Steel City cabinet saw question

[Christopher Winslow]

Hi Folks, This my first post here. I have outgrown my Rigid site/saw and have found a SC right tilt cabinet saw. I've been looking for about a year unsure of what I would need. Long story short, I learned of this saw at Woodcraft for a GOOD PRICE. This is not the 3hp hybrid, but the full cabinet saw. Having never owned one, but used a friends, am I ok with a right tilt?:confused: Also, what woud be the best mobile base with the larger ext. table? Thanx for your collective wisdom.

[glenn bradley]

Understanding that actually left tilt vs. right tilt is a personal preference; I'll start the sarcasm with a quote from another thread on the same subject. "Right tilt saws are bad. People who use right tilt saws are bad".

There, now all kidding aside, it is a personal preference. I obviously opted for left tilt for my own reasons right or wrong (no pun intended). I have found HTC's mid to high end bases to be top quality. Folks who run larger saws and have made them mobile will surely chime in. After having mobile bases on two different saws and never moving them I am now non-mobile for that tool.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Christopher.......There are 2 basic advantages to the left tilt and the right tilt saws as far as I am aware.

Left tilt - when you are cutting with the blade tilted from vertical and using the fence you won't have the material trapped between the sawblade and the fence and there for is less likely to get thrown back at you and the material is less likely to bind.

Right tilt - You don't have to worry about the measurements on the fence becoming inaccurate when you install a dado blade.

Good luck with your decision!

[Matt Meiser]

I though left tilt saws support big government while right tilt saws favored big business...oh wait, I think I'm mixed up. :D

I've had a few of the HTC bases which were great. I sold them when we moved here because most of my tools could be stationary. I've also got a Shop Fox and a Rockler mobile base which are great. For a saw with an extension table though I'd go for the HTC because it will be designed to fit your saw. The others won't have provisions for the extension table.

My saw is right tilt. I've done so little work with the blade tilted that I don't have an opinion one way or the other.

[Bruce Page]

My Unisaw is right tilt. All of my table saws have been RT.
Works for me.
I'm a big fan of the Delta MB with the single foot lever.

[Mike Langford]

As Glenn stated it's personal preference.....a right tilt saw is no less of a saw.

The "bad press" the right tilts get stem from the fact that when you make a bevel cut, the saw blades tilts towards the fence increasing the chance of kickback if your not careful because the wood is trapped between the blade and the fence! Also if you're making bevel cuts on opposite ends, when you flip the board 180*......unless you use an axillary fence to close the gap between the fence and table surface, the sharp point of the bevel could slide under the fence causing the wood to jam and/or kickback! :eek:

Couple of ways around the "problem" (depending on type of cut and width) you could use the miter gauge(workpiece clamped) in the left side miter slot.....you could use a crosscut sled......plus on most of the saws that use the t-style fences, you can move the fence to the left side of the blade! (there again depending on type and width of cut....most allow 12" on the left....)

I recently bought a Steel City 3 hp - right tilt -cabinet saw..... http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=62745

In-fact I'd bought the left tilt until I saw the sale price on the right tilt and had them re-bill me for the right tilt!!!;) ('cause I'm a cheap bast.....err.....frugal person!)
I weighed the right vs left debate.....and how much I'd save ($225.24 difference).....and decided if Norm can make do with a right tilt saw, well so can I! :rolleyes:


edit: - took me so long to type this I see Ken has explained the difference!!

[Greg Sznajdruk]

If right tilt is good enough for Norm its good enough for me. My Dad had a right tilt, my Grandad and a HAND SAW.

With all the pros and cons about right left you would think nobody ever straight cuts any more. I can't remember the last time I beveled cut.

Greg

[glenn bradley]

If right tilt is good enough for Norm its good enough for me. My Dad had a right tilt, my Grandad and a HAND SAW.

With all the pros and cons about right left you would think nobody ever straight cuts any more. I can't remember the last time I beveled cut.

Greg

Greg makes a good point. The fact that 90+% of my cuts are at 90* is why I don't support the arguments against ZCI's with fixed splitters. One camp dislikes them since they do not tilt with the blade and therefor are not usable for anything but 90* cuts. If half my cuts were at something besides 90*, I'd join that camp. So, it all boils down to what you are going to do and what you prefer.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Tilt for me used to be a decision based solely on which side of the blade I wanted to stand. I like to stand so that I have my body positioned such that the blade is on my right hand side and when it tilts it tilts off to my right hand side.

So when I stood dead center in front of the blade the Miter fence was off to my left and the rip fence was off to my right. It also meant that when ripping I always trapped wood between the blade's tilt angle and the fence. Not once in 30+ years have I ever had an issue with binding on a rip.

HOWEVER binding will of a certainty raise it's ugly head if one attempts to Rip-cut large sheet stock with no supporting tables around the saw. The plywood is just too hard to manage flopping in the breeze to guarantee no wobble or binds. Sooner or later that will bite the operator in the rear. However, with low powered saws (1-HP) the motor and blade haven't got the energy to move a big piece of sheet stock very much or very fast. Usually the motor stalls.


When you transition to a 3 - 5 HP saw you need to keep in mind that there is a lot more energy in the blade making kicks and binds more dangerous.

[Christopher Winslow]

Gentlemen, I thank you kindly for your input and opinions. I WILL pull the trigger on the Rt SCTW this weekend. I'm not sure if I can type pricing here but it is under 1,200-31 bones. I must add with no sales tax! Is that gloatable?:D At any rate thanx again.