Looking for first tablesaw ~$500

[Rennie Ash]

Hi, I am looking to get a small setup and found a Triton 2000 with TSA001 saw for $500 on Gumtree. I also looked at some cheap table saws in Burnings etc. Is the Triton an ok value for that price or are there other options in the 500 dollars or less bracket?

I will most likely be cutting speaker cab panels and possibly simple furniture pieces. I live in Tasmania if that changes things ;-)

Rennie

[code4pay]

Seems expensive, decent second hand table saws can be had for that amount, people do great things on tritons but I think a new even a new table saw in that range would be a better option. With the cheap saws the main issue seems to be things like fences not being square etc. I recently got an aldi saw bench for 150.00 the squareness of the fence, the ruler on the fence and the degree marker for tilt are all adjustable so I had no issues there. It has dust extraction ports, a riving knife. Still you would be better with a solid second hand machine.

[Rennie Ash]

I don't know if there is an "aldi" equivalent in Tas. I would like it to be moveable by one person if possible. Seeing other Tirtons around Australia it would seem $300 would be a better price for that machine.

I had a look online at new portable table saws and found a Bosch GTS10J ($645) or Makita MLT100 ($525) which I may be able to get locally. There is also a Scheppach HS120 for around $360 + shipping which seems relatively decent for a beginner saw and has an induction motor which apparently is quieter than a "power saw mounted upside down to a table". I'm not sure what types of motors the other 2 units have.

[Treecycle]

I would be more inclined to keep my eye out for a secondhand saw with a cast iron table rather than one of the small new ones with aluminium tops. Most of them don't seem to have standard tee slots for mitre gauges etc, so fitting better ones later on is not an option.
The asking price for the Triton is probably okay considering it comes with the Triton saw.
Here is another option for a Triton if you are wanting to go that way. http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/upper...aw-/1057772894
The main problems with the Tritons is that you cannot do angled rip cuts (assuming it is the same on the 2000 series. I used to have a MK3), and you always need to manually align the fence with the blade every time you move it.
This will give you an idea of what can be available at times. Tablesaw Maybe not so regularly in your state unfortunately

[code4pay]

I don't know if there is an "aldi" equivalent in Tas. I would like it to be moveable by one person if possible. Seeing other Tirtons around Australia it would seem $300 would be a better price for that machine.

I had a look online at new portable table saws and found a Bosch GTS10J ($645) or Makita MLT100 ($525) which I may be able to get locally. There is also a Scheppach HS120 for around $360 + shipping which seems relatively decent for a beginner saw and has an induction motor which apparently is quieter than a "power saw mounted upside down to a table". I'm not sure what types of motors the other 2 units have.

yep that looks ok to me with my limited knowledge, the aldi one is almost identical to this one http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/W446 except a 1700 watt motor and a different handle on the fence.

[Rennie Ash]

I just realised that some of these saws seem to require a 15A supply to run safely, meaning I will be limited to machines that run off a standard 10A supply due to me renting a house that doesn't have 15A as far as I know.

The annoying thing about the Sheppach is that the rip width is only 260mm...

[Stewie D]

I have to agree with treecycle here. An older cast iron job - 1.5 -2 HP motor, 250mm blade can be had secondhand on gumtree, ebay etc for around $300 - sometimes less, sometimes more. Sometimes the owners will throw in a couple of extra blades as well. Put some wheels on it and they are easy to move around the place despite their weight.
A friend of mine bought an old Gilbro tablesaw without the motor for $150 a couple of years ago but got five blades thrown in with the deal. They'd have to be worth $50 each at least. A new 2HP motor and a new belt for $250 plus a bit of TLC and he has a very good saw.

Stewie

[Rennie Ash]

I found a 3 month old Carbatec CTJ-650 on Gumtree. Hopefully it does a good job - it will be delivered on Sunday if everything goes well. The cheap $200 and $400 table saws at Bunnings really were beginning to look worse as I looked more closely at them. I'll save being cheap for the Ozito router to test things out. I don't think I'll run it at max speed anyway and I'll avoid heavy duty work with it - this seems to be the way to go with some cheap tools.

The saw comes with a 2mm kerf blade as well as the normal one (whatever a kerf blade is). I'll have to watch some table saw usage and safety I think ;p

I think I'll be pleased with the GTJ-650 as it is a reasonable quality, runs off 10A, has loads of warranty left, and won't sound like "A jet engine combined with a Tassie Devil" as quoted by a user of a Ryobi table saw Downsides are that is is not quite as portable as I wanted (I may put some wheels on it) however it will still need to be dismantled to fit in my car when my lease runs out or I will have to find someone with a ute.

Any thoughts/tips on this particular saw?

[Treecycle]

You should be pretty happy with that, it is 1000% improvement over a Triton. You won't regret the purchase and it will be nice and quiet with a 1.5 hp induction motor. You can even fit a dado blade later on if you want to.
As for the kerf, it is the width of groove that the blade cuts. A standard kerf is usually 3.2mm, so the 2mm kerf is what is called a thin kerf blade.
You can always purchase one of these kits for moving it around http://www.carbatec.com.au/carba-tec-mobile-base_c3621
Come on Sunday

[Rennie Ash]

Saw arrived today. Wasn't too bad to move with 2 people, will still need base taken off for transport later on, but that will be a once a year thing or less. I might have a look at making my own base, especially if I can put larger wheels on it Also I think I will make an extension table from a sheet of wood/PVC pipes to hold the wood behind the saw.

All measurement guages on it seem to be more of a starting guide as I need to measure the blade to fence distance for 1mm accuracy. Other than that it is quite quick and easy to set the fence and cut, or whip out the mitre piece to trim an edge or two. Fence does move when you tighten but is easily rectified by pushing the lever enough to make it move and then trying to get it set on the correct distance, it's solid once set. Splitter/riving knife is fixed but shouldn't be too much of an issue I hope.

Cast iron top is great and the belt + induction motor is very quiet. Blade noise is as expected when cutting.

All in all a very nice machine that should serve me well for however long I keep it for ;-)