Delta Hybrid TS Owners - Setting mine up, couple ?s

[Tim Armstrong]

I don't know that there are many folks on the Creek with one of the new Delta Hybrid TSs, but I'm in the process of setting mine up and have a few questions to toss out to anyone who owns one of these things.

First off, I'm really very happy with the saw and since I was upgrading from a very old hand-me-down Craftsman direct drive, this saw is a big step up and, IMO, a great value for a hobbiest like me. Anyway, I got the Bies fence model (Delta 36-717) and before I mount the fence and extension table, I'm thinking about asking delta for a new right extension wing. The cast iron wing that shipped with the saw is very flat but the surface is not machined to anywhere near the quality of the main table and left extension wing. So, (long story, long) here are my questions:

1) Anybody else get a right extension wing that has a much rougher surface than the main table and left extension wings? If so - did you just leave it or get a new one from Delta? Maybe I am being too picky to want the surface match exactly across all 3 pieces.

2) Anybody else seeing a lot of vibration at the end of the shut down? The saw runs quite smoothly when on, but vibrates pretty badly at the end of shutting down the motor. Pulleys are lined up well, belt looks clean - can't really figure out what's causing it. Maybe just need to break in the belt more?

Thanks in advance for any help or discussion.

Cheers

[Alex Berkovsky]

2) Anybody else seeing a lot of vibration at the end of the shut down? The saw runs quite smoothly when on, but vibrates pretty badly at the end of shutting down the motor.

Tim,
My Craftsman 22124 saw also vibrates when I shut it down. I will be following this thread with interest to see what the experts and other zip code saw owners have to say.

As far as the rough surface on the ext. wing, give Orion a call and I bet they will send you a new one.

[scott spencer]

Hi Tim - If you suspect the finish on the wing will hinder cutting or if it bothers you, I'd ask for a replacement...judgement call I guess.

I'm not sure, but the shuttering could be from a motor brake engaging if it has one. My 22124 has the same motor and drive as yours. After hitting the off button it spins freely for a few seconds, then seems to slow more rapidly and shimmies just a bit at the very end of the cycle. But it usually passes the nickel test from start to stop most of the time.....depends alot on the nickel!

The serpentine belts are supposed to be less prone to taking a set, but it's still possible the belt could be contributing....you might want to look into getting a replacement belt too and try that...always nice to have a spare anyway.

[Frederick Rowe]

Hi Tim- I took delivery of my Delta Hybrid TS (with the T2 Fence) about two months ago. Both the wings were of similar finish and near flat across the width. If you can feel the difference between the two wings with your eyes closed, then I'd call Delta and ask for a replacement. Perhaps a final finishing step was missed in production. As far as the shake on shutdown, mine does the same thing. From startup to full rpm a nickle will stand on edge without a wobble. In the last second before the blade stops, there is a distinct shudder which will cause the nicke to fall 50% of the time. I don't think there is a brake on the motor, and am at loss to explain it since in my mind, any cause such as an imbalance in a moving part such as the arbor, bearings, drive belt, would manifest itself at any time the motor/belt/bearings/shaft were turning. Perhaps there is some secondary imbalance which is counteracted under load? Regardless, the saw is very smooth while running, and fit, finish, performance is excellent. I plan to rewire mine 220, overall I think this saw is a great value. I hope you enjoy yours. Good luck!

[Tim Armstrong]

Thanks guys - as usual, great feedback and suggestions. I decided to live with the right wing as is and will probably hit the entire top with the 3M scubbers sometime to get a nice even surface. While the quality of the finish is a bit rougher on the right wing, it's solid and even and about the same as some of the my other tools. Wood slides fine on it.

Now the shake - rattle - and roll... well no roll but the vibration on shutdown is still pretty bad. I can not even get close to passing the nickel test on start up or shut down. I think it has something to do with the way the motor is mounted to the pivots under the trunion - seems like there is more play in that joint than necesarry for the motor to move up and down. I've watched underneath during shut down and it is the motor that starts vibrating first before the entire cabinet starts to vibrate. I may take the motor off to see what's going on but I would rather not do that of course. Maybe some other folks will post experiences about vibration in this or it's cousin, the Craftsman zip code saw. In the meantime, I do like the saw except that one thing.

[scott spencer]

I'd call Delta's tech service and get their take on the vibration.....doesn't sound right to me if it's vibrating that badly.

[Frederick Rowe]

Tim- I'm pasting a review I saw on Amazon.com when I was first started considering this saw. The reviewer mentions similar vibration which he solved. My apologies for the large cut and paste, I hope some of this helps.

Great Saw - except for the set-up, January 4, 2006
<table> <tbody><tr><td valign="top">Reviewer:</td><td>Fast Eddie (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews</td></tr></tbody> </table> I recently purchased the Delta 36-717 cabinet saw, and after sorting out a few issues, I am very happy with the performance of the saw. I would have given it 5 stars if the set-up had gone smoother.
My first concern was with the extension wings. One had a .010 dip in it; the other had a .021 dip. Delta told me that the tolerance for flatness on the table/wings is .012, and offered to replace the bad one. However, I wanted better than that, so I took them into work (I'm a machinist) and ground them myself - they are now both within .001. I should mention that the main table was very good - within .003, and the finish of the grinding on both wings and the main table was absolutely superb. Contrary to what the manual says, I decided to check the trunion alignment before installing the wings and fence rails because access to the undercarriage is a lot easier without them installed. Trunion alignment was off by .012, so I loosened the 4 bolts and adjusted it. The bolts are fairly easy to reach, and in about 20 minutes I had it within .001. It was not hard to do. While I was under there, I checked the drive belt pulley alignment, and discovered that it was out about 3/8". I tried to loosen the (small, metric) setscrew on the motor pulley, but the head immediately stripped! I had to remove the motor and drill out the setscrew. I then installed a larger �-28 setscrew in the pulley and re-assembled everything. At this point I decided to run the saw and see if there was anything else that might need tuning before installing the wings. The saw ran fine, but on shutdown the whole saw would develop a shaking motion before coming to a stop. The motor bolts to a cast iron plate, which pivots on 2 pins. I found there was excessive clearance between the holes in the plate and the pivot pins (.012 on one, .018 on the other). Delta tried to tell me the shaking is from the belt, and the clearance is there so the motor can rotate up and down freely! Freely is one thing - sloppy is another. Anyway, I removed the motor (again!), removed the plate and the pins and wrapped the appropriate size shim stock around each pin that would eliminate the play and still allow it to rotate. I carefully re-assembled everything and tried it again. WOW! What a difference. The saw was now rock solid. Now confident that everything was all right, I installed the extension wings and the Biesemeyer fence.
The miter gauge that came with this saw is very good. It has a locking finger (much like a miter saw) that engages at all the common angles each side of 90 degrees, and the engagement points are all adjustable. The saw is not noisy (as tablesaws go), and it has lots of power. On one of the woodworking forums someone was questioning the 3000 RPM blade speed as posted by Delta. All I can say is the label on my motor states 3450 RPM, and both pulleys are the same diameter (2"), so unless the motor is labeled incorrectly, the blade speed is 3450.
For the gentleman who found the blade raising mechanism to be stiff - the engagenent of the pinion in the rack is adjustable - it shows you how to make the adjustment in the owners nanual.
With the saw now running so smooth I decided to give it the nickel test. It was no problem at all to get the nickel on it's edge with the saw running. Feeling confident, I shut the saw off, and the nickel never even flinched! I then restarted the saw - no movement at all. In short, with a nickel standing on it's edge I've started and stopped the saw so many times I've lost count, and it won't topple over! Very impressive.
I don't know if any saw is 100% perfect out of the box, but I feel I had to do more fine tuning with mine than I should have. However, I now have a saw that is a joy to use - quiet, vibration free, accurate, great dust collection, an excellent fence, and I even like the paint color! I'm very happy with the saw.