Ok Here are my choices for a new Table saw

[Mike Marlow]

Ok, I have to ask - what's imprecise about a circular saw? It takes less than an hour to build a good guide for a circular saw that will serve for years and is a precise as any table saw. Unless you have a table saw with massive extensions and the oomph to hump the plywood sheets around, the table saw is the wrong tool to use. Money is the answer. With enough of it you can set up any size table saw you could ever want, but if money is an object - and it appears it is if I remember the list of saws you're looking at, then reconsider the circular saw.

[David]

I've tried "zero insert" plates on my Makita circular saw with a fancy blade and you know what? I still can't get the chip free results I get on my Uni outfitted with a double sided Freud Melamine blade. :) Somehow, something gets lost in the translation...

I use the handheld saw for preliminary cuts, but for the "money" cuts, it's on to the Uni.

Maybe you've had better luck doing it with a circular saw than I have.

dave

[hylourgos]

Yes, the support (frame, foam, what have you) is sacrificial, just like the top of most sawhorses on site, except the frame/foam is much more supportive. You set your circular saw to a smidgen below the cut depth. I usually aim for 1/16 to 1/8".

H

[Andy]

Here's $.02 more - I've used my very old Skil circular saw with a good Freud blade in birch plywood, against a straightedge clamp guide, with excellent results - no visible chipping. Have fun with your new TS, but for big ply, I'd agree that a circ saw with a good blade and a straightedge or sawboard is the way to go. Make sure you cut it with the good face down (circ saw) or up (TS), and you can try covering the cut line with masking tape - I've read this can help reduce chipping with melamine etc, but I've never had chipping problems since I got the Freud blade. Andy

[Lobby Dosser]

About two hours ago I made several crosscuts in 1" melamine faced OSB using an old B&D with an $8 Oldham 140 tooth plywood blade from The Borg. No prep other than a guide - no scoring, no tape, no ZCI. And no chips. Edges were so sharp I had to knock them down with a file right away to keep them from slicing open body parts. I Know it's not my technique, maybe it's that cheapo blade?

[Lee Michaels]

"Lobby Dosser" wrote

I am a big believer in plywood blades for plywood. The do a good job. they just dull quickly. If I am doing a job that requires good cuts, I buy a blade for it. As long as I just use it for that job, I am OK.

I get good cuts from it. I am NOT making fine furniture.

[B a r r y]

Did you try the circular saw with the good side down? This allows the entering teeth to be striking the good side, just like cutting face up on a table saw.

If so, please disregard.

Barry

[Lobby Dosser]

Yep, and at eight bucks they do the job!

I'm trying to think of the last time I saw melamine faced Fine Furniture. :o)

[John McCoy]

"bdeditch" wrote in news:1133268446.439400.8070 @g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

That is the typical performance of a "benchtop" saw. You shouldn't expect anything different from any other brand in that style.

Of that list, I'd say the Ridgid TS3650. But I would suggest also looking at the Delta and Jet contractors saws.

You will definately want a contractors saw or better to handle plywood. Even then, you'll likely want to build extension tables around it, if you'll be working with full sheets.

As others have suggested, when looking at something as large & heavy as a sheet of plywood, it's a lot easier to leave the wood stationary and move the saw, rather than vice-versa.

John