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This might be too broad of a topic, so maybe what *NOT* to buy would be easier?
My wife and I GC’d our first house and we plan on doing this once every year or so, so I need a good, not great, table saw for ripping just about anything.
What I’m looking at doing now is interior trim and windows. We hired a guy to do some of this and he picked up his first check and split. So, I have to do the rest myself.
Currently I’m looking at finishing the window casing (inside part of window frame) and I have to rip these pieces.
Thanks.
Daniel (newbie who is posting a barrage of messages on a cold Saturday afternoon and received a gift subscription to FH and love it!)
Replies
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Well, go back a few pages to the FH main page under tools; I believe they have posted their tablesaw ratings article, which should get you started. Or, I can save you some time and just tell you to get a Makita benchtop and a Rousseau aftermarket drop-in table and fence system.
*And that's when opinions start flying...Bosch all the way!fv
*You are right, broad topic!Do you need a 'portable' unit, or will you leave it in a shop?Half decent shop units cost as little as high end portable units. You pay in weight and bulk but get a sturdier unit with a shop model. Portables use direct drive motors and have smaller tables. Direct drive is usually considered less accurate, as the blade is right on the motor spindle that is often not well centred.Smaller tables limit the size of work you can do. If the only big cuts you are making are rips, then you can use a smaller unit with outfeed rollers or tables. I'm partial to shop saws with belt drives and good cast tables, but until I have permanent shop space myself, I have resorted to a bench top contractor model from Delta. I'm real fussy with my work, so I hate it. I have managed to improve my misery by building a good stable stand for it and not even attempting furniture quality work. I bought a medium quality blade and have been able to rip poplar and maple successfully for trim work. In all honesty, my mitre saw has a bigger impact on the quality of trim I can do. I still want a good cabinet saw though...
*High end portable saws have made the so called contractor's saws obsolete. I have practically shot my back with gutless, cumbersome cast iron dinosaures with dangling 1 1/2 HP motors. My Bosch is heavy but still portable, precise as a jewelers tool, 10" blade, 24" rip, rear and side extensions, great folding stand, soft start and power to spare. Now in the shop, I prefer a cabinet saw with a 5 HP motor but still set the portable for subduties.fv
*Daniel, "newbie" or not... I'll be the first to welcome you to the active, not lurker world. (see Senior Andy's post on newbies).As mentioned above, both past issues of FHB and the archives here online will have a great deal of information on table saws.For your purposes, there seem to be two main choices... "Contractor" or "portable"?If you chose portable, DeWalt, Makita, and Bosch make very good units... see the recent comparison in FHB.For similar money ($500 US) basic model Contractor saws are available from Delta and Jet.Bigger table, better fences, standard mitre gauge slots, dado head inserts... good reasons to deal with the 200+ pound weight.Lastly should cabinet-quality work be needed, the Contractor saws have other configurations available,tables and fences similar to the 3HP shop saws, and prices in the $800 US range.
*Bought a Ryobi BT3000 two years ago and its been running good enough for me (DAY). Don't have experience with other cop priced models ($400), so don't know how they compare. Anyone with a lot of experience used the Ryobi? What do you think? Ripping long material will be a challenge with the Ryobi but I imagine it will be the same for the other saws too.
*Hey Daniel,Jet makes a good 10" saw. It's a knock off of what the Delta used to be. I put 2hp motors on them wired for 220V. That's all I've seen that is somewhat portable (Two men or one with a two wheeler) that can rip anything. Get a good Beismeyer fence (smaller version) to go with it and you've got a great small setup for on-site carpentry work. Don't worry about 220 availability, you can put a dryer plug on the motor cord and plug it into the laundry room plug for the dryer. Hey, we build cabinets on-site with them too. Great tool.My opinion.Good luck,Ed. Williams
*This is a pretty broad question, and your gonna get a lot of interesting answers. Here's my recommendations. If your looking for a portable saw and your not real concerned about cabinet quality cuts and such check out one of the latest issues of Fine Home building they did a real thorough study on the best saws at different price ranges. Me, I have a Delta portable table saw and I've been real happy with that, you can get one for less than $200 and it usually comes with a stand too which is real handy. Now if I were you and I was going to trim out a house or work on anything of size, I would get a contractor grade saw. Along these lines, check out this web site: http://www.grizzly.com I bought the G1022Z 10" Table saw with cast iron wings, 1.5 HP motor, gear driven blade adjustments, stand, the works. I only paid $450 for it and I am very, very happy with it, a similar saw that you will find in your local hardware stores is going to run you from $600 to $800. This saw is great, but it is heavy so, it wouldn't be a good choice for infrequent work (it weighs about 250 lbs and takes two people to move). Looking for a new saw will be fun though, happy hunting!
*I am always amazed at what great work some people can do with unexpensive saws like the Deltas and the Makitas, while a few others come out with uninspiring results on their expensive cabinet saws.On a different note, I switched over from a Delta contractor's saw to the new Bosch and I am very pleased with the change.fv
*DanielI've been using the Dewalt portable table saw on trim jobs for the past two years and have been very pleased with it. It's relatively lightweight (except on Mondays) and has always provided plenty of power (I always plug into a 20A circuit). It has a great (very accurate) fence for a portable.I just saw this saw at a local Home Depot for $399 including the stand (great buy).Even though I don't particularly like Dewalt tools overall, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one of their portable table saws. Jay
*It is common assumption that portable saws are underpowered and lack in precision, and that their tables are too small or lack the positiveness of cast iron. It is naturally assumed that these saws are uncapable rippers. If these assumptions stand for the low end and intermediate models, it is not quite the case for the high end tools. I recently had to trim large bay windows with 5/4 X 6", the owner brought me to a stack of rough cut 4X8 and said: "Here's the stuff!" Rather than be deterred, a malicious thought came to me and ask me to put that Bosch saw to the test. Armed with a 12" planer, a sliding compound miter saw and the Bosch, I went to work. After ripping the sides in two passes, I had to tackle the 6" part. Blade fully extended at 3" flat, there I put this 'hard as nails' straight grain fir to it with nothing but the reassuring sound of the motor being adjusted electronically for added torque. I certainly did not expect the saw to be capable of that, and to this day, it still amazes me. The customer couldn't believe it either. fv
*Daniel, Generally speaking you get what you pay for. Don't go too cheap. Would you drive a Yugo?
*No, definately no Yugo's here.Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll definately be looking at sub $500 range.Now I've started to look at air-compressors and trim guns...never thought I would have to have so many tools...my collection is slowly growing.
*If portability is not an issue, then go for a used contractor's saw by Delta, Powermatic "Artisan" or Jet 7083 model. I picked up a Delta with the outboard 1.5 HP motor for $250.00.fv
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This might be too broad of a topic, so maybe what *NOT* to buy would be easier?
My wife and I GC'd our first house and we plan on doing this once every year or so, so I need a good, not great, table saw for ripping just about anything.
What I'm looking at doing now is interior trim and windows. We hired a guy to do some of this and he picked up his first check and split. So, I have to do the rest myself.
Currently I'm looking at finishing the window casing (inside part of window frame) and I have to rip these pieces.
Thanks.
Daniel (newbie who is posting a barrage of messages on a cold Saturday afternoon and received a gift subscription to FH and love it!)