Which table saw to buy?

Gerry L · 2003-11-17T10:21:47+00:00

It looks like this is the monthly question, but I'd love to get your inputon my specifics.Woodworking-wise, I'm a newbie. I had a few woodworking classes in highschool/college, and some early exposure to carpentry (I "helped" my dadbuilt an addition to the house when I was a younger.) But I've never builta piece of quality furniture.Ultimately, I would like to build cabinets, bureaus, bookcases, anentertainment center, desks, etc. I'm not a home owner yet but willeventually buy a mass-produced home (as opposed to building myself) andenvision adding the finishing work (wood trims, built-in cabinets,coordinated furniture, etc.) to give it a more, architectural-designerfeel.)On the reality-side, I'm starting my shop in a 14' x 17' maintenance room ofmy apartment building. (My wife manages the apartment complex we live in,so I have free reign of the room.) The room has a single 110 outlet, butthe maintenance guy is helping me install a 220 and another 110 outlet thisweek. I have an odd assortment of tools (a drill, a handsaw, some clamps,levels, squares, wrenches, etc. and a good shopvac.) but otherwise I'mstarting from scratch.Because I don't have any experience sharpening and using woodworking handtools (which seems really important) and because I have a ton of other stuffto learn (wood characteristics, hardware and finishes oh my!), I'm hoping toreduce the handworking by focusing on accurate cuts in the first place. Iwould like to be able to cut joints once and put the pieces together withminimal to no hand tooling. (I know this is unrealistic to some extent butI don't know how unrealistic.) If I focus on making good measurements and Ibuy an accurate table saw, is this a reasonable expectation?Based on the reviews I've seen, web searches, etc, and a lot of reading inthis news group, I think the following table saws might satisfy myrequirements. (With any one of these, I would take a 30" fence, add amobile base, a router table extension and a Forrest WWII...

Nov 17, 2003 24 Replies

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BeerBoy 22 years ago

Hi Gerry, I've got a Delta contractor saw that I'm happy with (36-650C - it's a Canadian Version with cast wings and a lifetime warranty). It was $700 CDN. I had looked for a decent used cabinet saw but couldn't find anything in my area. I would have considered the Grizzly cabinet saw as well but being a Canadian it's a pain to get one and if I ever needed it serviced or had to bring it back it would be a big hassle. That being said, right now, I would lean towards a cabinet saw simply because of the better and easier dust collection. One other thing, the Generals are very popular up here, being a Canadian outfit, but the biggest knock on their equipment is the manuals are total garbage. Apparently they are working on this and I think some of their newer machines already have better manuals. I have a GI jointer and the assembly instructions are a joke.

---BeerBoy

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Groggy 22 years ago

Bob,

Maybe with some caveats I'd agree with Rumpty. The 7790 is a great machine in knowledgeable, experienced hands. It takes more configuring than some TSs but will not outperform *ALL* TSs (Felder and Altendorf will disagree for sure). It may outperform all contractor saws at an equivalent price range, low end cabinet saws can also be junky.

The main issues with RASs generally are the setup, maintenance and some safety issues (from my reading anyway), not the quality or inherent useability when correctly configured and used.

cheers,

Greg

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Rumpty 22 years ago

safety issues (from my reading anyway), not the quality or inherent usability when correctly configured and used.

Greg,

That can also be said about the table saw. Once set up with a decent table a DeWalt will perform for years without any additional setup. They'll do some things a TS can't and they out perform a TS as a shaper or moulder and are very precise.

The only thing I haven't found a way to do is multiple dado crosscuts in a wide sheet of plywood as you can do on the TS, but that can be easily replaced with biscuits for hanging a drawer support.

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