Help me decide what saw to keep...

[Michael Boyet]

this is a ridiculous question with no real answer, I am very aware. It depends what I am doing, also aware...

I have a 5HP "INDUSTRIAL" (lol) Sawstop cabinet saw. about 8 months ago i got a 60s vintage Oliver 88D Sliding table saw and didn’t have time to go through it so i threw it in the corner and got back to work. The saw is complete with 2 miter gauges, a quadrant, blade guard and extension table. It needs some work but nothing I can’t do in a week or less.

The time has come to make a decision....

I wish I could keep both. But I really need the space.....

Who stays? Who goes?

[George Yetka]

Keep the sawstop
1 its up and running already
2 you know it works
3 parts easily available
4 loss will be limited by selling a machine you got used vs selling a machine that you bought new
5 safety(splitters/brake/etc
6 less maintenance needed

[Michael Boyet]

Keep the sawstop
1 its up and running already
2 you know it works
3 parts easily available
4 loss will be limited by selling a machine you got used vs selling a machine that you bought new
5 safety(splitters/brake/etc
6 less maintenance needed


Thanks for the input. I bought both used. but part availability and knowing it works for my needs is nice peace of mind

[Stewart Lang]

You know I'm partial towards sliders ;)

But isn't that a short-stroke slider? They only really get useful when they have a 5'+ stroke, and one could argue 8'+. So that old vintage Oliver is sweet, but it's really not going to offer any advantages over the Sawstop. So yeah I'd keep the Sawstop for practicality purposes until you can get an actual full-fledged slider.

[Michael Boyet]

You know I'm partial towards sliders ;)

But isn't that a short-stroke slider? They only really get useful when they have a 5'+ stroke, and one could argue 8'+. So that old vintage Oliver is sweet, but it's really not going to offer any advantages over the Sawstop. So yeah I'd keep the Sawstop for practicality purposes until you can get an actual full-fledged slider.


I had a feeling you'd chime in :)

I want the slider advantages. But, they are out of my budget for now... even the little Grizzly. Any interest in the Oliver? Jk.

[Ronald Blue]

No dog in this fight other than to say that it's unlikely the Oliver is going to be high maintenance. Once tuned up it will be a treat to use. It's built to last and last and last. It's only draw back is not being a longer stroke.

[Michael Boyet]

No dog in this fight other than to say that it's unlikely the Oliver is going to be high maintenance. Once tuned up it will be a treat to use. It's built to last and last and last. It's only draw back is not being a longer stroke.

very true. I have some other old machines and they dont take much to keep going

[Michael Boyet]

so its decided... I will.... continue to be indecisive :)

[Jared Sankovich]

I would keep the Oliver..

[Michael Boyet]

I would keep the Oliver..


im leaning that way. I can get a sawstop any day of the week.

[Rick Potter]

Have you used a slider much?

Let me suggest a third option. If it will only take you a week to get it cleaned up and running, why not do that and use it a while...then decide.

That way, you will make an informed decision, and the Oliver will probably bring more $ in set up condition also, if that is your decision.

[Keegan Shields]

What part of the country are you in? I'm in the market for a used SawStop Industrial if you decide to keep the Oliver.

[Patrick Kane]

What kind of work do you do, Michael? The real benefit to the Oliver is it takes an 18" blade. Thats about 5" of cut depth compared to 3ish on the sawstop. Even though its a short stroke slider, thats still better than a miter gauge in the sawstop. What fence does your oliver have? I personally might prefer to own the Oliver just based on it being more unique, better history, more heft, etc. However, i fully realize the sawstop is the easier machine to own. Tooling is less expensive and everyone makes a 5/8" bore. Does the Oliver take 1 or 1.25"? 18" blade for the oliver is going to be pricey.

I might have a shoe thrown at me for saying this, but both will cut wood. The Oliver will look better and have a cooler story to it, but both will make furniture just the same.

[Alex Zeller]

I would keep the Oliver. Since you bought the SS used chances are you can sell it for what you paid for it. Like you said, you can always get another one. Fix up the Oliver, try it out, and decide if you like it. If not then sell it and replace it with exactly what you want. Selling both should give you more than enough cash to buy a full size slider (if you want/ have room) or another SS.

[johnny means]

Nest them back to back and they take up no more space than one saw and an outfeed table.

[Michael Boyet]

What part of the country are you in? I'm in the market for a used SawStop Industrial if you decide to keep the Oliver.


South Florida

[Michael Boyet]

What kind of work do you do, Michael? The real benefit to the Oliver is it takes an 18" blade. Thats about 5" of cut depth compared to 3ish on the sawstop. Even though its a short stroke slider, thats still better than a miter gauge in the sawstop. What fence does your oliver have? I personally might prefer to own the Oliver just based on it being more unique, better history, more heft, etc. However, i fully realize the sawstop is the easier machine to own. Tooling is less expensive and everyone makes a 5/8" bore. Does the Oliver take 1 or 1.25"? 18" blade for the oliver is going to be pricey.

I might have a shoe thrown at me for saying this, but both will cut wood. The Oliver will look better and have a cooler story to it, but both will make furniture just the same.


For sure. The blades are not cheap. Dado, even worse. For the price of a dado for the Oliver I could buy a used little unisaw that needs TLC to run dados on LOL.

It takes 16-18" blades wit a 1" arbor. I do have 3 brand new unused blades that came with the purchase. forrest too...

I do case goods furniture mostly. Dressers, nightsands, etc...

[Michael Boyet]

I would keep the Oliver. Since you bought the SS used chances are you can sell it for what you paid for it. Like you said, you can always get another one. Fix up the Oliver, try it out, and decide if you like it. If not then sell it and replace it with exactly what you want. Selling both should give you more than enough cash to buy a full size slider (if you want/ have room) or another SS.


Valid point

[Michael Boyet]

Nest them back to back and they take up no more space than one saw and an outfeed table.


I thought of that but since the Oliver has a slider they would have to be offset by the width of the sliding table and would end up taking up a ton of space

[Andrew Hughes]

I also vote for the Oliver. I have a Oliver machine and it's the flagship of the shop. I also agree with a bigger blade is better.
But that's mostly my vision based on the woodworking I do.
Good luck

[Jacob Mac]

Do you have employees? Anyone else work in the shop?

[Michael Boyet]

Do you have employees? Anyone else work in the shop?
It's just me. Occasionally I will have help a couple days. But that is rare.

[Frederick Skelly]

Have you used a slider much?

Let me suggest a third option. If it will only take you a week to get it cleaned up and running, why not do that and use it a while...then decide.

That way, you will make an informed decision, and the Oliver will probably bring more $ in set up condition also, if that is your decision.

This sounds like a smart approach.

[Matt Day]

Fox up the Oliver while you have the SS to use. Then crush the SS with the Oliver. Keep the Oliver.

[Michael Boyet]

Fox up the Oliver while you have the SS to use. Then crush the SS with the Oliver. Keep the Oliver.


ahahaha THERE WE GO

[Jeff Bartley]

I’ve had two saws now for a couple years and I would not want to go back to a single saw of any type. My set up currently is a Jet 10” exacta saw that I’ve run for years, and an Oliver 260D that I’ve had for a couple years.
The difference in the two saws is immediately evident. There’s just no comparison. The Oliver is in a different league. I keep a cross cut and a FTG rip blade in the Oliver and usually a rip blade in the Jet.
The real utility is having the ability to set up a cut on one saw and use the other for something else. With the Oliver I can set up the quadrant gauge on the slider and then move it out of the way to use the rip fence.
My vote: keep them both!
Things are going to get interesting for me soon when I pick up a full size slider. I could squeeze all three in the shop but I’ll have a similar choice to make.
Micheal, how tall is the 88? The 260D is 34” tall, my only complaint!

[Michael Boyet]

I’ve had two saws now for a couple years and I would not want to go back to a single saw of any type. My set up currently is a Jet 10” exacta saw that I’ve run for years, and an Oliver 260D that I’ve had for a couple years.
The difference in the two saws is immediately evident. There’s just no comparison. The Oliver is in a different league. I keep a cross cut and a FTG rip blade in the Oliver and usually a rip blade in the Jet.
The real utility is having the ability to set up a cut on one saw and use the other for something else. With the Oliver I can set up the quadrant gauge on the slider and then move it out of the way to use the rip fence.
My vote: keep them both!
Things are going to get interesting for me soon when I pick up a full size slider. I could squeeze all three in the shop but I’ll have a similar choice to make.
Micheal, how tall is the 88? The 260D is 34” tall, my only complaint!


Yeah for sure. Awesome you can keep the Jet around. A cabinet saw is very practical and fast.

I don’t know why this is even a discussion, I know the Oliver is a whole hell of a lot more saw. I guess it’s one of those "once you have it", it’s hard to sell situations with the saw stop. I wish I could keep both and that was my plan originally, it's just not possible. I’m guessing the 88 is in the 34" range as well. it’s on 4x4 skids right now and towers over the sawstop

[Jeff Bartley]

Have you run the 88 yet? If it’s anything like the 260 you’re in for a treat. Once you have it off the blocks you’ll be shocked how stable it is, mine will balance a dime on edge......until you raise the blade and the rush of air shoots it off the table!
Which rip fence do you have? Mine has the ‘F’ fence. One thing I would encourage would be to make some sort of nice auxiliary fence for the quandrant. I’ve been just making wooden fences and that gets old. Some flip stops and a length of 80/20 extrusion would do wonders......I just haven’t made the time for that project.
Early on though I did make racks to hold the fences and accessories, it’s really nice to have a place to put the rip fence when you’re not using it, mine stays off unless in use. I have yet to use the miter gauge.
In my shop I’ve been keeping on bay open enough to pull my van in but I think those days are numbered!

[Michael Boyet]

Have you run the 88 yet? If it’s anything like the 260 you’re in for a treat. Once you have it off the blocks you’ll be shocked how stable it is, mine will balance a dime on edge......until you raise the blade and the rush of air shoots it off the table!
Which rip fence do you have? Mine has the ‘F’ fence. One thing I would encourage would be to make some sort of nice auxiliary fence for the quandrant. I’ve been just making wooden fences and that gets old. Some flip stops and a length of 80/20 extrusion would do wonders......I just haven’t made the time for that project.
Early on though I did make racks to hold the fences and accessories, it’s really nice to have a place to put the rip fence when you’re not using it, mine stays off unless in use. I have yet to use the miter gauge.
In my shop I’ve been keeping on bay open enough to pull my van in but I think those days are numbered!


awesome to hear you love your oliver. I have not run mine, yet. its literally in the corner with stuff piled on top of it.

I also have the type F fence. Good tips on the quadrant. I'll get around too that some day. I posted my SS for sale, just to see... Got a really great offer immediately. Looks like I’m keeping the oliver.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

It's really nice to have a couple saws if you have the room. If you were within 1000 miles, I'd try to buy the Oliver from you to help make your decision easier. I wouldn't drive 100 miles for a sawstop.

[Michael Boyet]

well..... I know you're all dying for the ending here.....

and the winner is.....


456229

[Jacob Mac]

Wish I was closer, I would buy your ICS.

How do you like your Kapex?

[Michael Boyet]

Wish I was closer, I would buy your ICS.

How do you like your Kapex?


it’s pretty good. It cuts :)

I think it’s grossly overpriced though for how I use it. But I think for an “on site” guy doing high end trim it’s fantastic

[Phillip Mitchell]

Well, I see that I’ve responded too late but will offer my opinion regardless. I have 2 saws in almost certainly a smaller space than what you have (~500 sq ft.) One of them is SS sized - a Powermatic 66 and the other is Oliver sized - a Tannewitz Model U - though it is a fixed table model.

I have them back to back, co-planer with each other with about 12” of space in between the backs of each saw with a tiny little outfeed table to bridge the gap...just enough space for the miter bars of a crosscut sled to not collide with the one behind it. The 66 has the full 52” fence and a side table to support it. So they make an L shape essentially with the 66 being much wider due to the 52” Bies fence. The Tannewitz has a 24” capacity rack and pinion fence, 2 miter gauges and 18” (or is it 20”?) blade capacity. I use them both and don’t have a dado arbor for the Tannewitz so the 66 takes over that duty when I need to do it on the table saw. The Tannewitz is a ripping and cross cutting machine and the I use the miter gauge quite a bit for pretty long cross cuts. 66 for dadoes and sheet goods (and of course other cuts if I don’t feel like turning on the phase converter for 1 cut sometimes)

Before I had the Tannewitz, I had the 66 with the same size side table to support the fence and then a pretty large outfeed table on casters that I never moved because I didn’t have anywhere else in the shop it would actually fit. The current setup of both saws is actually more space efficient than the 66 with large outfeed before as the other acts as outfeed for the one in use.

Works pretty well for me, it’s nice to have 2 different setups going at once.

I would love to have a sliding saw, but I’m not presenting that to myself as an option in this shop as it would turn everything else upside down on its head. I’ve moved a lot of big, heavy and old stuff into this shop that is borderline extreme for the space, but I think a slider with the necessary space for the stroke (even a short stroke) would just kill my space too much.

How big is your shop space? Kinda blurry in that photo but is that a 299 planer in the background?

[Michael Boyet]

Well, I see that I’ve responded too late but will offer my opinion regardless. I have 2 saws in almost certainly a smaller space than what you have (~500 sq ft.) One of them is SS sized - a Powermatic 66 and the other is Oliver sized - a Tannewitz Model U - though it is a fixed table model.

I have them back to back, co-planer with each other with about 12” of space in between the backs of each saw with a tiny little outfeed table to bridge the gap...just enough space for the miter bars of a crosscut sled to not collide with the one behind it. The 66 has the full 52” fence and a side table to support it. So they make an L shape essentially with the 66 being much wider due to the 52” Bies fence. The Tannewitz has a 24” capacity rack and pinion fence, 2 miter gauges and 18” (or is it 20”?) blade capacity. I use them both and don’t have a dado arbor for the Tannewitz so the 66 takes over that duty when I need to do it on the table saw. The Tannewitz is a ripping and cross cutting machine and the I use the miter gauge quite a bit for pretty long cross cuts. 66 for dadoes and sheet goods (and of course other cuts if I don’t feel like turning on the phase converter for 1 cut sometimes)

Before I had the Tannewitz, I had the 66 with the same size side table to support the fence and then a pretty large outfeed table on casters that I never moved because I didn’t have anywhere else in the shop it would actually fit. The current setup of both saws is actually more space efficient than the 66 with large outfeed before as the other acts as outfeed for the one in use.

Works pretty well for me, it’s nice to have 2 different setups going at once.

I would love to have a sliding saw, but I’m not presenting that to myself as an option in this shop as it would turn everything else upside down on its head. I’ve moved a lot of big, heavy and old stuff into this shop that is borderline extreme for the space, but I think a slider with the necessary space for the stroke (even a short stroke) would just kill my space too much.

How big is your shop space? Kinda blurry in that photo but is that a 299 planer in the background?


Thanks for the input. I am in about 400 square feet with some of that space being a washer and dryer, a lot of lumber and some big tools including a Porter 16" jointer and the 299 Planer you spotted.

I know I will eventually end up with probably a unisaw or a 66 as a dado saw. With my current situation with so much lumber I had to let 1 saw go (until i can get things under control, or move into a bigger shop space).

Part of my decision was due to the fact It was so easy to sell the SS, and for food money too. I can get one any day used if I decide to go back that route. Or get a 66 for a fraction of the price.

[Jeff Bartley]

I think you made a wise choice. The micro adjust in the F fence is really nice. That little silver knob sitting on the miter gauge might go into the side of the sliding table. My quandrant has a knurled knob instead of the one with a little Tommy bar like yours. Does the sliding table have all the angles inscribed in the top?

[Michael Boyet]

I think you made a wise choice. The micro adjust in the F fence is really nice. That little silver knob sitting on the miter gauge might go into the side of the sliding table. My quandrant has a knurled knob instead of the one with a little Tommy bar like yours. Does the sliding table have all the angles inscribed in the top?


Thank you. I think so too, The silver knob is actually off the blade height adjustment wheel it broke off at some point im glad the previous owner kept it. that should be an easy fix. The table does have etched angles in it.

The quadrant should have a knurled knob but that unfortunately is what I got lol.

[Michael Boyet]

update to the saga. I ended up picking up an 80s Powermatic 66 as a second saw (for $250, can't beat that!). After running the oliver a few weeks I did feel limited by the lack of dado capabilities (without the rare and expensive accessories required). Back to 2 saws. LOL!!!!

[Richard Link]

Not to be an enabler here.... It would be very nice to have both. A slider can do most anything well but there are those times when I miss my saw stop cabinet saw. At least fix up the Oliver to test it out and see how it fits your workflow. If its not for you it will fetch more used if in good condition.

[David LaRue]

Are you running in 3 phase?

[Steve Rozmiarek]

update to the saga. I ended up picking up an 80s Powermatic 66 as a second saw (for $250, can't beat that!). After running the oliver a few weeks I did feel limited by the lack of dado capabilities (without the rare and expensive accessories required). Back to 2 saws. LOL!!!!


That's how I ended up with a nice Uni sitting by my Felder. It's a good thing!

[Michael Boyet]

Are you running in 3 phase?


no. But I run vfd for my several 3 phase tools. Probably should have gotten a RFC but vfd works good too

[Michael Boyet]

That's how I ended up with a nice Uni sitting by my Felder. It's a good thing!


yeah it’ll be a good thing. Also gives me a spot to put my router lift too.