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Location: Eastern WA
That's a great price for a highly regarded saw. I have it and like it a lot. My only complaints are: I think the fence system is cheap, and the neck on the light is a little too short and won't stay up.
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Location: southeastern VA
I think that that is about what I paid for mine 3 or 4 years ago.
I have been very happy with it.
The most challenging part was assembling it by myself. Even with a shopliift, that was a challenge. As with many tools, you need to be somewhat flexible to get all of the bolts secured in the base. Having a second person to help you set the saw on the base is definitely recommended. As with any BS, leave the table off until final assembly and never try lifting it by the table (the trunions are not designed for that(,
I have mine on one of the Woodriver universal mobile bases. That works well for me.
The fence and the built-in light are not the strong points. I augment the light with a mag-base light on the front side. For times that I use a fence (not often), I have a magblock that I like as a narrow fence.
The Highland Hardware woodturner's green wood blade is very nice for prepping bowl blanks and their woodslicing blade leaves a nice finish on the sort of oily woods that i have tried it on.
"the most important safety feature on any tool is the one between your ears." - Ken Vick
A wish for you all: May you keep buying green bananas.
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Not a direct comparison, but I have the Craftsman branded clone of the non-deluxe model of this saw. Overall, I've been quite happy with the saw for many years now. I did modify the fence and yes the lamp neck is too short. You are getting an extra 5 inches of resaw height if you need it, a quick release tension lever, and maybe different guides ?
One thing you may want to consider is whether you would be better served with a bigger saw. Your not too far away from the "on sale" price of a 16, 18, or 19 inch saw if you can wait.
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I have a Rikon 14" as well and feel it's well worh the money. The only thing I didn't care for was the roller blade guides and that is not a Rikon exclusive - other saws use similar setups. Roller blade guides work very well where there's enough solid metal behind the blade teeth for the bearings to have a smooth area to run against. For narrow blades like 1/4" there's not much smooth metal behind the teeth.
I wonder if bearings running on teeth could mess with the set of the teeth and cause dulling and drift. I replaced my blade guide bearings with oil soaked wooden guides and so far so good. The blade can be buried in the guide blocks if I want and I doubt it's going to mess with the teeth. If something's going to get worn, wood blocks are cheaper than bandsaw blades.
