Thread: Professional Cabinet Saws

Hi there,

Wondering if anyone can give me some advice on professional quality cabinet saws/brands?

I am in the process of transitioning into my own furniture making business and need to replace the saw i am currently using. I have outgrown it and now see many flaws in it that are limiting my ability to make the highest quality work I can without a great deal of time wasting.

I've been using an old 12 inch StartRite 275 that I have on loan from my uncle. I recently replaced the blade as i thought it was warped a little, but it turnes out that the arbor must be slightly wonky. The new Forrest WW ii blade i put on didnt resolve the small wobble. It's not really noticable when running full speed but when turned off and the blade is slowing down you can see it move side to side as it does a rotation. It probably has about a .5mm displacement accross the diameter of the blade. Apart from anything else, this makes it impossible to aligne the blade accurately to the mitre slots.

Also, the tilt mechanism is near on impossible to accuratly move small amounts. It has some play in it before the blade starts tilting and no micro adjustment. Basically it's all guess work and trial and error.

Prior to using this saw i had only used sliding panel saws and was thinking of getting a Felder 700s or possible a combo machine with spindle moublder but since using the cabinet saw, i now see the advantage when primarliy working with solid timber. The jigs that can be made/used are virtually limitless and the footprint is much smaller which is a major factor for me as i'm working from home in a small shop. I work primarily with solid australian hardwoods and dont cut many sheet goods up and can work around that when i do.

I am familiar with some of the high end slider brands such as Martin, Altendorf, Format4/Felder but I have no experience with similar quality cabinet saws..

Features that i am looking for are;

• 3phase 5-7hp motor
• 12inch blade capacity
• 45 degree tilt
• micro adjust tilt
• micro adjust rip fence
• decent extraction

I'm looking for a pro quality machine not a hobbyist machine.

Does anyone have any advise on brands or models to look at?

Thanks,
Mike