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I have the 18" Rikon and am very satisfied. The blade is an easy change, just one bolt has to be removed from the front of the table. I do wish the lower guides were closer to the bottom of the cut, but that's really my only gripe.

[QUOTE=fmorelli] Roger,
    Since you have a PWBS-14CS can you comment on the riser system in more detail? From what I've read on forums, the saw is generally well loved, but the riser setup has been the bane of criticism. Amazon has a good roll-up of the issues with guide pins and alignment, when adding the riser.[/QUOTE] Yes, I had seen that before I bought and was concerned about it, too.

I bought the bandsaw and the riser block at the same time, the end of december 2006. So, I put the riser block in while I was installing the machine. I just followed the instructions, and plopped the riser in. It's an easy installation, so long as you have the correct wrenches. There are pins in the riser block to help align it with the two half of the saw.

Once it was together I put a straightedge on the wheels and they were indeed coplaner. I didn't have to make a single adjustment to the saw to get it to run smoothly. That's pretty nice, especially when you consider that I hadn't setup and run the saw in it's stock configuration - the wheels were coplaner after installing the riser in their original factory positions.

Now, the comments on the risers indicates that it is a recent problem - older risers did not have an alignment issue. So, I don't know if the store (Woodcraft) supplied me with a old riser (doubtful, but possible), or if Powermatic has gone back to the original design and is shipping a properly configured riser.

I'm the guy that recommended the Rigid to Serge. You can imagine the embarrasment that I felt when he had all of his problems. Mine is an earlier model than what they sell now, but it's still barely adequate. I had to replace one of the thrust bearings, and installed cool block blade guides. It gets me by, but a better one is definately on the wish list.

Al