different types of table saws

[Karl Card]

I am looking at ts and looking harder and harder while waiting for tax money to get here and grizzly slowly getting rid of all the on sale ts's.
I understand what a cabinet saw is, I understand what a contractor saw is but what is the difference between a hybrid and the other two..??

[Van Huskey]

A hybrid is "in the middle" has more HP than contractor saws (from the same company you will find some overlap from company to company) but less HP than a cabinet saw, the hybrid will still run on 120V cabinet saws require 220v. Most hybrids have a full cabinet with an enclosed motor.

[Jim O'Dell]

Depending on the make, the trunnions could be cabinet mounted like a cabinet saw, or mounted to the top like a contractor saw. Jim.

[Hugh Jardon]

A cabinet saw has a cabinet that completely surrounds the motor. The trunnions are mounted to the cabinet. As stated they usually have 3 or 5hp motors, which need 220V, if not 3-phase power.

Contractor saws have a partial housing, single phase motors and table mounted trunnions.

Hybrid saws offer cabinet saw design features, eg fully enclosed cabinets (even if one side is a plastic moulding), cabinet mounted trunnions. The motor drive is enclosed within the cabinet, not hanging out the back.

There may be additional features that are model specific (eg riving knife, 4 inch dust port etc).

[Karl Card]

so would it be safe to say that a cabinet saw would be easier in most circumstances to get the miter slots in line with the blade being you would only have to move the table..?!

[Jason Hanko]

so would it be safe to say that a cabinet saw would be easier in most circumstances to get the miter slots in line with the blade being you would only have to move the table..?!
Yes - a cabinet mounted trunion will ALWAYS be easier to align than a saw with table mounted trunnions.
That said there are certain products available to help with aligning the table mounted ones, like these (http://www.in-lineindustries.com/saw_pals.html).

[scott spencer]

Contractor saws were designed 60 years ago to be portable. The motor was made for easy removal to transport them. Since most contractors now use portable jobsite saws and/or CMS/SCMS, the contractor saw with the outboard motor is no longer a beneficial design feature, and is basically get phased out as a result. There's no standard industry definition, but popular definition seems to consider a hybrid saw as essentially an evolution of the contractor saw that moves the motor inside the enclosure, thus avoiding the issues of space, belt length, lifting hazards, and poor dust collection associated with the outboard motor location. Hybrids are the same size, and have roughly the same power rating, duty rating, and electrical requirements as a contractor saw...some have cabinet mounted trunnions, some still use table mounted trunnions, some have full or partial enclosures, but none have the power, duty rating, or build quality of an industrial cabinet saw.

[Jim O'Dell]

Karl, as others have stated, the cabinet saw would be easier to align the blade to the slot that a contractor saw, or a hybrid saw that has the trunnions mounted to the top. The hybrids that have the trunnions mounted to the base should be just as easy to make this adjustment as the true cabinet saw. I just wanted to make sure that was clear. In my thinking, the hybrid saw with the cabinet mounted trunnions could almost be classified as a baby cabinet saw...lower power and duty cycle, but the same basic features as the cab saw. Jim.

[Bill Huber]

I have a Jet JWTS-10 contractor saw, it is not really classed as a hybrid but it is kind of.

The Jet has the trunnions mounted to the top but the motor is inside. For me this was the only way to go because I have a very small shop.

[Karl Card]

this info helps greatly. Now if I can just get that darn tax check here before grizzly is all out of the saw I want. Really got my heart set on a 5 hp single phase cabinet saw.