Brought home my new bandsaw today, a Delta 28-206. From start to finish it
took about 90 minutes to set the saw up and to start cutting wood.

The packaging was very good. ...it was all in one box and not two,
...but it makes it incredibly hard for one person to manage. All
parts arrived safely and without any dings, dents or scratches.

The fit and finish is very good, no blemishes of any kind and nor were there
any sharp edges.... I could not detect any differences in the
quality of the castings. With the exception of the dust collection port they
looked identical.

The manual is well written and organized, a big departure for anything
coming from China.

Ok, the negatives;
1. The table tilt angle indicator is FUBAR, it's wrinkled and not useable,
very cheaply done.
2. Upper hinge screw and nut were missing.
3. One of the lower base members is bent and needs replacing.
4. The throat plate is a piece of crap. The paint job is awful, it's full
of bubbles and it is also warped.
5. One of the doors has a large gap at the bottom.
6. The pullies were installed backwards. This made positioning the motor
difficult. I will reposition the pulleys and re-align the motor.
7. Excessive amount of grease on the tires. Actually there should not be any
at all, this was annoying.
8. Did not come with cool blocks
9. The tensioning spring is worthless, rubber bands would do a better job.
To get proper tension on the standard blade the indicator thinks I've got
something between a 1/2 or a 3/4 blade. It's only a 1/4 blade. Clearly
this spring couldn't tension a wet noodle.

I took the stock blade on and off a couple of times to see how easy it was.
... I actually prefer the doors that were on my Grizzly G1019Z. They
didn't have hinges, so you had to remove the doors completely. ...the doors
(on this Delta are hinged)-... the lower one is in the way (ever so
slightly). ...I'm accustomed to having an unfettered access to the wheels
when changing blades, not so with saws that have hinged doors.

The saw runs smooth, but I think my Grizzly might have run smoother. I wont
be able to confirm this until I mount some of my Lenox blades to the saw
(when) the riser block comes.
When I get the riser block, I'll post as to how well the machine behaves
with a known good blade.

I could have purchased a 28-299A for $659.00 but I passed because of one
feature this one has. I've not seen a bandsaw with dust
collection this good. I cut a 6 inch block of walnut and there was only 15
or 20 specs of dust on the table. This is impressive!!! Ask anyone who uses
a bandsaw and they will tell you controlling dust is a major problem... not
so with this saw.

Also, out of the box the wheels were perfectly aligned.
Comparing this saw to the more expensive US made versions the bottom cabinet
that houses the motor was surprising. The Chinese made saw has what appears
to be a better (certainly appears to be beefier) bottom cabinet. The access
doors that are easy to open and close on both sides of the cabinet is a big
plus. I think I'll store my extra blades there.

There is a vibration in the saw though (I know I also said it's smooth
running a few paragraphs up), it's either the blade of the bent bottom part
of the base that is causing this. Since it is bent the saw does not rest
firmly, I have not yet tried to shim it. ... I'm going to ask
Delta to replace it ... (but) This thing is a lot of saw for one person to
handle.

The motor is another major plus for this saw. It certainly feels to be a
much stronger 1 HP motor that what my Grizzly had or what the JET motors
feel like. This is a typical Delta strongpoint.. they use good motors. Even
with the stock blade there was no bogging doing a crosscut in the 6 inch
block of walnut I tested with it.

The blade tension release lever works very well. It releases enough tension
to be able to change the blade. If you are putting a like blade back on it
you should only need to flip the lever.
As stated earlier I wont be able to finalize my opinion until I can get my
Lenox blades installed ...
I have to order a fence as well. With the newer table size the standard
Delta fences wont fit, I'll be ordering another FastTrack fence from Mark
Duginske.
The blade guides? ... these work flawlessly.
...as for now I'm pleased with the saw overall. I could detect no
difference between this saw and the more expensive US Made saws

Just so you know, I paid $577.00 for the saw.