Buying my first table saw.
I will be buying my first table saw in the next few days.It will be bought at Sears or Home Depot.I am thinking about getting a 10 inch model.Any advice on my first table saw ? I want to build some cabinets for my wife to store her DVD/VHS collection.I will be building them out of 1/2 plywood.I know they have blades just for plywood.What is the least amount of different types of blades a newbie can get away with for cutting different types of wood ? Also what horsepower motor would be best.I already have safety glasses thank's to watching Norm every week
EvilDr235
EvilDr235
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First, I work for Home Depot.
If you are serious about getting into woodworking and cabinetry get a Delta contractors saw. You will have it for life and really enjoy it.
If you are not sure about being serious about woodworking any saw will do because you will find that for cabinetry none will do a good job.
Yes, I am a woodworking snob.0 -
3 different blades will get you by.
The best blades are made by DeWalt, at least for the money. $45 buys two.
Honestly, there is not a GOOD table saw on the market...until you get into the $3K range.
I have yet to see one that has a GREAT fence.
I bought a $150 Craftsmen, it does ok. DeWalts are a step above, but not enough to warrant the difference in price. Delta's - I can take'em or leave them.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Reddot47
First, I work for Home Depot.
If you are serious about getting into woodworking and cabinetry get a Delta contractors saw. You will have it for life and really enjoy it.
If you are not sure about being serious about woodworking any saw will do because you will find that for cabinetry none will do a good job.
Yes, I am a woodworking snob.
Yes, go 10", for sure. Get the best quality (least plastic)
you can afford. Blades? We have a local hardward store that sells
rebuilt blades at a reasonable price. This makes it easy to have
a large variety.0 -
The Ridgid TS3650 ($550) got a best value rating from Fine Woodworking magazine, and they were quite impressed with it. But what do those idiots know?
Yeah a $3500 Sawstop cabinet saw is a beautiful piece of machinery, but the guy is making a DVD cabinet out of 1/2 plywood. I also bet he doesn't want to rewire his garage and I also bet he'd rather not lose about 1/2 his garage to house the beast.
Buy the Ridgid which is more than accurate enough for your purposes and spend $100 on a good Freud blade. It will be a lot more than you'll ever need.0 -
...Don't start off with saws up there in the $700+ range...unless you can afford it...and will be using it hard for hours a day, everyday...then the cost is cheap.
A one hspwr motor will cut a LOT of tough type woods w/o bogging,
2 hspwr and you can cut about anything.
If you plan on heavy use, go ahead and spend the money for at least a decent commercial brand saw,( be prepaired, they aint cheap) or you will be dissappointed and be wasting your money. The crap they sell at sears and such, are for sporatic home-owner use, not intended to be used for hours everyday, they will go to sheeet in a very short time.
Get you a good 10", and get the heaviest you can (weight wise).
Make sure you know what blade comes with it, and be prepaired to buy a few more, for various other type cuts(woods/material) you want to make...x amount of teeth per inch etc.
Unless you get to the $400 $500 dollar range, just count on having a crap fence, just a little more measuring from balde to fence, both ends...to keep it as true as possible.
To get a "proffessional" type fence w/your saw you would need to spend about $800+...but with a little extra time the cheaper fences that come with the cheaper saws work fine...just a little more double checking to make sure your true to the blade at both ends of the fence.
I have a really good table saw Ive had for years, fixing to sell it as I don't use it anymore, but it is a floor model that weighs about 350lbs.
I have a Delta 10" that for what I do, works fine. Depending on what you use it for, an adjustable dado blade is worth it's weight in gold...good luck and hope this helped some.
PS: I'd stay away from craftsman, they aint what they used to be, especially the smaller ones...[;)]
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This is some of the best advice on table saw selection I've ever read:
http://ablekerfmanswoodnlife.blogspot.com/
Click on "Tablesaw" on the left menu.0 -
While I'm certain frogbert will corect me for any inaccuracies, any if there are none, I'll agree with the poster about the rigid. If your not going to go into big time wood working, a rigid of that size, or dewalt, or delta, are all priced good. I'd say the rigid is probally the better value for the money. No need in a cabinet saw if your not going to be making cabinets. 0 -
delta is a decent brand, but I always thought it's kind of "generic". I'd take a milwaulkee table saw over a delta. I'd take a delta over anything else (except milwaulkee). because of the quality of the motor. that oterh dude was right, all the fences suck, and that's one of the most important things about a table saw. so take a close look at the fence before u make a choice. cuz that's what you'll fiddle with the most.
when selecting a blade for (semi-rough) cutting plywood, what you would be concerned with is not so much quality of the cut but how long the blade will last. which is not that important. brand is not that important.
when selecting a blade for finish work, then yes, in addition to how long it will last, the quality of the cut is important. then you can worry about "high quality" blades. Freud is the best you're going to get at any hardware store. you'll probably want a 'thin kerf' blade while you're at it. it'll have smaller and more numerous teeth than your rough cut blade. brand is important, because lower quality blades will 1), won't cut so nice after a short period of time, 2), get duller faster, and 3), a carbide tip or two may fall off.
for a lot of really rough cuts, spend a few more dollars and buy a rip blade to save your nicer ones. fewer, much larger teeth and inexpensive. brand doesn't really matter.0 -
Hi,
I'm not a carpenter but over last 5 years of retirement have got into furniture making in a big way. In addition to good advice posted herein, the best advice I can give you is as follows:-
1 Make sure you set it up saw accurately in accordance with instructions or your cuts will not be square.
2 If only one blade make sure its tungston carbide tipped with 80 teeth and 10 inch. This will suffice for rip and cross cutting. Allow for thickness of blade when measuring twice cutting once. Choose arbor thickness wisely. You may want to fit stacked dado head cutter if you progress to classy joints.
3 Get ear defenders (one for shooting another for the saw - less chance of arriving at the range without defenders!).VERY IMPORTANT with ear defenders on you may not realise when engrossed with work that saw is turning! Also strip light strobbing effect may give the impression saw is not turning when it is. Be VERY safety concious. My table saw nearly took my thum off 2 years ago. They are very dangerous machines, but very useful. DO NOT ALLOW KIDS (OR KNOW IT ALL TEENAGERS/MATES) IN WORK AREA WHEN USING TABLE SAW.
4 Get a good fence.
5 Make or buy feather boards to guide timber.
6 Make or buy timber guides to keep fingers away. I am more afraid of my saws than I am of firearms and I am not lax with firearm safety - far from it.
7 Get good isolation switches ie no vault release (may already be on saw) and earth leakage circuit breaker. Make sure no one can turn on accidentally and isolate from kids/novices by seperate switches in work shop/garage so the machine cannot be turned on in your absence. You have been warned.
8 Buy a good metal stand to anchor the saw. It has LOTS of torque and can kick would and you into big trouble.
9 Watch lots of Norm Abram as I do in Wales.
10 Mine is 240v 1500w. Loads of guts.
11 Always read the instructions and follow them....
12 If you get hooked next saw is a band saw. I worship my Dewault.
Have fun but watch your language when you make errors!
Rob[;)]0 -
Delta - 10" Freud - Stacked dado blades = Best combination. Do lots of checking around. Find people with different saws and watch them work then make your decision. 0 -
I have worked in a cabinet shop on and off for 5 years. The only thing I will say is hold the work TIGHT to the fence. Pray your first kickback leaves you with all your fingers. Use 3/4" plwood-stronger, better edge to nail into and don't forget the glue. Good luck!
Pete
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's in english, thank a soldier. Thanks Dad!!0 -
I know a place that sells a few[:0][:D]
http://www.wttool.com/category-exec/category_id/12695/nm/Tablesaws
I have had occasion to use the Jet super saw, it is a nice saw[;)]
WT0 -
www.grizzly.com the model G1023S table saw is very highly rated.
It will perform the work you want to do and keep up with your increasing skill level. Limiting yourself to Lowes and Home Depot is like limiting yourself to only beans for dinner.0 -
I have a $500 delta that weighs about 250-300 pounds, maybe 5 years old. Table is cast iron.
It has 2 deficiencies, one it the fence is marginal at best, the back end never seems to stay where you put it.
The second is the Motor, while it is rated at 3 HP, it only draws 1500W 110V which makes it a solid 1HP machine. It is fine for dry 1" hardwoods, and 11 ply 3/4" hardwood plywood. If you try to cut 2" hardwood or wet lumber like treated decking, it will keep blowing its built in Circuit breaker unless you take it really slow.
I generally run an 60-80 tooth carbide blade. The exception is for rough cutting, and when I am cutting treated wood then I use a 32 tooth.
The 10" Dewalt combo packs are a great value, the last set I bought had an 80 tooth and a 32 tooth for $35, and they were made in England, not some third world poophole.
The $99-159 saw are a waste of your money. Buy a clamp on fence, a set of sawhorses, and a good hand circular saw if you want to spend that kind of money. Your results will be better.0 -
I have a Bosch 4000-07 portable contractor's table saw with folding stand and use it all the time to build small custom cabinets, bookcases, toyboxes and other finish quality stuff for my customers. My workshop will not permit anything larger or stationary. I don't however build kitchen cabinets or large furniture.
Blade setup is critical on any saw as is the right blade for the wood you're cutting. Also, I use a rule or tape to measure my front and back blade clearance to the fence AND give the back end a hair's width more so as to reduce drag along the blade and binding along the fence. It also helps reduce the tendency for kickback. If you measure any of my cuts, they're dead on square and so for me, I'm very satisfied with my particular Bosch saw. Thick, dense or damp wood needs a slower feed because the motor is only so strong.
As a matter of fact, I just bought a Ryobi 10" portable table from Home Depot for $87 that I'm just going to keep in the bed of my truck for all the small odd-ball jobs that require odd-sized wood. I spent about 1/2 hour setting up the blade and aligning the splitter on it and then cut 20 or so test pieces. Noisy? Yes. Soft start? No. Limited? Yes. But it does what I need it to do on-the-fly.
If I were a kitchen cabinet maker or large furniture maker, I'd of course want something larger, much more powerful and made of cast iron, complete with generous infeed/outfeed. But, I'd also have to move since I don't have the physical room in my shop for it.
IMHO, a lot of it has to do with the operator, not just the saw. A top-end table saw with the wrong or incorrectly aligned blade and a poor-fitting rip fence only amplify the mistakes and decrease safety.
Measure two times. Stop. Think. Know where your hands are and where they'll end up after the cut. Think. Measure a third time. Cut. [:)]
Just my 2 cents.0 -
It depends on how much you want to spend.
The Delta Contrasctor's Saw with a Biesmeyer or Delta Unifence Will cut as accurately as you are likely to need. Remember," It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools".
Stay away from Craftsman as they contain proprietary parts, like bearings, available only at Sears, at inflated prices.
The Delta Unisaw is as good as it gets. You can find them online, or at your localHARDWARE store, not Home Depot. You can buy a VERY good saw for less than $2,000.00. Look for an industrial tool supplier in your area. Delta usually offers packages built around the Unisaw, at reasonable prices.
In any case get a belt drive saw, you can change motors if you need more power. If the motor fails on a direct drive saw, it is junk.
I have 35 years in the trade, and have seen them all.
You can buy a Jet or Grizzly for less money, but you get what you pay for.
As to blades. Freud makes a fair blade, but if you want to drive a Caddilac, there are Forrest and Systematic, for not a lot more money.
Ihave a Systematic Dado set I have had since the 70's. It is still sharp, and it has been USED, but not abused.0 -
I have a delta 10",
cost me $850 a while ago.
My son-in-law has a rigid
something or other.
blades are pretty much like scopes
buy the best you can afford
and keep it sharp
and a spare on hand to chage out
with. I buy Freud blades and have a bunch
of 60 tooth or 72 tooth carbide blades.
Get yourself a good stackable dado blade.
Keep the saw surface clean and waxed.
Have a set of plans, even if their drawn out
on toilet paper, be methodical and accurate.
99 44/100% of your work will be saw blade not motor
so get a moderately priced 10" saw
that will accept a dado and put the rest of your
money into saw blades . The table saw is one of
if not the most important tool in the
workshop. there are different and clever ways
you can join wood but a table saw is #1.
And no matter what anyone else says good work
is 80 percent operator 10% preparation and planning
and 10% tools.buy a 10" rigid but get good blades
but if you can afford a delta buy one now and save
$500 bucks in 5 years.(it takes a few years of
operation and experience to find out what you
really want)-you'll have no problems
have fun-Ron
ps. for 10 yrs i used a 10" table top Ryobi
and made pretty good cabinets and other stuff.
Preparation and planning and SHARP blades0 -
quote:
As to blades. Freud makes a fair blade, but if you want to drive a Caddilac, there are Forrest and Systematic, for not a lot more money.
Ihave a Systematic Dado set I have had since the 70's. It is still sharp, and it has been USED, but not abused.
+1
On the Forrest anyway. Haven't used the Systematic but will say they may be as good as Forrest but they will not be better. imho (possibly because either may just outlive you)
Btw obey ALL safety advice given. You'll still mess up sooner or later but maybe it won't be as bad if you follow the safety rules! Most accidents seem to happen because of being distracted,reaching across the blade,trying to force the blade to cut faster than it wants to. (especially DULL crappy blades) Or just plain ignorance! Come to think about it all of the above comes under "ignorance"
"experience is a mistake you've managed to live thru" [B)]
To give you a idea watch "The Woodright Shop" with Roy Underhill on tv or if you are ever near Colonial Williamsburg visit it. And look at his hands! This guy uses period tools (unpowered) so they focus on what he's doing. I've never saw them focus the camera on Norm's hands. If you handle tools your gonna get bit. But being extra careful will (hopefully) make it a lesser bite!
Oh! I see used contractor saws at yard sales for $30-$50 bucks every weekend! Some of them are almost new. Plug it in before you buy and spend what you've saved on a good blade. Cause none of em are any good till you get into big money. But most of them are "close enough for government work" [:D]
Allen0 -
The only thing I can tell you for sure is within two weeks of buying your first table saw you will see one you like better, and probably for less money.
I'm making some assumptions here. For one, I assume you don't want to sell the house to buy a saw.
I bought a CRAFTSMAN MOD 315.228110 which is a Ryobi, but I can't find the Ryobi Model number. I get accurate true cuts with it. The main things I like about it is it has a good STRAIGHT fence and it has a sliding "Miter Table" which rides on rails instead of the little wobbly guide that slides in a too wide slot.
I like doing business with SEARS because if you have a problem they are pretty good about backing what they sell. I also like the way they treat their military reserve personnel. The bad thing about doing business with SEARS is you can be pretty sure they will discontinue whatever you buy from them within a month.
This is a link to some information about the Ryobi BT3100 10" Table Saw which looks similar to the one I bought:
http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/bt3100rvu.html
This is the cover of the manual so you can see what the miter table looks like.0 -
I just thought of something that may prove helpful. Some of the lower end homeowner saws have mitre slots that are NOT the same width as the industry standard used in larger table saws. Delta's Shopmaster, Workforce, Tradesman and a few others that I know of have thinner slots. So, if you want to use a higher quality mitre such as an Incra, check the slot on the saw first BEFORE you buy it!
Also, if your table saw has two parallel slots, you can make yourself a very nice accurate sled out of hardwood for 90 degree cuts.0 -
depending on the job i prefer a radial arm saw, the work remains still while the saw moves, can do 90% of the jobs neede for a table saw
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Bench+Power+Tools&pid=00922010000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Radial+Arm+Saws+&+Accessories&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes0 -
...one piece of advice. Take off the stupid blade gaurds as soon as you buy it. They will get you hurt. 0 -
Thank you for all of your repiles and advice.I looked at the 10 inch castiron Ridgid this evening at Home Depot.I may go back again tomorrow and take another look.Thanks again,
EvilDr2350
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