I am interested in buying my first table saw for occasional DIY use. Since it is for occasional use, I was hoping to spend in the £100-£200 range. I have found various posts in the archives but some date back to 2004 and I imagine the saws mentioned will have been discontinued and new models introduced since then. What models do you recommend in
2010?
I notice the Screwfix Titan has 45 (IIRC) good reviews, so it can't be that bad, can it?
What are good and bad things to look out for when buying such a saw?
I brought a Makita MLT100 about this time last year:
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'm pretty happy with it, though the blade guard often falls into the blade ripping chunks out the plastic. Nice neat cuts, easy to setup fence, noisy but glides through 18mm ply which is about the toughest I've put through it.
I would avoid Screwfix Titan after my cheap circular saw, which after a very short space of time got demoted to cutting stuff up for the tip only, and replaced with a Makita. The circular saw was far to flexible and had play in the blade, due to them skimping on the metal work and bearings. This made it bend around whilst cutting, leading to the cut not being square to the surface and it wouldn't keep much of a straight line.
A solid table, a decent powered motor, and a blade that doesn't have any play in it as otherwise it wiggles round under load and gives an awful cut.
Do you need something small and light you can pack away somewhere?
What sort of work will you want to do?
Is it more small cabinet making and trims, rather accurate work.
Or is it more ripping long timbers and/or full sheets/panels?
For the former, have a very good look at the fence and the compound- slide (or sliding table if you're lucky). Does everything lock securely, and is it easy to make small adjustments? Is the fence parallel to the blade, and stay so whatever position it's clamped in? Is the riving knife and crown guard secure?
For the later, you may be better looking at secondhand "old british" stuff (Sedgwick, Wadkin, Startrite etc) - if you have the space to accommodate it. Lots on ebay - and seemingly the larger machines offer even better value (although some will be 3 phase). Look for a tidy ex- school one that's never done an honest days work in its life.
I bought the Jet supersaw, which whilst very capable - with hindsight I would have bought a similar sized Startrite for less money and a build quality hard to come by nowadays.
If you're not sure what kind of work you're going to do consider buying one of these as a starter:
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will still have a use when you decide to upgrade. Don't be put off by the size and lack of features as it's quite good quality, runs quietly and is reasonably accurate. You can add a clamp guide to replace the rather flimsy provided guard. Cheap as chips too.
Main things you need are an induction motor and a fence that can be secured front and back. G clamps are fine at the back but the fence has to be long enough and have a flat top. The gap next to the blade is a pain, but is there to allow the blade to tilt. You can always make an insert for 90 deg operation if the base design permits. You can add weight and stability to a cheap machine with sand bags
Thanks. I see the description says 600w motor. Has that caused you any problems? One of the very old posts said you needed 1.5-2.0kW to cut boards; of course that was quickly followed by another post saying oh, no you don't, so I am not sure what to look for.
Why should these budget saws struggle with sheets that are at most
18mm thick? Their descriptions say they will cut up to say 75mm, which is more three times the thickness of a board. Is this maximum cut a figure to be taken with a pinch of salt?
I was thinking a table saw would be very good for long, straight cuts; better than a handheld circular saw. OTOH is a handheld saw easier (lighter) to use than pushing a big heavy board/door/whatever past a table saw?
I thought that a table saw would be especially useful for very thin cuts but now I am not so sure. What happens when the off cut gets stuck. Do you have to stop, remove the obstruction, and start the pass again?
I have read some criticism about fences. Can they be removed completely if your piece of wood is wider than the table? Can they be brought right up to the blade for thin cuts? I'm sure I read some post suggesting some fences would only go so far in one direction, though I can't quite remember the details now.
Thanks. What is the table made from in your saw?
I've read some posts saying that table size is important: is it? I would have thought that the wood would extend over the table so you would always need something else alongside to act as a table extension: rollers or a sheet of plywood, etc?
Is their an optimum table size or do yo get the biggest you can afford?
I have a cheap (cost me £30 as an exchanged product) performance pro table saw which I think is about 600w. It cuts 18 mm ply with ease. It does struggle cutting wet logs, but that's not what its designed to do and its probably because its the wrong blade.
I think it depends on the material being cut, but I've had no problems. Cutting 18mm boards with a maximum capacity of 40mm is really quite easy. If you were using it for large sheets then the size of the table could be a problem but otherwise it's a good general purpose machine for general DIY.
I can't find the manual but I'm pretty sure it has an induction motor which is supposed to be generally better than other types. I also have a
10" Clarke table saw and I prefer using the smaller one whenever possible. I bought mine (small one) from B&Q about two years ago for about £30-00p and they might still have them as this saw appears to be a basic saw badged for different outlets.
It's generally recommended to discard the supplied blade and replace with a better / finer toothed one but that's personal choice.
Long straight cuts are termed "ripping", something you can't really do at all with a hand held. Dead easy on a sawbench
Usually not. The workpiece will normally push a stray offcut past the blade or down through the gap
You never use a table saw without a fence. If the workpiece is bigger than the saw bed, you need an extension that will accommodate the fence
The biggest benefit of a table saw is being able to cut long strips e.g. you might need 44mm x 22mm instead of the standard 50x25 . A circ saw and some trestles is usually better for sheet materials.
I found it necessary to align the blade with the fence. There is a cap head screw which allows you to swivel the motor/saw blade assembly. A bit fiddly and obviously not something the manufacturers spend much time on:-(
A hand held saw with the work on trestles is fine. Don't cut the trestles:-)
The saw and stand combination is not very heavy. Others have suggested sandbags for stability. I have a Startrite saw with a sliding outrigger for 8'x4' work and would not attempt anything that large on the Titan.
It is fine. The problem usually arises when squaring a board end.
Yes.
Yes.
Eventually you run out of table:-)
Pressed steel. Painted finish.
I have seen workshops where bench heights coincide with the saw table. Roller stands are OK for planks. The usual trick is to cut halfway pushing and then walk round the saw and cut the rest pulling.
I really wouldn't advise buying this type of saw for unaided 8'x4' work.
For quick and accurate long straight cuts on 8x4 sheet and/or doors I would strongly recommend a sawboard and hand-held circular saw, especially if you don't have a barn-like workshop (because you can use two workmates on the patio). But, if you do need to rip or bevel lengths of joist, etc. you may be better with a table saw.
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