Cabinet saw

[Robin Decker]

I need to purchase a cabinet saw. I am considering the Saw Stop PCS31230 (3hp), Grizzly G0690 (3 hp) and Powermatic PM2000.
Anybody have any suggestions through their experience?

Robin

[John Piwaron]

I bought a new cabinet saw 2 years ago. The ones I considered were the new design Delta Unisaw, the Hammer K3 Winner and the Sawstop. I'd have gone with the Hammer if the lead time to get one wasn't so long. I looked at the Sawstop and think it's a really well made tool.

I chose the Delta Unisaw. I think it's very well built and nowhere near as complicated an internal assembly as a Sawstop. For me, more parts mean more opportunity for failure down the road. Your mileage may vary.

But I'd still like the Hammer K3. :)

[James Hansen]

I owned a Unisaw for over 20 years, just sold it and got a Sawstop PCS 3 HP. I'll never look back.

[Scott Brandstetter]

I have been looking at the same thing but haven't made a purchase yet. One thing I found amazing is that no matter where I went, every single person said to go with the sawstop, without hesitation. I have been to Rockler, several Woodcrafts, and a independent shop in town. Now, I know there is a lot of debate, and hate, toward the owner of sawstop, but, with everyone recommending it, hard not to listen. Each person also said, beyond the safety stop, it's just the best built saw. I plan to go that way but again, just my thought and what I have heard.

[Dick Brown]

I have had a new Shop Fox 3h.p. cabinet saw, Unisaws, and now have a 55 year old Clausing cabinet saw that I use. It does everything I need and does it well. I am 79 years old. I have never looked at the Saw Stop, but if I were a lot younger, I would lean that way for the safety thing if nothing else. Bottom line, only you know your needs and $$$

[scott spencer]

If you want the best bang for the buck, get the Grizzly. If you want the safest one, get the SS.

[Cody Colston]

If you want the best bang for the buck, get the Grizzly. If you want the safest one, get the SS.

That may be the best recommendation I've ever read for a TS purchase.

[Keith Hankins]

You will get lots of opinions. I owned the Griz 1023slx for about 10 years before buying the 5hp Sawstop. The griz was a good saw and I had no complaints. However, if you have the money, the safety feature just put's the SS so far ahead of anything else plain and simple. I know you will hear, that well just operate safely and nothing will happen. However in testimonial after testimonial, those interviewed that have lost digits or worse, they were experienced not amateurs. So for that reason alone, not to mention the quality of that saw on top of that, just puts it so far ahead of all else IMO. Good luck on the decision.

[Rod Sheridan]

I need to purchase a cabinet saw. I am considering the Saw Stop PCS31230 (3hp), Grizzly G0690 (3 hp) and Powermatic PM2000.
Anybody have any suggestions through their experience?

Robin

Hi Robin, welcome to the forum.

I owned a General 650 cabinet saw, sold it to buy a small slider.

I would never go backwards to a cabinet saw, small sliders do some much more, in the same floor space.

That said, the obvious decision is the SawStop, nothing else has that safety feature..........Regards, Rod.

[dan sherman]

+1 on this as well.

[Bill Space]

As stated above (could not get the quote function to work correctly) if money is no object buy the SawStop.

Otherwise see consider the Grizzly. I am extremely happy with my Grizzly G1023RLWX. The SawStop does not guarantee you will not lose a finger, but it greatly reduces the probability. (From what I have read in the past. I am certain the SS technology increases your odds to reduce potential injury)

if money is no object buy the SawStop. Why would anyone choose to do otherwise???

[dan sherman]

if money is no object buy the SawStop. Why would anyone choose to do otherwise???

I wouldn't go that far....

If cost doesn't matter a slider would be even safer than a SS. It's kind of hard to remove appendages when they aren't any where close to the blade, and that's not the only benefit they have.

[Doug Ladendorf]

A SawStop does have the safety feature if it's your hand at the blade. It does not prevent kickback any better than other cabinet saws with a riving knife which your other choices have. In that price range I would look at the sliders before making a decision. Dan and Rod make some good points.

[Robin Decker]

Thanks Scott. A local cabinet builder friend said the same thing, without hesitation.

[Robin Decker]

Rod, what slider did you end up with? Any recommendations?
Thanks for the feedback
Robin

[Dave Bonde]

I have a P66 at home and just sold a Unisaw at work (school) and purchased a Sawstop. If I were buying a new saw today I would buy a Sawstop.

[dan sherman]

Rod, what slider did you end up with? Any recommendations?
Thanks for the feedback
Robin


he has a Hammer b3
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?120225-Hammer-B3-C3-K3-owners&p=1214671#post1214671
http://www.hammerusa.com/products_details.php?parent=5d8dce2c0897704fadb4&xat_code=84743b5be324d10998c4&region=us-us

[Brian Tax]

I went with the SawStop, a bonus I learned after the fact, they have the best customer service I have ever dealt with.

[Frank Martin]

I had a Unisaw and was planning to upgrade to a SawStop but lucked into a european combo machine with a slider. If you are thinking about the cabinet style saw and can afford a SawStop, you should go in that direction for the safety reason alone.

[Chris Padilla]

What's your budget? You just listed a cheap, medium, and expensive table saw.

Frankly, I'm hoping my 2000 1023Z Grizzly will die (fat chance) so I can splurge on a SawStop but I can't complain, the saw has been great and provides the most bang for your buck of any saw on the market IMO.

[Rich Riddle]

In military hobby shops I had the opportunity to use all the shops you mention and many more. Of all the cabinet saws, I rank the old Powermatic 66 first, then some very old iron second, the Sawstop, Unisaw, and Grizzly. Except for safety features, they are all in a very similar category. That said, my overall vote went to a slider. Like Rod, a Hammer K3 Winner sits in the shop. When talking safety, it's much safer than any cabinet saw.

[Rod Sheridan]

Rod, what slider did you end up with? Any recommendations?
Thanks for the feedback
Robin

As Dan indicated, (Thanks Dan for posting those links) I have a Hammer B3 which is a saw and a shaper.

If you only want the saw I would reccommend the K3.................Rod.

http://www.hammerusa.com/us-us/video/hammer-b3-winner.html

The above video will show you the B3, I suggest you watch it. The video Dan linked to shows the K3, also well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgellk8U85w

This video shows a chair being built, worth watching as well.............Rod.

The C3 which is used to build the chair has a saw, a shaper, a jointer, a planer and a mortiser.

The B3 has a saw and a shaper

The K3 is a saw

The A3 is the jointer shown in the C3 ( a C3 is an A3 + B3 + mortiser in one machine)

[Kevin Womer]

I bought a Steel City, 3 hp cabinet saw in 2008. A nice saw and a better saw than the Delta Contractor I had prior. Probably on par with the Grizzly, I can only say this because I do have a Grizzly Band saw. Fit and finish are about the same and they both do their respective jobs very well. When I bought a Sawstop a few years later, the difference between the two were night and day. In retrospect, I would save the money I spent through the upgrades and buy a Sawstop without question. I cannot comment on a slider, but if you like to go the cabinet saw route, Sawstop is the best in my opinion. Not much negative commentary from Sawstop owners out there in regards to their saws, most people are pretty pleased with their purchase. Enjoy the time you spend making your decision, it is a lot of fun.

[Bill Space]

I wouldn't go that far....

If cost doesn't matter a slider would be even safer than a SS. It's kind of hard to remove appendages when they aren't any where close to the blade, and that's not the only benefit they have.

Yes, that is probably true... But the original question was about cabinet saws, not "best saw to buy..."

[Mike Henderson]

SawStop - without question. The extra cost is small over the life of the saw. If you have one accident, the cost of the accident, not even considering the loss of use of fingers or your hand, will be much more than the extra cost of the saw.

Mike

[Wade Lippman]

I haven't used a slider. Aren't they chiefly for crosscuts? While I am sure that is great; tablesaws are largely for ripping.
But maybe I am wrong.

[Charles Coolidge]

I say cross the PM2000 off your list, I have one disassembled stacked in the corner of my garage. WAY over priced for what you get. At present it doesn't want to start, probably start capacitor and the mobile base wheels are crumbling apart and leaving chunks of wheels like bread crumbs behind it. The PM2000 has less than 10 hours use on it. Very disappointed with the quality of the cast iron table, the ground finish is not even close to as good as my Grizzly and has a damn crown right near the blade my Starrett 12" rule rocks back and forth on it. Lots of people happy with the G0690 probably can't go wrong there for the money but I stepped up to the G0696X its a beast and less money than the PM2000 or the Sawstop. 48" wide 2" thick cast iron top, go measure the size/thickness of a Sawstop, I looked at some recently it looked puny compared to my G0696X. I grabbed the Sawstop cast iron top and gave it a thrashing, not impressed. Take my saw, integrate a Sawstop safety device and I'd be on that!

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[fRED mCnEILL]

" I think it's very well built and nowhere near as complicated an internal assembly as a Sawstop. For me, more parts mean more opportunity for failure down the road. Your mileage may vary."

When people say how well built the SS is I wonder what they are looking at. Are they just looking at castings and mechanical parts and fogetting about all the electronics. I recently had an opportunity to use a SS that had inermittant starting problems. There seem to be so many electronic safeguards(other than the brake) making for many opportunities for problems. Which is exactly what we had. Pull the paddle one time, it starts, pull it the next time nothing. Smack the switch with the push stick and then it starts. Next time nothing. Cover on the motor not latched tight, no start. The owner of the saw made this comment to me "bet you don't have that problems with you General" He was right about that. Hopefully when they make changes they keep a good inventory of older parts.Or, horror of horros, hope they don't go out of business or get absorbed by B&D.

[Mike Cozad]

As Dan indicated, (Thanks Dan for posting those links) I have a Hammer B3 which is a saw and a shaper.

If you only want the saw I would reccommend the K3.................Rod.

http://www.hammerusa.com/us-us/video/hammer-b3-winner.html

The above video will show you the B3, I suggest you watch it. The video Dan linked to shows the K3, also well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgellk8U85w

This video shows a chair being built, worth watching as well.............Rod.

The C3 which is used to build the chair has a saw, a shaper, a jointer, a planer and a mortiser.

The B3 has a saw and a shaper

The K3 is a saw

The A3 is the jointer shown in the C3 ( a C3 is an A3 + B3 + mortiser in one machine)


Wow! I have never really paid attention to slider videos etc. since they've been out of my financial reach. But after watching the hammer b3 winner video I am setting a plan for my bonus check next year! What an amazing tool in tearms of ease of use and, what appeared to be, versatility. I now really want one. My only question that I haven't yet researched the answer to is can it be mobile? I am one of those shlubs with a small shop and need portability to still use my garage for working on cars, etc.

[Earl Rumans]

I have never used one but from watching the demos and reading abut them, if you have the money to spend on a SS or PM then to me it would be a no brainer to upgrade to a small slider saw. I would get the Hammer K3 http://www.hammerusa.com/us-us/products/table-saws/table-saw-k3-winner-31x48.html You can't have a much safer setup then one where your hands never get near the blade.

[Rod Sheridan]

I haven't used a slider. Aren't they chiefly for crosscuts? While I am sure that is great; tablesaws are largely for ripping.
But maybe I am wrong.

Sliders rip and crosscut, tablesaws rip.

Sliders also straight line rip which is very useful.................Regards, Rod.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Mike, of course they can be mobile, mine is.

They have a couple of holes in the cabinet that an axle goes through, with some wheels on.

The front of the machine has feet, and a bracket that takes a tow bar.

This makes the machine a semi-live skid, in my opinion the best mobility solution.

The machin remains stable, only raise maybe 8mm off the floor, and it doesn't budge once set in place............Regards, Rod.

P.S

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgellk8U85w

The above video at 4:20 shows the mobility kit option in use. You need one tow bar, then all your other machines can use the simple, effective mobility solution.

I converted my non Hammer band saw to this system as well

[Mike Cozad]

Thanks for the info and video. Great to know mobility is possible. Has me looking to convert some of my current tools over now...

Oh and it still amazes me to watch the way the Hammer does its Transformer impersonation. Absolutely incredible engineering.

[scott spencer]

Sliders rip and crosscut, tablesaws rip.

Sliders also straight line rip which is very useful.................Regards, Rod.

You mean I'm not supposed to crosscut with my tablesaw? :eek: ruh-roh.....

[dan sherman]

You mean I'm not supposed to crosscut with my tablesaw? :eek: ruh-roh.....

I'm pretty sure he is referring to cross cutting long boards; the types of cuts that can be kind of harry on a regular cabinet saw.

[Rod Sheridan]

You mean I'm not supposed to crosscut with my tablesaw? :eek: ruh-roh.....

Hi Scott...........Well since you mention it..................LOL

My comment was in regard to what a cabinet saw does well, and that is only rip.

I had a General 650, going from memory it had 10 or 12 inches of table in front of the saw blade. Assuming that my mitre gauge was 3 inches thick, that meant I could crosscut a 9 inch wide board.

Now the mitre gauge was maybe 8 or 9 inches wide so maybe it could safely control a board 30 inches long?

See, that's how poor a cabinet saw is at crosscutting.

Now compare that with a cheap slider like I have, I have 49 inches in front of the blade and the crosscut fence extends from the blade to about 50 inches out, safely controlling a 100 inch long board without issue, or a sheet of plywood.

That's the issue, a tablesaw is esentially a ripping saw that people make a whole pile of jigs to try to crosscut with.

So yes, a slider crosscuts and rips, a cabinet saw rips..............Regards, Rod.

[Rod Sheridan]

Thanks for the info and video. Great to know mobility is possible. Has me looking to convert some of my current tools over now...

Oh and it still amazes me to watch the way the Hammer does its Transformer impersonation. Absolutely incredible engineering.

Mine makes me smile everytime I use it.........Rod.