J
Jelthetiler
So I've had my 1200 for a while now and it's done 5-600 cuts, mainly travertine, 610 x 405 x 11mm. I'm not one to BS people for the sake of it so this hurts me to write this.
I write this up against my old DW250N as I was very happy with this machine, barr the water loss (everywhere)!
I'm gutted with this machine but i'll give my pro's first, they won't take long!
Pro-the surface area is so big it'll handle space wise and cut anything standard (around 1000mm) sized tiles on the market today.
Pro-the base that the tiles sit on (there are 4 pieces, 2 each side) are grooved, light alloy and hold the water 100 times better than the flat base with the holes down the side of the 250N. This allows the water to stay in the machine and be recycled.
Pro-the rail is much smoother than the 250N and the wires above the rail are held in place by a wire guard to keep it's shape.
Cons-unless I have missed a trick the wax wheels that were on the 250N that allowed it to be pulled along at 45 degrees are in a different place on the 1200 (they are at the bottom of the front legs) so you can't pull it and even if they were where they should be, there is no handle at the opposite end to pull it!! This means that the only way to move the machine is by a dead lift and it's bloody heavy. When packed away and put in the van the wheels that are on it (sit in the middle acting like a balance) allowing the machine to move. I have a new shape VW Caddy and it sits in the back by about 6 inches so as long as I pack sheets/cloth between the machine and the door, all is good!
Cons-the rail isn't central to the machine so when you try to pack it away the whole thing gets lop sided and can easily be dropped as has nearly happened to me a few times now.
Cons-after you have marked a tile, put it on the machine and aligned the line with the blade you would expect after turning the machine on to just go ahead and cut? No, the blade upon start up moves around 2mm away from your line up marks. This was particularly annoying at first but something I've got used to, had to really.
Cons-The STOP button is really tough to turn off (the START button is ok), might just be my machine but in an emergency could prove a problem if i have to stop it quick.
Cons-the motor doesn't feel as powerful as it should, feels like it needs more oomph?!!
Cons-the judder upon switch off is very bad. This is my biggest bug bear, so much so that I slow it to a stop with my fingers. I do this as in the first week I had 2 nuts on the machine 'undo' themselves and If i don't, I really feel that this will eventually shake the machine to bits. To try and alleviate the judder I even had my levels out to make sure the machine was sitting right, I even put it on a sheet of ply outside the job to no avail. The blade isn't lose and the motor feels and sounds smooth.
Cons-the outer blade cover feels as week and wobbly as the 250N, I expect to be doing maintenance on that inside 6 months-as I did before.
Cons-I did notice that after only a few weeks that rust is starting to appear on the welds. Now my brother is a welder and I mentioned this to him and he thinks that the primer/undercoats haven't hit them properly or the welds/metal had not been cleaned prior to spraying. I say this because after just a few months my 250N starting shedding paint to the point where when I got rid of it, it had almost none left.
I really am a Rubi bloke, the manual cutters I have are the nuts. It pains me to say that I feel a bit let down by this machine. Maybe I shouldn't moan as I got it from CTD's for a bargain at £838 instead of over a grand elsewhere.
I write this up against my old DW250N as I was very happy with this machine, barr the water loss (everywhere)!
I'm gutted with this machine but i'll give my pro's first, they won't take long!
Pro-the surface area is so big it'll handle space wise and cut anything standard (around 1000mm) sized tiles on the market today.
Pro-the base that the tiles sit on (there are 4 pieces, 2 each side) are grooved, light alloy and hold the water 100 times better than the flat base with the holes down the side of the 250N. This allows the water to stay in the machine and be recycled.
Pro-the rail is much smoother than the 250N and the wires above the rail are held in place by a wire guard to keep it's shape.
Cons-unless I have missed a trick the wax wheels that were on the 250N that allowed it to be pulled along at 45 degrees are in a different place on the 1200 (they are at the bottom of the front legs) so you can't pull it and even if they were where they should be, there is no handle at the opposite end to pull it!! This means that the only way to move the machine is by a dead lift and it's bloody heavy. When packed away and put in the van the wheels that are on it (sit in the middle acting like a balance) allowing the machine to move. I have a new shape VW Caddy and it sits in the back by about 6 inches so as long as I pack sheets/cloth between the machine and the door, all is good!
Cons-the rail isn't central to the machine so when you try to pack it away the whole thing gets lop sided and can easily be dropped as has nearly happened to me a few times now.
Cons-after you have marked a tile, put it on the machine and aligned the line with the blade you would expect after turning the machine on to just go ahead and cut? No, the blade upon start up moves around 2mm away from your line up marks. This was particularly annoying at first but something I've got used to, had to really.
Cons-The STOP button is really tough to turn off (the START button is ok), might just be my machine but in an emergency could prove a problem if i have to stop it quick.
Cons-the motor doesn't feel as powerful as it should, feels like it needs more oomph?!!
Cons-the judder upon switch off is very bad. This is my biggest bug bear, so much so that I slow it to a stop with my fingers. I do this as in the first week I had 2 nuts on the machine 'undo' themselves and If i don't, I really feel that this will eventually shake the machine to bits. To try and alleviate the judder I even had my levels out to make sure the machine was sitting right, I even put it on a sheet of ply outside the job to no avail. The blade isn't lose and the motor feels and sounds smooth.
Cons-the outer blade cover feels as week and wobbly as the 250N, I expect to be doing maintenance on that inside 6 months-as I did before.
Cons-I did notice that after only a few weeks that rust is starting to appear on the welds. Now my brother is a welder and I mentioned this to him and he thinks that the primer/undercoats haven't hit them properly or the welds/metal had not been cleaned prior to spraying. I say this because after just a few months my 250N starting shedding paint to the point where when I got rid of it, it had almost none left.
I really am a Rubi bloke, the manual cutters I have are the nuts. It pains me to say that I feel a bit let down by this machine. Maybe I shouldn't moan as I got it from CTD's for a bargain at £838 instead of over a grand elsewhere.
