I am looking to buy a contractor grade portable table saw. Anyone had good luck with any of the major brand names? Please advise. THanks.
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Jay-
I bought the Bosch (can't remember the model number) portable saw on the advice of a pro (I'm just a HO/DIYer). Love it. The stand is super stable. Fence is spot on. Soft start-up is nice. The blade guard was a little wimpy, so it's not on there anymore - easier to use that way anyway. Only drawback - it's a little heavy, but if you're not loading/unloading it from a van all the time, it's not that big of a deal. I've yet to use it for any finer furniture, but feel it'll probably be just fine - I'll just use a newer blade than I use for general work.
Hope that helps.
I have the bosch 4000 (believe is the number) and do use it in the trades. However, because of it's size and wt, only take it to jobs that I can set it up for some continuous finish work. It's not the day to day TS that will fit in the van and can be carted around easily. The plastic base scares me sliding it in and out of the van. The folding base is compact and very sturdy. The dust bag is a waste of time, don't bother with that. With a carbd shield under the base and a vac attached, not too bad containing dust. The only fault of the saw is the blade insert. The fine tuning adjusment for the plate is hokey and unless you tweek it, your work can get hung up on the outfeed side of the blade. As usual for a carpenter, the blade guard is still in the bag, can't comment on that. It cuts good through all thicknesses and types of wood. Power to spare. I upgraded to a very good (wider) frued blade for near invisible saw marked rips, the blade runs so true. You will have to clean and lube the raise/lower gears which are plastic, as they do get clogged up with sawdust and the mechanism becomes stiff, but that's pretty much a given on most TS.
You should check the advanced search feature here as this topic comes up all the time and reams of info already exists. Several here like other saws and even add on a rousseu fence system to some of the narrower models.
I am very satisfied with the performance of the bosch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Big Cal, I've got a DeWalt only because Bosch hadn't come out with theirs yet, and my third Delta was fritzin" out. I put plywood runners on the thing so it would fit in my homemade stand for the deltas...I'll try to get a pic for ya. Way sturdy. No worries, be happy. And, jeeze, I lug the thing to every job, how many tablesaws you got?<G>JW, my Dewalt fence started going wacko on me after I hired my last helper. I like to set the out feed end a hair bigger than the infeed, less burning...I hate sanding. I've got to rip a lot of 16' stuff on site, so I use a miter slot feather board (dang dewalts top ain't real metal, so a magnetic one is no use)...guess I crank it pretty tight...anyway, stuff started shifting resulting in major burning. Had a piece kickback that broke the featherboard's fingers off! Son of a beech!One of the bolts holding the rack & pinion deal at the outfeed end was stripped out, and one of the nuts on the locking bar was loose. I found out when I happened to see the helper trying to get the stripped out bolt back in. Good thing I saw him( and the saw didn't saw him!), my insurance rate didn't go up<G>Anyway, the DeWalt's ok. I've gotten a lot of very accurate work out it...but I'd go with a 10" Makita in a Rousseau table if mine craps out tomorrow...you just can't kill a Makita<G> Don't worry, we can fix that later!
I have the DeWalt. You can't beat the fence. I put it on a Ridgid table saw stand for portability. Great saw.
Had a Delta. Not so good. Not terrible, but the fence - ack. That made everything more difficult. I've used a Makita, good power, but same with the fence. I bought a DeWalt. Despite a number of people who think it's a good saw, I'm apparently not one of them. The fence itself was beefier but it came out of adjustment all the time and I couldn't get the thing to stay put to save my life. So now I have the Bosch 4000. Way better. Better features, better fence, better lift mechanism, better blade storage, better stand. And the fence has stayed put, thus far.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
I've used the makita and the dewalt and the delta..
The delta is (imho) a piece of junk. You'd get about the same accuracy mounting a skilsaw upside down in plywood with a warped ceder fence-board as a rip-fence. In my opinion this saw is made to meet a price-point, not to rip wood.
The makita: Very durable, i agree that you cant kill them, but if you get one, i'd add to the price a better fence, I found it to be a really annoying time waister to adjust the fence parralel to the blade.
The Dewalt: I only used this saw for about a month and it was brand new, but having said that.. It was a dream to use.. The fence was allways parrele, the stand was stable and easy to set up, it had storage on the body for the nice mitre guage it came with as well as blades.. Great switch.. I really canty say enough good things about it, but I have heard that they dont last
If i were buying one I'd get the Bosch. My friend has one as well as dewalt and in his opinion, althogh they are both good saw's, He likes the bosch much better.
Bosch
the dewalt has a better fence though IMO.
I carry two in the van, the Bosch which sits on the slider and is only used for wide rips, and a $100 saw I use for anything <12", which is ~50-60% of my cuts. Wider blade on the Bosch = better cuts. The Bosch's weight keeps it simmering on the back burner.
The dewalt fence is really hard to beat but the bosch saw would get my bid in the end. Just a better overall saw. Better motor, better controls, soft start, really good fence.
I have used both extensively.
Rob Kress
I have a Makita with a Russeau table & fence and outfeed setup, (Tool Crib). The Makita is very durable, but I recommend you throw away the fence and get something like the Russeau setup which is very portable and a great fence (like a Beisemeir), and gives your saw much greater capabilities.
I have used the Bosch and Dewalt and recommend either one highly.
Consider the Ridgid. I have the TS 3612 contractor saw ( not the jobsite version) and love it. Over on the Ridgid site there are guys that have this one and I have heard good words.
http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/TS2400LS-Table-Saw/
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I second the Makita with the Rousseau table setup. I bought the Rousseau Porta-Mak 2750. The table folds up with the saw mounted on it and it has large pneumatic wheels for wheeling it around, including up stairs. Buy the outfeed table too.
Billy
A vote for the Porter Cable 3812S. Electric brake, soft start, t-slot for miter gauge, decent fence, good onboard storage and accepts up a 13/16" stacked dado. imho as good a saw as the Bosch 4000/DeWalt DW744S.
http://www.porter-cable.com/index.asp?e=547&p=4946
Jay, I have the Dewalt and it is a great saw. I got it right at a national tool sell but I don't think it is necessarily the best. Check out the consumer report mag that came out sometime this summer. They had a good review on portable table saws and guess who came out on top? Rigid.
James Hart
I have had great luck with the Dewalt,had it since 1997,few minor repairs.I have used every setup known to man and am happy with this saw.I also like the Bosch and would consider it highly ,my work partner has one and it is a very good tool.