Charnwood w619 - are there any reviews yet?

[krisdl]

JimD did you ever do a review of this saw?

 

[delliott1973]

Hi
Did you get a W619 Jim?

David

 

[Dusty]

Hi Delliott , I bought a W619 about 6 months ago ,and have put it through its paces . I can not fault it for the money , if anything I think it is a right deal . I set it up and tweaked its settings which did not take long , especially the sliding rail and it was good to go . The rip blade it came with is not half bad either but I also bought a finer blade for cross cutting , which was a freud . I have ripped 50mm K/D oak with out a problem .I have managed to mitre some 10 x 10 quadrant beads accurately cleanly using a fine blade
Blade changes takes less than a few minutes as it is easily accessable and IF you choose to remove the riving Knife setup for doing tennons it is a case of a 13mm spanner , loosen the bolts and slide it out , leaving the bolts in . I know this is not a condoned practice but sometimes I have done .

The operation of the saw is simple enough and and I can achieve 100% accurate compound mitre cuts on the carriage on crown mouldings at 120mm deep . The extraction is about 85& efffective , very little escapes the crown guard and there is very little air borne particles . The only down side is that you end up with a bit on the floor as it falls through the body , which very little can be done about . I use a woodstar can type extractor which dies suck up 95% of the dust and the rest ends up on the floor , but there is no real plroblem with it for me .

The front rail which carries the fence is a brilliant and simple set up , a piece of extruded alu which is the same at the back as it carried the table extensions . The clamp on the fence is a bit crude and can move slightly as you tighten it but not a real problem . The fence , and rails are all of the same material and have a groove mitre type slot in the centre along its length which will accept a M8 nut ( 13mm wide ) so it is easy to make jigs and other attatchments to it . The only real gripe is the crud design of the adjustable flip over stop on the fence of the sliding carriage , it is not easy to make fine adjustments with it , so I tighten it up as close to my needed position and the slide the fence along to suit as it is very easy to do so .

My overall rating of the item would be 9 / 10 for value , and 9.5/10 for accuracy with an 9 for ease of use It is by far a £1500 machine but for some one who may be just starting out or some one looking to down grade with out compromising a good amount of acccuracy . Just buy a couple of good quality blades for finer work and you wont be dissapointed . Hope this helps

Cheers Dusty

 

[delliott1973]

Hi Dusty

Thanks for that comprehensive reply; I may just well take the plunge.

David

 

[lurker]

David

IIRC there is a woodworking supplies place just outside scarborough you might be able to view these at.

 

[delliott1973]

Yes been there a few times but they don't seem to have the Charnwood saws in. They did have an open day a couple of weeks ago though, with Charnwood attending, but I was not able to get there.