld and purchased the Bosh SCM at the Kent Store in St. John's. Don't know if you have Kent's in Sydney but it's sort of like a Home Depot. The price of the saw wasn't too much more than I would have paid in the States but, boy, that 15% GHST is a killer! In any case, it's a pretty nice saw.
The carpenter who's been helping me with our house in Nfld e-mailed the other day saying he finally broke down and purchsed a new General 350 table saw. He'll pick it up this week in St. John's. He's been using a tiny King-Canada portable which has seen better days. Now, that's a serious up-grade! I'll be able to take a closer look at the General next summer.
Chip