Popular Woodworking Editors' Blog

SCTW (Steel City Tool Works) is about to unveil a new suitcase planer that includes its patented helical head. We talked about helical heads being introduced to planers in coverage at 2008 International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta (Click Here to read that article). At the time, SCTW planned to upgrade its model 40200 with the new cutterhead design and expected the price would be near $750. The guys at Steel City decided that price was too high, so they went back to the drawing board to find another design. And that they did.

Model #40200H is Steel City’s 13" Deluxe Portable Planer. It’s a single speed tool (I never understood the need for two speeds anyway. A planer is not the last step before finishing.) A 15-amp, 120v motor that clearly has enough power to tackle any milling task, drives the planer. I watched as the guys at Steel City ran a nasty piece of wet poplar through this planer. The cut taken was way more of a cut than should be taken in a single pass and the result was very impressive and the noise factor was far less than you experience with a two- or three-knife cutterhead – that's one of the advantages of helical heads.

Another advantage is the high-speed steel inserts used on this planer, 26 knives in all. With each knife having four sides sharpened and ready for use, you know you'll surface thousands of feet of stock before any need for replacement arises. If you do happen to mill something that nicks the knives, change the insert is a breeze. And if you happen to damage the head, heaven forbid, the damaged section could be replaced without having to purchase an entire new head because this head is an accumulation of indexed and stackable parts. All that's necessary is to pull the head from the machine, separate the parts to replace the damaged section, then chuck the head back in position. Try that with a regular cutterhead.

In addition, this machine's cutterhead travels on four posts – keeping the cutterhead level and stable – and is fully lockable so there's no chance of the head drifting upward as you plane stock. There are also eight preset thickness settings (from 1/8" to 1-3/4") so you can dial in repeatable thicknesses if need be. And dust collection is your call. Choose either a 4" port or switch the cap from the opposite end to open up a 2-1/2" port while you close the 4" end.

Are you waiting to hear the price of this 13" planer with a helical cutterhead? You know it’s going to be less than $750. The price is $599 + change. Planers should be available in mid-February.

OK. Here's my question. If you were going to purchase a planer, would you focus your attention on these smaller, portable units with a helical cutterhead or would you be more inclined to add roughly $400 to the pot and move to a 15" floor model without the helical head? Of course, with another $400 on top of that you could get the larger machine with an upgraded cutterhead. What would you do?

Just a reminder: Steel City Tool Works has joined with Forrest Saw Blades and Empire Manufacturing to extend an offer that was set to expire in 2008. The companies agreed to continue the offer until the end of April 2009. Buy any SCTW riving-knife-equipped table saws and receive a free Forrest Woodworker II saw blade and a free two-ounce bottle of Empire Blade Saver. You save about $130.

Also extended until April 30, 2009 is the company’s Instant Rebate savings program (savings right at your dealer). There are no forms to fill out and no waiting for your rebate check.

— Glen D. Huey

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The white stars on the map above show the location of some of the key U.S. suppliers for the Delta Unisaw and the red stars highlight the contributions of internal Black & Decker facilities.

What constitutes "Made in the U.S.A.?" You might be surprised, as I was, to find out there are no established requirements for making this most-boastful comment on many products. No requirements other than you better be able to back up your words with facts. This is why you see the qualifier "…  of U.S and foreign components" inscribed on the plate located on the front of each Unisaw produced.

Of course, it’s all but impossible to claim a product is made entirely in the United States. Case in point: Each Delta Unisaw is purchased with a Marathon motor included. Marathon Electric, a company based in Wausau, Wisconsin, builds these motors. Marathon Electric is part of the Regal Beloit family of companies, headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin. All this would lead one to believe these motors are U.S. made. But here’s the issue. The company cannot verify from where some of the materials used in the motors, such as the copper wire for the motor windings, are made. Therefore, the company cannot use "Made in the U.S.A." on the motors. And as a result, Delta cannot include the motor in it's listing of parts made in the United States.

So, how does Delta claim "Made in the U.S.A." without stepping over the line – besides adding the aforementioned qualifier? Delta makes sure the list of qualified parts made in the United States used on the Unisaw reaches its in-house established level of 80 percent. Interestingly, that’s 80 percent based on total costs. (Take all the U.S.-made parts at cost, add the total and if that number is at least 80 percent of the total cost of the saw, "Made in the U.S.A." can be added to that tool.)

As I said above, there is no set requirement for this percentage. This is a Delta-set number. Is it a good number? Considering that many industries use a percentage much lower – according to Delta, the shoe industry arbitrarily sets 50 percent as its figure – I would have to say it is.

I'm not going to get into each and every nut and bolt, but let’s take a look at the major saw parts. First, the cabinet is made and painted in the facility in Jackson, Tenn. (I expect it's rather easy for the company to pinpoint that the rolled steel used in the cabinet is U.S. made.) Second, the newly designed, one-piece trunnions are cast and milled in Wisconsin by one of the premier casting companies in the world. (This fact has been confirmed by a source outside the confines of Delta.) And third, the tabletop and wings are cast and milled in Wisconsin, too.

For good measure, each Unisaw is shipped with a Biesemeyer fence system, and I watched these being made at the Jackson facility. That's four major parts of the Unisaw that are easily qualified as made in the U.S. Is that all that's needed in reaching 80 percent? Maybe so, but I'll bet there are more parts to the saw with origins in the United States.

Additionally, each Unisaw is shipped with a new 10", 50-tooth, full-kerf saw blade manufactured in Shelbyville, Ky. According to Delta, this is not the typical blade that arrives with a new table saw only to be cast aside for rough cuts or emergencies. Time will tell. And if I can get information on the complete line – 18 new blades in all – I'll report on them in a future entry.

— Glen D. Huey

This week Delta invited magazine editors to venture to Jackson, Tenn., for an insider’s view of the facility where the re-invented Unisaw is produced, and we got another, more involved, look at the company’s flagship woodworking machine.

As we entered the facility, we were guided through the engineering offices and past a display of vintage tools. While most of the tools were housed in showcases, there were a couple that stood openly on the floor, too big to be behind glass. One of the machines was an original Unisaw from 1938 (shown above next to the new design). That 1938 design was the first Unisaw, and the very first tilting-arbor table saw. (Earlier saws had tabletops that tilted while the blade remained vertical.) Interestingly, the older table saw looked a lot like the saws we use today – at least from the outside.

Back we went to a conference room for a short introduction to explain how Delta re-invented the table saw. I have to hand it to the company – it has, in my opinion, changed the machine significantly and the term “re-invented” does apply.

So what path is traveled as you re-invent a tool? It began with research. Those on the sales and engineering staff not only approached woodworkers for information, from individuals to woodworking groups, but also those involved in the distribution line. They listened, then returned to Jackson to incorporate the comments into a product.

Once new prototypes were in hand, the company talked with more than 1,000 users in 30 cities to get feedback. The folks at Delta made another round of adjustments to arrive at a final product that was on display at the 2008 International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta. (And since that unveiling, there have been small adjustments to the final design.)

As we were shown a more in-depth view of the new Unisaw, Delta officials stressed that the Jackson facility houses manufacturing, engineering and sales teams all under one roof. This allows a close working relationship within the company. If there’s a tooling question during design, the team can walk out on the floor and get an answer from the tooling staff. If manufacturing hits a snag during prototype work, it’s a short walk to work with the engineer to resolve it. This allows Delta to set and maintain some tight standards.

A tour of the facility reinforced how those tight standards are met and maintained. We were shown many different areas such as heat treating, quality control, painting and milling; we were taken onto the assembly line where the new Unisaw is being built and shown the steps involved. For security reason we were not allowed to take pictures. All the photos in this story were supplied by the company.

The tour was impressive. It was even suggested that if woodworkers were given behind-the-scenes looks, their purchasing decisions would come easier. I wonder just how different these processes are from company to company. There are standards that have to be established in order to produce a tool. However, maintaining that standard is where the differences stand out. If you’re designing, building and assembling in the same facility, standards may be easier to control than they might be if the machines were built overseas. But even then, standards can be (and are) being maintained.

Here are a few quick facts about Delta's Jackson facility and about the new Unisaw.

• The facility is more than 100,000 square feet, with one-third of that space attributed to Delta and Biesemeyer fences.
• Each year, the company uses more than 4 million pounds of bar stock, 400,000 pounds of laser-cut steel and 150,000 pounds of rolled steel to make the many parts for Delta, Porter-Cable and DeWalt tools.
• The new Unisaw has 380 different components (many components such as bolts are used multiple times to arrive at the total number of parts in the saw).
• Saws are scheduled to ship in late March or early April 2009; pre-orders will be accepted beginning in February.
• The price of the saw is, at this time, set at $2,999 for a 3-horsepower, 36"-fence system. (No saw will be sold without a Biesemeyer fence system.)

And I’ve saved the best for last.
• Eighty percent of the cost of the saw is from domestic parts.

In my next entry, I’ll cover the “Made in America” aspect.

— Glen D. Huey, senior editor