Thread: Carba-Tec 10” Contractors saw with sliding table Model CT-10ST

Jack, I don't have one but in the past I had a similar small tabled saw bench (it was named Bevel Australia) with a sliding table attachement. Inow have one of these http://www.carbatec.com.au/machinery...ding-table-saw.

Now the saw you want will probably do everything you want. But, and from experience, unless you have a second person (the wife is no good as arguments start)to assist or have tables/rollers/support on the outfeed (back) and sliding side table you will be busting a gut when handling sheets ie 2400x1200.

HI there Jack,
I know this does not directly answer your questions , but Rod makes a good point about handling large sheets (and not wobbling them through the blade).
I was /am looking at a new saw because mine is a million years old and just OK for ripping.

For sheet work I went the other way and took the Mountain to Mohammed.
I built a folding sacrificial table and can lay the sheets flat on it.
Then I use a Festool saw and guide rails ( which I bought second hand) to accurately rip the panels down to managable sizes. If I need to take an extra 1/2mm or whatever , the router table skims that off smaller panels.
Most time the cut is OK as finished ..as the Festool has splinter guards and does not chip melamine
My main reason was that the table folds flat for storage and the festool saw and rails are easy to store. Furthermore it is portable. A bit slower.. as you need to mark ot the work rather than simply feed it past a set fence. I use a plasterer's 1200mm Tee square, mark each end of sheet and drop the guide rail on the marks and Bingo!
I do not have enough space to keep a table saw with huge sliding outriggers AND to manage large sheets. Obviously you need at least 5 meters to slide a 2.4m sheet through the blade of a table saw.
FYI: the sacrificial table is about 2.7 by 1.0m approx and built on a ladder pattern using 70x 35 pine....glued and screwed in the centres so the the blade will never find metal. A couple of folding trestle legs supports it.
With the blade set about 10mm deeper than the sheet to allow chip clearance it obviously leaves lots of 10mm cuts in the table cross rails ( so what!) and the sheet remains flat but separated into two bits...no hanging onto floppy bits as they leave the tablesaw.

Anyway just another option...and yes, I would still like a new table saw but I would probably stick with my current arragement for sheet work.

Cheers
Bob

Dear Jack,

Spurred on by your queries regarding this particular model, I attempted to do some searching of the Forums myself about it, and - lo and behold - you know what?; I came up with absolutely Bugger All on it too.... I find that very surprising and in need of "correction" since this particular saw must rate highly on most blokes "Look At" lists when it's time to buy...

As you have already astutely pointed out, it possesses what may well be the best "Ripping Width per $" ratio of any sub-$1000 Saw straight out of the box. Other big plusses (at least in my books...) are it's "Contractorish" setup (ie. on a stand), which together with it's lowish weight (due to the use of aluminium rails and left-hand extension), give it some measure of portability. And then there's the Sliding Table; it might not be wide enough to handle much in the way of Big Sticks, but if you're primarily after a Big Ripping Capacity, I guess anything in the way of a Sliding Table is a bonus (you'll have to come up with some way of fixing down the Mitre Guage when you're using the Slider, though). Finally, unlike most Contractors, the motor is inboard - meaning that the Dust Control should be pretty good, instead of pathetic...

Yes, there's no doubt that it's quite an interesting package. There must surely be some Forumite out there who has one, who can comment on things like whether the whole unit stays in alignment over the long term, as well as the Fence and the Sliding Table. Regarding the ability of the unit to tackle Sheet-work off to the right, it might be a bit of an each-way bet; going for you is the fact that the motor is obviously hanging off to the left of the blade (as evidenced by the small portion of the motor cover that is visible below the Sliding Table), but going against you is the fact that the right-hand extension is made of Cast Iron, whereas the Sliding Table on the left is made of much-lighter aluminium extrusion (the right-hander should just be aluminium too, I reckon...).

Good Luck with it Jack,
Batpig.

Jack,

My 2 cents worth. I have been doing a lot of sheet work recently - new kitchen and vanities etc - and I have one of the bigger, heavier Carbatec saws with a Triton Maxi sliding table attached and I still struggle to rip 2400 long panels. They flex, skew etc and that is with several roller stands to assist.

I can, and do, cross cut these panels but I never rip them on the table saw. I revert to the old hand held circular saw and a good straight edge. I have seen several revelations in these forum (fora? what is the plural?) about ripping methods on the table saw but at the end of the day, placing the panel on my bench and wrestling with the saw is much easier than wrestling with the panel on a small table saw.

Good luck

Bill

If anyone does happen to own this saw and does reply, I'd love to know if the motor is quieter being inboard, rather than the screaming outboard contractor motors. I've been considering a Jet Proshop due to its enclosed motor and reported quietness, but if this also has an enclosed motor I may give it a look....

Hi all

I have one of these saws for 5 years now, and it serves me very well. My comments on the above questions, and other points:

The motor is quiet, you can easily have a conversation while it is running (if you wanted to!). Most noise in use comes from the blade.

The sliding table is for small panels only - it wont even look at 1200 mm cuts. A bit over 600 is about its limit. Take time to level the sliding table - it may need to be shimmed to get it parallel to the main table. On mine 3 thicknesses of Alfoil got it straight when put in below the mounting bolts, otherwise the panel on the sliding table sat noticeably off 90 deg to the blade, but only just I will admit.

Use quality blades and keep them sharp.

Like all table saws it produces mountains of dust. A good dust extractor will keep the workshop livable.

Check the alignments regularly. It has been quite stable once set up, but it is actually a budget machine so I often check blade parallel to mitre slot and rip fence, and other alignments. After 5 years I feel it is now almost due for realignment.

I can say that I have never regretted the purchase, and plan to keep it as long as I can keep up woodwork.

Hope this helps, Alex

Sorry, I forgot to answer the ripping question.

Yes, it will rip quite long lengths provided it has outboard infeed and outfeed support, not using the sliding table. However, and importantly, the wider the workpiece the harder it is to manage. In/out feed support is easy on narrow stock, but gets harder on wider pieces. As others have mentioned, it is much easier and safer to use a hand held saw and a straightedge, on sawhorses, when ripping or crosscutting. A very easy and convenient straight is the factory machined edge on a thin sheet of MDF.

Hope this helps, Alex

Hi Jack,

I bought the MJ2325B a few years ago and moved the fence rails to the right hand side of the saw (didnt have to drill any holes, and made an insert (like a table) to fill the gap between the rails. I can now rip up to 1200mm on it, with in feed and outfeed supports. I dont have much use for a small sliding table on the left of the saw as I use an Incra 1000SE mitre guide for both square cuts and mitres. This has small cams in the slide which cut out any wobble and it can be tuned accurately, it cuts perfect mitres repeatibly.

Might be worth considering if you can rake up the extra.

Good luck in your choice.

Barrie Restall