Thread: Which table saw (different perspective)?

TSC10-HB would be hard to beat in this class. I wouldn't get too excited about weight or power. You can put it on a mobile base around the shed and there has to be a way of getting it up the drive..... Plenty of guidance in earlier threads about whether or not it will drain the National Grid, special fuses etc....

On the weight issue, if your only concern is getting it in the shed, you can dismantle the saw and do it bit by bit. The saw comes in bits anyway. The only things preassembled are the motor/chassis/main table. You fit the side wings and the fence after delivery, so there's a fair chunk of your 200kg that you can carry up bit by bit. You can remove the main table with 4 bolts. I've never removed the motor but I think craigb did it. His problem was limited access and having to carry it down stairs etc. With the main table off, myself and a mate could lift the cabinet and motor easily enough.

Unless you start looking at sliding tables, scoring blades and so on, feature-wise one saw is much like any other. They all have a tilting blade (some left, some right), they all have a fence, they all have mitre slots. What differs is the quality, capacity and power of the saw. It's not so much that if you do lots of x that saw y will be better suited, that only comes into it when you are talking about extras. Although, you can probably get away with a smaller, lower powered saw if all you ever make is boxes, if you are talking general woodworking then there is a range of general purpose saws (like the TSC-10HD, Jet Supersaw, the H&F one), any one of which will see you through.

Having the supplier close by is probably a good point to consider. I'm closer to Canberra than I am to Sydney (Pambula), but I bought mine from Sydney because the price was better. Just means further to go for after sales, although the warranty on mine is probably expired by now. I bought one machine from Timbecon, had problems with it (sorted out now) but it was a bit of a hassle having to deal with someone in WA.

I feel these are peripheral issues and not really what I would consider as major factors in what will be a considerable purchase. I think it's better to satisfy yourself that the machine is good value for the money you are spending, that you will be happy that it does everything you need, and that there are no bad reviews of it.

So, buy a TSC-10HB and join the clever mob

Like Silent, I have a TSC10HB and can't fault it. I also helped asemble a JPS10 http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...&highlight=jet
and was pretty impressed.
The comparisons -
all adjustments on the TSC10HB were spot on straight out of the box - the JPS10 needed touching up.
The TSC10HB is heavier than the Jet - mine is on a roller stand.
The Jet is a bit quieter than my TSC10HB - don't know if that's the motor or the blade.

You will be happy with either.

I agree with silent [again] buy the TSC-10HB. I bought mine from Sydney "sale on", but that aside CT in Canberra never have stock anyway, well not much stock. So I buy from Sydney and either pick it up or they send it next day by courier. I have a ute they loaded the saw by forklift, at my end there is old me and old swmbo. It took all day for us to get it off, built a ramp and slid it down. Now in you case if the car and trailer wont do the job, hire a bobcat to place it in the garage, or a ute with a palefinger hoist. Wish I had done that I hurt my back bad, and now I go to Canberra every two weeks to the bone cracker it is costing more than a bobcat.

les

I agree with Silent, don't worry about the weight in terms of tranport - you can handle it in pieces if you need to which is what I did with my planer/thicknesser.

I agree with you that weight and rigidity is a big factor that adds to smoothness and reproducibility.

You can modify a contractors saw to be relatively dust tight but it takes a bit of mucking around.

Everyones perspective on purchasing a TS is slightly different. Mine was I had a fixed budget to work with and wanted a saw, a small DC and a router table all in one shot. In the end I went the contractor saw route. If I had a larger budget I would definitely have gone for something heavier.

Cheers

Chumley and others,

Up-grading is always a hard question - how far do you go? By all accounts, the curve starts at a Triton WC and ends with a Felder panel saw.

But there are options in between that let your woodworking move from solid timber to panel work and back without too much additional cost. (Like it or not, panel work should be valued - look at all the kitchen makers out there).

Depending on your budget, I'd be going for as much bang for your buck as you can affort. Definitely, the heavier the better. That way, you can rip panels and table tops without the beast falling over. As my Jet 10" TS has.

As for you driveway problem, spend the $ and get a crane in. A one-off cost.

Jeff

I bought a Powermatic PM2000 just recently. It has a well deserved reputation for build quality and the dust collection is the best of the cabinet saws I have seen because it has a blade shroud like the Felder (and other Euro saws). With the right dust collector (2HP or more) you will not get much dust (if any) thrown above the table.

I also bought a Jet DC1200 with a filter cartridge at the same time. It's worth the money. Most of the other comparable machines use a band clamp around the exterior of the body of the DC. The Jet uses a spring band inside the body of the DC. It is so much easier to put on a new bag it isn't funny.

If money was not a concern, then I would buy the Powermatic as well.

Having come from the Triton to Jet, I think one of the issues you need to keep in your mind is that regardless of the table saw you choose you will be moving forward. The Triton is in no way a table saw. It is some lightly pressed orange metal with an inverted circular saw strapped to it. It has a straight edge guide instead of a fence and a protractor instead of a mitre guage. I'm still angry I put up with mine for so long - and I exposed all that timber to that butcher....(i digress)

For all of those reasons above any of the saws you have been considering will give you want you are after much - better accuracy and more importantly consistency.

Interestingly there is many recommendations here regarding buy carbatec, buy Jet, buy HAFCO etc. The common thread is regardless of the choice made by the journeyman table saw seeker - they are invariably satisfied with their choice.

Of all the people on the forum I think Big Shed has the most recent comprehensive knowledge of the alternatives.

I started with a Triton Mk111 and the a WC2000 which were adequate because I moved frequently as part of my job. As soon as I settled permenantly I looked for a table saw. I bought the TSC-10HB because it is a generic machine supplied under many names and you can get good documentation from the Grizzly site in the US. I bought it at a woodshow from Carbatech because the price was good and they, as do most others it seems, freight it for free when you buy at the shows. Offloading is no problem as the freight delivery chaps have the same problem so they come with a mobile pallet machine and providing you have reasonable access can put it where you want it or nearby anyway and as Silent C says you can disassemble it if need be. As I use my garage it was very convenient as it turned out the set up table to blade was spot on - certainly better than I would have achieved had I taken it apart. It might have even been worth paying the freight to avoid the risk of a bad back issue - of course location of supplier would have been more of an influence if I was paying freight on 200K. As it was I got good support from the west when they sent me the wrong wings and at no cost. I still have not found a good use for the orange pressed metal extension wings they sent in error. The cast iron ones are good and flat.

Pusser

I adore my PM2000. It's a great machine - and probably has the best safety features of all TSs, bar the sawstop.

I was lucky with delivery. I bought it off the floor at last years Canberra wood show and the guys from Major Equipment rolled it into my workshop fully assembled on their way back to sydney on the monday morning. (I'm a little way north of canberra.)

Anyway I'd highly recommend the saw. It's heavy but has built in castors.

TSC10HB for me. Got it setup by myself by taking pieces off and sitting the cabinet on a mobile base, then putting the top back on when it was in position. I'm running (when I used to do woodwork ) it and a 2hp DC on a normal 10amp circuit; just turn the DC on first and let it warm up, then hit the TS with anything but big bitsa hardwood. If you're working with smallish pieces then you're not going to be pushing the saw into it's 3hp range (touch wood ).

Rob

Originally Posted by Chumley

Hi everyone,

but I have a 20 metre driveway with about a 35-40 degree slope – it is so steep that I can’t back up my trailer with my falcon because the weight of the car goes to the front and the back wheels just slip. When I had my bandsaw delivered, the delivery man and I huffed and puffed and pushed it up the drive on his pallet-jack, had a fair bit of trouble – and this was only 100 kg – heaven knows how we would go with 210 or 240 kg?

Chumley,
I had a driveway like yours for 30 years which very quickly drove me mad as I had boat, box & camper trailers to get in and out of the garage. My solution was a home made winch, a 1hp motor driving a drum through a worm reduction gearbox and a chain and sprocket with a 1/4" diameter wire cable long enough to reach down to the street. This was bolted to the floor at the back of the garage. As well as pulling stuff up the drive, I could hook the cable over a pulley in the roof and lift engines and gearboxes out of cars, and with another pulley arrangement, could pull my caravan off the driveway onto the front lawn or pull stumps out of the garden! The low gearing took about 2 minutes to pull something up from the road, but was almost impossible to stall.
Cheers
Graeme

so I’m leaning to Ctec, either the MJ2325B (over 200 kg) or the TSC10HB (again over 200 kg + needs 15amp circuit)

The MJ2325B also requires 15 amps (although I have run on 10) and won't take a dado set. The TSC10HB will.

I've never used a TSC10HB but I have the 2325 and it's fine for what I need.