Thread: new tablesaw

Hi John,

I too upgraded from the Triton to a tablesaw last year.

You may already be planning this, but I'd very strongly suggest that you hold off on your purchase until the Melbourne Timber and Woodworking Show happens on the 3-5th Oct. Here's the link for it :

http://www.woodworkingexh.com/melbourne/index.htm

Suppliers have some fantastic specials on during the show, and as a result you might find that your budget will be able to stretch to a name brand like Delta or Jet.

Re. the Sherwood unit, I've not had any experience with it, but I'd be wondering if 2hp was a little underpowered for a 12 inch saw. I'd also think carefully on the getting the sliding panel attachment straight away, rather than getting some good accessories like :

- Quality blades for different purpose cuts
- A dado set
- Maybe an aftermarket mitre gauge

Fair enough if you're doing a lot of work in sheet goods, but if you're working mainly in smaller pieces of solid timber perhaps the sliding panel attachment can wait.

Good luck with your purchase, hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of it.


Cheers,


Justin.

Johna

I have had this saw plus sliding table for about 7 years now. It was then sold both by Timbecon and (what is now) Carba-tec in Perth. Mine is badged as a Carba-tec.

I set it up very carefully when I got it, and it has remained accurate ever since (a notable achievement when you consider that I have mine on wheels and it gets bumped over everything). The only thing I have to do is check that the fence is still square, which I do every now and then. No problems.

What I like about the sliding table is that it is supported by the saw and not the floor. This means that I can unbolt it and roll the table up against a wall, store the sliding table elsewhere, and the setting never needs to be adjusted when I return it to its favourite cutting position in my garage/workshop.

I use 2 blades on it (ouside of an 8" dado blade and 9 1/4" Triton sanding disk). These are the standard 12" combination blade that came with the saw (have it professionally sharpened and it cuts fantastically!), and a 10" x 80 tooth triple chip crosscut blade. THe 2 HP motor is powerful enough to rip 4" Jarrah using the 10" blade (which is a real test) as long as you feed slowly. With the 12" blade it would be easy.

The fence is solid and, in my experience, accurate and reliable in use. The runners are as long as ever needed - you'd have no difficulty cutting full 8 x 4 sheets.

The sliding table is VERY accurate and serves as the perfect crosscut machine. You do NOT need to consider a special mitre gauge - it would be a waste of money.

I think that the Jet and the Delta are better finished tablesaws overall, but then they cost twice as much for the facilities.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thanks for the tips Justin, but yea i work a fair bit with large sheets of MDF, making subwofer boxes and occasionaly make furniture so i would like to get the whole lot in one hit.

Derek it good to hear you can put it on wheels and wheel it around withou losing acuracy as that is what i will also need, if i hadn't have bought the new car it wouldn't bother me so much but unfortunately the car no takes first priority for room in the garage.

I will however wait till the woodworking show to see what bargains can be had. Besides i need to sell the triton gear first before i can buy another machine