Hoooooly Cowwwww!

[Jason Roehl]

Okay, so I've had this portable table saw for a few years now, and I really haven't used it much. I bought it when I was doing an engineered hardwood flooring install, and I was able to wrap it into the job at the time (all of maybe $160 or so). It's a Skilsaw brand. Anyway, I had to break it out again yesterday so I could do some repairs to the exterior woodwork on a front door for a customer. IT'S A LEFT-TILT SAW!! I couldn't believe it! I had never even tilted it, never paid any attention to that.

In addition to that, I tried something new using the saw. I didn't think I'd need my miter saw for the job, so I didn't take it along. I ended up having to miter some decorative trim to replace some rotted stuff there that I originally thought I could just rebuild with Durham's Rockhard. So, since I didn't have my miter saw with me, I just used the miter gauge on the table saw with the blade either at 0º or 45º. That actually worked better than I thought, despite a few miscues. The definite downside is that it is more difficult to cut a miter to a line.

Just some thoughts.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the thread title is intended to be a tip of the hat to America's favorite, though dearly departed, baseball announcer, Harry Caray. (No, I'm not a Scrubs fan.)

[Randal Cobb]

I had one of those saws as well for about 6-7 years. It did the job. My only gripes were it is LOUD, and trying to make a ZCI was impossible due to the design of the throat plate. I recently upgraded to a cabinet saw and sold the old Skil on CL... got what I paid for it 7 years earlier.

[Jason Roehl]

I have a somewhat better tablesaw (Delta 36-600, I think) that's just a step below a contractor's saw, but it's still 150+ lbs. with a cast-iron top. The Skilsaw was purchased entirely for its lightweight portability and the fact that I couldn't move the blade around by hand on the demo model in the store (it was the only one under $200 that I couldn't wiggle the blade).

[Peter Quinn]

I keep an old Makita 8" TS in my van that I bought years ago on EBAY from a flooring guy for $90. Once in a while it is my ace in the hole. Just keeps on working such as it is. Your post made me think of all the things I've made with it and smile. At this point I'd usually rather drive back to my shop and use the cabinet saw then fiddle with that cranky old fence, but now and then it comes out for a guest appearance.

PS...I found the miter gauge for mine (didn't come with one) in a discount bin at a local hardware store, so I bought it for kicks, but I don't recall having actually used it to date.

[J. Z. Guest]

Jason,

There was a CPSC recall on Skil table saws a while back. Here are the details.

"The blade drive mechanism may loosen or the motor can separate from the tool."

Not an ideal situation.

[Jason Roehl]

Thanks, Jeremy. I just looked--mine is newer than the recall (I couldn't recall when I bought it, but since it's not in the recall, it must have been about Sept '05--the job I bought it for was in Sept of either '04 or '05), but that is the model of saw.

[jeremy levine]

Just one little thing... I think "Holy Cow" is Phil Rizzuto's trade mark phrase.

[Jason Roehl]

He might, but HC definitely had his own style of saying it, and did it from time to time. I don't know that people necessarily considered it a trademark saying from HC, as he was, of course, better known for the 7th inning stretch leading of "Take Me out to the Ballgame".