comparison of 3HP Cabinet Saws w/ 52 Fences

[jeff friedman]

Can someone point me to good articles comparing the leading cabinet saws - Jet, Grizzly, Delta, Shop Fox, etc.? I am looking for a new saw, for cutting a lot of cabinet boxes, along with face frame and raised panel door material.

[Rod Wolfy]

Can someone point me to good articles comparing the leading cabinet saws - Jet, Grizzly, Delta, Shop Fox, etc.? I am looking for a new saw, for cutting a lot of cabinet boxes, along with face frame and raised panel door material.

Jeff, there was a comparison of cabinet saws in Wood magazine a few yrs ago.
https://www.woodmagazine.com/tool-reviews/tablesaws/mid-range-tablesaws
https://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-tools/reviews/table-saws/tool-review-3-hp-table-saws

To throw a little question at you; why do you want a 52" fence?

The reason that I asked, is I have had a Jet 3hp Cabinet saw with a 52" fence, a Felder BF631 (sliding panel saw) and now a SawStop 3hp w/ a 36" fence.

Cutting sheet goods on a 52" table saw without a dedicated 8' outfeed table and other helps is very difficult (I've done 2 kitchens and lots of other cabinets). Short of purchasing an expensive table saw with a sliding table, you would find it much easier to set up saw horses in the road and cut your sheet goods down to size with a track saw (I use a Festool) and then there won't be much milling to do on the table saw.

I actually built an entire set of sewing room cabinets in my parents garage with my track saw. You can purchase your face frame materials at the local hardware store or just mill them on a smaller table saw and router set up (I used a portable router table to mill the doors and drawer faces).

[jeff friedman]

I enjoy milling 4/4 rough stock on my planer and ripping for face frames and door panel glue ups and style and rail material. Most of the time I can end up with 7/8 material finished. I like this especially for doors. As for as 4x8 material for boxes, I have been able to get by with a smaller out feed table on 99% of my cuts and with a helper on the last 1%. I enjoy making perfect unchipped cuts on 3/4 melamine with a good melamine blade.

[Lisa Starr]

Jeff, I can't offer a comparison article, but can tell you that my older Grizzly 1023 has been and still is a workhorse. I set it up when I got it new and it has stayed aligned ever since, even after being mved from one shop to another. With a quality blade, it cuts well. I put an aftermarket rail and fence system (VSCT) on mine, as that was the weak link. With that change, my rails are 64" which I like. Good luck in your search.

[Rod Sheridan]

Can someone point me to good articles comparing the leading cabinet saws - Jet, Grizzly, Delta, Shop Fox, etc.? I am looking for a new saw, for cutting a lot of cabinet boxes, along with face frame and raised panel door material.

Jeff, if you're cutting cabinet boxes as well as solid wood components you should buy a sliding table saw, not a cabinet saw.

I have a short stroke saw/shaper that will crosscut a sheet of material and of course has a scoring saw. It has greater capacity and capability than a cabinet saw, in the same size footprint.

You couldn't convince me to go backwards to a cabinet saw. Prior to the Hammer B33 I owned a General 650 which arguably is a better cabinet saw than the machines you've listed.

I suggest you do some research on small sliders.............Regards, Rod.

[Dave Sabo]

Given you seem set on a cabinet saw, just go ahead an get whatever is on your radar in your price range. There is not a ton of difference between them except when you go to sawstop. Which you haven't mentioned. The gee wiz factor aside - it has the best dust collection hands down and is well built with solid quality control oversight.

good luck finding a 650 !

perfect unchipped cuts in melamine can be made with a good tracksaw too. It boils down to : do you want to bring the work to the tool -or- the tool to the work. A tracksaw never requires a helper.

without a tracksaw or a slider - how are you going to straighten the not straight factory edge(s) ?

[Jim Becker]

I agree with Dave...there's little differentiation between most 3hp North American style cabinet saws these days. Many are made in the same factories, regardless of paint color, honestly. I also agree with Rod that you should consider a slider if you plan on processing a lot of sheet goods. Otherwise, a cabinet saw plus a track saw will do the job fine.

[jeff friedman]

Thanks for the tip on the Saw Stop. I just assumed that i would be giving up on actual saw for the stopping feature. I have used an Altendorf in a prior life in a production setting. I agree that if I am cutting box parts with 100 sheets per week, a slider is a must. In my new life, this is a garage setting, making a house or two worth of cabinets per year as a weekend, evening thing. To get a clean edge from the factory edge, I simply make my initial cuts .25 inch larger, and flip around for the second cut to remove the factory edge.

[Will Blick]

AGreed on much of the input here...
biggest decision is slider or cabinet saw....
tough call...
in my case, I have settled for tracksaw station for large sheets and cabinet saw
i dont use a ton of sheets, so it works for me, but YMMV
not sure of your budget, or if you want new...
are you concerned about dust? Horrible on most saws where blade meets wood. Most makers dont address this well at all...
but the new Harvy machines seem to have awesome top dust collection which I have not seen since ex callibur add ons, which stopped making them years ago. AT 4HP and this price point, seems like a real contender...

https://ucarecdn.com/a9e734f0-f789-4190-9553-fd06db28919d/-/format/auto/-/preview/3000x3000/-/quality/lighter/

https://www.harveywoodworking.com/products/alpha-hw110s-36p-52p-10-4hp-dovetail-cabinet-table-saw

[Dave Sabo]

Thanks for the tip on the Saw Stop. I just assumed that i would be giving up on actual saw for the stopping feature.

Sure thing. Lots of people get hung up on both sides of the brake argument. Even without the brake, it's arguably the best built and featured cabinet saw on the market today.



To get a clean edge from the factory edge, I simply make my initial cuts .25 inch larger, and flip around for the second cut to remove the factory edge.


That's a lot of handling cutting and maneuvering large sheets around. Plus the waste factor adds up. If you're not going to get a small slider I'd seriously consider a tracksaw, long rail, and a 36" cabinet saw instead of a 52" saw. Even in a two car garage the xtra space will be welcomed. A 5 function combo like a Hammer or SCMI / MiniMax might be ideal in this situation.

[Vince Shriver]

I was surprised and a bit disappointed at first in my new 3hp Jet cabinet saw to find I cannot utilize my dado set for much more than a couple blades. A 5/8" wide nut occupies a big portion of the arbor. My old Delta Unisaw is now a dedicated dado/Magic Moulder machine. Also one wing did not align precisely flush with the table which I have subsequently replaced with a router wing. I find my 30" fence (I can actually get 32") has worked very well for my needs.

[Rod Wolfy]

Jeff, the thing about a track saw is that there is a rubber lip and a chip out guard that goes down onto the wood. It's really ideal for cutting down sheet goods, as you just mark where you want your cut and then put the edge of the rubber onto your line. So, lets say that you need 1/8" removed at the top of a 42" cut for whatever reason, you can just mark it at 1/8" less and then cut to the exact line. I use a 9' track and a 5' track for all my sheet goods. I then can use my Festool router on the track to cut dados, as needed.

The SawStop was worth the money and has a much better fit/finish than my Jet had, even when not considering the extra safety features. The one option I wish I had spent more on was the mobile base for my two car garage. I bought the "Professional" base, which only allows the saw to move back and forth. I have to move it back and forth to get it out from 'front to back'. The "Industrial" base allows it to be moved in any direction. I don't ever miss having a 52" fence over my 36" fence. I did love the sliding table on my Felder; however, it took up a lot more space in the shop, which I don't have when I downsized from a 3 car to a 2 car garage.

[Will Blick]

While I Love the SS technology and build quality....
I was quite surprised by a recent thread where I learned the blade is 10" closer to the front vs. standard cabinet saw of near equal size. For me, that might be a deal breaker, as I do lots of cross cuts.
and the one huge advantage of a slider is much greater cross cut capacity.
with my PM2K, I am constantly frustrated with the cross cut depth that can be done without manipulation.
even if using a sled, that 10" is still lost...
as others mentioned in that thread, lots depends on the type of work you do.
I assume its this reason, that SS made the sliding table attachment.

[jeff friedman]

Yes, distance from front of table to blade is important when cross cutting door panel glue ups. Are they all about the same for the cabinet saws? On some that dimension is not listed.

[Will Blick]

I assume the bigger cabinet saws are similar in that dimension
but before buying, I would call to confirm if that dimension is not listed.
For such a critical dimension, I am surprised its not listed...or maybe that is intentional ;)

[Frank Pratt]

I have a 36" SawStop, having upgraded from a 52" saw & like the shorter rails a lot more. But only you can decide what your needs are. I got the 52" just because I thought "bigger is better". It wasn't for me though.

The SawStop if a very fine machine, but knowing what I know now, and if I had the budget, I'd probably go for a slider. Constant haranguing :D from the likes of @Rod Sheridan @Jim Becker, and others, have led me to be more aware of their capabilities.

[Michael W. Clark]

I'll post an alternate view to most. I have a G1023 (likely similar to Lisa's) and in the last couple of years, upgraded the fence and rails to 52" and really like it. If you don't have the room for this, I'm sure it would be miserable to have to maneuver around it.

I also have a Festool track saw and associated rails. I can break down full sheets of plywood faster and with more repeatability with the TS than with the track saw set up.

The key is to have an infeed table for support. This way, you only focus on pushing through the cut and keeping it on the fence, not supporting it. For outfeed, I have about a 2 foot extension table permanently attached and a way to attach some temporary longer supports so the full sheet is supported after the cut.

I do one rip cut oversize, then put that side against the fence and cut to dimension. I have the same or less waste than using a track saw.

Track saw has its place straight lining long boards that are too awkward for bandsaw or long angle cuts on sheet goods that would be awkward on the TS. A circ saw with guide would work for this but not as good of cut quality or dust collection. I'm sure there are lots of other uses for the track saw, but that is mostly what I use mine for now.

[Mike Kees]

I have found a new use for my track saw lately. Cutting plastic laminate to rough sizes for counter tops. I used to break laminate down on my slider, this was a two person operation. Now working completely on my own the track saw on the floor on top of my foam piece works great. On the TS question, just get a slider now.

[Will Blick]

Rod made a post, which I got via email, but is not appearing here...??
My PM2K is only 11.5" from fully raised blade to front of table.
In another thread running now, it seems SS owners complained about the shorter blade to front of table distance...
But maybe that is not the case....
I never measured the SS, so just contributing what I know about my TS

[Rick Potter]

I do not know what saw the post Will mentioned referred to, but I just measured My SawStop PCS against my 80's Unisaw. The SS with blade raised all the way has 10 1/8" in front of the blade, and the Unisaw has 12 1/4".

So....the SS is two inches less, than the Unisaw, not 10" less. Adding Will's PMII, in the mix at 11.5 is in the same ballpark.

[Rod Wolfy]

Sorry Will, I don't know why it didn't go to the group.

My PCS is 10" to the front of the cast iron table, with the blade fully up. My Jet 52" had 10", too.

The SawStop ICS actually has a bigger cast iron top, which is 10 3/4" to the front of the table with the blade up.

[Will Blick]

I did mis quote the post in this thread below...
the original post below is where I read this....
the difference in front table distance, blade to front of table, is much less than I recalled, but as he points out, still significant...

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?289003-Sawstop-tabletop-dimensions-riddle-me-this

[Michael W. Clark]

Also, Grizzly G1023, about 12-1/4” to front of table.

[Mike Wilkins]

If using a lot of sheet goods, like other have stated, I would get a short stroke slider. This I have in addition to a Grizzly cabinet-style saw for ripping and joinery cuts.
If you are set on getting a saw with 52" ripping capacity, General just came out with a cabinet style saw with electronic blade tilt/raise, and electronic adjustable rip fence. I would love one of these when I find some winning lottery numbers. I think they start around $3800 or so.