Would you consider this a serious blemish?

[Pete Moe]

If it were me, I would contact the manufacturer to give them feedback on their product, whether I felt like pressing for a replacement or other compensation or not. I would document the exchange, in case there was a problem in the future. They may not care about such a flaw, but they might, and they should know - they may need want to refer it back to their supplier as a quality assurance matter.

On a $2000 investment, I would say ship me a new top...and use the old top as an extension. Or a coffee table.

[Michael Mayo]

Brand new product >$2000 means it is under warranty. That defect is a manufacturing defect and should be covered totally by the warranty. As such the company should fix it however they decide. I would at the very least expect a replacement top sent to me for that kind of money. Definitely call the company asap and find out what they intend on doing about this obvious manufacturing defect.

[David Kumm]

If the runout is low, the top flat, the miter slot and gauge fit tightly, I would contact just for the record but keep the saw. Unfortunately 2K machines still can have major flaws and you might trade for a prettier saw with a problem that really aggravates you down the road. Dave

[Ted Pitera]

I'm serious when I ask this, so don't laugh: What's your wife think?

It wouldn't matter what my opinion was on something like this, if I put out over $2,000 and the machine came with a visible flaw she would have her say. And it wouldn't be let it slide.

Enjoy your saw. Good luck, whatever you do.

[Phil Thien]

I'm a bit surprised that made it past QC.

I'd ask for a new top.

[Jerome Stanek]

I'm a bit surprised that made it past QC.

I'd ask for a new top.

I agree That one should be a discounted machine.

[Myk Rian]

That is minor porosity. Fill it with JB weld and be done with it.
Otherwise, it's a lot of bother for a small blemish.

[Matt McColley]

What you are seeing is minor pitting in the casting.

Years ago, I worked in a factory that made aftermarket oil pumps with cast iron bodies and we refered to this type of defect as "foundry" (i.e. it was a casting defect and would be set aside to be returned to the foundry for credit). When I worked the station at the end of the machinery processes, I would dunk the machined castings in a solvent to clean all of the cutting fluid and chips off, and then blow them clean and dry in a spray booth, checking for defects in the machining or the casting at the same time. Pump bodies with pitting were set aside for he forman to make the final call on. We ran ~ 900 pumps down the line in and 8 hour shift and I might pull out a half dozen for "foundry" of which the forman would disallow ~2 and return the rest of them to the line. (OBTW, my employer was in the US and had the reputation of supplying "better than factory" after market pumps)

Casting is not a perfect process and what's important is that the integrity of the part is not compormised. What I'm seeing in your photo looks very minor to me. But you may want to inspect the bottom side to make sure there is no heavy pitting visable there.

I'd be very curious to see if the mfg. would do anything for you or not. My guess is not. But please follow up if you decide to pursue it with them and let the forum know how it goes.

If it were my saw and the things that mattered (flat table, properly sized miter slots, etc...) were correct, I wouldn't send it back for that. You may do so, only to recieve a cosmetically unblemished part, that is wrong in some other way that really matters.

Keep in mind that +/- 0.000000 does not exist on planet earth, and every item ever made by human hands has a tolerance associated with it. If you want tighter tolerances, things can get really expensive very quickly. As a licensed engineer that worked for a decade in one of the ultimate "spare no expense" industries (nuclear power) I've seen the best that money can buy..... and even those parts were often not cosmetically perfect.... nor did they need to be.

IMO, the reason 90% of the woodworking machines on the market (even some top German brands ) are made in Asia, or from parts that were made in Asia, is largely because the average Joe Woodworker customer (including myself) is not willing to pay for the tighter tolerances that would require them to be produced in the west.

[Van Huskey]

What it appears to be is simply cosmetic, given where it is at I wouldn't worry about it BUT I would document an email with pictures to the company in case there are proplems down the line, though I doubt it.

I think Dave hit the nail on the head, if everything else on the saw is very good you risk trading a small probably negligable flaw for a saw with a flaw that actually effects performance...

[David Hostetler]

IF that is the only casting flaw, just a cosmetic issue nothing to see here, move along...

However I would be concerned about it. And considering the amount of money paid for the machine, I would be raising a stink with the manufacturer. That has the potential of leading to much more serious problems...

[Jerome Hanby]

In x number of years, the latest whiz bang saw company is going to come out with the model of your dreams and you'll be looking to sell this one and buy the new one. I'm betting from the way that you post that you'll feel compelled to point out the "flaw" to any prospective buyer, and they will be compelled to use that as an excuse to reduce their offer. Make the company provide you with the saw for which you paid them all that money. Personally, it would irk me every time I saw that "defect" on a product I bought new (for a new price). had i bought the same thing second hand for a good price, it wouldn't bother me at all...

[David Kumm]

this is not addressed to the OP but to the rest of us. Barring a structural flaw we can't lose sight of which is the lipstick and which is the pig here. We are critical of pits in the table- which is fair- but don't ask about the quality of the CI itself. You used to be able to find out the Meehanite ratings but no longer. We haven't a clue what quality of bearings are specd, how well the motor is made, the type or thickness of steel in the base, how it is welded, etc, etc. I like high quality a lot but we can't forget that the more we demand the cosmetics look good, the lower the quality of the parts we can't see. the law of unintended consequences force manufacturers to put money on the outside rather than where it counts. I'm looking at my Porter now- they slopped paint on it evidently in the dark but used ABEC 5 bearings because the buyers knew what was more important. In fairness, they are no longer in business so maybe the paint was important. Dave

[Gene Waara]

Send it back. It would bug me everytime I looked at it. Some have observed it is cosmetic. Technically true, but having bought OEM automotive castings, without ultrasonic testing there is no way to see how long and deep the porosity goes. A few years of sliding your miter gage can open up the defect even more and then it will be too late for recovery. For $2000 the top should be near perfect and this one isn't.

[John Piwaron]

That kind of defect is called porosity. Where I work that's a reject. I'd return the saw or expect a brand new perfect replacement part.

[jim gossage]

If the runout is low, the top flat, the miter slot and gauge fit tightly, I would contact just for the record but keep the saw. Unfortunately 2K machines still can have major flaws and you might trade for a prettier saw with a problem that really aggravates you down the road. Dave

I agree with David here - if the stuff that matters in terms of performance is pretty good, keep it. I complained about an out of flat sawtop several years ago. The process involved multiple phone calls, 2 service visits, and several hours for the manufacturer to replace the top. In the end, the top was no flatter and I had to spend another 3 hours to get everything aligned after the saw guy left. My point here is that you might go through a lot of trouble to get the saw or top replaced, and then have a lesser saw (new top is now 0.01" out of flat instead of your original 0.001, but still in specs) in terms of performance. I still feel I made the right call in my case because it was a performance issue; unfortunately, my original saw was not expensive or high quality so I decided I just needed a better saw instead of wasting time on a third top. I now have a SawStop and am very pleased.