Rip Capacity: 52″R, 14″L
Depth of Cut: 3″ (90°); 2-3⁄16″ (45°)
Table: 29″W x 42″L
Weight: 492 lbs
2010 Street Price: $2,499.99
General provided me a General International 50-300M1, manufactured in Asia, which I found to be appointed with lots of attractive features. First off, this saw has vac hose port in the guard as well as a shroud underneath the blade for two-point dust collection — a great tag team! After my cutting test, with the top guard connected to a separate shop vacuum, the tabletop was not only cleaner than many other saws, but I could only scrounge a handful of dust from inside.
The guard offers helpful clarity for seeing the blade, and it’s mounted to a high-profile riving knife, plus a second low-position knife comes standard. They switch out with a flip-lever release under the throatplate. Still, unlocking the riving/knife guard is a bit of a hassle: the throatplate can’t be removed separately, so you have to lift it with one hand and find the lever underneath to unlock things. Other styles are easier.
General’s 50-300M1 saw comes with crank-up casters in the base, which take a lot of work to get out, but work well once you have the machine rolling.
You’ll need a rolling base for most cabinet saws if you need to move them around the shop, but not on this machine. It has integral casters below a cast-iron skirt that crank up and down with a separate hand wheel. The action takes a lot of cranking, but once engaged, you can turn or roll the saw around with ease.
One nice feature of the 50-300M1 is a push-button arbor lock, which allows you to make all your blade changes one-wrench.
Unlike its Canadian cousin, this saw has places to hang wrenches, fence and miter gauge, a clip for a push stick and setscrews on the miter gauge bar to snug it up in the table slots. It also has a pushbutton arbor lock for one-wrench blade changes. There’s no standard extension table or legs here, but you can add them as accessories for $126.
The saw has one feature that wasn’t up to snuff: a digital readout for bevel-tilt angles fell out of accuracy consistently after the blade was tipped beyond 17°. But, a nice manual pointer scale came to its rescue anyway.
The 50-300M1 offers a lot to like at a mid-range price, with smart offerings for safety, dust control and convenience.
