TSPP250 Table saw

[Tuks]

Hi everyone, A quick brief on myself before I get to my question.
I have been a total motorbike fanatic up until about 2 years ago, when my best friend/best man/nextdoor neighbor got killed on his bike whilst i was sunning it in lanzorotte. My wife and kids thanked me for selling my beloved toys. But i cant sit idol, I have always watched the master at work on Discovery Home & leisure. so i decided to have a go...!
I purchased my first tool, A Record Power TSPP250 table saw.
And boy have I struggled with it since i have had it. With parts breaking, trying to fine tune it and even buying a Incra TSLS fence for it, I`m not a happy bunny!
My question is, can anyone recommend a replacement table saw, that is Square and true, or is it just me being "over ambitious"..!!
Has anyone else experienced any problems with this saw,?

 

[neilyweely]

Tuks

Welcome to the forum. I personally have no experience with this particular saw, mine is a bit older!! However I do know there seems to be mixed feelings here about Record machines, from what I have read.

Someone with vastly superior knowledge to me will answer your question soon enough I would think. In the meantime welcome to THE forum for woodworkers. I have learnt SO much from here.

Neil

 

[mailee]

Hello tuks and welcome. I think you will find on the forum that a lot of people swear by a few good saws such as the SIP, Axminxter and the Jet not to forget the Sheppach. All of these are very good saws and pretty accurate. I myself own one of the cast iron SIP table saws and am very happy with it and it's accuracy. I am sure others will be along shortly to give their opinions of their own saws. HTH. :wink:

 

[OPJ]

Welcome to the forum.

If you do a forum search, it'll bring up several results on this saw. Some good points, some bad... Might be worth sending a private message to a couple of owners to ask them what they think. :wink:

Record also have a good reputation for after sales service and supplying spare parts, etc. Might be worth giving them a call.

What exactly is the problem with the supplied rip fence? Assuming you bought this brand-new, I'd be very surprised if it wasn't accurate at that price! :shock:

 

[Tuks]

Hi guys, thanks for the welcome. nervous to be honest....!
I still have 3 years warranty left on it.
Mailee, I did look at the Sip originally, But i thought to go with a reputable company would be i good idea at the time.!(not saying Sip arn`t a reputable of course)
In all fairness, Record after sales have been good. They have sent me spare parts next day. No quibbles ask. but it is quite frustrating.
Problems..........., this is going to be a long,... long,........ long assy...!
Run out on the blade was 0.47mm. Record sent me new washers, now 0.24mm. The rip fence rear clamp, (i guess you call it.!) has broken twice.
and you permantly have to check measurement front and rear of the blade. Then the lock handle fell off...! That was the final straw with the fence.
The two mitre slots are way out..! (cant remember the exact measurement)
Thank god for shims, for the extension tables. Pull saw, used once and the locking clip broke. Dust collector has broken. now held together with self tappers..!
Throat plate, has to be shimmed, the right side is approx 33th on the low side. This does go on.!
This would probably be a great panel saw, but for small intricate work, I don`t think so!
Am I having a bad day..?
I think I`m beginning to sound like a grumpy old man? I`m not really..!
The list does go on, probably boring you guys now...!
Any input would be great though, Need to change my saw table..!

Paul

 

[gardenshed]

It's a pity you didn't join or view the forum before you bought the Record.
As you would have been forewarned with it's faults.

I had mine for about 4 months and got fed up with replacement parts. I got my money back in the end.

Never again will I buy another Record Power product.


IMHO I would ask for your money back, if they say no have a word with your local trading standards and see what they say ( you've nothing to lose by just asking).

Good luck

 

[bluezephyr]

Im glad mine caught fire. The capacitor caught alight, Im sure the Arbour was bent, the fence handle broke.

I wouldnt be without the one ive got now.

 

[bjm]

Just be thankful you didn't buy the 200C - the mistake I made. I have mixed feelings about Record as they have good quality components but they just don't seem able to design them into functional units. I'm not sure they understand the concept of product evaluation? I also have one of their bandsaws which is very good apart from the pathetically under-engineered tensioning mechanism!

Brian

 

[dohhomer]

Hi Tucks,
I have one of these saws, I was very disappointed with it but have now managed to work through most of its problems. I've had it about 4 years now and I am 'reasonably' happy with it. But it has taken a lot of fettling to get there. I disabled the pull action on the saw as it seemed to be a bit of a gimmick, I pulled the saw carriage as far forward as possible and locked it off with a load of jubliee clips on the trunnions. I can now cross cut an 8 by 4 sheet using the sliding table. Also the dust extraction no longer gets blocked as it can now follow a more direct route. With the saw carriage locked off the flexible dust pipe does not need to follow the saw to and fro, which could lead to it getting kinked up and then blocked. I cut a large hole in the cabinet of the machine so that I could keep an eye on dust build up and give me access for maintenance without having to take this heavy machine to pieces. The dust extraction also exits here and I no longer have to use the Record dust extraction outlet. Turning to the fence, (this is a really nasty thing!) I slackened off the lockdown mechanism so it doesn't put too much strain on it but will still lock. But only just. I will back it up with a piece of timber and a quick clamp if I am doing a cut that I think will press heavily on the fence. When I adjust the fence my technique is to; unlock it and hold the fence in the middle to move it left or right I don't use the lock handle as this has the tendency to make the fence 'crab', to get the final adjustment I smack it with the palm of my hand gently. I initially practiced this method by lining the fence up with the joints in the table top (where the pieces of cast iron are joined) so that I could 'eye' all along the fence and having it sit right on the joint.

The most important thing is to get it to cut square otherwise its just a pile of scrap. Mine now does cut square, or at least square enough for me, but I cant remember exactly what I did (it was several years ago) sorry. But it is possible. You have already changed it you just need to get that extra bit of adjustment. Over the first month or so of use, I took the machine apart a couple of times and 'changed' things in order to make them fit better or just fit flat or square. I even left some things off altogether, including at least one roll pin, sorry I cant remember where from. But this may give you a clue if you decide to take your machine apart again.

I brought this saw at a show and got a good price but I would not have touched it if I had known how unfit for purpose it was. But it became something of a cause for me to make it work. Sorry I haven't addressed your other points but I seem to have written a rather long thread already.

 

[Tuks]

I`m really sorry for my late reply, but its work commitments i`m afraid.
Like I said, I have only ever used the pull saw once, and it is a gimmick!
I do like the idea of locking it off,
I have been considering to remove the extraction hose and seal of as many of the wasted holes in the housing, Instal a collection shoot made from ply into the bottom of the the housing and extracting the dust this way.
What do you think?
I did bite the bullet and spend £500 on the Incra fence system, To me, it was worth it! (Thank you Roger, Woodworkers Workshop for your help and advise) so the fence is`nt really a problem now
Even down to the throat plate was a bad move, ( My own mistake, did`nt know what I was looking for)
Very difficult to make or buy, and install a zero tolerance throat plate. Which I have been using alot lately.
I do igree, it does take some setting up,
But it does seem to be a lot of money to spend, to be totally disssapointed with.

Paul

 

[gardenshed]

Paul

Sell it on ebay, get some of your money back & buy something better.
You'll never be happy with it imho.

 

[dohhomer]

Hi Paul,

Likewise sorry for my late reply but work commitments.

I used mastic or something similar to seal up holes on the dust collection shroud underneath the saw and then hooked up their hose to my extract system and it works reasonably well. I am not sure from your post, but are you thinking of turning the internal space of the saw cabinet into a collection box?

The only thing I did with the throat plate was to shim it to make it level with the rest of the table top. For the shim I used a flat metal plate of the right thickness, this was origianlly a cover for a kitchen hob extract from B and Q. I hammered it flat, drew the outline of the throat plate on it and then cut it out.

I had not heard of a zero tolerance throat plate until I read your thread. I do concede that the original is a bit 'gappy' but it (so far!) has not really proved a problem. Presumably you have to leave some gap for when you are not using the blade in the upright position? Also I think I need a reasonable air flow gap to replace the air that the extract is shifting along with the saw dust.

I am not an expert at this sort of stuff, I just did what what seemed to work, usually after some trial and error. The end result is that it works for me. It may not be right for you. Also others with more experience than me, expecially regarding throat plates and dust extraction may recommend something else.

Lawrence

 

[Rich]

Hi everyone, A quick brief on myself before I get to my question.
I have been a total motorbike fanatic up until about 2 years ago, when my best friend/best man/nextdoor neighbor got killed on his bike whilst i was sunning it in lanzorotte. My wife and kids thanked me for selling my beloved toys. But i cant sit idol, I have always watched the master at work on Discovery Home & leisure. so i decided to have a go...!
I purchased my first tool, A Record Power TSPP250 table saw.
And boy have I struggled with it since i have had it. With parts breaking, trying to fine tune it and even buying a Incra TSLS fence for it, I`m not a happy bunny!
My question is, can anyone recommend a replacement table saw, that is Square and true, or is it just me being "over ambitious"..!!
Has anyone else experienced any problems with this saw,?

Hi Tuks, if you get this months edition of "The Woodworker" and turn to the last but one page, on the for sale section is an Excalibur for sale at £475.00 in cheshire, it's the same as Norm's, get your skates on mate, if I had the room I would snatch it off of the seller.

Rich.