best choice TS for precision work for small projects Last saw I will ever buy

[tom coleman]

I am 75 year old who likes making boxes and small furniture projects. No need to cut 4x8 panels. I want a very accurate fence system and very accurate 45 degree bevel cuts. I am a believer in incra miter gauge. I would like to keep the cost below $1500. I used a Rigid contractors saw for years and was pretty happy with it.........moved to a Dewalt job site saw and was very unhappy with it. Now I am selling Maine lakefront cottage and air conditioning my Florida garage. Which saw should I buy?

[Jim Andrew]

Bought a new Unisaw in 05, left tilt, Biesemeyer fence. The saw was set up accurately, can cut 45 degree rips and make a box with NO loose corner. The Biesemeyer fence is about as good as you can get. The miter gauge could be better, maybe your incra would do. I added a shark guard, and increased the dc connection to 6"below.

[Scott Buehler]

Lots of used unisaws that would work great for that price

[Andrew Hughes]

How about that Inca saw for sale in the classified. Looks pretty precision to me

[Dave Zellers]

I too am a believer in Incra miter gauge. I have three. Once you take the time to minutely adjust them to your equipment, they are amazingly reliable. And I agree with SB above that a good used unisaw will fit your needs. Arbor runout is the biggest bugaboo. All I have is a Delta/Rockwell contractors table saw from the mid 1970's (which I proudly bought new as a ute) but even though it is very well built, I'm still dealing with about 6-8 thou of blade runout. Even that, is really not so bad. I can make mitered boxes or picture frames with joints that look perfect. So I would look for a well kept used Unisaw or maybe just buy a new Grizzly 1023.

I don't know if you've ever owned a jointer, but IMO an accurate jointer is much more valuable than an accurate table saw.

Sorry to see you leave New England. They will have to carry me out in an urn.

[Mark Hennebury]

http://www.reinhard-ag.com/pkn350.html
Reinhard made in Switzerland.
For reference the PKN 350 model is about $60,000

Precisaw
387989

PKN200

387990

PKN 350

387991

[andy bessette]

+1 on a clean, used Unisaw.

[Prashun Patel]

You might consider a relatively inexpensive saw and the Incra LS/TS combos. These will give you a precision, microadjustable table saw fence, and even better, a microadjustable router table fence. For small boxes, this would allow you to use a 45 chamfer bit for your miters. It would also allow you do dovetails, etc. The carriage on the LS is deeper than a typical router fence.

Eventually, you could consider the "Wonderfence" for the LS system which makes jointing an edge extremely precise.

[michael langman]

I own a 9" Rockwell contractors table saw and it is a very good saw for the money and size. The smaller size and inexpensive price of them leaves money for other things. 9" blades are available.

[Gary Radice]

You might consider a Hammond printer’s saw, if you can find one. Highly accurate and a perfect size for making boxes.

[lowell holmes]

This site might help. :)

https://www.thesharpcut.com/


One of my son's has a Sawstop. It is probably the pick of the litter.

[tom coleman]

Hi Jim

Thanks for commenting. I am looking at a used unisaw w 36 fence, sanding disk, dado set for $1000. Looks brand new in pic. IS that price a bit high?

[andy bessette]

...I am looking at a used unisaw w 36 fence, sanding disk, dado set for $1000. Looks brand new in pic. IS that price a bit high?

If truly mint, sure. Otherwise make him a fair offer.

[Martin Wasner]

http://www.reinhard-ag.com/pkn350.html
Reinhard made in Switzerland.
For reference the PKN 350 model is about $60,000

Precisaw
387989

PKN200

387990

PKN 350

387991

What's the little guy that Mafell sells? That seems like a solid little unit.

[Bill Orbine]

Hi Jim

Thanks for commenting. I am looking at a used unisaw w 36 fence, sanding disk, dado set for $1000. Looks brand new in pic. IS that price a bit high?

Not if it fits your budget......

[Mark Hennebury]

What's the little guy that Mafell sells? That seems like a solid little unit.

The Mafell Erika, sorry don't know anything about it.

Ulmia from Germany made a range of nice small tablesaws in the 80's, they haven'y made them for years, but you can pick them up used once in a while.

387997


https://youtu.be/l-1wZ5n3Dl4

[David Kumm]

Used short stroke sliders like the Hammer 39", Rojek 250, or Bursgren BGS 10 ( rare but sweet ). If you have the room, a Delta 9" as mentioned above with a Hammond Glider. A short slider is very precise for small work. Dave

[Martin Wasner]

The Mafell Erika, sorry don't know anything about it.



That's the one.

Here (https://www.timberwolftools.com/mafell-erika-85ec-pull-push-saw)

A bit more than the $1500 budget though.

[johnny means]

If i were seeing up for your application, I would opt for multiple, low cost contractor saws. Each would end up dialed in for a specific use.

[Dave Cav]

I agree that a used Unisaw or Powermatic 66 would be a good choice. Older ones can be found for very good prices if you don't mind doing a little clean up, bearing replacement and so on. Neither saw changed much for decades, and there is a wealth of information on restoring old woodworking machinery at owwm dot org and vintagemachinery dot org.

[Warren Lake]

considering your price range a used cabinet saw and some jigs, each jig does what you need. It will do all you want and can be very accurate. I made 175 boxes duplicating what someone else had made after he retired and the cabinet saw worked fine. I did buy a new blade. Some stuff on older saws is pretty poor, mitre gauges are sad on my Generals one even manufactured so poor the bar sits proud of the table so ground it down. id rather tweak one of those than go near any portable saw.

[Peter Kelly]

How about that Inca saw for sale in the classified. Looks pretty precision to meMy thoughts exactly! Cool little saw, needs a good home. Asking $700.

https://i.imgur.com/w0BGCwW.jpg

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?265665-Price-Drop-INCA-250-259-10-quot-Cabinetmaker-s-Saw-w-attachments-extra-blades-700

[bill kaminski]

I have a 1023..after installing a new arbor, and careful set-up, it cuts very well. Miters too. IF the miters are not up to snuff, off the saw, a sharp hand plane combined with shooting board will do the job.
That is what works for me. YMMV..........bill....

[Chris Parks]

One of these I reckon


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ruwZdaPjbs

[Brent Malwicks]

There are a few companies that produce the kind of saw you really need. Chances are you won't have to increase your budget, but some of them can be really expensive in today's market. Others here have made good suggestions, but if you're okay with getting something a little cheaper, you could try something like the Makita 2705 Contractor Table Saw (10-inch). Features:


3 position adjustable spreader
15 amp motor
Dual slide guards (adjustable)
Excellent cutting capacity
3/8 × 3/4 inch miter gauge (T-slot)

Obviously, there are other options you can explore. You can get some good information on the best models here (https://carveyourcreation.com/best-table-saws-for-beginners) (just navigate to the appropriate resource). Maybe this can still help someone coming across this thread months later.

[Dan Baginski]

My thoughts exactly! Cool little saw, needs a good home. Asking $700.

https://i.imgur.com/w0BGCwW.jpg

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?265665-Price-Drop-INCA-250-259-10-quot-Cabinetmaker-s-Saw-w-attachments-extra-blades-700

I have this saw at home. Nice little setup with the mortising attachment and tenon tool.

[John Goodin]

Others have provided good options for a saw but if you don’t have one I would also recommend a digital angle gauge. Wixey is the most known brand. They cost about 30 dollars and can dial in the blade to whatever angle you want with a great degree of prescion.

[Rick Potter]

Any name brand cast iron saw that has good bearings and arbor will work for what you want. For small work, you can leave the wings off to save room too.

I have no experience with INCRA fences to offer. My Unifence has always been accurate though.

Suggestion: Whatever you get consider using 7 1/4" skil saw type blades. Really thin kerf, less runout, and cheap. HD had a sale last week with two Freud Diablo 24 (rip) for $10, they also have 40 and 60 tooth for crosscuts and ply. Plenty big enough for small work, and dirt cheap.

[Ole Anderson]

Buy a new Grizzly 1023 and make a sled like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njsD5W6fcI0

More accurate than an Incra (I have one) when set up with a five cut method, and very good with very small parts.

[Shiraz Balolia]

Buy a new Grizzly 1023 and make a sled like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njsD5W6fcI0

More accurate than an Incra (I have one) when set up with a five cut method, and very good with very small parts.

This one is a very nice saw, made in Taiwan and really, really well made! Brand new, with full warranty, on sale and right at your budget. Dealt with them for over 35 years and have a daily presence at the factory by our engineers from the Grizzly Taiwan office. This factory is 10 minutes away from Grizzly office.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-10-3-HP-240V-Cabinet-Left-Tilting-Table-Saw/G1023RL

[Randy Heinemann]

I would recommend that you first try either making a sled to do the jobs you want or buying an Incra sled kit like the Incra 1000HD combo. Compared to buying a new saw, this would be much less expensive. I was amazed at how accurate I could get cuts with the Incra 1000HD on my jobsite saw. Just a suggestion.

[Roger Feeley]

You could look into a printers type saw. These are very high precision saws used to cut blocks for letterpress. Little bitty blade. You would have to make tooling for it and all the measurements are in points and picas. I saw one once. These things are very small but built like tanks.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-C-G-Morrison-Printers-Saw-E-3851-with-Blade-Guard-and-Guide-Works/292837483820?hash=item442e79652c:g:YNgAAOSwtMFbcbt w:rk:5:pf:0

(https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-C-G-Morrison-Printers-Saw-E-3851-with-Blade-Guard-and-Guide-Works/292837483820?hash=item442e79652c:g:YNgAAOSwtMFbcbt w:rk:5:pf:0)

[Ray Newman]

RE: INCA table saw. Some of those saw have a tilting table, not a titling arbor....

[Derek Meyer]

Depending on how big of parts you are cutting, a micro-sized table saw might work. You can get one from Micro Mark.

I have a Dremel table saw that is about 25 years old. I used it to make a project with 3/4" red oak, and with a 40 tooth carbide blade it cut like butter. It struggled with a 45 degree miter, but I went slow and it made it through. The cut ends were like glass - no sanding needed.