Just wondering what a good table saw is for the job site?
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Replies
I have a dewalt 744 and would replace it with the same.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Hmmm. No one's really asked that before.
Just kidding. Many threads about table
saws. Many here like the Bosch or the newer Bosch, the Dewalt or the smaller lighter
Dewalt, the Rigid (pretty heavy), the old Makita or the new or old Makita in the
Rousseau table set up (those guys speak of their set-ups with a religious fervor), a
sprinkling of Porter-Cable and Hitachi fans and surprisingly many like the $199 Ryobi
especially for the price. Let's see have I forgotten any?
Then the corollary to the table saw arguement is the discussion of which stand is
best to use with your new table saw. Gravity rise vs good old muscle rise vs
wheeled vs homemade etc.
There's no shortage of opinions around here. Good luck.
You forgot:
forgo the TS and go with a Festool or EZ setup....
Nice summing up. I guess the good thing is there are lots of legitimate options now. When you look back, you wonder what took manufacturers so long to make decent job site saws.
Edited 1/27/2008 8:13 pm ET by fingersandtoes
hmmm. what happened to our three Ryobi fans?
i'm just hanging out till all you bosch guys get done,then i'll tell him where to gat a great table saw at 1/2 the price PLUS any thief worth his weight won't steal a ryobi. lol larryif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Sheeeeeettt, who need them stinking expensive Ryobi saws? I just go down to Harbor Freight and pick up the saws there for $35 and it'll last me the whole job even maybe.I pick em up, use em and throw em away.....Gotta tell you, when I see a sub using Craftsman or Ryobi or HF tools - I sort of think a bit less of them.And before you junk all over me for being wrong, it's not like Mechanics that are all hyped up on Snap-on when Craftsman sockets and wrenches do the EXACT same job for less price.Using cheap tools lessens your accuracy, takes more time and is more hassle than the money saved.And most times this comes up, you hear the whole " This guy uses these cheap-#### tools and gets remarkable results..." Well, maybe so, but I guarantee he takes longer to get those results and will be buying a whole nother set of tools within a year and a half.Aside from the rare "super" craftsman that uses cheapo tools to great results, most cheapo tool users are those that can't tell the difference between the good one's capabilities and the crappy one's deficiencies.Friends don't let.... been said a million times here.Plus, if you are in the business and can't earn enough to buy decent tools, at least after you've been going for a while - you have bigger issues probably.Regards,JT
Alright, I confess. I just bought a $125 (cheapo) drywall lift from Ebay...So I'm a hypocrite too!(the guy's warehouse was local - so I didn't have to pay the $77 shipping charge.)Julian
"Plus, if you are in the business and can't earn enough to buy decent tools, at least after you've been going for a while - you have bigger issues probably."
i hope you can make enough money with that lift,to be able to buy a real name brand one soon.........
just screwing with ya,couldnt pass on that one.
just think the money you save on the lift you can buy one of those ryobi impacts before long.
i have drywall lift [going on 25 years],one word of caution ,don't tell anyone you got it ,if i had 5.00 for every day mine is on loan i would have enough money to buy myself a whole pickup load of those bosch saws. larryif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
On the other hand, I always chuckle when someone shows up in a new pickup with fat tires and shiny wheels with one of them fancy radio/battery charger/pecker sharpeners in name brand colours that they paid $200 bucks for and more studs on the toolbelt than you'll see at a 'fey' leather bar. Edit for the censors
Edited 1/28/2008 12:59 am by observer
if i did one thing i could buy the very best but i do Everything so i must sacrifice somewhere.if i just did trim i could have the top of the line table saw and miter saw. But doing Form work, framing, Roofing, finish, tree work, concrete work, plumbing, and all the work on my rentals plus my own mechanic work stretches me thin
JT,I have to disagree with your thoughts about Ryobi. I actually do view them as professional tools. Just not a serious professional. For example, I have a friend that I often work with who is a professional carpenter (very skilled) but doesn't want to be a carpenter, he wants to be an artist. He just uses the carpentry to pay for his art. He buys discount tools (no HF stuff) at clearances and such. When he was looking to buy a cordless kit, I suggested to him the Ryobi.The Ryobi stuff is not great. In fact I don't own any. But a few Ryobis; such as the cordless drills, the tablesaw, chopboxes, lamtrimmer, and drill press are very good deals. The Craftsman carpentry tools are certified junk in my book.Oh, I have a mechanic friend who owns about $35000 in Snap-on, Mac, and Proto tools. I asked him once about Craftsman tools and he said the basic wrenches, sockets and such are just as good as Snap-on and such and he owned quite a few sets of those too.gk
I have to tell you my opinion of somebody drops when I see them cutting or using air tools without safety glasses, or walking around a jobsite without wearing safety boots. Or working in the sun all day bare back in shorts and no hat. As far as the tools go, there has been some awesome finehomebuilding done around this webb site both with expensive tools and with less expensive tools. The cheap tools end up it the trash if they can't do the job.
Have a good day
Cliffy
True enough.I was a photog for many years - we were on a shoot in CA, car catalog stuff.Had this assistant - walking around the place with no F$$$ shoes! What a total idiot. Cables, lights, grates, clients - and this yahoo has no shoes...This spotlight of intelligence later almost dropped a light on the camera, and DID allow a backdrop to land on the truck of the car we were shooting just as the sun was getting close to beauty light.Pretty easy to lose all respect for people that consistently do stupid stuff.I do some stupid stuff, but at least not the majority of the time.My tool snob perspective is not of a framer though. I mainly do interior remodeling and cabinetry/trim work. If I was cutting/ripping 2x stock all day for frames - I guess I wouldn't mind having a crappy saw to beat up. Plus, some crews shouldn't be let near your good tools, so I understand that as well - but I'm just me myself and I.JT
Well, maybe so, but I guarantee he takes longer to get those results
Very presumptuous of you JT !
I guess I'll say that I've seen people using Ryobi tools doing great work as long as guys like you say that friends don't let friends buy Ryobi!
It's not the tool that makes the craftsman.
Similar to all those guys that say after watching Norm build something on Yankee Workshop, "I could build that stuff if I had all those tools" - well, no you couldn't, gotta know how to use em!
Doug
Here is one (the canuck).
The too hundred buck ryobi I bought last year is a pleasant surprise.
Nice stand, good power, nice fence etc.
Have a good day
Cliffy
Either the dewalt or the bosch table saws are a good choice in my opinion. I own the bosch and have used the dewalt.
I like the fence more on the dewalt then the bosch, the bosch seems to have more power IMO, I've ripped 2" Oak and it didn't strugle with a reasonable feed rate.
Either can be had for a fair price if you can find a recon model
Like most questions about job site tools, it depends on what you need it for and how portable you'd like it to be.
I have three table saws but my regular job saw is an inexpensive aluminum Delta with a 10" blade. It's light, can be carried with one hand when necessary, and easy to set up quickly on a couple of low horses which I built to do a variety of jobs.
I put a high quality combination blade on that table saw so it cuts very nicely.
For plywood rips I use an 8'6" aluminum straightedge, a pair of clamps and a circular saw.
This has a nice view of a new Bosch setup.
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=20001.7622
Depends on what you want to do with it. I've got the Porter Cable 3812S and like it and after spending some time on a coworkers Bosch 4000 would still chose the PC first. I've not tried the newer Bosch 4100. You can catch the PC on sale time for well under $400. Having said that most of the time these days my use of a table saw is for ripping filler strips on cabinet installs. My boss has an old (gasp, choke dare I say it?) Ryobi I can carry up and down the stairs one handed. You'll not do that with the Bosch, PC, or DeWalt.
Depends on your needs. All of the portables are no match for a full size brand name non-direct drive tablesaw.
Fresh out of the box portables cut with reasonable accuracy, but all eventually fail because of a lift/crank/ tilt mechanism with a ridiculous amount of moving parts. Something within that jumble of tin/rods/gears/ bolts and pins has to give. Often its a small fire in a sawdust packed motor.
All of the portables are disposable. Your selection should directly correspond to the amount of money you are willing to throw out your truck window. I recently threw $400 out mine on the new baby DeWalt, I expect it to last about 3 or 4 years at which point I will sell to someone who doesn't know the difference.
I believe I am on my 7th replacement portable at the moment and I would be curious to know how many others have similar stories.
Gord
Just get one that fits in the Rousseau stands and you have everything you need short of being a cabinet shop.