Thread: MBS 300 table saw on special - is it worth it?

Another equivalent machine is the Leda TC-12

Carbatec also have the MBS-300 p48 of the 2005 Cattledog. List price is $2695 - but I am sure there is some negotiation room there.

Cheers

Good one Groggy, the poor buga is looking for help & you go & confuse him even more....

Charles mate, I think you'll have to toss a coin 'cos I doubt there'll be anyone here who has owned/used or even tried both.

The best you can hope for is a couple of mates in the same area with different machines who may have compared notes.

I haven't heard any bad reports about the Jet but I haven't heard anything at all about MBS or the Leda....

Anyone else want to try confusing the poor buga?

I think Soundman has the MBS-300.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

Good one Groggy, the poor buga is looking for help & you go & confuse him even more....

Fair cop Cliff, mea culpa - I was in a hurry and thought I'd drop the Leda in there too to assist with the head scratching.

Anyway, since he is scratching his brain with this stuff, here's my simple 2c worth.

I have looked long and hard at table saws, particularly the MBS300 and the TC-12.

I decided the difference wasn't much, and in the end, it was a choice of cabinet style (I am convinced they come out of the same castings and factory) and accessories for the price.

Personally, I chose the TC-12 because I knew I would get very good support (personal luck here, it may not apply to others) and the sliding table plus a blade was in the deal.

The price I paid was competitive with C**** T** et al, and I can bother the dealer whenever I want since he lives nearby.

Charles, I would not worry about the quality of either the
MBS300 or TC-12, they are the same. You would do better spending your time working on the total package:

-delivery
-blade
-setup help
-overhead guard
-dust collection connectors
-magnetic switch
-sliding table (be aware that the guide rail is different for the sliding table on the TC-12).
-dado blade maybe?
-dado extension arbor perhaps.

cheers,

Greg

The other key consideration with the MBS-300 is whether to get the 3 phase or the single phase motor. That will depend on what you have to your shed.

Cheers

I've got a Woodman TS222 & it's the same saw, I reckon.

I couldn't live without the sliding table.
It can be a bit of a job to setup the swinging arm but ones that is done you are home & hosed.

The only complaint is that it won't cut to the depth they say. I can only cut up to 94mm & they reckon it'll cut 105mm deep. :mad:

All in all a good robust saw, I've had mine for about 8 years.

At the www sydney show last year Major Woodworking Machinery had the MBS300 with overhead suva guard, blade and extension table (fence side) for $2100. I remember because I drooled over it for months and wished I was (financially) better endowed. I still want one but you can only get away with so much. I don't think it included the sliding table though. I remember thinking it was cheaper than the other supplier of the MBS300. I also remember the guy telling me that theirs was slightly better than their competitors and I figured if the Jet dealer reckons it is a good saw who was I to argue.
Hope this helps, maybe they'll be cheaper at the show, maybe not.

I have owned this saw for approx 6 mths. I purchased it through a great mob in S.A!!
I ordered it with the sliding table, o/h suva guard, tenoning jig & 3 CMT blades.
(one of each for ripping, crosscutting & melamine)
Only hicup I had was the emergency stop button wouldn't work!
Had a friend (sparky) bring over his multi meter etc and found the problem.
Wherever or whoever completed the "fit off" of saw arbor tilt scale on front panel of saw drove the screw right through cable to switch & caused a short.
Sparky told me not to bother with anymore "tatts" tickets as I'd used my share of luck! I didn't get any "zaps" from saw & my RCD on shed didn't kick in either, so I know how lucky I was!
With all that said, I am very happy with it and would NOT be without the sliding table. It will cut a 4' sheet no worries. Fence is very very good & accurate.
What I would like to do is to have a pro set it up to acheive it's max accuracy as I have found that it is a beautiful machine to use and accurate to about 99.5%. I guess if I spent the time I could get it close to spot on myself but time is the thing.
The dealer in S.A told me that these saws are the "industry std" model used for education dept.
A very good machine despite it's early dramas.
Good luck with your choice. The price is GOOD!!!!! $2500 inclusive... Wow!

Thanks guys, you have helped.

Basically it is a good saw and the price is good. Unfortunately the sliding table question is moot as I don't have enough room. I do want to go one step better than the generic carbetec et al 10" saw without pi$$ing my dollars away. So I was picking between the Jet and the MBS, the MBS being better priced but not as pretty. Groggy's list is interesting, especially the dado comments as the MBS is much better for dado heads due to the length of the arbor.

At this stage I may well plug for the MBS and see about hunting for price

Charles

The mbs 300 is a great saw.
I don't have the slider (yet).
One big advantage is the size of the machine, the case & footprint is larger than the unisaw or its clones and the tabletop is huge.
I strongly recomend you get a 20 amp outlet wired as the motor is BEEEFFFY. It should run on a 15 amp ok, but I loaded mine up with a bit of 90mm kd hardwood with a peak holding clamp meter & it sucks juce.
Its delightfully smooth and GRRRRunty.
the motor is the size of a 2 gal bucket.
You wont regret it.
If you want to run a dado make sure you can get the appropriate arbour.
The standard 30mm arbour wont run a dado. The arbour can be changed, its not just the end of the shaft machined its a bolt in arbour.
cheers

Thanks Soundman.

I have checked and you can get an 5/8 arbor adaptor. From what the salesman said I think you unscrew the 30mm and screw on the 5/8.

Regarding power, I have a 15amp plug on a seperate circuit, so I should be fine.

Well I think I will start ringing MBS dealers.

Charles

Correct! You simply unscrew 30mm arbor & screw in the 5/8" arbor.
Problem is with 30mm arbor being too short for Dado.
The 5/8" is plenty long enough though.
I purchased the CMT dado set but, have'nt used it yet.
Personally I don't have a problem with the appearance of mbs300 unit.
I don't care too much for make up as you can't polish a !
Good luck!
Regards Sandman.

Originally Posted by spbookie

Groggy's list is interesting, especially the dado comments as the MBS is much better for dado heads due to the length of the arbor.

I'm intrigued by this comment. Why is the MBS 'much better' due to the length of the arbor? How long is it, I thought it was 30mm, the same as the TC-12? There was an interesting thread on arbor lengths a while ago,

(...shuffles off to look...)

(...shuffles back...)

ayup, here it is:

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...t=arbor+length

I also note the discussion about a 5/8" arbor being available, you may want to make sure you get the right one with the saw, as the price may (unpleasantly) surprise you.