Table Saw Advise

[OilyRascal]

I'm in need of a table saw for my work.  My need is for residential cabinetry.  I work mostly with pine, mable, hickory, aspen, and MDF.  I have a "job site" saw I use during framing and with rough work.  I need precision/finesse with finish work.  I need portability to some degree.  I have job trailers with dove tails and full ramps for loading.  The cost point is important to me but I'm more concerned purchasing a saw that does the job.

I have convinced myself, through experience, I can work with a 30" rip fence limitation (right or left).  Again, I think precision is the most important to me.  I want a rip fence that is dead on accurate every time.....no movement, no slop, blondie (and blackie) hair size adjustments, no tape measure required to blade for setting.  I think I would prefer belt drive.  I say this partly for reducing the footprint, if required, of the saw when it is transported.  I do have a bad lower back, so its movement on casters (that lock) is important to me as well.  I normally setup in a garage area with cabinetry/trim work.  I would also like to get thoughts on the table itself.  I'm assuming I want cast iron for the best performance.

I've considered a Ridgid R4512.  It is a 13amp 10" saw with 30" right and 15" left.  Cast iron top.  Around $600.

I'd appreciate any thoughts/suggestions, or real life reviews, you may have.

[Branson]

The best contractor table I have ever used is a National, out of Canada.  Heavier than most, cast iron table, Biesmeyer style fence, and a 2hp motor that acts like it was a 4hp.   Cut maple like it was pine, and hardly a saw mark left on the cuts.  They cost, but I found a used one for $400.

[BruceS]

Find your local Festool dealer and do a test drive with the TS55 track saw.   Portability beyond belief,  sheet goods are broken VERY easily.   With proper rails any length can be ripped or taperd with ease.

[johnsironsanctuary]

I can't say that I have used it myself, but The guys that put in my floor and redid my mop boards used a Rigid portable. I talked to them about and they were very pleased with it and it loaded into a van like an ambulance gurney.

[mikeswrenches]

Oily, I have one of the Ridgid saw with the cast iron wings that you are considering.  It is belt drive and has a decent fence.  The fence locks on both ends so it is quite secure.  Also it is adjustable so you can get it parallel to the blade.  The blade carriage has adjustable stops so that you can get it square to the table.

I like the holes in the wings so you can put a clamp down through them and also you can brush sawdust down them.  I bought an Incarta(?) miter gauge that has an adjustment on the guide bar so you can reduce the slop that is prevalent in the provided one.  The blade that comes with them is pretty good, but if you're doing cabinet work you would probably want something better.

And to save your back, it has casters to roll it around and a foot device to raise and lower the casters.  It actually works real well.
All in all a pretty good saw for the money IMHO.

Mike

[scottg]

  Whats with the retail sales pitch drivvel?? You were born in a shopping mall Oily?? heeheheh
 As if we don't know where you live, and your life and legacy, Cowpoke!   

 The accuracy is you. Nothing ever made will do that for you.
 I don't care what they are pitching on Madison Avenue.
You make the saw work, never the other way around.
 
Belt drive or be sorry, is the old rule.
    I realize some of the new portables are good.
 But --all-- of the old heavy belts drives are good, and there is nothing more to worry about.

Basically, you buy stationary power tools by-the-pound.       If you can pick it up, you sure as hell don't want it!   
 
 Craigslist will have lots of old saws at any given time.  Buy as much saw as you can afford.
 I have seen Delta Unisaws going in the $600 range on Craigslist, many's the time.
 Powermatic in the same range, used and slightly neglected.

  You would rather have a plastic fantastic Home Depot model instead? 
  yours Scott
 

[rusty]

Would trade any of the above for an old cast iron table Delta :(

Sadly, stuck with the Craftsman alumnium table and stamped sheetmetal frame that wanders around the shop when I cut heavy stuff...*sigh*

[OilyRascal]

Thanks for keeping me honest.  I do not need big bright orange plastic in my shop or on my job.  One concern I have over the model I was looking at is the gauge of metal used in the frame - and the method by which the two sub-frames bolt together. 

I guess I had not even thought to consider an older saw, and assume such issues as light steel gauge likely did not exist with them.  I do agree the craftsman makes the tool, but I also know of plenty 'o tool that made this craftsman throw a fit.  It's hard to argue a high quality tool lends benefits to a craftsman over one of lower quality.  I've grown old of crappy rip fences (I realize I could make one but I'm building houses not rip fences and assume the market is already there for a good fence product).  I've grown old of a crappy table that is sticky.  It is OK for ripping a pine 2x4 down for a stake, but really drags me down ripping $80/sheet ply.  Sanding saw curfs is a major time consumer at present. 

Dragging around saws and swapping blades between rough and finish work has gotten to be a bottleneck.  I'm starting to do better with having one residence in framing while another is being finished.  Point it, I feel strongly I need two portable saws and that it makes sense for me to have one for framing and one for finish work.  Like most, I want to solve real problems in the process and get the most for my $.

I'm just a belt drive power tool kind of guy.  The only complaint I have, and it is certainly the case with my miter saw, is start up speed.  It seems a forgone conclusion I want a cast iron top for best performance.  I'm telling myself I can easily do a motor swap, if required, upon finding the right table.

I'm having a look at National, Delta, Powermatic - appreciate the references.

[Branson]

Don't know the Powermatic, but I've used and liked the Delta -- it's a good machine.  But the National absolutely outperforms the Delta by a wide margin.   First cut I made with one and I thought I'd gone to heaven.  The cut almost didn't need sanding.

[Nolatoolguy]

I would buy a good bosch portable for the jobsite if you have to go places, I have one and wouldn't trust the fence but I don't know of a portable saw out there that I trually trust the fence.

As far as in shop I would go with a older saw on craigslist an refurb it yourself.

Me and a profesional woodworker friend rebuilt a clausing tablesaw, he only had 1,300 bucks in the saw all said and done. Sounds like a lot but compared to the newer powermatics or deltas those can be upwards of 4 grand. This saw had a nice heavy cast table, belt driven, and a solid fence.  It works way better then the new ones.

I had a buddy once say " the saw is only as good as its fence" if you rely on he fence you must have a good fence, check when buying a used one the fence and miter adjustment as well. In my opponion the new fences are garbage on almost any saw you buy they don't work as well as a old a antique saw fence.

Keep us posted on what you buy!

[johnsironsanctuary]

I had occasion to use an Altendorf Table saw for a while. It is very easy to get used to using a rip guide that is ABSOLUTELY square and a digital fence adjustment accurate to within .001. Ball bearing top carriers are wonderful for sheet goods. I think it was an F45.  It is a fabulous machine. Very pricey. There are used ones around if you hunt.

http://www.altendorf.de/en/

[JessEm]

It pains me a little to suggest a newer tool might outshine an older one, but in this case, since portability is a requirement, I think your best bet is to drop some coin on a newer professional model. The better ones have nice fences and can almost double as dedicated shop saws.

It's been a while since I've been in the market for one myself so I'm not sure exactly what to recommend right now, but a few things I would look at in this order are: fence, motor hp, quality of depth and angle adjustments, and the user-friendliness and practicality of it's portability features.

[rusty]

A little newer than this one perhaps...

(It is cordless tho...)

[JessEm]

A little newer than this one perhaps...

(It is cordless tho...)

"Sure it's weighs 500 pounds, but it's cordless!"

HAHA!

[scottg]

Yeah but,

A little newer than this one perhaps...

(It is cordless tho...)

 if you had one in nice shape you could trade it for almost anything!

 Last month I saw a tablesaw with a sliding table, 10' long. It had to weigh 3 tons! There were several around the place weighing many tons each.
 There was a surface sander with a steel conveyor leading into it, the size of my kitchen and 2 stories high!  It could surface stock 8 feet wide.
  It had a dust pipe leading off of it, 4 feet in diameter.
     yours Scott