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An article in Fine Woodworking about five years ago looked at the factory in Taiwan where 15" planers are made for all the companies who sell one (except Makita). Yes, they are all thrown from the same moulds at the casting stage, but the best of the castings and more refined parts go to the higher-end machines from companies such as Delta, Powermatic and General(International). I don't know about Jet or Grizzly, as the Canadian equivalents are known as King and Craftex. The issue also showed the manufacture of band saws, in particular the effort or lack of it put into getting proper balance and allignment as the machines are assembled. I have a 1976 Delta 14" band saw and it is noisy and rough running, but a very serviceable machine. I recently bought a 1988 King 14" because it ran so smoothly when I turned it on. Turns out the castings are so flexible I can't keep blade tension on it, and the things which should be finger tightened require a wrench, and vice versa. Before long I managed to break the blade holder and the whole thing is now scrap until I find a replacement. It's a terrible machine. My 15" Taiwanese General International planer, on the other hand, has worked for ten years without a complaint. The Fine Woodworking article concluded that the designs of the larger tools were fine. Quality control and secondary parts are the big issues.
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