skilsaw table saw - any good?

[MM]

Today I bought 2 saws. The first because I really needed it. Well researched and exactly what I wanted. A Makita 10 inch sliding Compound miter. The second saw was an impuls buy which I NEVER do, but this time I just couldn't resist the price. Now I wonder if I'll be bringing it back. It was a Skilsaw brand 10 inch bench top table saw. Normally wouldn't look at such a thing, but last night I had to do something and wished I had a table saw. Not willing to spend lots of $ for a good one (I'm generally not a woodworker, but I'm trimming out my house right now, hence the miter saw). I was enamored by the price.

10 inch, 15 amp, cast alluminum table. Fence, miter, table extension and slidinr rear extension and leg set and carbide blade. Price $99 minus a 10% coupon I had = $90.

Problem is, I don't buy many woodworking tools, but in general every tool I buy (mostly hand tools) is absolutely high end. Will this thing dissapoint. Not looking to make furniture here, but will probably use it as a construction tool for home projects.

[Silvan]

I have an impulse buy version of the self same saw. Similar circumstances. I wasn't much of a woodworker at that point, and it was cheeeeeap, so I said what the heck.

Do I recommend it? No, not really. There's a lot not to like.

Can you make use of it? It greatly depends on what you're trying to do. Getting precision out of one of these things is no easy task, though it's possible to some extent. If you're doing work where precision isn't that important, it will probably serve you just fine.

The one good thing going for it is that it's very light and portable.

[Rich]

Smokey wrote, wondering if this is really what he meant?

He could have done a lot worse!

Rich

[Dave Balderstone]

It's a decent benchtop saw. I have one and have not been disappointed with it. It paid for itself on the first project, so it's been free ice cream since then.

djb

[Ed' stuff]

Interesting question. Did not know that Skilsaw made table saws. Watching your question.

[Brint Keyes]

I bought a different model Skil tablesaw 4 years ago as my first powertool purchase (before I knew anything about WW or powertools). I have to concur with some of the above posts that accuracy is a function much to be desired. I had no trouble building myself some solid sawhorses, e.g., but trying to get anything near an accurate mitre cut for picture frames is maddening. I also was unable to get a true adjustment for blade-tilt angles, no matter how much I messed with the adjustment screws, so the machinist's square gets far more use than I would like when setting up a cut that requires more that

1/8" accuracy.

IOW, yes, it'll cut wood -- but I'm saving my pennies for the Grizzly

1023SL.

[Silvan]

Yeah, I should add that after I used it to cut some compound angle stuff (that didn't need to be terribly precise) it took me most of an hour to get the damn thing back to 90-degrees. I don't intend to ever tilt the blade again. If I have to cut angle stuff, I'll do it on my circular saw.

Me too. Or something. Anything has to be better. It's one step above useless, but with patience and generous amounts of necessity, it can be made to do a passable job.

[Ken Luther]

Direct drives make way toooooo much racket.

I hope you have a belt drive somewhere in your list.

Overall, though, it was a fair saw for the money -- but you really have to watch that fence.

[CW]

[Silvan]

I've chimed in on this thread before, but today I went to the Despot for the first time in ages, and saw what passes for a Skil 3400 table saw these days. It's not quite the same animal as the one I have in my shop.

I won't bother to go into all the picky differences, but basically my feeling was that if I have to have a Skil 3400 table saw, I wish I had one of the new ones instead of the one I've got. It doesn't look like a dramatic improvement, but it does seem to have addressed at least some of the issues that have plagued my saw.

I looked at the BT-3100 today too, and I can see why so many have recommended it. Given a choice between them, I'd leave the Skil at the door for sure, but at this point it wouldn't really be worth my spending the money for one, I don't think. With a crosscut/miter sled and a bunch of jigs, the Skil is no longer a source of shame in my shop.