I’ve seen the saw at Lowe’s and wouldn’t waste the effort to load it into my truck. Try ripping a sheet of 3/4" plywood on that saw and you’ll regret the purchase in about 30 seconds. I do a lot of cabinetry work and am glad I have a 650 pound table saw that is stable, quiet and precise to use. To each his own…
Don Z.
I went back to the picture in the post showing the saw in question. Yes, it does have a pretty wide stance from right to left. Unfortunately, not so wide in the direction of the blade. The original poster asked about cutting (ripping) sheet goods. Having done some of this myself, I just don’t see how he would be happy using this product.
The other question I would ask is one of perception. Looking at that particular saw, and comparing it to saws in the next price range, I would have to ask myself what they skimped on to get the price down to that level: material? bearings? safety?
If I’m willing to pay $250 on up for a locomotive, why would I want to skimp on something that can take my fingers off?
I’ll repeat my suggestion about considering a radial arm saw, especially after this weekend. I built 10 2’x4’ modules this weekend by ripping sheets of plywood into 5-1/2 wide boards and then cutting them to the proper length. I set the saw up for ripping the plywood. All 24 ‘planks’ were uniform in width. In 30 secs the saw is changed from ripping to crosscutting and the boards were crosscut to length. While all this could have also been done on a table saw, IMO it was easier to do on the radial arm becuase of the longer (6’) fence and the 2’x4’ size of the table. Cleanup was also easier because the shop vac hooks up to the blade guard.
As others have said, don’t scrimp on the tool. It will only lead to frustration down the road when things don’t line up because of poor cuts.
The first big tool I purchased 30 years ago was indeed a radial arm saw. At the time I was intrigued by all the different functions it could do, aside from cross cutting, with the proper attachments. It achieves this functionality by its ability to have the motor and mounting arm spin, swing, and swivel. The downside of this is that there are multiple oportunities for something to get out of alignment. This is not a big deal, but it is something to be aware of.
Another thing to be aware of is that although the saw can be used for ripping, there is a limit as to how wide a piece any particular saw can cut. Mine is a 10 inch Dewalt and I think I can manage to make a cut about 17 inches wide. So if for any reason you might want to cut a 4 X 8 sheet in two, you’re out of luck. Another issue to be considered is that any large piece of sheet goods will overhang the front table of the saw by a large amount, at least until you lop off enough pieces of 2 inch wide spline to make the remaining piece manageable. As far as the fence goes, I think the fence on my radial arm saw is about the same length as the fence on my table saw (a 10 inch Delta “contractor’s” saw). After I bought the table saw, I found it a lot easier to handle large pieces of sheet.
If I were to do it all over again, I think I might consider buying the table saw plus a compound miter saw (which I don’t have) instead of the radial arm. But then, looking back, I know I’ve used that radial arm saw to do some things that the table and miter saws couldn’t handle, so there is no way that I’m going to voluntarily give the radial saw up.
By the way. When I bought these things I tried to look not at what my immediate need was, but rather what I might be doing with them down the road. That’s why in my original post I made a comment about th
Hi!
When I built the previous layout, I had a “chop saw”, and a good size band saw, and of course a circular & sabre saw - but I needed a table saw to assure the 52 - 2x2 legs were cut properly. A table saw takes up a lot of room, and I really didn’t want to buy one to keep.
Soooo, I got one from the neighborhood “green sheet” - a craftsman that was in excellent shape. As I didn’t have access to a pick up truck, the seller delivered it for me. After a couple of months my benchwork was complete, and I put the saw up for sale in the green sheet. I actually sold it for $25 more than I paid for it, and the buyer picked it up.
These days, I suspect there are a lot of used power tools out there for sale, and you should have no trouble getting one that will suit your needs. While a new one would be nice, unless you are going to use it an awful lot, you just don’t need one.
OH, MAY I PLEASE ADD THIS… My Father-in Law was a retired carpenter. He did excellent work and was using his table saw one day to build a large birdhouse. He let himself get distracted, and managed to cut the ends off of 4 fingers. My wife had to take him to the ER, and it was a horrible mess. PLEASE be CAREFUL !!!
Mobilman44
My 30 year old Sears RAS will cut 26" wide so it can handle the 4x8 sheet (one reason I picked it). I have a couple of roller stands I use for the front overhang. If I were cutting off 2" wide splines, my first cut would be 24" just to make the pieces easier to handle.
Having never used a table saw I can’t say which is easier. But I bought my RAS instead of a table saw because I had limited space. It has worked out well for me. If I had the room I would have both.
Enjoy
Paul
I posted eariler about the Rigid 10" table saw and notice a lot of comments about how wide a sheet you could rip. This saw will cut 36" to the right of the blade with the included rip fence. I just cut some sheets to 32 and 34" widths and it does it with ease and accuracy. Just wanted to point this out for those who may want this feature on the next saw. Also, I rarely have to measure the distance from blade to fence as the rip gauge is very accurate.
The AMPS is not what you need to be concerned with. It is the HORSEPOWER rating of the motor that gives you the power to easily cut through wood of any thickness. The amperes is the current flow that the motor will draw. You should look for a saw with a minimum 1/3 to 1/2 Horsepower for normal home use. If you check your fuse panel, you will find your fuses rated for 15 Amps, (in Canada anyway) for most of your wiring. 30 Amp fuses are only used for high current appliances with heavy wiring to them, like stoves, clothes dryers and possibly air conditioners.
If you try to cut to large a piece of lumber and your saw starts to bog down, you will start to draw to much current, (amperage) and possibly blow the fuse. It’s just like having a short circuit except that the fuse heats up slowly before if blows as to blowing IMMEDIATELY as in the ca
Better late than never, I suppose, and it has taken me a little while to get here, but let me take this opportunity to welcome you to the forum.
smath, like yourself, I am considering using splines on my next layout. To the best of my knowledge I have never cut a piece of masonite in my life but I may just lay in a sheet in order to see exactly how it handles; at this particular moment I would give hearty consideration to using 1/8" luann ply. Whatever I decide I figure that, in the long run, going with splines as opposed to 3/8" ply subroadbed supported by pine risers will save a few shekels. Almost thirty years ago I tried spline roadbed on one of my HO-Scale layouts with mixed success but my layout building skills have improved somewhat and I’m going to give it that “old college try” one more time.
I think that you are selling the capabilities of the circular saw just a little short and before you charge off to buy a table saw consider a couple of points.
In addition to being able to mount a dado mechanism the prime advantage of a table saw over a circular saw is it’s capability to handle smaller pieces of material and, if you are going to have a need to do such work in the future, then, by all means, buy yourself a table saw. You have indicated an excellent price range for your purchase. I do not currently own a table saw but there is one in my future because I do have some future projects which is going to require finer work than can be done with a circular saw. My selection is going to be a Rigid model from Home Despot because of the high ratings it has received in the product reviews done by several of the woodworking magazines to which I subscribe. I might note here that I did, at one time, own an induction motored table saw; at the time I purchased it from Sears, Sawbuck and Company in 1972 the quality of universal motors as are found on todays table saws left much to be
Hey [:D]
I was one of the first to answer your post and I’m totally surprised to see the huge number of answers there are to that post.
In my shop I used radial and table saws. To be really handy for 4’x8’ sheets I had an 8’ extension on each side of the radial arm saw.For the table saw I used movable roller stands. When I retired after 40 plus years in business I keep the table saw and the compound chop saw for my hobbies. These I slide under the work bench in my garage. To be easy to use the radial would have taken up too much room.
I wonder what you bought?[%-)]
Enjoy
Lee
I would look for a used table saw, or radial arm saw (RAS). Plenty of good 8 inch and 10 inch machines turn up on Craig’s list for around $100. Craftsman is OK, Delta, Darrah James, Powermatic and Dewalt are better names. The older machines, the ones made of cast iron, are the best. Cast iron does not bend (it will break but it won’t bend) so the machine stays in alignment. The extra weight dampens vibration and keeps the machine from shifting under load. Don’t worry about power, they all have enough power to cut anything, so long as the blade is sharp.
For a table saw, things to look for are a big cast iron table, and a long ridgid fence. You also want a tilting arbor saw, not a tilting table saw, for angled cuts. Table saws require more shop space and clearance than a RAS. To rip 4 * 8 sheet goods into strips, you need 8 feet of clearance in front of the saw and 8 feet behind the saw. To cross cut a long piece you need clearance on each side of the saw.
A RAS needs less shop space. It only needs clearance on the sides. Quality in a RAS is lots of cast iron and a very ridgid arm and a smooth rolling power head. If the arm wiggles, the saw won’t cut straight. A RAS of any make prior to 1965 or so as good or better than the most expensive RAS sold today. If the RAS has had a lot of use, the arm tracks in which the power head rides may be so worn that the power head doesn’t roll straight. Such wear is worst in the first few inches past the fence. If the power head rolls smoothly to the end of the arm it is OK. If it wobbles close to the fence and gets tighter at the end of the arm, it’s worn.
Get a carbide blade, it stays sharp and cuts smoother than plain steel. Both table saws and RAS’s will sever any body part that comes in contact with the blade. Be careful. Beware of kickback, a tendency of the saw blade to grab the work and hurl it
Get something that has a stable stand. Ripping plywood you could easily overturn a table saw. The $99 table saws although can do the job they just dont have the fit or finish of the most expensive ones. Check out the rip fences of the various table saws which one moves smoothly and easily lock parallel to the blade with little or no out of plane movement. The more expensive ones have elaborate looking rip fences but you need to play with it to see if it is just looks or is solidly functional.
Home depot has a rip guide that clamps to the plywood longitudinally, you can make some nice straight cuts with a circular saw.
Home depot and most likely most lumber stores will rip the plywood for you for a price per cut. They could at least cut the piece in half or quarter it for you.
Just my 2 dollars(The Old 2 cents adjusted for inflation) worth. Consider how much space the equipment is going to take up, and how much use and what kind of use is it likely to get in the future. If you are only going to use tool for basically a one-time project, no need to get any top-of-the-line expensive tools. Size wise, if you were to get a large table contractor’s saw, where would you store it when not using it? These were some recommendations on one of the home repair programs on HGTV. Buy the tool that meets what you know of your current and future needs.
I have both a 7 1/4" circular saw, and a 10" table saw. I got the circular saw for $5.00 at a garage sale where a doctor had bought a $50 dollar saw, used it for one project, and decided he didn’t like work, and dumped it and some other tools.
I was looking for a low priced table saw, and finally saw a Lowe’s ad for one for $99.00. When I went to the store, the advertised saw had plastic skirting, a thin guage stamped table, and a general shoddy look. I was not impressed with the accuracy of the rip fence, either. But it had a good quality GE 1.5 hp motor. Right next to it was the one I bought. Different brand, made in Korea, not China, stamped metal skirting at least s thick as the Chinese table, same motor, and a good heavy FLAT cast iron table. When I got it home, I checked the rip fence with a tri-square, and found that the fence locked in SQUARE using a jackscrew. That one cost me $96.50 eleven years ago. Still works good.
By the same token, I bought a lower priced Sear’s 8" drill press, and wish I’d spent the extra $15.00 for a 10". At the time, I thought the 8" would have been good enough. Hindsight is always more accurate than forsite.
I don’t have room for a woodworking shop, so in the warmer months, roughly April through maybe mid Oc
A few years back I bought a Jet “Unisaw”, which is similar to a Rockwell Unisaw. It is 10 inch with a 3.5HP motor. It is one of the best investments (along with my divorce) that I ever made.
Rich
I have a very inexpensive saw that I bought from Sears sometime ago. One of my friends needed some masonite ripped so I took the saw over to his house. I rather make the dust their than at my house. Anyway since you may only use it occassionaly maybe you can find a friend that has one and borrow it and him to use it. This way you save some money for other important train stuff.
Len
A lot of good advice on here, but one thing I haven’t seen mentioned: have you ever used a table saw before?
If not, please take a class or have an experienced friend walk you through the basics. There are some non-intuitive do’s and don’ts on safety that may surprise you. Why take a chance on something that can take your fingers off?
I have two good friends who have been professional woodworkers for over 30 years each. Both are highly regarded and safety-conscious. Each of them is missing a digit. As they told me, you only need to get distracted once to change your life.
Home Depot near me makes two free cuts on sheet goods. I bought a 4X8 of 1/2 plywood and had it cut once each way to my measurements. They cut it true and square in about one minute and I didn’t have to clean up the sawdust!
I have an old Sears Craftsman 10 inch table saw. It’s about 50 years old, has a large cast iron table with extensions, and weighs a lot more than me. Rugged (and heavy) as a Battleship, portable as a mountain, accurate as can be. I have used it for many years for everything from construction carpentry to fine furnature building. If you have “two men and a boy” to help you move it condider looking around for a used one. (Could save you a lot of money.)
If you ony want one for a small “one time” job you might check out what you can rent. {Keep in mind Masonite tends to by somewhat abrasive so you may want to use carbide blades (expensive) or be prepared to replace/sharpen conventonal blades.}
Everyone should have a decent table saw. I just bought one from Home Depot. You can check them on line. I got a ryobi with legs attached. Weight is 87# but when folded up it does have wheels. I paid about $250.00. It is not commercial grade but it will do what you want. 5000rpm, 15Amps. Good luck. Rich