I am planning to gift a table saw to a friend. He is not a full time carpenter, but does to some pretty intensive work aroudn the house. I am not sure what his purpose might be, but I can think of his plans of building some cabinets and adding an atrium.
What table saw would you recommend? I do not want to go too expensive. I saw the Ryobi 10 inch portable Table saw priced for $209.00 and think it's a resonable buy
You were absolutely right to ask.
There are 3 classes of 10" table saws, benchtops, contractors and cabinet saws which fit into price bands of roughly:
150-500, 400-1000 and 1000-2200 respectively.For the most part, the benchtops are light-duty machines that are cheaply made and perform poorly. The main reason to purchase a benchtop is for portability. Although the best benchtops are actually pretty good but still suffer from the some of the limitations of a benchtop. They are also closer to $500.
Limitations of a benchtop:
At the $250 price point, a used contractor saw is a better choice. For new, $500 is a more realistic price point.
Cabinet saws are just beefy versions of contractor saws suitable for pros and really serious hobbyists.
-Steve
Unfortunately, "good" and "cheap" are antonyms :-). There are a few portable saws that aren't too bad, but they cost a lot more than that. Look at the Bosch, the General, the Porter-Cable, and the DeWalt.
If all else fails, start going to estate sales :-).
I was looking for a table saw in the $250-$300 range also. But after careful consideration, reading all the reviews, and checking out the Ridgid user forum, I recently bought the Ridgid TS3650. It sells for $499 at HD now. I bought it during their recent tool event with the Ridgid drill/driver combo pack and got $125 off. I paid for it with a new American Express card that gave me a $100 gift card on my purchase of $500 or more. I knew I was going to buy the saw, I simply waited about two months for the right timing toi get the best deal.
Not good--for making cabinets this saw would be a royal pain. For $200 you can get your friend a Starett combination square.
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mania, Stephen M has distilled a goodly amount of usefull information in his posting. One way to leverage the quality, safety and capacity of any table saw is to build ( a useful first project) proper surrounding extension tables. There are as many versions and approaches as there are wood workers. In general, and if you plan to use full sheets of plywood, MDF, melamine board etc. the bigger the better. Size is usually determined by the available space. I recommend the top be made of high pressure laminate(read Formica, Wilsonart et al), to help reduce friction while feeding the stock. Some cabinet shops build their tables on three sides, some on two sides with a portable dutchman to the left of the saw table. This idea is not precisely what you originally asked but it seemed apprpos. Joe G
'70s vintage or earlier craftsman with an iron top. if you can pick it up by yourself it's not the one.
price, are going to be poor performers, they're loud, they vibrate, they have very little cutting capacity, their fences and guards are cheap and unstable, it would probably end up frustrating your friend more than anything.
If you're serious about helping him out, you're looking for at least a contractor's saw, I'd recommend the Rigid TS3560 at Home Depot, it runs about $500 and it's very well put together, I've helped two friends set them up now and have used them and was impressed. If you don't want to spend that kind of money, get him a HD gift card and he can throw in the rest of the money himself.
I simply cannot recommend that you purchase any benchtop though, especially for anyone who might be building furniture, cabinets or other large projects, it just doesn't work well.
Looks like you did well for yourself. I own an older Ridgid tablesaw (the TS2424) and have never regretted the purchase. Of course, I didn't make out as well on it as you did, damn it. But it's been a good saw and can be tricked out tremendously.
Take any negative stuff you read about Ridgid saws with a very large grain of salt. It's been my experience they're always posted by people who don't have one.
My advice is different from all the others so far. Here it is:
Do NOT buy your friend a saw without discussing it with him. This same holds true for spouses (not buying--discussing).
Most of us here are somewhat tool snobs. By that I don't (necessarily) mean that we look down our noses at anything but the best, merely that we have our prejudices about what we would prefer.
In your friend's case, imagine that (unbeknownst to you) he is cranking pretty hard toward the making furniture point on the curve. He'd probably like a cabinet saw. If you were to buy him a benchtop, no matter how generous and gracious the gift, he is likely not going to be happy with it. Naturally, he'll thank you for your thoughtful gift, but he'll be left with the predicament of what to do with a piece of goods that does not meet his needs.
Similarly, suppose you won the lottery and had all the money in the world and you bought him a top-of-the-line cabinet saw. It turns out he's just a hacker and tool abuser. While he might not mind bending a top notch machine, if you were ever to find out it was WAY more machine than he needed or could appreciate, you'd be disappointed in how much more money than practical you spent on your friend. This is probably less of a predicament than the first, but still worth considering.
Frankly, it could very well be that your friend, if asked, might have higher aspirations in the saw market than you're prepared to spring for. I would think the best thing to do to avoid that awkward conversation would be simply to give him a check in the amount you wish to spend. Although technically (and etiquettely--is that a word?) that concludes your involvement in the transaction, you might indicate your intention with regard to the saw in hopes that he pursues that avenue.
I wish I had a friend who would buy me a saw, but I sure would hate for him to buy me something I couldn't/wouldn't use.
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I agree with the other posts. A $200 table saw is a waste of money. How about giving him a Gift Certificate to Woodcraft, Rockler, or other woodworking supplier? Let him make the decision about what saw to get, rather than have him think of you every time he uses the crapy $200 saw and gets frustrated.
A TS is a pretty personal tool that gets used as much as any tool in the typical shop. The safest bet would be to ask you friend which TS. If he is an accomplished woodworker perhaps a Gift Card would be a better choice. A decent NEW saw is going to be 3 to 10 times what you are thinking.
I was given one of those saws. Recognizing the value of tradition, I gave it to the next guy, too.
The table is too small and the miter guide & fence are simply dangerous. This is a saw with a full - sized blade spinning at full - sized speed and TOYS for material control. Dangerous toys.
Take the advise to buy used / larger.
Bill
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