General 350R vs General Intl 270/275 table saw

[DarrylR]

I'm looking for a table saw and trying to understand how the older Canada-made model saw stacks up with the newer 3HP Asian built saws. All 3 of these have similar specs and I'm trying to understand the pros of the 350R vs the other 2 other than being put together here.

Anyone have experience with 2 of these models or all 3?

The price isn't a big deal to me and I'm not as concerned about the fence on each. I plan to get the Excalibur fence (slf35t52) with whichever model I choose instead of the standard t-fence system.

The table saw being the main piece of my shop it is worth it to me if there is a good advantage with a model.

[missioninwood]

If price isn't an option, why aren't you considering SawStop?  They are an excellent quality saw and then you wouldn't need to upgrade the fence.

 

miw

[DarrylR]

Honestly I've never even looked at anything from them. I just did a quick "build and price" on their website and came up with a $5600 package.

I'm not really saying any price is fine but the difference between the general models is in the hundreds up to 2999 for the 350R.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[STL Woodguy]

I directly don't have experience with those particular models of General International saws, but I do have an older saw from them (now discontinued) that I would say lies somewhere between the 50-200 and 50-275 on specs. For what it's worth, I've owned that saw for quite a while now (my very first major power tool in the shop) and never have had issues, complaints or wanted any more out of a saw, unless we're talking Sawstop money. It might not be the CA Generals, but I have to say that I do trust General International stuff.

[knotscott]

General International is pretty typical of decent Asian imports roughly par with Jet, Grizzly, Shop Fox, Steel City, etc.  The Canadian made General is a more robust machine made to stricter standard....IIRC, it's forged in Quebec using a meehanite process on their cast iron....it's a heavy duty lifetime machine.  Unfortunately, I don't think the 350R is made any longer, but you might find some new stock remaining.  

[CessnaPilotBarry]

I had a 1999 650, the nearly identical, but left tilt version of the 350.  I purchased it new, and used it for ~ 12 years.  It's a well-made, heavy duty, professional quality tool.  If your results aren't there with one of those saws, it's you... 

 

That said, my 650 was pre-riving knife requirement, and the splitter mounted guard was useless enough to drive me to purchase an Excalibur overarm guard.  A few years ago, I decided I really wanted a riving knife. General quoted me ~ $900 + 8-12 hours of an experienced machine mechanic's time (A.K.A. probably several days of my time) to do the retrofit.   The only other real drawback of of the General was the dust collection wasn't all that great.  Most newer designs include some sort of shroud with a door around the blade, greatly increasing dust pickup.  If you go with the 350, look and see if they've added something to help dust pickup.

 

I chose to replace the saw, and while I was at it, went SawStop.  I had used several examples of SawStop saws in other shops, and was impressed with everything about them.  The SS included a great riving knife, excellent dust collection, and of course, the brake system.  I kept the Excalibur overarm guard when I sold the 650, it's now installed on the SS. 

 

It's a personal decision based on lots of factors, but the bottom line that got me to the SS was that it's out there, it works, and it fit my personal situation.

[DarrylR]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll have to make a decision.

-Darryl