Just learned that I have between $400 and $600 to spend on a piece of equipment—which means I can take advantage of a holiday sale if I can find one. Putting together answers from the ‘what next’ thread and the ‘tool brand’ threads really helps narrow things to a table saw. But even within that there is a lot of variation.
I’m a casual/burgeoning woodworker with a fair amount of floorspace to place things. I’ll likely put whatever I get on a mobile base to shunt it around if need be, but I otherwise can’t imagine taking the saw out of the basement—portability doesn’t seem to be a need.
DeWalt, Bosch, Grizzly et al make several saws within that price range, but I’m not quite up to distinguishing them—are there features that you’d look for or overlook/downplay?
I bought a used table saw last year for $200 from a guy selling it on Craig’s List. It’s a Craftsman and was made in the early 1980s. It’s in perfect shape, and has a very thick & heavy cast iron top. I figured a new table saw w/ heavy cast iron top would be a *lot *more expensive, so I think I got a good deal.
So a cast iron surface is desirable. I’m fining the Jet bandsaw pretty good to work with, but I don’t really have anything to compare it to. I mention it because it’s description touts the amount of cast iron in it.
(This is mostly based on a gift card, so I can’t go used—though the related anecdotal insights are definitely valuable.)
I have a Craftsman contractors saw that I bought in the mid 70’s. It mounted on their caster set so it can be moved around easily.
Cast iron table and extensions are the way to go. It may get a little rust on it, but unless it’s broken it’ll be flat. Get a good adjustable fence too. The one that came with my saw was junk and it was soon replaced with a better one.
Get a good contractors saw instead of a crappy cabinet saw (IMHO)
If it doesn’t have built-in casters, you will probably want to get casters. When I bought mine I purchased a caster kit, which you assemble to a frame using off-the-shelf lumber. Budget for this.
Check the quality of the miter gauge; cheap crappy miter gauges suck. Make sure that it fits a T slot (the end has little roller extensions on the size that grip in the T slot to keep the end from flipping up).
Make sure it has a good motor, not one of those loud universal motors that super cheap saws have. If you give it a dedicated 220v circuit, it will be nice and quiet.
Extension tables are nice. My Delta look similar to the one I linked to above, but the table extension isn’t so long.
Check out the machining of the surface. Are there two miter gauge slots? Will they fit standard accessories such as feather boards? If you have 2 slots, you can make a very nice sled, which is my favorite table saw jig.
I am not really much of a woodworker, but the thing I noticed most about working on (mostly other people’s) table saws was the fence. How easy is it to adjust? How accurate are the adjustments?
I don’t have a specific suggestions, but pay attention to what reviewers say about the fence.
I addition to what others have said-good fence, cast iron top- I really prefer a left tilting blade. It seems so much safer to not have the work piece trapped between the blade and the fence.
Yes it does, but I prefer the left tilt. It feels like I’m doing it backwards when I’ve got the fence to the left of the blade. My right hand is much smarter than my left…
Get thee to Lumberjocks.com, my friend. Search their forums for table saws. You’ll get so much information. These are the guys and ladies that use table saws all the time. Mostly older people as well - like here - so you don’t get all that annoying crap with kids playing around.
And check out the projects page. If you ever need inspiration, that is the place to get it.
Just remember, though Lumberjocks can be very informative, tools are very personal and people have some strong ties to “their” tools and brands. So you kinda have to pick through the information and figure out what info is unbiased.
In the interest of somewhat answering the OP, I have an old Craftsman contractor’s saw that I inherited. I hate the fence and plan on upgrading before spring. Also, it does not lock the blade height and I screwed up some cuts as my blade sank during a dado cut. If I were to get another saw, it would be from a bigger name like Grizzly or Jet or Bosch. A lot of the guys at Lumberjocks have Rigid saws as well. I would look for:
Easily adjustable fence
Able to use dado stacks
Blade height lock
Belt driven blade
Thick blade insert
At least 1 HP motor
Left tilt (I don’t tilt my blade too much, I use jigs for that)
