Steel City 35920 - Woodworking Talk

vonzip · 06-03-2009, 07:05 PM

I've had this saw for about three weeks and it is quite the upgrade from what I used to have. The saw went together well enough but the set-up manual could of been better thought out. For the price though, you are getting a lot for the money; granite top, 2 riving knifes, 1 & 3/4 hp motor, decent dust collection, big paddle switch, mobile base, and a Forrest blade on promotion.

The saw cuts beautifully and has never bogged down. The fence holds firm and moves easily (wish there was a mico adjust) and there in only a little deflection when pushed on with force. The mitre slots are not t-slots, I might have to make a cross cut sled.

I'm writing this brief review because there seems to be no information on this saw yet and maybe this will help someone that is sitting on the fence.

sh2005 · 07-29-2009, 04:59 PM

Hello Vonzip,
I have been looking at the 35920 and 35930 myself. Glad to see you have been using one of them. The difference between the two are the rail and the fence primarily, and of course the $350. However, I haven't seen either of them myself at the stores, the only one I saw was a 35900G, I believe.

You mentioned about the slight deflection on the fence under force. Does it move or bow? Do you have to put a lot of force? Or little, equal to the amount exerted when ripping?

I believe the front rail is a two piece unit, isn't it? Is aligning them perfectly a pretty simple task?

Finally, what do you think of the built in mobile base it has? Is the saw pretty solid when not being moved? The one I saw was sitting on a mobile base and the saw was rocking (probably can be adjusted).

As you can see, I am very curious about these two saws

knotscott · 07-29-2009, 05:38 PM

The bulk of the real world forces on the fence occur just before the blade....push on the fence at that location and see if it still moves, as opposed to yanking on the end where's there's little to no real force for the workpiece. The amount of movement should be very minor at that point.

Enjoy your new saw.

vonzip · 07-30-2009, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sh2005

Hello Vonzip,
I have been looking at the 35920 and 35930 myself. Glad to see you have been using one of them. The difference between the two are the rail and the fence primarily, and of course the $350. However, I haven't seen either of them myself at the stores, the only one I saw was a 35900G, I believe.

You mentioned about the slight deflection on the fence under force. Does it move or bow? Do you have to put a lot of force? Or little, equal to the amount exerted when ripping?

I believe the front rail is a two piece unit, isn't it? Is aligning them perfectly a pretty simple task?

Finally, what do you think of the built in mobile base it has? Is the saw pretty solid when not being moved? The one I saw was sitting on a mobile base and the saw was rocking (probably can be adjusted).

As you can see, I am very curious about these two saws

Hello sh2005,
In answer to a couple of your questions the fence only deflects slightly when pushed on with force at the trailing edge of the fence. As someone mentiioned in this thread this would not happen while ripping. The front rail is two piece is not hard to adjust. The mobile base is solid but should be installed first thing. They do not mention this in the instruction manual and installing this first will save some energy and time.