Thread: new to table saws, looking for advice

You just use an ordinary engineer's square to check the blade vertical alignment. Just check the blade against the table top.

I can comment on the hitachi saw, but depending on what you're doing for accuracy you may need to look at a contractors saw and a mobile base over the job site saws.

Most of the lower end saws are the same, typically made of a light weight construction that have it's advantages and disadvantages. I would recommend having a play with one in person before taking the plunge. Make sure you're comfortable adjusting the saw, ie blade raising, adjusting blade angles, installing blade etc. As you'll spend loads of time doing this.

In terms of checking square, an easy method is to do a cut, flip one of the cuts end to end and align the two freshly cut surfaces. If your blade is perpendicular the two edges should close perfectly, if not adjust the blade angle until it is.

Thanks for the info. I've had a chat to the guys at Carbatec and have decided to look at the SawStop contractor saw. It costs a lot more, but I think it'll serve me well into the future without needing to upgrade.

I have the older version of the Hikoki, it's OK up to a point but is hopeless if you need accuracy(as I do) I have since upgraded to an old school Asmac bench saw. Just standing in front of my new saw and I feel like I'm in a different league. Regarding the alignment tool, I intend getting a digital level made specifically for this job, it's a small cube with a magnetic bottom, you zero it on your table first, then attach to your blade, as you tilt it reads out the degrees up to half a degree.