Problem with SWAG Portaband Table V3.0

[velocipede]

Just a heads up to anyone considering the SWAG Portaband Table. I received V0.3 for Christmas along with an Incra V27 miter gauge and foot pedal. I was unable to get a decent fit with the Incra V27 miter gauge (purchased through SWAG as being compatible with their table) in the slots on the table. Following Incra's instructions I cranked down hard on the adjusters and the bar still didn't fit the slot. Cranked down even harder, so hard I cammed out three of the hex bolt adjusters and broke the hex wrench... and there was still a lot of slop. I talked to Patrick at SWAG and he said he would call me back, but never did. I called again today. Patrick said that they had looked at it after I called and found the slots in this batch of tables (500) were too wide and they had already talked to their supplier about it. My table slots measured 0.78" to 0.79". Incra's gauge is designed to fit 0.74" to 0.76". He said that if you rotate the nylon adjuster ring so the slot in the ring is perpendicular to the bar and facing outward, you can crank it down enough to get a snug enough fit. I asked if he would send me a table that was within specs and he said he didn't have any because the entire batch is messed up. He was sorry I ruined my adjusters but wouldn't send a new miter gauge. This info is too late for me, I already screwed up my gauge, but might help others. Incidentally, replacement adjuster sets from Incra are about twelve bucks. I hope I can get those bolts out.

That begs the question: Why pawn off a bad batch of tables on your customers rather than sending them back to the supplier.

 

[ishiboo]

Just a heads up to anyone considering the SWAG Portaband Table. I received V0.3 for Christmas along with an Incra V27 miter gauge and foot pedal. I was unable to get a decent fit with the Incra V27 miter gauge (purchased through SWAG as being compatible with their table) in the slots on the table. Following Incra's instructions I cranked down hard on the adjusters and the bar still didn't fit the slot. Cranked down even harder, so hard I cammed out three of the hex bolt adjusters and broke the hex wrench... and there was still a lot of slop. I talked to Patrick at SWAG and he said he would call me back, but never did. I called again today. Patrick said that they had looked at it after I called and found the slots in this batch of tables (500) were too wide and they had already talked to their supplier about it. My table slots measured 0.78" to 0.79". Incra's gauge is designed to fit 0.74" to 0.76". He said that if you rotate the nylon adjuster ring so the slot in the ring is perpendicular to the bar and facing outward, you can crank it down enough to get a snug enough fit. I asked if he would send me a table that was within specs and he said he didn't have any because the entire batch is messed up. He was sorry I ruined my adjusters but wouldn't send a new miter gauge. This info is too late for me, I already screwed up my gauge, but might help others. Incidentally, replacement adjuster sets from Incra are about twelve bucks. I hope I can get those bolts out.

That begs the question: Why pawn off a bad batch of tables on your customers rather than sending them back to the supplier.

You seem to have screwed it up, but for $12 and having sent you a basically messed up table, I would say he should send you new adjusters and a table.

You're completely right... those tables should not have been sent out. A lot of accessories are made for .75" slots and your table should have one that's correct.

 

[sac02]

That seems disappointing on SWAG's part - having a product in the field known to be out of spec, and then not doing anything about it? I can understand that they can't send you a table now if they don't have any, but doing nothing in the meantime, and not promising to send you a new table the second that they receive new stock is not good customer service.

They got a bad batch from their supplier, things like that happen. But the bad part is that it sounds like they made the conscious decision to ship NG parts to meet holiday demand, with the intent to just sort it out later.

Edit: saw the other thread, sounds like maybe SWAG didn't know about the defect until you notified them recently, so my comment regarding knowingly shipping NG product is probably not the case. Still, it would stand to reason that they should do something other than say, "sorry 'bout that, pal" when it is their product causing the issue.

 

[Zeke]

I can't see why you didn't stop after it looked like something wasn't working. Tightening down until breaking a wrench is being a kludge. That doesn't relieve Swag's responsibility. They can come up with a shim or adjuster that will make the table work.

Also, it seems you could knock that outside piece over, but you've have to know how.
That is if it's this:

 

[velocipede]

I agree on the kludgy part, but it's not too hard to break a 3/32" hex when you are bearing down. I can fix the problem many ways, but customers generally don't like to pay for built in problems, so I shouldn't have to "fix" it.

 

[PT Doc]

I had the same problem a few years ago and was given a new table. Those little screws will gall in the thread if you go all gladiator on them. My table with saw properly mounted does not get the blade even close to perpendicular to the table top.

Can someone show some photos of the set screw that seems to be part of the newer tables?

Thanks