First Table saw - Advice seeking!

**gatesy** · 9th January 2013, 11:46 AM

Hi all,

Wonder if anyone can offer some advice on purchasing my first table saw. I am looking to purchase my first table saw, and on a little bit of a budget <$500 ideally, but flexible. Looking to get into making some DIY projects, like making a bed frame, maybe some cabinetry aswell. Hoping to use australian hardwood where possible.

Need to start by building a work bench, so looking to use it to assist in overlap joints for the bench, which is a red gum frame.

I'm not really sure what to look for in a saw, started looking at bunnings etc, not sure if these are the best places to start the search.

Started to look at 2nd hand, but looks like only GMC and ozito are going at the minute.

Any advice welcome!

Many thanks in advance folks!

PS Based in Melbourne.

**groeneaj** · 9th January 2013, 11:53 AM

Hey,
I had a Bosch GTS 10 table saw for a few years. This was my first table saw and it worked great for what I wanted to do, however now i'm working with larger pieces and I decided to upgrade to a larger table saw.

If you can find one of these second hand I'd recommend them. Another option for the benchtop style saws is the Makita and Dewalt, although I have not had much experience with these saws.

Alternatively you could look for a second hand cabinet saw. I often see the Carbatec cabinet saws around the $600-700 mark which would be a good buy.

Good luck,
Andy

**gatesy** · 9th January 2013, 01:00 PM

Hi Andy, thanks for that. When you say you upgraded to work on larger pieces what would be the biggest piece you could work on, on a Bosch GTS 10?

I don't want to buy something I will grow out of quickly.

Cheers

**Wongo** · 9th January 2013, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by gatesy

I don't want to buy something I will grow out of quickly.

With <$500 you don't really have many options if any.

You said that you wanted to handle large hardwood pieces then you really need a powerful and heavy table saw like a cast iron cabinet saw. Again with $500 you need to a lot of luck to get a 2nd hand one.

**groeneaj** · 9th January 2013, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by gatesy

Hi Andy, thanks for that. When you say you upgraded to work on larger pieces what would be the biggest piece you could work on, on a Bosch GTS 10?

I don't want to buy something I will grow out of quickly.

Cheers

It depends - if you had good outfeed support you could rip longer pieces, but I wouldn't go too thick as it was not powerful enough for the bigger harder woods. I built a cross cut sled and again with good support on the sides, I could cross cut longer pieces. A sharp blade also helps.

If you don't want to feel you will grow out of it too quickly, you may need to spend a little bit extra and get a bigger saw or just get lucky on ebay or gumtree etc and find one around your price range. Another option is to buy that requires restoring, I know of someone who purchased a table saw rather cheap ($100ish) and has been restoring it.

**Sam** · 9th January 2013, 07:15 PM

There's one here

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f221/c...le-saw-163174/

**chook** · 11th January 2013, 06:55 AM

Originally Posted by Sam

There's one here

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f221/c...le-saw-163174/

I don't know if this will help you but I am going to Hare and Forbes today to help my father purchase this W443 | HS120 Table Saw | machineryhouse.com.au. It costs $385 and I suppose if you built an outfeed table and made a few other modifications it might work. My father is an inventor and a fiddler (not a woodworker) and he hopes this will satisfy his needs.

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