thinking about a purchase

[rkh2]

dmb:

I have to agree with what everyone else has said on this subject. Just to add my two cents worth. Besides having owned a SS for close to 15 years now and having added many SS accessories since my original purchase, you can't go wrong with a SS purchase. The quality and reliability of these machines is nothing but great. I work at a big box store in the hardware department and every time I sell one of the saws they carry, I feel bad about what the customer is getting, compared to what they could get if they would have bought a SS. I can't believe the amount of plastic on some of these tools. Also most of them are built in China. In other words, you get what you pay for. If you get an older SS, as soon as you can, upgrade it to the 520, as the fence on this model is so great and easy to add jigs to it. I have never regretted my SS purchase and if I had to do it over again, I would!!

[a1gutterman]

dmb3428,

After reading all of the posts on this thread, I think that your original question has not really been answered.

quote: My question is, are the new models AS well built as some of the older models? I am talking are they still industrial strength or have they been cheapened with the times as many other companies have done. unquote.

I might be wrong about this but I believe that the answer is: No; they have not been cheapened. You can still buy replacement parts, that except for the upgrades, replace exactly the original parts, and, again except for the upgrades, all of the parts fit all of the 500's, 510's and 520's.

[dusty]

What qualifies as an "older model".

If you widen the scope of this discussion, we begin comparing the Mk V with the 10ER, Mark 7, etc.

I think highly of my 510 (now 520) and I agree with all of the comments regarding the 500, 505, 510, 520 progression. I do not believe the new models are build more cheaply than the older models.

However, some of the older models (10ER, Mark 7) were built like Sherman Tanks. Armored steel by comparison. I would love to have an old 10ER that has been pampered like my 520 so that I could do a real comparison.

I doubt that there is a 10ER that compares functionally with the 520 for safety, table space, fence accuracy, horse power, versatility, etc.

To put this in perspective, if I could have back any of my old automobiles (in the condition they were in when I gave them up), it is a toss up between the International Harvester TravelAll and the 1947 Plymouth Four Door Sedan.