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Thread: Delta 18" Bandsaw Review Model 28-682

  1. #1
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    Delta 18" Bandsaw Review Model 28-682

    This is the new Taiwanese saw that Delta has been selling for the last several months. I picked this one up at Woodcraft during their last 10% off Delta sale. Overall, I am very impressed with the fit and finish of the saw with one exception, the upper and lower blade guides.

    I have had this saw for a few months now and really have not had much use out of it because it had a pretty severe case of blade drift. With the factory blade installed it was so bad that it could not come close to cutting a straight line. Looking at possible causes, I found that the bearings for the upper blade guide did not line up so that the faces were parallel with each other. Another customer in the store had mentioned that he had the saw and had that problem as well so I think it is something Delta needs to look into. I was not at all impressed with the workmanship on the upper and lower guide assemblies. The upper guide is a pretty crude cast iron casting and there was plenty of slop in all the adjustments. I decided to email Carter guides about a replacement. I found out that they were working on a prototype kit for this saw and were willing to sell me the prototype at a discount if I was willing to provide them with some feedback. In the meantime I called Delta and they sent me out a new upper guide mount, which was parallel.

    When I got the prototype kit, I installed it on the saw and hoped that it would correct the problem with the drift. It did not. As it turns out there were a couple of issues with it that I communicated back to Carter. The most significant issue was the upper guide mount needed to be remade so that the guides would mount farther out. I am hoping to get the new piece very soon but for now I have the original blade guides mounted on top and the new Carter guide on the bottom.

    From the beginning, the saw ran very quietly and smooth. The blade tracks straight as an arrow without any adjustments. Since the floor in the garage is uneven, I have noticed that the saw is susceptible to vibration if it is not level on all four corners.

    The table comes with a rear extension bar that should help on larger pieces. The fence is pretty solid and comes with some extremely long guide rails. The rails are so long; that I have them mounted backwards since the saw is near the outside door and would be poking everybody as they walk in front of it.

    The table trunions remind me of my old 14" delta saw, similar pot metal construction but they look like they will do the job. There is also an auxiliary tilt support on the right side that can lock the table adjustment. Access to the lower blade guide for adjustments is not as easy as it could be. It is probably better with the carter guide than with the original.

    The saw comes standard with a magnetic controller and is wired only for 220. The wheels are spoked cast iron and there is a 2 speed pulley to change blade speed. The saw comes standard with 2 4" dust ports and from the photos you will see why I want to get them hooked up to the DC system soon. Since my garage ceiling is on the low side, the blade-tensioning lever is very close to touching the ceiling. I have the saw on a shopfox mobile base and that doesn’t help. This is one tall saw. The tension gauge is up near the blade-tensioning lever.

    I ordered 2 new blades from John at Woodcraftbands.com. This saw takes 136" blades and he sent me a 1/2 and 3/4" lenox blades that arrived within 3 days by priority mail. I think the cost was about 13-14 per blade, much cheaper than other vendors. Give him a call, he is a good guy to do business with. Within the last week I finally got a new blade installed and the difference is like night and day. I would not have believed that a blade could make that much difference. The saw tracks as straight as I would like. I have not yet tried resawing a large slice yet, but I don't think it will be an issue.

    So the bottom line is that I am fairly well satisfied with the saw in its present condition. I figure what I saved on the 10% off sale was spent on the carter guides. I will post a few more pictures when my camera battery is charged again and will answer any questions people might have.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Bob Aquino; 10-20-2004 at 9:46 PM.

  2. #2
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    I missed your whole reply for some reason or another, Please continue or repost the text.
    Ron

  3. #3
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    More pictures

    Ron
    Thats what happens when you hit submit instead of preview. Anyway, here are a few more pictures showing the carter guides kit. As I said in the first post, I have the carter guide on the bottom and am running the original guide assembly on the top till the replacement upper mount gets here. Some of the shots of the guides were taken a bit too close and are not all in focus, but I think you can see why I was not thrilled with the quality.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Bob Aquino; 10-20-2004 at 10:03 PM.

  4. #4
    Bob
    I agree with your accessment of the 18" Delta bandsaw. My first and only real problem was the lower guides, if I adjust them to guide the blade they tend to screem while running. Now I bearly have them set to the blade. The upper guides I can set to actually touch the blade and they work flawlessly. If your saw is a shade close to the ceiling you can remove the black subbase, I removed mine to get it in the shop and on a mobile. depending on how tall you are the table may be low. I think the table is about 31" to 33" from the floor.
    The Carter guides for this saw any idea what on a price for them? Over all I'm pleased with the saw, as you mentioned she is very quite and smooth (and heavy too About 495 lbs) as long as it's level. Was not impressed by the paint job had glossy spots over satin spots. I have done some resaw with it and man does it cut. Right now I'm using the factory blade waiting for woodshow to get good ones, And even with the cheesey blade they send I can make waver thin slices.

  5. #5
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    Delta 18" BS

    Hi Bob,
    Thanks for your review. There are several other machines I want you to buy first and review for us. What other saws can you compare this one with,i.e. Griz.,Rikon,Bridgeport, up to MM16. It looks like a good saw for an aggressive hobbiest, and I'm wondering if the extra expense for the higher quality saws is really worth it. I'm ready to buy one in this size range and haven't been able to test drive any. Your review is very helpful. What price range for the Delta 18"? Thanks for you help. John

  6. #6
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    Leonard:
    I think I paid about 130 for the carter guides but that was with a discount for using the prototype set and providing them feedback. I am not sure about their final pricing, you can contact them at sales@carterguides.com. I have thought about removing the black sub base, but then I think the table wiill be a bit too low for my liking. I am surprised that you can do as much as you are with the factory blade. Mine was so bad it was not useable. I don't know how much you will pay at a woodshow for the blades but the guy I bought mine from is charging about 13-14 a blade and they are good quality lenox blades.

    John:
    Unfortunately the only other large size saw I have seen in the flesh is the Jet 18". I think the fit and finish is very good on that saw, the things that swayed me to the delta were color scheme (I have a few other grey machines), the 2hp motor, magnetic controller and the thoughtful add-ons like the extension table and two dust ports. I would have liked to see a griz or bridgeport saw in the flesh to compare to, but did not have that luxury. I hear nothing but good things about the new 17" grizzly that can be had for less than 800. But I like to get hands on before I buy anything this large. Course I didn't really pay close enough attention to the blade guides, so that is why I am putting the word out here.
    I dont think this saw is in the league of MinMax and the other Italian saws, but its not too shabby either. It has a good amount of weight to it and is light years ahead of my old delta 14" saw.

  7. #7
    Bob
    thanks for the info. Usually PSwood runs a once a year deal where you buy X quantity and they give a nice discount. like I said My top Guides are ok but the bottom guides suck big time.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Leonard Horner
    Bob
    thanks for the info. Usually PSwood runs a once a year deal where you buy X quantity and they give a nice discount. like I said My top Guides are ok but the bottom guides suck big time.
    I found that both the upper and lower castings had a "toe-in" defect. I don't know whether Carter would sell just a lower set or not, but you could ask them, the worse they could say is no. Have you removed the lower assembly and checked it out at all?

    PSwood sells blades? What brand and about how much? Woodcraftbands sold me lennox brand for about 13-14 each. Right now I have a 1/4" blade on the saw to see how well it handles the narrower size. I was under the notion that the larger saws had problems with the narrow blades but this combination is working pretty well. Normally I leave one blade in forever and that is usually a 1/2".

  9. #9

    picked one of these up last week

    i was torn between a jet 18" and this delta 18" and went with the delta.

    we shall soon see if mine suffers from the above casting issues too?

  10. #10
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    Good luck with the saw. Shoot me a pm if you have any questions. I was looking at the carterproducts site today and they still don't have a retrofit kit available for this saw just yet. Based on the last upper mount they sent me they may still be having "Issues" with the design.
    Before you assemble the saw, take a good look at both the upper and lower guides with the two side bearings just touching. They should be parallel, not touching together at just one point. If there are any problems, give delta a call and they will get you replacements out asap. If you have problems with the saw cutting a straight line, get a replacement blade asap. Good Luck.

  11. #11

    My isssues with the delta 18" bandsaw

    I went to a local dealer looking to buy a Steel City 18" or a MM16 but he had a Delta 18" on the floor for 750 so I was sold. I got it home put it together made the adjustments and thought I'd use the blade it shipped with (bad idea) and attempted a few test cuts on some poplar. It wouldnt cut a straight line and I had to force the wood to get it to cut at all. I played with it for days trying to get the guides to line up but had no luck. I have contacted carter and they have a kit to upgrade the guides for 179 and I might consider this option if the replacement part from delta is still leaving the guide bearings toed in. I guess you get what you pay for! The saw does have good power and dust collection I also like the height of the table. I'll post again when I get this saw set up for perfect resawing.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by James Williams 007 View Post
    I went to a local dealer looking to buy a Steel City 18" or a MM16 but he had a Delta 18" on the floor for 750 so I was sold. I got it home put it together made the adjustments and thought I'd use the blade it shipped with (bad idea) and attempted a few test cuts on some poplar. It wouldnt cut a straight line and I had to force the wood to get it to cut at all. I played with it for days trying to get the guides to line up but had no luck. I have contacted carter and they have a kit to upgrade the guides for 179 and I might consider this option if the replacement part from delta is still leaving the guide bearings toed in. I guess you get what you pay for! The saw does have good power and dust collection I also like the height of the table. I'll post again when I get this saw set up for perfect resawing.
    I happened to come across this post today, just curious if you got the carter guides on it and how you like it. Overall I am pretty satisfied with this saw, have had it for about 3 years now. You paid quite a bit less than I did, thats cool. I've noticed that Amy Devers on DIY has this same saw in her shop. Other than that you don't hear or see much about it.

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