DELTA 28-682 18-Inch 2-Horsepower Woodworking Band Saw with Ball Bearing Guides, 230-Volt 1 Phase

I've had this saw for the past 3 weeks. Quality is very good. I gave it the nickel test after set up, and the nickel stood up through start up and shut down. A real smooth runner. Blade change was easy. So far I have resawed 8" wide walnut, 10" maple spalted logs 3 to 4 ft.long, some 8" sycamore, and a 5" log of osage orange, 3 feet long. The saw had no trouble with any of these woods and did not bog down in the slightest. I was able to make 1/8" veneer from the splated maple. SWEET !! The blade tensioner is beefy and very easy to use. Just pull down on the handle to tension & pull up to release. I actually take the tension off after use now. There are several minor annoyances. The lower inside blade guide is difficult to adjust. You have to angle the table to get at it. The saw blade was onlt 1/2", cheap, and needed to be replaced. The tip of the allen wrench broke off in one of the set screws for the guide bearings.What a pain. The manual could be...Read more

I got this saw the other day. Very beefy saw. Fit and finish are good. Agree with other reviewer that lower blade guide is tough to adjust since you have to tilt up the table just to be able to access it. First the bad parts:

I will go further and state that I think for a saw of this quality, Delta should have put much better upper and lower blade guides that what was included with the saw. The castings for the mounts are cast iron and are not very high quality. Not smooth finished and the upper guide bearings that ride on either side of the blade do not even ride parallel to each other. The bearings ride on eccentric shafts that are held in place with a setscrew to adjust the distance to the blade. The rear upper guide bearing sits on a cast iron piece that is held inplace with a set screw. It is adjusted for distance to the blade by moving it by hand in and out. No screw adjustment or any fine tuning available. Also it and the lower rear bearing adjustment have plenty...Read more

Bought this saw a couple months ago before Amazon was carrying them. Did much comparison shopping between brands and decided that this saw had all others in its class beat by far, at least on specifications. Now that I've had the time to get familiar with the beast, I'm happy to say that my expectations have been exceeded!

A concern I had before buying was the blade sizes Delta says the saw will accomodate....1/2 to 1 1/4.... this worried me since I wanted a saw that would cut a tighter radius than a 1/2" blade will allow. Spoke to my blade dealer and he thought I should have no problem with 1/4.... He was right! The thinner blade tracks as easily as the 1/2 and with no deflection.

Advantages versus closest competion? Two full horsepower with dual capacitor motor which draws only an amazing 8.6 amps, 12" resaw capacity, very comfortable working height, 400 lbs with heavy cast iron wheels and quality tires, dual dust ports make for a very clean machine,...Read more