Powermatic rant extended

[jfoh]

Previous Powermatic rant from Jan. 2016;
"I hate having to fix worn out things on a nearly new Powermatic band saw. If it has run twenty hours I'd be surprised. So far I have had to replace the blade tension adjusting assembly and nut because they were soft as butter and the threads went bad. I had to replace the belt pulley, shaft key and shaft because the aluminum pulley worked loose and scored up the steel shaft. The key was just powder and it allowed the pulley to spin on the shaft. Now when aluminum scores steel that tells you how poor the steel is. Now my motor needs attention. It's either the start capacitor or the run capacitor. They are both $25.00 each. I replaced the cheap bearings they used as guides for the blade and half a dozen other minor things. So I figure I've spent $250.00 on parts so far. The quality is just not there for the bucks.

This will be the last Powermatic tool I buy for a very, very long time. I bought their best drill press about five years ago and ended up selling it. It was Harbor Freight quality with better paint. Now I have a band saw that is lemon (yellow) not mustard yellow. The quality of these Taiwan or Chinese Powermatic tools is just pitiful. I had a Sears band saw which I used for 15 years and replaced zero parts. I had a Sears drill press that I replaced one belt in 15 years. I get great life with Jet and Delta tools, even those made in China or Taiwan but terrible stuff with Powermatic. After this I am thinking about getting rid of all my Powermatic stuff. Why buy Powermatic when you end up replacing parts which should last decades, not hours? Rant complete. "

Today, I went to use the ban saw and while moving the lever to tension the blade I heard a clunk. Clunks are never good. Upon opening the top door to look at the wheel a small pot metal piece of fell out. I figured out where it came from and found the bracket that holds and adjusts the top wheel had broken. Another 58.00 part to replace. The saw has not run an hour since the last major repairs. I could understand it if I left the blade under tension and the part failed but it was not, it failed anyways. True to my word I have ordered the part and as soon as it comes in I will install it and get rid of this yellow piece of crap. Powermatic might as well be made in Pakistan, by a goat herder, for all the quality you get from them these days. And to think I was thinking about buying a Powermatic 8" joiner next month. I would not buy one now if they were buy on and get one free for parts. I hate working on tools instead of wood.

 

[BKelley]

Have you addressed your problems to Powermatic? If so, what did they say. Which Powermatic bandsaw do you have? Keep us posted

Ben

 

[jttheclockman]

I know you must be frustrated but we can not do anything for you here. But your rant should be with the company you bought the saw from and work from there. If it is still under warrenty or maybe some bulletins out on them. That company was bought out years ago now. They are grouped with all the overseas tools now. Same assembly line just different colored paint.

 

[low_48]

Welcome to the new world of Chinese hobby woodworking machinery. If you need higher quality, you are going to have to spend more money. Shop for a European saw like Minimax. My ranting experience was with a Grizzly band saw. I now own a MM16. The phrase you get what you pay for has never been truer.

 

[Old Codger]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, especially with a well known and expensive brand such as Powermatic... :>( So far I've been lucky with my less expensive tools, but still watch reviews of tools before spending my hard earned $$$ before purchasing them. I hope mfg's watch reviews and customer comments/complaints when they produce new products and extend warranties and customer service... Customers are the one's who keep these customers in business...if they loose their customers, they loose their business!!! Good luck and safe turning to you!

 

[jfoh]

For those who asked about this saw I have to state that I bought it from the first owner who put it together and never used it. He tried but when he installed the blade he put it on upside down so it would not cut. Not being the least handy fellow he got frustrated and gave up. There was no sign that it had cut as mush as a single board except for the burned blade on the saw. Since I was not the first purchaser I do not feel I was entitled to claim the warranty. Used is used in my book. But that is beside the point. No saw either new or used should have this many problems with it. I am not talking about the same weak part wearing out again and again. I am talking about many different parts all failing one after another or almost in groups. For a saw with extremely light duty, which is in a heated and air conditioned shop with perfect maintenance more than one failure would be out or the norm. It is poor metal quality, poor workmanship and poor tolerances of the machine.

Well parts came in and the saw was put back into good running shape. I sold it and it just went out the door. I figure I lost a few hundred dollars on the saw from all the parts I put into it. I was so bugged about it because the saw got little use and the parts which failed showed a lack of quality in materials and workmanship. The list just kept getting longer and I think for even a light duty, hobby wood working machine it was way too long. I spent several hundred dollars and had to repair it four times in total to run it maybe thirty hours sawing time. My Taiwan made Sears saw ran for 15 years with zero parts replaced on it.

Parts were poorly cast, a key on a shaft turned to dust, a pulley made out of aluminum spun on a steel shaft because the key turned onto dust and grooved it so badly the shaft and pulley had to be replaced. Both capacitors had to be replaced on the motor which is not Powermatics fault because they did not make the motor. Bearings on the blade guide had to be replaced. The bolt and nut that adjusts the tension on the blade were made of such soft metal that the threads went bad. I chased them with a tap as a temporary repair but had to replace them in the end. I am sure I have missed something else but you get the picture. If it was just the blade guide I would just convert it to a Carter system or if it was just the motor I wold replace it. But it was not limited to just one thing over and over again. It was top of the machine, then bottom of the machine and then the middle and then the top again.

So I am back in the market for a new band saw and I think I am going to increase my budget to three to four grand. That should get me well out of the hobby class, made in China tool market. Now I need to research for a little and have a new 220 outlet installed for it. The hunt begins. Heck I will even look at Powermatic in that price range but it would have to be a very sweet deal to get me to buy from them.

 

[randyrls]

Unfortunately, this is common these days. At one time you could judge quality based on price: good, better, best. But now it seems that price means: cheap, cheaper, cheapest!

My suggestion would be to buy USED OLD IRON.

 

[jttheclockman]

You keep complaining here but I have to ask did you at least pick the phone up and call Powermatic??? You mention about the warranty. What difference does it make how many owners. It is their product. It maybe you got a lemon and many people out there have had good success. People will mention saws such as Jet and Grizzly, Rikon, Craftsman, and Laguna. For 14" saws they are all about the same. They all have pluses and minuses when it comes to reviews. You have to do your homework and decide on what your needs are. For me the Laguna is a good line. Many reviews out there from wood magazines. They do them every year. Good luck.

 

[jfoh]

I did talk to them they are nice people it is their design execution by the maker which is not. I do not claim a warranty because I bought it from someone else. It was brand new in all respects. I could demand free parts in most people minds but not mine. But the money is not the issue at all. I pay the prices they asked. I am not asking for free or reduced stuff I am unhappy because the quality is not good. If I bought a Harbor Freight saw I'd expect issues but not when I buy a Powermatic, Delta, Jet or other name brand. The quality should be reasonable good. It has been top to bottom problems with extremely little use and light duty.

If you replaced one bad part with another why would you expect it to last any longer? What good is any warranty if your product is so shabbily made? Free parts, to replace other poor quality parts is worthless in my opinion. Powermatic made a decision to have their machines made by someone else which is very common. They got only the quality they were willing to pay for. Fit and finish is very poor in all areas not on the outside. It is the guts of a machine that are what makes a machine last not the thickness of the paint or the shine of the outside of the machine. Materials used are cheap. If you
The use of so many aluminum parts is a large part of the problems. Cast aluminum parts are worse. Wear on these parts is much faster than expected because the maker used a very low quality, read very cheap and soft grade of metal. Parts which get sloppy cause other parts to wear. Using Aluminum instead of steel for pulleys is a mistake. Two different types of metal never wear at the same rate. One persist and one sacrifices. Cheap fasteners, cheap (weak) keys on shafts, investment casting in aluminium with no real machining or even finishing are all money decisions not engineering ones.

What would it cost to make it better? Perhaps another $50.00-100.00 cost. Problem is that they went for a price point not a quality point. It was a marketing decision not a engineering decision. Powermatic could have any quality level machine made that they wrote specs for and they did.

My drill press from them could not hold their laser sight drill point which was a minor thing to me. But the run out was not. I had it serviced by the dealer several times. They replaced the bearings, the quill and everything they could. In the end they told me it was just not fixable in their opinion. You build from end to end and need things to all be highly accurate not have some things great and other things wobble like a top. You could see the run out when you looked at the drill bit run. It was very early in that machine models production and I think and hope they made improvements to it. My dealer does not stock that expensive model and they sell a lot of Powermatic machines. They do have Delta and several other brands so I think they steer buyers to things which they have had less issue with or maybe the profit margin is better with Delta.

When I was a kid we saw made in Japan as a sign of junky made products. Then their products came up in quality and it became Taiwan with the bad reputation, often well earned. Now it is China. But they all can make decent tools and if you don't watch them cheap and worthless things if you don't demand quality. Powermatic did not demand high quality in my opinion. They demanded price point over quality.

 

[jttheclockman]

Well I have nothing else to say except good luck with all your tools and tools of the future. :usflag: