Mobile Base for PWBS-14 Band Saw - 2042377.

This base is designed to fit the curved front base of the Powermatic 14" bandsaw. In use, it handles the weight of the saw and rolls very smoothly. That is of course what it is suppose to do, but I couldn't give it 5 stars.

The wheel locks go from inconvenient to absurd. The large swivel caster has a lever on it but it is not designed to be foot activated. This style lock on a power tool is a bit out dated. The absurd comes when you look at the locks on the other two wheels. What you get are a thumb screws that get tightened against the tread of the tire. I know Fred Flintstone stopped his car by dragging his feet ... but come on Powermatic, this is not a cheap base!

This mobile base is well made and solid, but I can't give it more than 3 stars.

My biggest issue with it may not actually be the fault of the base. It's that the bandsaw rocks a bit. This could be the cabinet or the mobile base, but since they're supposed to be manufactured to work together, it's not a forgivable sin. Wedging shims in the corners has pretty much solved the problem, but I don't think I should have to do that with a premier tool like this.

The other issue I have is with the two non-swivel wheel locks. Simply a threaded bolt (with a knob) that contacts the wheels to lock them. It works fine but to me seems like cheesey engineering.

Other than that, the base does what it's designed to do.

Nonetheless, maybe it's just me, but I expected more from this product.

Yes, the steel base is fairly well made and solid, but I can't give the entire product more than 2 stars.

The three issues I have with this unit are:

* The wheels are really cheap. I expect I'll be changing them out before long.
* The brakes for the wheels are very poor engineering. Yes they work, but come on is this the best the POWERMATIC engineering staff can come up with? In this instance I am using the term engineering loosely!
* The price charged for this item is out of line with the quality of the materials and quality of the manufacturing. This item is more along the lines of a HF unit selling for $29.99.

To my fellow rater, "No it isn't you. One expects a level of quality above the rest when they purchase a POWERMATIC product, unfortunately for the consumer POWERMATIC did not deliver that with this product!"

Yes, it could be better, but it's not and because it's POWERMATIC it should be better!

This base made the perfect addition to my PW bandsaw. Although the wheel brakes are a little dated in design or concept, they work well. This base fits the PW 14" bandsaw very well and works even better.