General 650 vs. PM 2000

[Dan Owen]

Laughing out loud. GriphOn Brown = Powermatic Drama School Student.

[Dan Lautner]

"The PM2k appears to have a nice shroud...no clue about the General."

I noticed the newer saws seem to have the shroud. Does this make a big difference in dust collection. I looked at the General site and did not see it listed.

Dan

[Mike Gabbay]

The General does not have a shroud but it does have a pan in the base that angles towards the DC port. I have not seen much of an issue with DC. I think the shroud may do a little better but the only way to really get the excess sawdust that comes off the blade is with an overarm guard/DC.

[John Thompson]

I wouldn't kick a PM 2000 out of bed... but I had rather sleep with a General 650.. And if one of those older PM 66's winked at me.. I would pursue that also.

Sarge..

[Gary Curtis]

I bought a General 350 (with their sliding table) in 2006. The instructions for the Biesemeyer fence are tragic. The machinery dealer who sold me the equipment devised his own 'cheat sheet' for fence installation. If you send me a PM with your address, I'd be happy to Xerox it and mail you a copy.

As to Customer service, at General International, Trevor was exceedingly helpful. Canadian saws, including the 350, are supported by Christian. Phone numbers for both divisions are listed on the www.General.ca website.

I too found the fittings on the extension table a bit crude. I think this is because — like the fence — are used on so many different models and on many other brands of saw as well.

The dust collection is pretty good. I do wish there was a blade guard with integral DC to suck up the debris on top of the table. And I am hoping to learn soon that the riving knife will be available as a retrofit for existing equipment. On the whole, I love the equipment. The sliding table enables me to do crosscuts at 'machine-gun' speed. And extremely accurate miter cuts. With a 5hp Baldor motor, the thing just hums along.

If I had need for a mobile saw, then the PM would be quite attractive with its built-in castors.

Gary Curtis

[Mark Carlson]

I love my General 650 but it does have a few flaws. As mentioned before, the fence instructions should be thrown out. I found a description online on how to install the fence and all went well. No drilling should be necessary. The manual for the saw itself if also a joke. Not really needed though. The other weak area is the extension table. Its ok, similar to most saws but nothing great. I had a incra router table that I used instead.

I read somewhere, probably on SMC that the riving knife retro kit was going to be around $800. yikes.

~mark

[Griph0n Brown]

Contacted general again.
Gotta pull the table and get it ground. General said they'd pay. I'm in the Yukon and for a small northern town we've got a few great machine shops.

My 13" general planer started up great and on the 20th pass or so threw it's feed roller chain with a fantastic clunk. Another great shop did the repair in a couple days locally under warranty.

Does bad luck come in threes when it's green?