: It seems the best saws available now are the steel-framed,
: European-style saws. Laguna comes to mind as the "gold
: standard", but there are good quality steel-framed saws
: being made in Asia, too. Grizzly and Rikon are examples of that.
: Apparently, it's a lot easier to weld a good steel plate frame
: and keep it in alignment than it is to cast an iron one that
: won't warp. I would not buy another cast-iron saw unless is was
: an older one that I could check for alignment, then recondition.

: The problem with many (most?) cast saws is that the guide rod does
: not run perfectly parallel to the blade in both planes. As you
: raise and lower the guides, they move left-right or front-back
: and you have to re-adjust them every time you change cutting
: heights. This is very easy to check as long as the saw has a
: blade mounted in it. In some cases (typically with steel-framed
: saws), you can adjust or shim the guide mechanism if necessary
: to get everything perfectly aligned (I did this with my 10"
: Rikon). With cast saws, where the guide rod runs through the
: casting, they're either straight or they aren't and there's
: really nothing you can do about it. You can try to shim the
: frame at the joint, but that's a less than ideal solution. I
: have two cast frame saws with this issue and I haven't been able
: to get either one aligned.

Still gotta be able to pay for this stuff Brian, the Rikon while a fine piece of equipment was easily about $300 more than my Grizzly and I was stretching the limit pretty hard buying it.

Bill H.