From: bennett@adobe.com(Bennett Leeds)
Subject: Re: Dream Saw (long)
Reply-To: bennett@adobe.com
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 17:03:08 GMT

Steven Johnson writes
> 
> Has anyone had experience with the Inca 2100SE tablesaw? 

I've owned one for over 3 years now. It's great.


> I'd like to know if anyone could
> compare this saw to, say, the Powermatic 66.

I compared it to the Powermatic, the Unisaw, and the General 350. For me,
the Inca won hands down. It's design and construction are excellent. I haven't  
needed spare parts - but the only place to get them is from the Inca importer -  
Garrett Wade.


Here's my canned comments on the saw (I get asked about it pretty often):

Overall Inca things:
	Most Inca machines are ade in Switzerland. All of their machines use 
lots of aluminum for structural parts (castings, tables, fences, rails, etc), 
which cuts down on weight and reduces the chances of warping. The tools have a 
5 year warranty. Many of the machines are quite compact (10" tablesaw, 10.5" 
bandsaw, jointer/planer), which make them great for home shops. The aluminum 
construction keeps them light as well. Vibration is not a problem as Inca uses 
good design and balancing, not weight, to acheive smoothness. While you may 
find that a machine is not robust enough for some purposes (like commercial 
shop abuse), nothing is cheaply made - the fit and finish are superb 
throughout. The aluminum tops are anodized for strength.

	Inca machines are expensive compared to most home use equipment, but 
are reasonably priced compared to commerical machines. For the money, they are 
better for craftsman use than the commercial machines, which are designed for 
kitchen cabinet contractors, not furniture makers.

	Many people dismiss Inca because of their 10" tablesaw, model 250/259. 
This saw has some quoibles that render it inappropriate for many people: a 
nonstandard arbor diameter (20 mm) {reason: more support than a 5/8" arbor}, a 
tilting table {so you can put a mortising table on it}, the inability to bury a 
10" blade below the table {no excuse here}, and a small table size (it is also 
not built to take a pounding). What drives everybody crazy is that this is one 
of the most accurate saws available, which is what attracts them to it in the 
first place. But, unless you make only small things like jewlery boxes or 
non-large musical instruments, this saw is not for you. It is perfect, however, 
for these small things which require fanatical accuracy (and a small tilting 
table isn't a bother). Anyway, Inca makes a number of precision woodworking 
machines other than this controversial saw.


Inca 2100 12" Tablesaw specifics:
	I think this is Inca's best machine. It has two disadvantages: 1) The 
cost (it goes "on-sale" at Garrett Wade a couple times a year at $2200), and 2) 
the miter slots are not the standard width. Note that #1 is a biggie, since 
accessories for this saw are even more expensive, on a relative basis, than 
accessories for other machines, and only partly due to the larger blade.
	
	12" diameter blade, 1" tilting arbor, belt drive. The arbor is massive 
- *much* larger and heavier than the Unisaw's arbor. The arbor flanges are so 
massive that even Forrest, who always recommends blade stabilizers for their 
blades, says they aren't needed with the Inca. The arbor is designed so that 
all blades, dado cutters, moulding heads, etc, are always seated on the 
machined part of the arbor, never on the threads, thanks to spacers and a trick 
flange. I've got the standard 3HP 220 volt motor, magnetic switch (other hp and 
voltages are available). This saw cuts everything I feed it - 8/4 maple or 
purpleheart, resawing 4" worth of oak or walnut (before I got a bandsaw) - 
without even a hint of straining (the standard blade that comes with the saw is 
excellent).

	The main table is 27" wide by 32" deep (without extensions). Yes, 
that's 32" from front to back (Unisaw/Powermatics are 27", General is 28"). It 
is cast aluminum, with heavy ribbing underneath and two T shaped miter slots 
above. There is 12" of table in front of the fully raised blade (4" depth of 
cut), and plenty in back as well. There is an integral blade splitter that 
rises with the blade but does not project above it, so you can always leave it 
in place (except for smaller diameter dado blades). It works wonderfully. The 
standard guard has two independently swinging clear plastic sides and 
antifeedback pauls, but like most guards can't be used for groove cuts or 
tenoning. While it is good for a standard guard, I bought the SUVA guard, which 
"floats" above the blade on its own arm (the Delta UniGuard is similar). I've 
not needed the anti-kickback pauls. The only problem with the SUVA guard is 
that the arm swings up on the right instead of the left (more on this later*).

	The standard rip fence has a 27" width capacity, and is aftermarket rip 
fence quality (the only aftermarket fence I like better is the Paralock). It 
uses front and back rails that fit in keys dovetailed in the main table. It is 
very easy to slide the rails to the left or right, if that's the kind of thing 
you do often (this has actually been useful). The rails are each one piece of 
extruded aluminum. The fence itself automatically clamps only at the front, but 
there is a clamp at back that you can manually tighten, if you want for 
additonal stability (I haven't seen the need) or to use hold downs (for the 
light pressure I normally use on my wheels I don't usually bother). 

	There is secondary fence that has three postions (low, medium, and high 
heights, low is useful for laminate overhangs, high for panel raising), 
attaches to the main rip fence body (this is similar in concept to the 
Unifence, except here the main fence goes all the way across and is lockable at 
the rear), and has T slots for Shophelpers or other fences, jigs, etc.(like 
Excalibur). The fence has a magnifying cursor, with 1/32" gradations (metric 
ruler is also available) (picking between them is pretty easy, too). It's easy 
to attach shop built wooden fences to the secondary fence.

	I got the optional micro-adjuster (~$45) that lets you incrementally 
adjust the fence by measured amounts of 0.004" (easy to break this down to 
0.002" by eye) (sure beats tapping the fence with your hand!). I've also 
recently bought longer rails - over 50" of cut. Metric and English rulers are 
available. The rulers slide in dovetailed ways themselves, so readjusting zero 
(like when you add a shop built fence) is fast and easy.

	The extension wings are made exactly like the main table - and cost 
over $500 (ouch!). They slide in the dovetails of the fence rails, and are 
supported by them (You should have a leg at the outer rail end for this). They 
also have a place for you to mount a Porter-Cable router from underneath. I 
built my own extension table with a router insert (The dovetailed rails make 
leveling the extension with the table automatic if you make it the right 
thickness). Having this kind of fence in a router table is a true luxury (but 
is quickly becoming a necessity; how soon I forget...).

	The blade insert plate has 9 hex screws for leveling. It fits 
seamlessly and is secured in front with a screw. Extra plates cost $50 - so I 
make my dado and molding head inserts out of wood. I run the 10" Freud dado 
cutters (1" arbor) without a hitch. I also have a 6" diameter by 1.75" wide 
moulding head, made by Leitz, that gives me a resonable approximation of a 
tilting head shaper. The cutters are made from HSS. I got the kit with 36 
profiles for about $300, but haven't used it much yet.

	The tilt mechansim of the arbor is smooth, the front panel is gradated 
in 1/2 degree increments, with built-in vernier cursors for 1/6 degree 
settings. The blade height guage is marked in 1/32" increments, and is accurate 
if you always approach your setting from the same side. One unique feature is 
that the arbor travels straight up and down, not in an arc like most saws. This 
doesn't make much difference for sawing (except the deepest part of the cut 
doesn't change position on the table which helps for jig aligments), but was 
done because the other side of the arbor is ready for a 5/8" drill chuck to be 
used as a horizontal mortiser. This mortiser is similar to the smaller saws 
table, except it is much larger and more robust. And yes, you can bury the 
blade below the table.

	The miter guage is the closest thing to an Accu-miter that I've seen. 
The bar is aluminum (extra T bars in various lengths are available), as is the 
head and detachable fence. I got a longer fence, and a extra drop stop (one is 
standard) (works similarly to the Accu-miter, except the fence doesn't 
telescope).

	The blade sits inside an airfoil, with a built-in dust collection 
attachment for a 4" hose (no need to cover the motor and seal as many openings 
as possible, etc.). There is a hole in the top to insert a metal rod (supplied) 
to lock the arbor while you change blades (no need to jam a block in the blade 
to stop the rotation). The saw comes with a complete tool set (metric, of 
course) for all nuts & bolts & adjustments. You can also get a sliding table 
attachment for it (again, for you plywood lovers), which seemed pretty good to 
me when I looked at it in the store. There is an overdesigned tenoning 
attachment (with blade cover) that costs more than some entire Taiwanese saws, 
a good finger joint attachment for the miter guage (I got this because it 
provides an easy way to attach boards to the mitre guage), a selection of 
insert plates, some assorted hardware for the rip fence (moulding head wooden 
auxilary fence, and some things I've forgotten.

	I wholeheartedly recommend this saw without reservation to anyone who 
can afford it. It has all the accuracy of the legendary Inca 10" saw, with none 
of its quiobbles. On special, this saw is worth the extra bucks over a Unisaw 
with Unifence, a Powermatic 66 with Biesemeyer, or even a General 350 with an 
aftermarket fence, IMHO.

- Bennett Leeds
bennett@adobe.com

PS: I have no connection with Inca or Garrett-Wade.

* - One feature of the saw is that the rip fence rails slide in dovetailed
ways machined in the table top (there are 4 knobs to lock them in place). This
means you can have the rip fence's width capacity at the left or right, as
you prefer (you could even split the difference if you wanted). Since the
ruler also slides in a dovetailed way in the fence rail, this is a quick and
easy thing to try out. 

The saw's blade tilts to the right, like almost all saws (the Powertmatic 66
is a notable exception). For beveled rips, it's safer to have the blade
tilt away from the rip fence - thus the fence has to be to the left of the 
blade. 

The optional SUVA guard I bought has an arm that swings up at the right of
the saw (about 30" away from the blade). that means if I rip anything to the  
right of the blade wider than 30", I can't use the guard. This isn't too bad  
since the guard swings away easily, and with a rip that wide you're not likely  
to get your hands near the blade, but it's not optimal. 

Anyway, the blade tilt and overarm guard location convinced me to try the rip  
fence at the left of the blade. The arrangement seems to be working well for me  
so far. Note that the arbor end on which you can fit the drill chuck for the  
mortising feature is at the right of the saw, so perhaps the saw was designed  
for this "leftie" use (I'm right handed, BTW).

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