Delta 18-900L arrived!!

[Chris Brault]

I got my delta 18-900L just a couple of weeks ago. Box came pretty in tact, looked like possibly a forklift operator scuffed one part of it, but it was fine. Assembly was straight forward and the manual was real clear about everything. I had only one slight headache that made me a little nervous. Bolting the column to the stand. The four allen bolts that go in, two on one side just barely lined up,, I mean, I fiddled with it for quite awhile, didn't want to strip anything out or break one off,,,,, but got them to go, thank goodness. If those holes would've been just a fuzz more off, i would've had to gone to plan b, whatever that was!! I put it on a movable stand with 3/4" ply. I saw glenn's idea with his drill press base a couple of days after I did mine....... that looks like a great idea and I may do that in the future. I was bummed I didn't see that idea before putting it all together. I had a benchtop ryobi that served me well, but wanted more capacity. I really like the 6" quill travel. I'm totally happy so far and thought I'd try a run at giving a little review and pictures for once on here. This site has helped me tremendously with issues in the past and thought one of these days I should try to contribute more.

[johnny means]

Nice! I was looking real hard at the fPM and was just about to pull the trigger on one when I saw the Delta.

Though it lacks the fancy VS, I think the delta is a better choice for woodworking. Tell us more.

[Chris Brault]

I too was wanting that powermatic for awhile. I started hearing some issues on here that i didn't like the sound of. Another big one for me was even though the PM has the v.s., It doesn't go below 500 rpm. The delta goes down to like 200, give or take. (can't remember exactly, thinking 180?) I don't work with steel much, but it's a nice option to be able to drop that rpm down a little. 3/4 horsepower on the delta, i figure that'll be plenty for me. Table tilts both ways on the delta, liked that. Oh ya, the other big thing for me was personally I wanted a keyed chuck. I just like the thought of cranking it right down, if needed. The table is great, real easy to clamp too. I haven't got the biesemeyer optional fence yet, but think I will be ordering that soon. I've got some jet and powermatic tools in my shop, and no complaints with them, but thought this delta was what i was looking for.

[Dan Hintz]

YOU SUCK!

Add in a third person who started looking at the PM2800 but gave up on it when it was just problem after problem after problem from others. I'm waiting for the holidays to be over so I can order the 18-900L along with my two lathes