My thoughts on the AC216TS

[Emstuv]

So I received the saw a while back and it stayed in the box as I was finishing my Sellers bench.

Once out I started taking some measurements to make a Table Saw "Station".

And then I started fettling and assembling, this is when I started scratching my head.

The blade, when at 90 degrees according to the angle adjuster is off my 1-2 degrees off 90 from the table. I though fair enough, I use a digital scale to set the angle - no biggie.

The blade was 0.65mm off when referencing off the left mitre slot - hmmm may be not that critical, can be adjusted I thought.

When locking the fence and aligning it to the right mitre slot, it was off (positive) angled away.

Then I placed my Incra Mitre gauge in the left slot.......it sits proud of the table. I tried it in the right mitre and its just below the table. When measuring, the left mitre slot is 1mm shallow of the right. WTF!

No matter how many adjustments I made to the incra gauge, it would not slide. I then placed my veritas steel straight edge and the culprit was exposed. The mitre slot is not straight, there is a bow in it causing the gauge to jam when adjusted. Works ok in the right slot, but jams in the left. The frustration was now at its peak.

I have run some 2x4 through with the fence and it cuts well. But the mitre slot is very very frustrating.

I have sent an email to Axminster.

 

[Cordy]

Here is the AC216TS
A pile of letters and numbers didn't mean much to me :?

 

[sunnybob]

A = axminster
C = craft rated
216 = diameter of blade
TS = Table saw.

easy peasy lemon squeezy. =D>

 

[Bodgers]

So I received the saw a while back and it stayed in the box as I was finishing my Sellers bench.

Once out I started taking some measurements to make a Table Saw "Station".

And then I started fettling and assembling, this is when I started scratching my head.

The blade, when at 90 degrees according to the angle adjuster is off my 1-2 degrees off 90 from the table. I though fair enough, I use a digital scale to set the angle - no biggie.

The blade was 0.65mm off when referencing off the left mitre slot - hmmm may be not that critical, can be adjusted I thought.

When locking the fence and aligning it to the right mitre slot, it was off (positive) angled away.

Then I placed my Incra Mitre gauge in the left slot.......it sits proud of the table. I tried it in the right mitre and its just below the table. When measuring, the left mitre slot is 1mm shallow of the right. WTF!

No matter how many adjustments I made to the incra gauge, it would not slide. I then placed my veritas steel straight edge and the culprit was exposed. The mitre slot is not straight, there is a bow in it causing the gauge to jam when adjusted. Works ok in the right slot, but jams in the left. The frustration was now at its peak.

I have run some 2x4 through with the fence and it cuts well. But the mitre slot is very very frustrating.

I have sent an email to Axminster.

I had none of these issues with mine.

One of the main advantages over the old TS200 model was just how sorted it is out of the box. My fence locking is square, blade alignment is spot on etc.

On the mitre slots...are you sure they are bowed?

I had issues with mitre bars from commercially sold mitre gauges as they were 0.75” whereas these slots are 19mm. So they were too tight to move, one I had sand down, but once done it ran smoothly in the slot with no bow.

 

[Emstuv]

I squared the straight edge with a engineer square. There is an lip, I then placed it in the slot and used feeler gauges. It’s ever so slightly bowed. Now this I could possibly sand, but I can not sand the depth issue. The right one is 1mm deeper than the left. This results in the gauge sitting 1mm proud of the table.

Still waiting on reply from Axminster, been 5 days now.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I've had one of these for a couple of months, and couldn't be more pleased with it, but I don't know what I am doing, and my previous saw was a dodgy pressed steel thing that had fittings to hang a handheld circular saw underneath - accurate is not what it was.

I also don't own digital calipers which measure to 100th of a millimetre - perhaps I would be more disappointed if I did.

One question: I don't own a mitre guage, and a good one costs nearly as much as the sliding table kit, which includes a mitre guage - would this be a frippery, or a valuable addition - I have no idea - currently I am using sleds to make cross cuts, which is ok, but not completely accurate, because I made the sleds. The sliding kit is here: https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-c ... saw-104930

Sorry to hear that yours isn't as good as it could be - perhaps mine isn't either, but I am too sloppy and agricultural a woodworker to know any different.

 

[MikeJhn]

That's the good thing about a sliding table the mitre slots become irrelevant.

 

[Ttrees]

There should be some bolts to make a positive stop on the 90 and 45 tilt of the blade.

If it were a secondhand machine, I would file the mitre slots to be straight, square and at the correct depth.
Cast iron is fairly soft and easy to file, albeit a bit of a dirty job.
The main thing when doing bodging with machinery, is to check absolutely everything for squareness
If you do this, will it have a knock on effect on something else?
i.e... Is the table slots parallel with the throat plate?

Always better to try and shim with things rather to remove metal...
A non related example for instance.... if the fence was not parallel , you could shim the fence rail square rather than working on the fence itself.

I would wait to see what Axminster say before doing so, if it makes sense.
Good luck

Tom

 

[Emstuv]

I have considered filing/sanding the mitre slots.

The fence being off is not the worst. Many manufacturers have the fence lean off a little to further reduce the chance of kick back. When I ran some smaller pieces through they came out OK, but yes the fence rail bracket thing can be moved alittle offset to compensate.

In any case, this is wood and operating with 2 decimal places in mm (0.01mm) is ridiculous in my opinion. I use calipers frequently, but limit myself to 1 decimal place.

Still no word from Axminster.

 

[transatlantic]

I wouldn't make any modifications on a new machine. You might find an issue a few months down the road and they probably then won't accept it as a return.

I know it's super annoying, but the best option is to just get it replaced. As Axminster do their own deliveries, it can probably be replaced on the same delivery?

 

[Bodgers]

I've had one of these for a couple of months, and couldn't be more pleased with it, but I don't know what I am doing, and my previous saw was a dodgy pressed steel thing that had fittings to hang a handheld circular saw underneath - accurate is not what it was.

I also don't own digital calipers which measure to 100th of a millimetre - perhaps I would be more disappointed if I did.

One question: I don't own a mitre guage, and a good one costs nearly as much as the sliding table kit, which includes a mitre guage - would this be a frippery, or a valuable addition - I have no idea - currently I am using sleds to make cross cuts, which is ok, but not completely accurate, because I made the sleds. The sliding kit is here: https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-c ... saw-104930

Sorry to hear that yours isn't as good as it could be - perhaps mine isn't either, but I am too sloppy and agricultural a woodworker to know any different.

If you are interested in a high quality mitre gauge, this is a superb one from w-new

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32446188107.html

Quality is excellent.

As all of these bars are 0.75", that's about 0.1mm larger than the 19mm slot, but a bit of sanding on a flat surface sorts it.



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[Bodgers]

I have considered filing/sanding the mitre slots.

The fence being off is not the worst. Many manufacturers have the fence lean off a little to further reduce the chance of kick back. When I ran some smaller pieces through they came out OK, but yes the fence rail bracket thing can be moved alittle offset to compensate.

In any case, this is wood and operating with 2 decimal places in mm (0.01mm) is ridiculous in my opinion. I use calipers frequently, but limit myself to 1 decimal place.

Still no word from Axminster.

Send it back. Just give them a call if you aren't getting a response. I usually get a response within 24hrs using the customer service email. They are very good. If you explain the top isn't milled correctly they will replace the machine.



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[Emstuv]

After a dicussion with Axminster, they are sending a replacement table that I will fit. Hopefully the QC will be a little better on this one.

 

[Glynne]

I bit the bullet and ordered one on Tuesday - arrived just before 8:00 this morning which surprised me as I didn’t go for the <10:30 slot and truth be told, wasn’t fully out of bed.
The TNT driver immediately impressed me by saying he was glad I wasn’t some old bloke (I’m 66) and then the penny dropped that the there was only him and his van with no tail lift!
Whilst the Axminster specs put the weight at 70kg, I naively thought the cast table would be separate and so would be fairly easy to shift - no it was very much attached so a bit of an effort to get the thing off the van.
Long story short, with help from herself I got it into the workshop (far end of the garden).
I assembled it today, pretty straight forward although the extension tables didn’t lie completely level across the whole length & width of the cast table. The cast table is flat, didn’t check the mitre slots but I can’t really understand the gauge for the fence? You can zero it but only using the long fence and not with the shorter fence fitted. Don’t know if you can stick a new measure down?
Hope to have a proper play with it tomorrow.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I've had one of these for a couple of months, and couldn't be more pleased with it, but I don't know what I am doing, and my previous saw was a dodgy pressed steel thing that had fittings to hang a handheld circular saw underneath - accurate is not what it was.

I also don't own digital calipers which measure to 100th of a millimetre - perhaps I would be more disappointed if I did.

One question: I don't own a mitre guage, and a good one costs nearly as much as the sliding table kit, which includes a mitre guage - would this be a frippery, or a valuable addition - I have no idea - currently I am using sleds to make cross cuts, which is ok, but not completely accurate, because I made the sleds. The sliding kit is here: https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-c ... saw-104930

Sorry to hear that yours isn't as good as it could be - perhaps mine isn't either, but I am too sloppy and agricultural a woodworker to know any different.

If you are interested in a high quality mitre gauge, this is a superb one from w-new

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32446188107.html

Quality is excellent.

As all of these bars are 0.75", that's about 0.1mm larger than the 19mm slot, but a bit of sanding on a flat surface sorts it.



Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk

Thank you - looks good. However, $65 +$40 postage(!) makes it almost the same as the sliding table kit (£120). Hence my quandary. Still considering. I also "need" a bandsaw, so it's all getting a bit expensive. Scottish ancestry is causing me to ponder a while. (In Greece, instead of having short arms and deep pockets, they say you have crabs on your pocket, hence the desire not to spend money).

 

[Bodgers]

I've had one of these for a couple of months, and couldn't be more pleased with it, but I don't know what I am doing, and my previous saw was a dodgy pressed steel thing that had fittings to hang a handheld circular saw underneath - accurate is not what it was.

I also don't own digital calipers which measure to 100th of a millimetre - perhaps I would be more disappointed if I did.

One question: I don't own a mitre guage, and a good one costs nearly as much as the sliding table kit, which includes a mitre guage - would this be a frippery, or a valuable addition - I have no idea - currently I am using sleds to make cross cuts, which is ok, but not completely accurate, because I made the sleds. The sliding kit is here: https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-c ... saw-104930

Sorry to hear that yours isn't as good as it could be - perhaps mine isn't either, but I am too sloppy and agricultural a woodworker to know any different.

If you are interested in a high quality mitre gauge, this is a superb one from w-new

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32446188107.html

Quality is excellent.

As all of these bars are 0.75", that's about 0.1mm larger than the 19mm slot, but a bit of sanding on a flat surface sorts it.



Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk

Thank you - looks good. However, $65 +$40 postage(!) makes it almost the same as the sliding table kit (£120). Hence my quandary. Still considering. I also "need" a bandsaw, so it's all getting a bit expensive. Scottish ancestry is causing me to ponder a while. (In Greece, instead of having short arms and deep pockets, they say you have crabs on your pocket, hence the desire not to spend money).

It's less than that - 110 USD is about £90.

Sliding table is giving you more than a mitre gauge but at the expense of room in the workshop, which personally I think defeats the object of the saw as it is supposed to be for a small hobbiest workshop.



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[Trainee neophyte]

Thank you - looks good. However, $65 +$40 postage(!) makes it almost the same as the sliding table kit (£120). Hence my quandary. Still considering. I also "need" a bandsaw, so it's all getting a bit expensive. Scottish ancestry is causing me to ponder a while. (In Greece, instead of having short arms and deep pockets, they say you have crabs on your pocket, hence the desire not to spend money).

It's less than that - 110 USD is about £90.[/quote]

Sliding table is giving you more than a mitre gauge but at the expense of room in the workshop, which personally I think defeats the object of the saw as it is supposed to be for a small hobbiest workshop.



Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk

I agonised over which saw to buy (who doesn't), and went for this one because of the alleged precision. I can find an extra metre or so to the left of the saw (need it for crosscutting anyway), so it is just juggling the cost - an extra £30 +/- is neither here nor there, but which bit of kit is more useful? If I don't get a sliding table kit, I will definitely need to make an extension table to support work (it's all a bit wibbly-wobbly at the moment as very narrow table on this saw). So, all things considered, I'm moving towards the sliding table...willing to be talked out of it, though. Thank you for your help.

 

[Yosarian]

I bought this for my AC216TS and it works very well:

[£35.78 46% OFF]Drillpro Upgraded Miter Gauge Brass Handle Table/Saw Router Miter Gauge Sawing Assembly Ruler Tool Accessories from Tools, Industrial & Scientific on banggood.com
https://banggood.app.link/CF9eG5WVfY

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[Bodgers]

I bit the bullet and ordered one on Tuesday - arrived just before 8:00 this morning which surprised me as I didn’t go for the <10:30 slot and truth be told, wasn’t fully out of bed.
The TNT driver immediately impressed me by saying he was glad I wasn’t some old bloke (I’m 66) and then the penny dropped that the there was only him and his van with no tail lift!
Whilst the Axminster specs put the weight at 70kg, I naively thought the cast table would be separate and so would be fairly easy to shift - no it was very much attached so a bit of an effort to get the thing off the van.
Long story short, with help from herself I got it into the workshop (far end of the garden).
I assembled it today, pretty straight forward although the extension tables didn’t lie completely level across the whole length & width of the cast table. The cast table is flat, didn’t check the mitre slots but I can’t really understand the gauge for the fence? You can zero it but only using the long fence and not with the shorter fence fitted. Don’t know if you can stick a new measure down?
Hope to have a proper play with it tomorrow.

Yes, I mentioned about the measure guide strip in my YouTube review. It only measures without the sub fence attached. The design of the TS200 was better in this respect as you just flipped the fence on its side and you had two sets of measurements, one for the thin strip side, one for the high side. The AC216TS fence is way better though, so I wouldn't trade for for that. I don't use the measure guide on any power tool anyway, always measure from the teeth to the fence.

Yep, this is a heavy, substantial, machine. As the blade mechanism/trunnions are now cast iron as well, it's even heavier than the TS200. I could lift the old one myself, but this is 100% a two person lift.

 

[MikeJhn]

At 70Kg that it 2Kg heavier then the TS250-2, obviously a substantial increase in mass somewhere, perhapse the wider mitre slots may explain an increase in mass of the table top to accommodate them.