Thread: Advice for a new table saw up to $2k

Originally Posted by damian

Edit: Just had a look back over the thread. Would like to draw your attention to some of the saws mentioned. They are 15 amp. If you buy a 15 amp saw you need a plug and that may mean more $. Just a thought...

Does anyone know how much a sparky would charge to do this?

Depends on what your current situation is. How far is the shed from the switch board ? is there existing wire and if so is it up to 15 amp spec ? etc...

Originally Posted by Psych 101

Does anyone know how much a sparky would charge to do this?

I just had one put it. I had sufficient capacity to the shed, so only needed a dedicated breaker and a short run (maybe 3-4M cable) plus a hanging power point. This cost me about $300. The sparky was doing lots of other things around the place, so I expect this is about the minimum you'd expect to pay. If you need to upgrade between the main board and the shed the price would of course go up.

Another thing no one has talked about yet is the ability of the saw to use a dado set. Most saws sold here are european spec, which means short arbor and no dado (dado blades are illegal in Europe). Not sure if you consider this important or not, but worth a mention.

15 amp has to run back to the switch board, so unless you have a sub-board in your shed, you'll need a cable run from your meter box.

For an approx. 10m run of cable, breaker in the box and point, you'd be looking at around $250 or so. It depends a lot on other bits and pieces as already mentioned, but it shouldn't be terribly expensive. The cabling and everything is standard, the main difference being that it is the only plug on that circuit.

Some saws come with a 15A plug but are rated under 10A

I remember when there were a lot of people from this forum buying TSC10HB's from Carbatec a while ago that it was luck of the draw whether you got a 10A or 15A plug.

Mine came with a 10A, I'm not sure of the actual rating of the saw.

My TS10L came with a 10A plug, it is plugged in to a 10A power point and has not given any trouble whatsoever.

At the end of the day, they are 3hp motors, ie 2250W, my Triton Router and Circular Saw are 2400W. I don't know the difference in startup current draw between these, but they all work off a 10A power point.

I went to Carbatec and Gregory Machinery today.

Carbatec have now unfortunately sold out of the CTH-110LT 1ph that was on sale for $1,595.00 . The only other option there I am interested in is the TSC-10HB which is currently selling for $1,995.00. I also want to get a dust collector and mobile base at the same time so the price really starts getting up there. The salesman showed me the price he was "authorised" to discount to which was around $2400.00 for the package. He was asking me what price I prepared to pay right then and there on the spot (he was going to "check with his manager") but I wasn't prepared to commit at that stage without looking at anything else first. They seem super keen to make a sale at the moment and must be struggling a bit so I can probably get a better price if I go back but probably not much better.

I also went to Gregory Machinery at Richlands to check out the Jet Proshop (JPS-10) which is selling for $1625.00. This TS looked very high quality and robust. I realise looks can be deceiving but it looked like a very well made piece of machinery in comparison to the TSC-10HB (although the display model at carbatec was not well presented and the blade gaurd was missing). The fence system and mitre gauge on the proshop felt much more precise than the TSC-10HB. Best price here was $1625 with a mobile base thrown in or $2000 with a mobile base and Jet 1HP dust collector.
$400 for 1HP dust collector seemed a bit rich so if I decide to get this TS I will probably just get the TS and mobile base for $1625 and buy a Carbatec 2HP economy dust extractor.

What do people think of the options?

The mitre gauge on the TSC-10HB is rubbish. I fixed mine with some grub screws. A lot of people buy after market mitre gauges anyway. I find I use a cross cut sled more than the mitre gauge.

The fence is a Beisemeyer clone same as the Jet. It is accurate and solid. When I looked at the display model at the woodworking show, it hadn't been set up properly - some of the screws were loose and it wobbled. Mine doesn't do that.

The Jet looks like a nice saw and they have a good rep. At 1-3/4 HP I think the motor is a bit underpowered but Wongo would disagree.

You haven't expressed any interest in the TTD option. That's ok, but if you want to have a look at mine and run some timber through it your welcome. You can email me from the link to the left.

Apparently they also have a cabinet saw for something like $1300.

I'm obviously missing something but I would have thought if you were driving from cooparoo to richlands you'd detour to coopers plains and have a look at it. H&F are just round the corner also.

Oh well.

Originally Posted by damian

You haven't expressed any interest in the TTD option. That's ok, but if you want to have a look at mine and run some timber through it your welcome. You can email me from the link to the left.

Apparently they also have a cabinet saw for something like $1300.

I'm obviously missing something but I would have thought if you were driving from cooparoo to richlands you'd detour to coopers plains and have a look at it. H&F are just round the corner also.

Oh well.

I did show some interest here but you must have missed this post.

What saw do you have out of interest and do you have any pics or links to manufacturers website? I could only find one table saw on the trade tools direct website which was a cabinet saw for $2590.00 which is out of my price range.

Too late now anyway as I decided to take the plunge and have bought the Jet Proshop for $1625 with heavy duty mobile base and delivery thrown in. I will also get a 2HP dusty from Carbatec so should walk away with a package under $2000 total. I will let everyone know how I go when I receive it and set it up.

Thanks everyone for the feedback and advice.

http://home.exetel.com.au/guzzi/tablesaw.html

and:

https://www.woodworkforums.com/showth...t=ttd+tablesaw

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

er....exactly. That's why I haven't done it yet !!

I'm hoping I may be able to wiggle a spanner inside to get at the trunnion bolts if I remove the dust port from the cabinet - this gives a good sized hole in the cabinet to work through.

I only have a paper copy of the manual, but could probably scan the relevant pages tomorrow if you really need to see this.

My point is......DON'T assume that everything is perfectly aligned out of the box, and make sure you align the blade to the mitre slot during assembly (easy). The fence can easily be aligned to the blade when your saw is complete and upright. This saw really does have an excellent fence, by the way. Many people wouldn't even notice the misalignment I found on my JET saw (and its probably within spec), but I know I can get the thing to perform better by spending a bit of time on it.

I haven't received my Jet Proshop yet and won't get it until next week. One thing I did not clarify when buying is whether it has a standard 10 amp plug or whether it has a 15 amp plug and what the rating of the saw is? I only have a single standard socket powerpoint in my garage. Will this need to be upgraded?

How are you powering your proshop Mr Brush?

Mine came fitted with a 10A plug, and (like most saws in this class) runs OK off a standard socket. I make sure I ONLY run the saw off this socket - the dust extractor and other machines run off other sockets.

The switchboard for my shed has standard breakers, and I've never ever had a problem with this.

The irony is, I had a couple of 3-phase sockets wired in when I built the shed, but still don't have a single 3-phase machine. The only thing holding me back from buying a decent thicknesser (e.g Carbatec CT-381, 15" type) is that I'd need to rewire to get the required 15A socket just for that machine. All my other 'hobby class' machines (saw, dusty, jointer, Ryobi thicknesser) run fine off 10A sockets.