Table Saw Suggestions

[Dennis Kelly]

Hello!
I am in the market for a table saw. I have a small shop (12 ft. by 20 feet) and cannot afford any more than $800. I am looking at the grizzly and delta contractor saws but would love to hear suggestions from you guys. Let me know what you think!!

Dennis

[Tom Cowie]

Hi Dennis,

I have a Delta contractors saw for the same reason (space). My shop is 12x 16 and the saw with a 30" extension and unifence has done very well for me . I put a router in the extension table to help eliminate taking up more space with a dedicated router table.

Tom

[Brian Dormer]

My shop is about 18x18 - I have a Craftsman 22114. It does take up some space (biggest tool in the shop) - but it's been a great saw.

I nearly bought a Ridgid - but the Ridgid has the motor out the backside. The C-man has the motor underneath, to the right.

[Kent E. Matthew]

My planned shop will only be 14 x 14 if I'm lucky. I figure if I build it with a 4 foot sliding door and position the saw where it can be moved so I can run things through out the open door that would save on space.

[Carroll Courtney]

If you have the time and can wait,check your local paper or CL and your local woodworking place(classifides) for a good used american made saw.I have seen several Rockwell contractors saws,and the unisaw's on e-bay.Maybe you can get lucky and fine one on e-bay in your area.The fun part for me is the search for good used tools.

[Clint Winterhalter]

What kind of power with you have access to?
Grizzly has a nice Hybrid that you can do 110 or 220 (roughly $820 delivered)
Cman has an Orion built unit for $650. Orion is affiliated with Steel City.
Sears has run some great deals on the full cabinet version of the saw so keep and eye on them...
At $800 you are darn close to a cabinet saw.
Another $200 and you can look at a Grizzly 1023..
I've got the shopfox equivalent. Its a GREAT SAW.

What ever you buy try to get close to what you want in the long run.
A crappy fence now.. will cost you several $$ to replace later..

Used might be worth a look. I just got an email from the company that I bought my saw from. He has a Powermatic 66 for $895 used.
Shop around!
Good Luck..
Clint

[mark page]

The rigid is a very good quality saw for the price and well within your budget, but it sounds like you need to tie in several workshop items to multi-task, such as moveable workbench to also serve as an outfeed table, etc. This would be very difficult with the motor config on the Rigid though. I recommend doing some research on your equipment needed versus equipment already in use and designing a shop system around this agenda. If a good quality used tablesaw becomes available, I would snag it and build your shop around it, no matter what the configuration of the saw is. Try to get the best you can afford at the time. You will find that the tablesaw will be the center of attention for most all of your undertakings.

[Dennis Kelly]

Thanks for the input!!
I agree with buying a used saw, but I am quickly running out of patience with that option. Checking this site, woodnet and craigslist on a daily basis for the past month can grow tiring!!!

I guess my big question is, is there one brand that sticks out as a clear front runner or do all the heavy duty contractor saws do the same thing? By reading all the posts on this site, I can see people are happy with all different types of saws. I just don't want to spend $700 and be disappointed with my purchase.

Dennis

[Vernon Taylor]

My planned shop will only be 14 x 14 if I'm lucky. I figure if I build it with a 4 foot sliding door and position the saw where it can be moved so I can run things through out the open door that would save on space.
When I built my shop about 12 years ago I framed for a 4'door which I special ordered from 84Lumber,it is a regular 6-8 steel door(insulated).Cost at that time was $189. I was looking for air tightness as oppossed to a sliding door setup,mine swings in but you could also order a different swing if you felt the door was intrusive into your interior space. I also felt this type door was better from a security aspect.

[Tim Morton]

Thanks for the input!!
I agree with buying a used saw, but I am quickly running out of patience with that option. Checking this site, woodnet and craigslist on a daily basis for the past month can grow tiring!!!

I guess my big question is, is there one brand that sticks out as a clear front runner or do all the heavy duty contractor saws do the same thing? By reading all the posts on this site, I can see people are happy with all different types of saws. I just don't want to spend $700 and be disappointed with my purchase.

Dennis

what do you see yourself doing with the saw? And how long do you think you will want to keep it before upgrading? I think at $700 you would be happy with all the choices, but the fence is the one thing that you must use for every single cut, so in that regard i would not buy a saw unless i loved the fence. Beisemeyer clones are excellent and come on some but not all grizzly models. I know its more than you want to spend, but i PROMISE you that if you bought this one you would be happy for a long long time.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G1023S

[Eugene A. Manzo III]

I think if I were you I would invest in the Craftsman cabinet saw It goes on sale for around 850.00 and very highly rated with a bysimier fence (did I spell that wrong ?). VERY VERY nice saw . The ridgid is also a very nice saw.

[Timothy G. Craig]

You would probibly be very pleased with almost any reputable saw manufacturer. Not only is the fence a key investment, but a high quality blade can make all the difference. You might want to consider setting it up on a dolly to move it out of the way when not in use when space is very limited. If bench top space is at a premium, you can also build a false top that slips over the entire top and remove it when your making sawdust.

Good luck!
TGCraig

[Bart Leetch]

If I had to go buy a table-saw today for a small shop mine is 13'5" x 24'5" I wouldn't. I would buy what I could afford to start with of the EZ-Smart System & continue to add to it as needed. The amount of room you would save in your shop when you didn't need it set up to cut or route would be well worth it. I believe the starter setup is way less than $800.