Upgrading the table saw, not sure why I'm hesitating

[Scott Brandstetter]

I have been upgrading all of my tools over the past year or so. I am not sure why, but, I am struggling with the table saw upgrade. I have had a ridgid table saw for the last 10+ years and seems to be okay. I get frustrated with the accuracy (recently upgrade the rails and fence) and it does bog down at times depending on the wood I'm cutting. I guess this is a question of not knowing what I don't know. I have seen the benefits of upgrading my band saw, jointer, planer, etc. Those who went from my kind of setup (ridgid) to a cabinet saw, is it night and day difference?

By the way, I am thinking of going to a 3HP grizzly, 52 inch table. Would appreciate any thoughts....

[Rich Riddle]

I like Grizzly but decided to upgrade to a Hammer K3 Winner sliding table saw. There IS definitely a difference in the accuracy of that saw. Can't say enough for the kind folks at Grizzly. The ones in the Pennsylvania showroom are quite nice and polite. If you have a chance, drive up to that showroom and use all the tools before deciding on which to purchase.

[Mike Schuch]

To me the night and day difference is between a quality fence and a mediocre fence. I have a 10" powermatic cabinet saw and a 12" Powermatic cabinet saw. I really like them. But there just isn't a massive difference between them and my fathers well tuned Rockwell contractors saw. All three of them cut very nicely! My father put a link belt on his contractors saw... it is as smooth if not smoother than my cabinet saws with conventional belts. My cabinet saws have bearings only a few year old. I think the bearings in my fathers saw are original and 20+ years old.

My 12" Powermatic 71 with 5hp 3ph motor will power through anything. But how often do you really have problems with your saw bogging down? I am sure you just low your feed rate a bit and all is fine. So how much is the extra power of a cabinet saw really worth to you?

[David Linnabary]

I have been upgrading all of my tools over the past year or so. I am not sure why, but, I am struggling with the table saw upgrade. I have had a ridgid table saw for the last 10+ years and seems to be okay. I get frustrated with the accuracy (recently upgrade the rails and fence) and it does bog down at times depending on the wood I'm cutting. I guess this is a question of not knowing what I don't know. I have seen the benefits of upgrading my band saw, jointer, planer, etc. Those who went from my kind of setup (ridgid) to a cabinet saw, is it night and day difference?

By the way, I am thinking of going to a 3HP grizzly, 52 inch table. Would appreciate any thoughts....

Not to take away from the performance of a cabinet saw as I think the Grizzly you're considering will really open your eyes to what you've been missing but my sense is that you may have some setup issues on your existing Rigid saw that are worth looking into. I have a nice older Powermatic cabinet saw that does great work for me, it was the big eye opener for me but still there are so many times when I wish I had a sweetly tuned little older contractor's saw in addition to my cabinet saw so I wouldn't have to do so many change overs on my setups between operations. The main caveat is that I'm a fan of old iron and someone who doesn't mind fussing around with tuning on their equipment, that may not be your thing.

So I wholeheartedly encourage you to get the bigger saw, the Grizzly or whatever you decide on and enjoy it, but don't just give up on the Rigid, if you have the room for it, there may still be a role for it in your shop. Here's a link I saw someone share on this site a week or two ago that I found helpful that discussed shimming the tunnions to correct a parallel problem when the blade is set not perpendicular to the table. https://woodgears.ca/delta_saw/alignment.html It was something I had not considered.

Good luck on your decision, I know you'll enjoy the upgraded saw, I sure did.

David.

[ian maybury]

I guess the difficult bit is perhaps the not so little matter of how far to go if you do upgrade - it's possibly easy to just go a bit and not get any great gain. I just hate fighting equipment, so there's to my mind really no substitute as the guys above for stepping up far enough to get a properly rigid and adjustable fence, a spindle with minimal runout, enough power to not stutter on the jobs you undertake, and decent dust collection.

Depending on your orientation it may be worth considering a slider too, but they suck you into a requirement for different working methods and some new clamps and tools...

[scott spencer]

I made the jump from a 2hp GI contractor saw to a 1.75hp Craftsman 22124 hybrid, to a 3hp Shop Fox (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/hewood/Shop/shop9-24-12005_zps57148006.jpg) cabinet saw. I've loved owning all of them, but definitely appreciated each step up... all had similar fences and the same size tables, but the most significant step up was the cabinet saw.

When I had the smaller saws, I had switched the supply circuit to 220v, used good quality TK blades, had the saw aligned really well, and could generally cut anything I needed to full blade height if I was conscientious about everything, but it definitely lugged far more than a 3hp cabinet saw is ever going to. It was a pretty dramatic step for me....not only did I gain 70% more power (100% in your case), but there's a lot more mass (roughly + 250# compared to your Ridgid), it snaps up to speed nearly instantly, is much less sensitive to blade choice and feed rate...I dictate the feed rate, the hand wheels are larger and work better. The underpinnings are considerably more robust... it's simply a nicer saw. There's also so piece of mind that I'm never going to be working the saw too hard. The potential for accuracy should be better with the cabinet saw, but is a matter of good setup. I have no regrets, and doubt you would either.

[Randy Red Bemont]

I went from the Ridgid granite top saw to my Grizzly 1023RLX. It is night and day. The Ridgid was nice but the Grizzly will do absolutely everything and more that you ask of it. It is a great all around saw, accurate right out of the box and powerful. Very easy to cut full sheets of plywood by yourself. I bought the mobile base so it’s very easy to move it around the shop when needed. I would purchase this saw again in a heartbeat.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-3-HP-240V-Cabinet-Left-Tilting-Table-Saw/G1023RLX

Red

[Kevin Womer]

I went from a Delta contractor to a Steel City 3hp, then to a Sawstop 3hp. The improvements in accuracy, power, and adjustments were significant with each upgrade but more so between the contractor to a cabinet saw. The Steel City I had would be most similar to the Grizzly you are looking at, and the improvements should make you very pleased.

[Carroll Courtney]

The upgrade bug has struck again,mainly cause your skills has outgrown the Ridgid.So congrats on that and welcome to the upgrade world which I think we all have been through it.I started out will all Craftsman machines which I like till the Unisaw came into my life which was the eye opener for me,PM for others and the list is long.I would check into rehab at maybe a local Woodcraft store and ask to play with what they have in their shop if you have funds for a new purchase but it will give you options on what make to check into or avoid.If used is your budget then maybe look for the brand that you want and check the local ads.Like other poster said,fence and blade and operator helps make the saw.Good luck and post your purchase----Carroll

[Cary Falk]

I went from a Craftsman benchtop to a Delta Contractors to a Grizzly 1023RL. I was happy with the contractors but the cabinet is soo much nicer. It is easier to align the blade to the miter slot(and it stays). The alignment stays after I return it from titling the blade. Better dust collection. The handwheels are larger work easier and not tucked so up under the table. I friend of mine has a Delta contractors saw like I had. Ever time I am at his place and I use it I think I am so glad I sold mine.

[Shawn Christ]

Similar here. I went from an old Craftsman cast iron benchtop to a Ryobi BT3100 to a Grizzly 1023SL. My biggest reasons for the upgrades were accuracy, table top size, and power. Night and day difference? Yes, I'd say so. Always solid and reliable.

[William C Rogers]

I never owned a contractor saw. I went from a Shopsmith to a 1980's Jet cabinet. It was a great saw and much more accurate. I then bought a SawStop PCS 3 hp. The Jet did everything, but I had makeshift splitters and horrible dust collection. Not so much accuracy, but dust collection, riving knife and added safety was a dramatic improvement. I looked hard at sliders, but for I wanted it would have been $1200-$1500 more. I really didn't know enough about slider saws to make the change and I couldn't find anyone near me to see one. As a hobbiest I am fine with the SawStop. Grizzly makes a slider, but could not find much as to how they compared to the European sliders. If it wasn't for the SawStop safety I would have got a grizzly, maybe 12" 5hp.

[Ole Anderson]

I went from a Monkey Wards RAS directly to a G1023 17 years ago, skipped the intermediate step of a small TS, never regretted it. I upgraded it to long rails with a HTC rails and fence (no longer available but very nice).

[Jim Andrew]

Look at the small and medium sliders Grizzly is offering. All the features Hammer has but at the Grizzly prices. Once you use a slider you are hooked.

[Mike Henderson]

I went from a Craftsman to a 3 HP Sawstop. I had the Craftsman set up pretty well so it was fairly accurate. But the Sawstop is more powerful and gives me the peace of mind that I won't cut a finger off.

Mike

[mike mcilroy]

I went from a King contractor to a Jet 3hp. Better in every regard. I'll assume your Rigid is at a higher starting point but there will still be a night and day difference.
The King was so poorly made(didn't know the difference at the time of purchase) the trunnions were tapped so there was no adjustability, had to take the motor off and remove the rear trunnion and expand the tapped holes.
No doubt yours isn't that poor but the power, reduced noise, lack of vibration and most likely improved accuracy will be a pleasant eye opener.
I have heard good things about the Grizzly saws and I have dealt with them for a cyclone purchase. Very happy with the experience.
Have fun shopping.

[glenn bradley]

The step up between a contractor saw and a cab saw will depend on the saws of course. My contractor was tricked out and gave me glue line rips with a high quality rip blade. Thin kerf was a must for combo and crosscut blades as the saw was only 1HP. I went to the same 1.75HP hybrid Scott mentions above and if not for a windfall would be using it still. Dad is now enjoying that saw.

The 3HP cab saw does a great job but, I liked the Beisemeyer fence better. Don't get me wrong, Saw Stop's clone is very nice, I was probably just used to the Beis and get nostalgic every time I use dad's saw :o. If your contractor saw is "pretty good" a move to any "very good" saw will be a step up. Bogging down is more often a blade choice issue than any thing else. Yes, if you have 5HP you can blast through anything even if your setup is mediocre. My 1HP contractor would bog down on 2-1/2" thick beech (which had a bit of tension release going on) but, other than that, it would sail through anything I threw at it.

Are you using:
- Thin kerf blades?
- Rip blades to rip, crosscut blades to crosscut, etc.?
- Is your alignment dialed in?

Other tricks that helped me were solid wings and outfeed surfaces, tossing 100lbs of cement in the base for stability and adding an aftermarket splitter and guard. Take a close look at your saw and be brutally honest with yourself as to whether you have really dialed it in or just bolted on a few after-market goodies. If you have the saw really dialed in and still find it wanting, its time to upgrade :). I just try to make sure my tool is the limiting factor before I open my wallet. Leaves more money for wood :D.

[Bruce Page]

I went from a Craftsman to a 3hp Unisaw and for me the difference was night & day. I upgraded the C'man with a new Shop Fox fence, link belt, & custom dust collection, but I still couldn't trust it to give me an accurate cut. That was 15 years ago, and I still smile every time I start the Uni.