pros/cons table saw downgrade from cabinet saw to job site saw

[tom coleman]

I have just turned 70 and my shop has shrunk to 1 bay garage. I think it's time to sell my cabinet saw and dado set and move to one of the new job site saws. The Bosch, Dewalt and Jet all look very attractive. What will I miss most in making this downgrade. The only 3 things that jump out to me are limited rip cut capacity,short arbor length limiting dado cuts and fences that will not rival my Biesmeyer.


My projects are typically bookcaes, small cabinets, boxes and repairs. Which job site saw would you recommend

[Rick Potter]

Lots of shops are one bay sized, and have cabinet saws. I don't see the advantage to downsizing the saw. If you have a 52" fence, cut it down to 26" or so, and it won't take up much more space than a job site saw. I have a Uni with the fence and table cut to 30", and I could cut another 6-8" out of it and still have enough saw for most projects. You could even eliminate the side table if that is no longer necessary.

Happy birthday, I will be joining the septuagenarian club in October.

Rick Potter

[john lampros]

you are going to be so disappointed with those jobsite saws. They rip poorly, (short, crappy fence) and are dangerous. Personally, I would swap down for the short bessy rails ( you could even make a few bucks on that). and incorporate the table into your work bench to maximize space. But when you need it, you got it.

[Rich Engelhardt]

What will I miss most in making this downgrade.
Simple - everything...

My move up to a contractor saw from a job site saw is still fresh enough in my mind to be able to tell you what a huge mistake making that type of jump will be.
Everything you take for granted as being a normal, safe and quick task becomes and adventure in "will I survive with all my body parts intact" task.

If I had to pin point just one thing you'll miss, I'd have to say it would be - stability.
Jobsite saws are great for portability where light weight is an asset.
OTOH - that light weight means that the whole saw can be pushed around during a cut with very, very, very little effort.

If, for some reason, I had to give up the stability the added mass of my Ridgid TS3660 contractor saw delivers and go back to using a job site saw, I'd sell every piece of WW'ing equipment I have a get out of it altogether.

[Guy Belleman]

All of your experience and safe practices are with your saw, hardly the time to make changes, especially to less. Maybe shorter rails, which I find works just great for my projects. Space is also limited for me, so I have all tools on large wheeled bases that I made myself and find that it takes little effort to roll them around for use and to store. Keep the cabinet saw.

[Bill Trouard]

How much are you thinking of asking for your cabinet saw? What model is it? I have a DEWALT DW744XRS 10-inch Job Site Table Saw with Rolling Stand plus DW7441 Side and Out-feed Supports with very little use. Just purchased last year. I'm looking to do the opposite and get rid of the Dewalt for a cabinet saw.

I have had no issues with the Dewalt, I do like the rack & pinion fence adjustment. I just need more rip width capacity than the 25 1/2 offered by the Dewalt

I'm straight across the coast from you in Port St Lucie, I have not been over to Englewood in about 10 years

[Mike Heidrick]

Tom, how much space would you really be saving? If it is a mobility issue maybe you need a different base. Could a tracksaw or bandsaw be other possible solutions?

[Larry Edgerton]

I agree with Mike. I have small job site saws, and they really suck. I only use them when the job is not big enough to bother hauling a Delta [real] contractors saw/Unifence to the job. On my current job I pulled the contractors saw up to the 3rd floor loft with a winch just so I did not have to use a portable. Hate portables!

Heres a thought: Cut your Biesmeyer fence rails at the end of the saw table. Then figure out a way to make an insert that fits inside the rails very precisely so that the cutoff section can be put back on when you need it, and hung on the wall when you don't. One option would be a piece of aluminum maybe a foot and a half/two feet long machined to fit. Could be done easily enough and you would not loose any capability, but when not needed would not take up space.

Never go backwards, always forward.......

Larry

[Carl Beckett]

My cabinet saw has 26" fence rails. It sits in a one car garage and not enough room for longer rails. I dont mind this and break out the circ saw for anything longer. Im not sure this takes up that much more room than a job site saw that would be permanently setup - maybe if you are storing the saw.

Besides - my tablesaw top often doubles as a workbench/assembly surface.........

[Rich Tesoroni]

If it's a Biesmeyer fence isn't the front rail a standard steel size? Thought the rear was a standard angle as well. Be better to get shorter pieces than cut if you can.

Rich

[Richard Shaefer]

I went from a Bosch jobsite saw to a larger saw and I will tell you that you will not want to go the other way. the little saw has no mass and the cuts are of a lesser quality. you can also flat-out forget about cutting sheet goods. It's nigh impossible to get a decent cut with a josite saw on a sheet of plywood without messing up the cut or killing yourself, even if you carry a few sandbags to weigh the base down.

[Steve Meliza]

I have a Delta 10" 1.5HP contractor table saw on mobile base measuring 58"x39" overall and wouldn't go any smaller (similar to the Grizzly G0444 (http://www.grizzly.com/outlet/10-Table-Saw-1-1-2-HP-Single-Phase-110V/G0444)). The mobile base allows me to collapse into an area about 13'x4' when I'm not working and move out to take advantage of the full 20'x24' area when working. If there is one tool that can be allowed to eat up a lot of floor space it would be the table saw. Maybe there are some other tools that could be downsized instead?

[Neil Brooks]

I'd rather enlarge the garage than go backwards ;)

YMMV.

[Curt Harms]

I'd go along with shrinking the table. How often do you need more than 24"? Or even less? Besides, moving large sheets is no fun. Cut 'em to size right out of the truck using a good saw board and good hand held saw and clean up on the table saw if necessary. My G1023 doesn't take any more space than than the Craftsman contractor did. I have about 26" to the right.

[Dan Phalen]

I've had a Ridgid jobsite (http://www.crestonwood.com/saw.php) saw for six years in my cramped garage shop and it works just fine. I would love to have the surface area of a cabinet saw, but necessity prevails. Have a look at my site showing what I've made with it over the years. I do not feel the safety factor some have posted here. If you're careful to unplug whenever there's an adjustment to be made, you'll be okay.

The Ridgid comes with a riving knife with pawls for ripping. Look at my portable outfeed table (http://www.crestonwood.com/various.php) to see how large pieces can be cut.

Working in a smaller shop isn't exactly fun, but it can be done with patience.

This, from another 70-year-old. :)

[tom coleman]

Hi Bill

Last Feb you commented on my proposed move from cabinet saw to job site saw. I am much more serious about making that transition now. Are you stll thinking of upgrading?

[Loren Woirhaye]

I'll concur that jobsite saws with universal motors are sort of not-so-fun to work with.

Have you considered a vintage tilt-top saw? Inca and Delta both made very accurate ones which are effective joinery machines. Some people don't like the idea of not having a tilting arbor, but from experience working on an INCA for a few years, I can say that it's not that big a deal if your work runs to the square-edged cuts used in boxes and cabinets.

Also, if working in solid woods, a band saw can do a lot of things and precision crosscuts can be achieved by sawing with any available saw and truing the edge with a shooting board and hand plane. Some people enjoy that style of work and it really isn't so inefficient if you're making fine little cabinets for your own enjoyment. James Krenov's books shaped my views and he really didn't think much of having a big table saw for the style of work he did.

[Kelby Van Patten]

Tom, you have another thread on building a supersized router table, but you are considering shrinking your cabinet saw to a jobsite saw. That seems a bit backwards to me.

If space is an issue, try building your router table into the extension on your cabinet saw (and eliminate your assembly table). You will be conserving space, preserving your cabinet space, and giving yourself plenty of surface area for your router table. You can build the router table extension yourself, or there are several companies that make pre-built products for this purpose.

[Jim Andrew]

I have both a unisaw and a dewalt jobsite saw. The dewalt will rip 24" wide. The dewalt is like a piece of plywood with a skilsaw attached underneath. Would not trade my uni for one. If you do construction, just build yourself a new house with a bigger garage. My problem is my back. I used to just tip my heavy saw over and haul it around in my pickup. Now I can't lift over about 50 pounds, and have to be careful with that.

[scott spencer]

I have just turned 70 and my shop has shrunk to 1 bay garage. I think it's time to sell my cabinet saw and dado set and move to one of the new job site saws. The Bosch, Dewalt and Jet all look very attractive. What will I miss most in making this downgrade. The only 3 things that jump out to me are limited rip cut capacity,short arbor length limiting dado cuts and fences that will not rival my Biesmeyer.


My projects are typically bookcaes, small cabinets, boxes and repairs. Which job site saw would you recommend

You may miss the table area, mass, function of the mechanisms and power too....most of the better industrial cabinet saws simply do a very good job of what a saw should do, and we can sometimes take a lot of small things for granted, until faced with a tool that doesn't do as good of a job with the basics. Obviously some of those jobsite saws are capable of making good cuts, but you're likely to find that it's not the same as what you had.

[glenn bradley]

Simple - everything...

That about covers it. I would be inclined to go to a "no tablesaw" shop before I would downgrade. If the space is killing you (I imagine it is just as hard to go to a smaller work area as it is to go backward on anything), sell the cab saw, upgrade your bandsaw if you don't already have a large one. Material can be cut to rough size on the bandsaw and finished up with hand tools or a straight edge and a circ-saw or router. Dados and such can be done with the router. However, at 70 I would be looking for methods that require less effort, not more. Wrestling something even 24" x 30" on a job site saw is asking to become a statistic IMHO. :)

[Frank Martin]

I worked out of a one car garage for years and had a Unisaw with short rails. I even had an Oneida cyclone. Initially had a 6 inch jointer and a lunc
box planer and it got much more enjoyable when I switched to a Jointer / Planer combo. I had a full size workbench that served in part as my table saw outfeed. I also had a track saw for large rips and crosscuts. I did
not have a bandsaw or a miter saw.

Telling you all this to point out that you can easily fit a cabinet saw and quite a bit of additional machinery in a one car garage. And I did not make bird houses. I made large dressers, dining table, coffee table, bookcases etc. It is certainly doable, just requires more organization.

[Jason White]

Ditto what others have said. Get a hacksaw or rent a metal-cutting chop saw and make the fence rails shorter. That's what I did and I couldn't be happier! By the time you add out-feed supports, etc., the footprint of the cabinet saw won't be any different than a contractor or small job site saw.

[Roger Feeley]

You might call up SawStop and see when they might have a jobsite sized machine.

[Justin Rapp]

I started with a craftsman job site table saw. I used it for 3 or 4 project but the fence was so flimsy it wouldn't rip straight and at times the wood would jam and stop the direct drive blade. The last time I used it, the saw kicked back on me and shot a piece of 6/4 oak into my stomach. Luckily I only got a big bruise. I pulled the plug, took out the blade and it's been used as a stand for my planner!

Do yourself a favor and don't downgrade!