Thread: Table saw dilema

I guess the question is what do you want to do with it ? If your doing a lot of panel work a panel saw might be the best bet. If you make smaller stuff a cabinet saw takes up less space. If you want portability or are on a budget a contractors saw might suit.

I can't find that carbatec saw you mention. The powermatic looks like a cabinet saw ?

Here are some opinions which are worth about as much as you paid for them

I paid $750 for my hybrid saw and am 100% happy with it. I put an incra fence on it along with the router extension wing and it's now a very versatile machine. Add som roller feed tables and you can do nearly anything on it that a cabinet or panel saw will do plus a shaper and some jointing and thicknessing functions. For the $ your thinking of spending you could build a similar rig.

Consider depth of cut. A 12" saw will often give 100 mm which means you can do double pass face cuts to a little less than 200 mm. That makes your saw a potential 8" jointer.

A good table saw has a flat solid top, a solidly mounted spindle with smooth controllable adjustment, is quiet and has the power/torque to cut deep stock. Once you've fond a saw with these core qualities at a level your happy with then you consider things like sliding tables fences etc. Personally I don't like sliding tables, especially those that don't come right up to the blade. A proper panel saw is a wonderful thing but the sliding table cabinet saws are pretty variable. i feed very large parts with roller stands, but roller tables would be better.

My saw came with a pretty ordinary fence, but as I said I never fitted it, the incra went straight on, problem solved.

Some people on this forum speak highly of JET. I ahve no personal experience.

Hope that is of some help.

Hi Benno
I have the PM2000 and it is a great machine. Yes it is more expensive, but look around and you might find it cheaper.

I got the 3hp version, with 52 inch rails. The table is a good size and the outboard allows you to cut very wide pieces if necessary.

I would have absolutely no hesitation in buying it again if I had too, but I am 100% confident it will last me my lifetime.

Enjoy

Originally Posted by damian

I guess the question is what do you want to do with it ? If your doing a lot of panel work a panel saw might be the best bet. If you make smaller stuff a cabinet saw takes up less space. If you want portability or are on a budget a contractors saw might suit.

I can't find that carbatec saw you mention. The powermatic looks like a cabinet saw ?

Here are some opinions which are worth about as much as you paid for them

I paid $750 for my hybrid saw and am 100% happy with it. I put an incra fence on it along with the router extension wing and it's now a very versatile machine. Add som roller feed tables and you can do nearly anything on it that a cabinet or panel saw will do plus a shaper and some jointing and thicknessing functions. For the $ your thinking of spending you could build a similar rig.

Consider depth of cut. A 12" saw will often give 100 mm which means you can do double pass face cuts to a little less than 200 mm. That makes your saw a potential 8" jointer.

A good table saw has a flat solid top, a solidly mounted spindle with smooth controllable adjustment, is quiet and has the power/torque to cut deep stock. Once you've fond a saw with these core qualities at a level your happy with then you consider things like sliding tables fences etc. Personally I don't like sliding tables, especially those that don't come right up to the blade. A proper panel saw is a wonderful thing but the sliding table cabinet saws are pretty variable. i feed very large parts with roller stands, but roller tables would be better.

My saw came with a pretty ordinary fence, but as I said I never fitted it, the incra went straight on, problem solved.

Some people on this forum speak highly of JET. I ahve no personal experience.

Hope that is of some help.

Thanks for the advice, I really am after a good quality cabinet saw, do you know of a Delta outlet in Australia?

No sorry. There are some pretty long threads in the table saw section with people commenting on their experience of various models of cabinet saw. They also discuss sources. It might be worth reading back over a few, might be some useful information there.

This may be of interest

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f221/p...e-saws-133380/