Thread: 1st Table Saw Advice & Recommendations

Worth keeping an eye on the 2nd hand market - if you're patient, you can get a lot of saw for quite a bit less, so you may get your next step up for your first choices.

Price any one of your fingers, multiply by ten, and get a sawstop - it'll be a saving in the long run.

samo

Either the Carbatec or Hafco will do the job for you, it's the saw blade that you put in that really makes the difference. I would strongly recommend buying either saw without the fence and spending the money you save on an Incra fence, it truly is a different world.

As for adding a router extension, easy as. Cast Iron is easy to drill, slowly, so you can add pretty much anything you like really.

you will be fine with a standard spec carbatec saw, Given it is your first saw it may pay to buy from a dealer so you can go back if you have questions or problem with the saw? once you have gained some experience with the saw, you will know what you want given what you need.

If you do sheet goods then you probably want a panel saw/sliding table saw. but a new one will cost double/triple or even 10 x a table saw.

I started with a standard table saw. mj2325 I think was the code for it. sold it after a couple of years to move into a combination machine and then sold the combi to get my current monstrous panel saw. I lack working space but I still went for the 3.8m/7.6m slider because I use the half of the slider as working/Festool Vav SYS clamping table.

Actually, neither of those saws is particularly good for a right hand Incra set up, both have right tilting blades. I'm not sure if Incra do a south paw fence setup.

I'm really not an expert so can only offer you my experience with buying a table saw.

When we (my wife also uses the tools) were initially looking at a saw, I was considering something around the $1k mark. As luck would have it we ended up looking after a saw for someone. What was great about it was that it showed what we liked and didn't like. We also came to terms with the limitations of the lower cost saw pretty early on (not enough power, no provision for a riving knife, blade guard was time consuming to put on/take off, etc). When it came time to give the saw back, we had a very clear idea of what we wanted and so were prepared to spend more to get something we knew was the right tool.

As such, unless you're certain of what you want, consider getting something second hand which you can on-sell in a couple of years if it's not what you want, without loosing too much money (if any).

Lance

I've had a 12" generic contractor saw for 13 years and after an initial bit of fettling it has not gone out of alignment since.
Various bits of plastic like the main switch housing and belt guard have broken and a motor cap has died but nothing really significant mechanically has happened to it.
The mitre slide had worn so that it would not quite cutting square but I modified it so it could be continually adjusted to fix the problem.
Most of these problems are typical for most table saws

Almost immediately after purchasing it I gutted the plastic dust shroud inside the cabinet around the blade, in 2011 I added 6" under floor dust extraction, and rebuilt the OH/dust guard on it.
Most of these things are issues that need addressing on all table saws

I've also made several Al zero insert throat plates for it, modified the saw fence, and added a router wing and home made router fence.

After all this I've since had the opportunity of acquiring (ie for fFREE!) several older used cabinet saws (I still have an old 12" 3HP Woodfast in storage going rusty) but after trying them out I kept going back to my old contractor mainly because of the amount of work needed to get them up to the overall functionality of my contractor.

The main safety thing I wish teh contractor had is a rising and falling riving knife, and as a result I don't use one .
I'd also like a fence that is a bit less sloppy but I have not really turned my attention to it.

Initially teh contractor was used a lot on wood until I started doing more metal work about 6 years ago and now the main thing it cuts is Al.
I would eventually like to upgrade to a decent cabinet saw, one with a rising and falling riving knife and a better fence, but given how extensively the contractor is already modified and that it is mainly used to cut Al I really can't justify an upgrade at this time - maybe next year?

I realize you don't necessarily want to spend your time futzing around with it but everything related to dust extraction, zero throat plates, router table extensions and fences are going to be needed on any TS.

BTW Table saws make a lot of dust. If you don't have a decent dust extractor set up properly they are a sure way of filling your shed with fine dust. Something to think about and include in your budget if you don't have one.

Either the Carbatec or Hare & Forbes saw bench will serve you well. I have used my Carbatec saw for more than 20 years now, except that it is a 12" version. That will give me a 100mm deep cut, the 10" saw will cut 75mm deep. I bought the sliding table to go with the saw and for what I do it has been very useful. That the saw tilts to the right is no real problem, drop the saw blade below the table and slide the fence to the left of the saw blade if and when it is necessary. A cast table for a router is available for the right hand side of the saw bench.

Jim

You will get lots of good advice here, but you will ultimately have to make your own decision as not all of it will agree.

I bought second hand as I could not justify the cost for my small useage. It also meant I was not too much out of pocket if I did not like it!
Later it made it easier for me to drill and cut into it for some modifications, which I would not have been comfortable if it was new!

Buying new gives you the advantage of latest technology and much lower risk. You also have the backup support and I have been generally happy with Carbatec.

You should possibly consider Leda, which is based in North Plympton and I think you will find that most of these saws come out of the same factory, although sometimes with slightly differing specs. I have a Leda 2325, which is a fairly common generic model. I purchased a Leda dust extractor, which I considered slightly superior to the Carbatec or H & F.

General Machinery at Cavan are the agents for H & F although they have also recently become agents for Record so have less H & F woodworking gear on the floor. I don't think Record have a Table Saw in the range so they may still have a H & F there. I purchased my Bandsaw and Drill press from them.

I found that the standard fence that came with mine was inadequate and upgraded. I also agree with other comments here that you should consider quality blades and dust extraction is very important.

I only paid about $650 for the base saw but probably spent more than that again with improvements and upgrades, including mobile kit, new fence, Incra Mitre gauge, improved dust collection, multiple saw blades, router table and a number of minor alterations. I do think I was lucky with my purchase and I suspect there are some duds out there.

The upside of something like the Carbatec is that you will already have a number of these improvements included. While my 2HP is adequate, there have been a couple of times when the 3HP would have been handy.

It seems like you are near me as I am 10min from Carbatec, so happy to show you over my saw to assist with your decision making if you think that may be of interest.

Regards

Bauldy

Thanks all

Certainly dust extraction and blades are on the agenda. A new fence is something that I was considering to do at some stage. A left tilting blade would be nice but not essential. I have considered 2nd hand saws but they are so rare in SA and when they do come up for sale they are usually 3ph workshop monsters.

It really comes down to individual features I suppose. As we are all aware the H&F, Carbatec and Leda entry level saws all look identical other than their coat of paint.

Originally Posted by Bauldy

It seems like you are near me as I am 10min from Carbatec, so happy to show you over my saw to assist with your decision making if you think that may be of interest.

I may just have to take you up on that offer. Im in Payneham South. Would be good to see. I wasnt aware you could purchase just the base. This could be a good way to go.

I'll look into it.
Cheers.

Here is my two cents,

Consider how you go about buying sheets as well....2400x1200x17mm plywood is pretty darn heavy and cumbersome handling by yourself. Even with a cabinet TS you need either rollers or outfeed tables etc....a track saw may be an option instead. However if you are really keen for a TS and you can wing it I would go for this one instead as it is on special atm,

https://www.carbatec.com.au/carbatec...e-complete-kit

Its as close as the Harvey tables saw as you are going to get with the main difference being the 3hp v 2hp, 30mm arbor v 5/8", 3 belts v 1 belt. Seeing that you are dealing with sheets mainly the HP is not such a big deal but the Harvey also has a sliding table option which will be an advantage. Harvey does go up in price again (not alot more mind you) but in this field its prob has everything you can ask for.

cheers,

"I wasnt aware you could purchase just the base."

Sorry, I did not mean that when I said Base Saw, probably should have said Basic Saw.

I will PM you with my contact details.

Bauldy