ARTICLES & REVIEWS

It isn't every day that a whole new line of machines hits the market, so I couldn't resist the invitation that arrived in my mailbox in late April, to a sneak preview of a totally new woodworking machinery company - Steel City Tool Works - at their corporate headquarters in Murfreesboro, TN, outside Nashville. This was one show I didn't want to miss.

Founded less than a year ago by Mark Strahler and Scott Box--both former Delta Machinery executives--with additional backing from a small group of private investors, Steel City is already up and running with a line of 32 machines for the professional and high-end amateur woodworking market. Over a hundred shipping containers of the freshly minted machines are already enroute to North America in preparation for the official rollout at the giant IWF trade show in Atlanta in August 2006. Clearly, the owners are confident that their new wares will be well received in the North American marketplace.

Having known Scott and Mark for over a decade, and having toured Delta's Taiwanese operations in 1997, I was sure that this new company would be a strong contender from the outset. Scott was director of product development for Delta before he left to head up the Powermatic division of the WMH Tool Group, owner of the Jet, Powermatic and Wilton brands. In his nearly thirty years in the industry, he had been involved with the design and manufacturing of literally every type of woodworking machinery. Over the years, he and Mark have amassed an extensive network of connections in Taiwan and mainland China, which have allowed them to design, manufacture and bring their starting lineup to market in less than a year's time.

Steel City's slogan, "By Tool Guys, For Tool Guys," sums up the company's philosophy, which harks back to the old days before big box stores, when manufacturers built solid, no-nonsense machines for discriminating end users and sold them through a supportive network of local distributors. According to Strahler, Steel City will "avoid the trap of bringing miscellaneous 'stuff' to the marketplace, which is too often the case in today's woodworking machinery business. That's why we're introducing only one drill press -- not 12. Overloading the market is both wasteful for the market and confusing for the end-user. SCTW concentrates on well-thought-out, well-designed products that specifically address what we know to be the confirmed wishes of woodworkers. As for the future, Steel City is dedicated to actively working on new innovative products, tools that will be valuable to our customers."

This is not to say that Steel City machines will not appeal to hobbyists and amateurs, as their prices are competitive with hobbyist brands, but they are definitely targeted at the serious, if not professional, woodworker. In keeping with their commitment to good value, everything Steel City makes is covered by a five-year warranty, which reflects their confidence in the integrity and longevity of their products. (I have not read the fine print of the warranty. I'll get back to you on this.)

Don't expect to find Steel City machines at your local big box store anytime soon. At the outset, they will only be available through a selected group of about 75 to 85 machinery distributors in the US and Canada, with more to be added as the line becomes established.

The Machines

So, what about the products themselves? How good are they? What makes them different from the competition? How do they compare pricewise? Such are the questions pesky editors like to ask, and we were no exceptions. Happily, our hosts were fairly forthcoming with the answers. (I say "fairly" because we were requested not to divulge target pricing until later this summer when the official launch is scheduled. Without being more specific, I can tell you that the prices are generally comparable to those of companies such as Jet and Delta.) Because most of the samples assembled for this meeting were final pre-production models, our actual hands-on trials were limited to their 18" bandsaw and 8" wedge-bed jointer. But, we were treated to an up-close and personal look -- over, under and inside -- at just about every tool in the line.

And how exactly do these new machines differ from, say, the equivalent Delta or Jet model? The answer ranges from "not much" to "quite a bit," depending on which machines you're talking about. Certain categories -- specifically grinders, air cleaners, planers, sanders, dust collectors, benchtop mortisers, midi-lathes and shapers -- are more or less commodity-level machines, thoughtfully chosen and with some nice features and evidence of informed design decisions, but not groundbreaking. They are good tools, comparable to or better than many on the market, but they are primarily there to flesh out the product line.

Steel City's major innovations show up mostly in the two flagship categories - tablesaws and bandsaws - but also to some extent in jointers and the solitary drill press in the line. Without hands-on testing of production models, it's hard to know much about the performance dimensions of these machines.

Tablesaws

It is obvious that Steel City has expended its strongest innovative efforts in this most popular of all woodworking machine categories, where the market runs wide and deep. As a group, the Steel City saws are strongest where it counts the most -- in their basic mechanical construction -- and less so when it comes to accessories such as blade guards and miter gauges, which are pretty standard Taiwanese fare. The serious product development has gone into the important stuff. Their fence systems range from good to superior.

Hybrid Saws

At the lower end of the Steel City tablesaw line, designed for the woodworker on a contractor's saw budget, are two cleverly engineered "cabinet saws," actually hybrids, in 1¾-HP and 3-HP versions, available with either a 30" or 50" fence. A look inside one of these saws reveals a trunnion system that resembles a contractor's saw arrangement, but with a couple important differences.

First, to combat the contractor's saw's annoying habit of flexing when tilted (thereby causing scorched cuts), the torsion rods have been substantially beefed up and the motor has been relocated into a more neutral position under the blade. And, unlike any other contractor's saw mechanism I've ever seen, this one is mounted directly to the saw cabinet itself, rather than to the underside of the table top. This makes it much easier to perform routine alignments of blade, fence and table.

Cabinet Saws

The heart of the tablesaw lineup consists of five heavy-duty cabinet saws: two 10"/3-HP models with different quality fence systems; a 10"/5-HP model; a massive 12"/7.5-HP, 3φ model (also available with a 5-HP/1φ motor); and the secret weapon of the line, [drum roll please......] a 10"/3-HP saw with a titanium-coated table top.

All of these saws feature cast-iron motor mounts, three-belt drive pulleys, TEFC motors, 4" dust port, large chrome hand wheels, magnetic starters and 50" fence systems. (The deluxe industrial fence system, available on all models, is the smoothest-operating fence I've tested, at least in recent memory.) The 10"/5-HP saw and the 12"/7.5-HP saw are only available in left-tilt versions, but the other models offer both left- and right-tilt versions.

One interesting quality control feature I noticed was this certificate that came with each saw, listing the tolerances for blade runout, blade height and parallelism to the tabletop. Actual factory readings are noted next to the maximum allowable tolerances for each measurement.

The titanium-coated tablesaw was the most novel thing we saw at Steel City that day. Imagine a shiny, gold-colored tabletop on an otherwise normal looking tablesaw. My first instinct was, "Why titanium?" and my second was "How long will this last before it wears off?" Well, the answers were surprising. Titanium Nitrite (TiN) is a ceramic coating that is vacuum-deposited on the cast-iron table top at a temperature of 400° C. It is harder than carbide and impervious to acids, bases and solvents. It provides a low-friction, non-stick surface that will not flake, blister, chip or peel. Perhaps most importantly, Steel City claims that it will resist the rust and corrosion that often plagues other tablesaw tables. Best of all, it doesn't add an inordinate amount of cost to the saw.

All alone at the top of the tablesaw line is the 12" industrial model, a left-tilting giant built on a footprint scarcely larger than the 10" saws. But, don't be fooled. This saw weighs 483 lbs. and comes standard with a 7.5-HP 3-phase motor (5-HP, single-phase optional). It has a 1" arbor and a maximum depth of cut of 4 inches.

Bandsaws

Sticking with the theme of "aim for the biggest bulls-eye," Steel City has pumped considerable engineering effort into their two new full-size bandsaws, the 18" and the 20" models. (Rumor has it that a 16" bandsaw with a 1 3/4-HP motor is just around the corner.)

We had the opportunity to take the 18" model for a shakedown cruise, where it ripped effortlessly through an 8x8 oak beam. The stock fence comes with a standard vertical-tube type resaw attachment that is adjustable front-to-back to line up with the cutting edges of different width blades. As an indication of smoothness, the saw started without toppling a nickel that we stood on edge on the table top.

The 18" saw is powered by a 2-HP motor and the 20" by a 3-HP motor. Both machines have a two-speed step pulley to adjust the blade speed. Both come standard with an efficient foot brake, rack-and-pinion guidepost mechanism, magnetic-base task lamp, a tension gauge that actually works, and a built-in, quick-release belt tensioning lever. The 20" machine has a paddle-type magnetic switch. Both have 12" of resaw capacity.

At 450 lbs. and 536 lbs. respectively, these are definitely not lightweight saws. A quick glance inside shows that Steel City has done its homework. It's all heavy steel construction, with gussets and welds designed to resist the twisting forces that can pull a lighter-duty saw out of alignment when the blade is brought to full tension. More evidence of forethought is apparent in the design of the motor and wheel mounts, which are infinitely adjustable to allow precise coplanar adjustment. The most amazing thing, though, was the dust collection. The bottom cabinet door is so tightly sealed against the chassis that not a fleck of dust remains when you're finished cutting. In fact, don't even bother trying to open the lower door while the dust collector is running; it's almost impossible.

At the prices mentioned for these machines, they are sure to turn a lot of heads when they become available later this year.

Jointers

Though they look more like aircraft carriers, jointers are the battleships of big iron woodworking machinery because they are heavy and relatively easy to manufacture. Wedge-bed jointers are still the standard, but in recent years, another type of jointer has come into vogue: the parallelogram-style jointer. Instead of inclined dovetail ways, this style of jointer has four pivots on which the tables move up and down in small arcs at the touch of a lever. The advantages of this design are the quickness and ease of raising and lowering the table and the simpler adjustment of the tables to be coplanar with each other. (Don't let 'em kid you, though: it's not as easy as it sounds. Still it beats the old trial and error method of using brass shim stock in the ways.)

Steel City has introduced three new parallelogram-style jointers - a 6", an 8" and a 12" model - as well as two price-conscious wedge-bed machines in 6" and 8" widths. When I jointed that big oak beam on the 8" wedge-bed jointer, I found it to be extremely smooth-running, businesslike and nearly vibration-free. All the jointers have dust ports, heavy-duty cast iron fences, and switches conveniently mounted on wands within easy reach of the operator. In our dry runs, the parallelogram mechanisms were smooth and responsive.

Drill Press

When Strahler said they weren't going to introduce 12 drill presses, he wasn't kidding. Steel City has exactly one, a floor-standing, ¾-HP/17" model with a full 6" of quill travel, 16-speed poly-V-belt drive, rack-and-pinion mounted tilting table, and built-in work lamp. A laser-crosshair attachment is optional. The chuck has a #2 Morse taper. The split head casting design theoretically allows you to compensate for quill wear over the life of the machine; my hunch is that it makes it easier to manufacture, too, but that's the idea after all: to get more adjustability in a more cost-effective manufacturing paradigm.

Other Machines

While the other tools in the Steel City line weren't quite enough to make this author wax poetic, they were not totally unremarkable either. Here is a brief recap:

Planers. The 15"/3-HP and 20"/5-HP planers are also familiar looking. Both feature triple V-belt drive systems and adjustable 16 fpm and 20 fpm feed rates. The 20" model has a 4-knife cutterhead, while the 15" model has three knives and a digital-readout depth gauge.

Grinders. The three grinders in the lineup, put simply, are built like tanks. The largest of the three, a 10", 1725-rpm behemoth, weighs in at 103 lbs. Its smaller 8" counterpart weighs only 75 lbs. and runs at 3450 rpm. The 3/4-HP variable-speed (1725 - 3450 rpm) model is the lightweight of the group at 47 lbs. All come standard with worklights and eyeshields.

Benchtop mortiser. Though only a ½-HP model, this mortiser features a heavy-duty rack-and-pinion plunging mechanism and clever roller-bearing work guides mounted in the table slots. Worktable extensions and a two-position hold down complete the package.

Midi-lathes. The two midi-lathes - one with five-speed belt drive and the other with a 500 - 3,800 rpm variable speed drive - will appeal to pen turners, miniature makers and demonstrators alike. Both feature 1/2-HP induction motors, a 10" swing and 15" between centers.

Drum sanders. There are two drum sanders in the lineup -- a 26" dual-drum model and a 16" x 32" open ended single drum model. The dual-drum sander features a 3-HP motor, a 12" x 26" work capacity, a variable-speed feed motor and a rubber feed belt. The adjustable rear drum allows you to precisely line up your second grit with the outfeed from the first grit, for one-pass sanding operation. The 16' x 32" drum sander resembles the Performax 16-32 in its overall design, though it outweighs the Performax by twenty pounds, has 2" more thickness capacity (5" total) and boasts a variable feed range of up to 31 SFM as opposed to Performax's 0 -10 SFM range. The jury is out on whether the faster feed speed is a real advantage.

Oscillating spindle sander. Though this unit looked like standard Taiwanese fare to me, that's not a bad thing. I used to own a similar machine and loved it. It was smooth as silk, quiet and had plenty of power. The Steel City model comes with 10 different diameter spindles, a 1-HP motor and a built-in dust port.

Dust Collectors. The 1-HP and 1 ½-HP dust collectors closely resemble single-stage collectors offered by other companies. Both feature clear plastic lower bags and 1-micron washable upper bags.

Air cleaners. Steel City has included two ceiling-mounted air cleaners in their opening lineup, one a three-speed unit with remote control and a top speed of 1250 CFM, and the other a single-speed 850 CFM unit.Both air cleaners have "dirty filter" indicators on the side that tell you when the filters need cleaning. The three-speed unit has a 7 ½ hour timer and claims to change the air in a 20' x 20' shop 22 times per hour. That's pretty impressive for a unit of this size.

Shaper. The single shaper in the lineup is a 3-HP, two-speed model that comes with ¾" and 1" spindles and a ½" router collet. You can change the speed between 7,000 rpm and 10,000 rpm with just a simple flip of the poly-v belt. All the controls - magnetic starter, chrome raise/lower handwheel, reversing switch - are conveniently located in the front of the machine. It comes with a no-nonsense fence/hold-down unit and a 4" dust port. The fence halves are individually micro-adjustable.

Off to the Races

Steel City Tool Works is the new kid on the block, but it has some of the most experienced personnel in the industry along with a highly-developed network of manufacturing resources in place on the Eastern Rim -- a huge advantage for anyone contemplating a move this bold.

Instead of going the way of the rest of the manufacturers in their market, Steel City plans to make only industrial-quality machines, with no frivolous bells or whistles. By selling through traditional industrial distributors, they plan to instill a basis of trust in both dealers and customers. According to Scott Box, low-end benchtop tools and big box stores are "self-fufilling prophesies of doom." If all goes according to plan, the company will begin shipping inventory to their dealers by the end of June 2006, and from there to end users by IWF, the third week of August.

Over the next four years, Steel City plans to introduce between seven and ten new products per year. We're told that the next candidates for product development will include an oscillating edge sander, a 13" portable planer, a 2-HP shaper and an oscillating wide-belt sander.

The bottom line here is that Steel City Tool Works is very intent on becoming a major contender -- if not a household name -- in the woodworking machinery arena in the very near future. They're counting on their broad line of carefully designed, heavy-duty, no-frills machines and their service-oriented dealer network to make that dream a reality. As soon as production machines are ready for testing, we'll find out if the performance lives up to the promise.

^© 2006 by Ellis Walentine. All rights reserved.
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