Powermatic Band saw 14" rant.

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jfoh

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May 27, 2007
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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.
 
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I am sorry to hear about this.

While PM, Jet, Rikon, Delta, Nova, etc. are decent brands, I wonder if they are "toys" to a certain extent when seeing the price tag on the Oneways, SawStops, Robust, etc..

I am sure anyone can get have a bad experience with any make, for any amount of money, but I do wonder if there is a benefit to spending more on some brands over others (like Jet over HF, PM over Jet, Jet over Shop Fox) etc.

I realize that Jet and PM are made, or at least distributed by the same company.
That experience is very troubling because these "toys" aint cheap and have superior reputations.

As you can see by my signature block, I own several Jets - but I am starting to think if I get 1,000 pens out of them...you toss them. If the lathe cost me $700, that is $350 a year given the volume of pens I make - basically a dollar a day to rent a lathe. It shouldn't be like that, but I am starting to think that is more the norm, than the exception. I hope I am wrong.
 
Tony,
Continuing your argument... I own two Jets.. a 1014 and a 1442... I've had the 1014 for over 10 years, ... I have replaced the bearings and the motor, although now I'm thinking I only needed to replace the run capacitor and the tailstock quill drive bolt (not sure of the name)(I've drilled and turned a lot of pepper mills on the little lathe)... it still runs like new and hardly makes any noise when running.

I've had the 1442 for over 8 years and have turned over 3000 pieces ranging from pens to large bowls on it.....I've replaced all the innerds of the headstock on the 1442, but that's mostly because the Reeves speed control system is a bad design and getting ready to replace bearings and the spindle again. My lathes get a lot of hard use and I'm not unhappy with either.
 
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jfoh said:
This will be the last Powermatic tool I buy for a very, very long time. . . . 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.
Click to expand...
Just FYI. Powermatic and Jet are owned by the same company. And I think they are made in the same factory. In Europe, Jet sells a white version of the PM3520B under the Jet label.

Jet 3520B Heavy Duty Woodturning Lathe - The Woodworkers Institute

I don't know if the drill presses have similar cross over models. But I'd guess the tooling and the quality would be similar if not identical.
 
I wonder if anyone who owns the Robust, OneWays, etc has had poor experiences. So far, I haven't had any really bad ones with the Jets, but I also ignore much of the clicking and other sounds that come out of them as long as I can make straight pens.
 
I have several Delta lathes, one Woodwrite lathe, and several metal lathes. I use the Woodwrite to round blanks and one of the Delta lathes to final turn and finish them. Bowls are done on old a US made Delta lathe. My first Delta midi lathe made three thousand plus pens with minimum parts wearing out. I guess I got lucky. Well I did replace the tail center before the first pen.

My band saw luck has been terrible with the Powermatic. If it was just the saw I'd call it a lemon. But my drill press made by them was another mess. Getting it to run well took forever. I'd expect it if it was a cheap 200 dollar drill press not a 1400 dollar one. For that much i want a drill press that had reasonable run-out, not have a bearing that sounded like a can of rocks and electrics that don't fail. Maybe it just the color.

But I have decided that I am going to bring this saw back to mint condition once again but the next unreasonable repair and it will be gone. Life is too short to put up with tools which drive me crazy. I do wood working to relax not get pissed every time a two minute step becomes a one hour machine repair or worse a week plus down waiting for parts to arrive. Until then I await the UPS man.
 
Before I bought my PM 3520B 3 years ago, I owned a Jet 1236 lathe (the ugly green version). I bought the lathe well used but in good working order. I had the lathe for about 5 years, used it a lot and I never had a problem with it. The only thing I had to change was the belt. Never had a problem with bearings, the Reeves drive, etc. Then I sold it back to the guy I bought it from for the same price I bought it for. As far as I know it's still going strong!
 
TonyL said:
I wonder if anyone who owns the Robust, OneWays, etc has had poor experiences. So far, I haven't had any really bad ones with the Jets, but I also ignore much of the clicking and other sounds that come out of them as long as I can make straight pens.
Click to expand...

Bought my Oneway 2436 in 1998. Haven't spent one cent on it. Runs like the day I plugged it in. I routinely turn 18" diameter bowls on it, I don't baby it.
 
Called about warranty???

Powermatic had a pretty good warranty good for several years.

A group of NY lawyers bought out the U.S. operation from the Swiss firm a few years ago. The warranty may have changed.
 
I called. Problem is that I told the truth. Well not the problem but I would not lie to try to get free stuff I am not entitled to get for free. I bought this band saw in new condition but I am the second owner. So the warranty is not mine to claim. I could have lied and tried to get what I need for free but lying is one thing I am not good at which is the reason I could never get elected dog catcher. Good thing about that anyways because mommy would not be happy with me lying and nobody makes mommy mad.

First owner put it together and cut or tried to cut one board total. Did not work and not being a experienced wood worker he did not know how to fix the problem and decided to sell the saw on Craigslist. His wife was afraid he was going to cut his fingers off. I bought it for less than half price. When I got it home I figured out that his only problem was that he installed the blade upside down. The teeth were pointed up not down and did not cut wood because of this. Turned the blade around and it worked perfectly. But is has been one minor thing after another.

My parts will be here tomorrow but I still have to figure which motor capacitor is bad. The starting or running capacitor. That is after I fix five other minor to major problems. This saw just does not have the use on it to begin to justify this number of repairs. It looks like new and is for the most part but I am worried about how much it will require in parts and repairs over the next ten years.
 
You sound like the type of guy that I would like to introduce my family to. It will work out fine.
 
TonyL said:
I wonder if anyone who owns the Robust, OneWays, etc has had poor experiences. So far, I haven't had any really bad ones with the Jets, but I also ignore much of the clicking and other sounds that come out of them as long as I can make straight pens.
Click to expand...

Tony, I have the Robust Sweet 16. It is a great crossover lathe for small items such as pens, etc. and also has the power and size to turn large bowls and fairly long spindle work. Being able to turn a bowl blank close to 32" wide and then switch over to a quick pen is really a convenience.
Yes, it did cost a little more than the Jets or PM's, but having the features of a Leeson DC motor so I don't have to switch pulleys/belts, stainless steel ways, USA made, 7 year warranty, and very smooth stable operation when turning has made me very happy!! Add to that, Brent English and his staff provide superior customer service. I've used it for about 3 years and wouldn't trade it for nuttin'! :biggrin:
Gordon
 
Final outcome is the band saw is back up and running. Had to replace the run capacitor as well as all the rest of the parts expected. So it is back into service. Every nut and bolt torqued down and every adjustment made to get it running perfectly. But the next time it breaks down it is going to be fixed and put right onto CraigsList. Life is too short to put up with tools that need repairs instead of maintenance and new stuff which wears out like its been run for a decade.
 
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