Which Tablesaw? Jet JPS-10, JPS-30, or Grizzly G0661?

[Anthony Watson]

I have a cheap little Craftsman tablesaw I inherited from my Dad. I replaced the stock fence with an accufence and it has served me very well the past several years. But, I'm thinking of getting a new saw with a standard sized top, more power, and decent dust collection.

I'm currently looking at the Jet JPS-10 and JPS-30, or the Grizzly G0661. I can't afford to spend a lot, so I'm kind of leaning towards the JPS-30 with the steel wings. I have steel wings on my current saw and have never noticed a downside to them, and I can get the JPS-30 shipped for $730.

What advantages would the cast wings of the JPS-10 offer? They add almost $100 to the cost of the saw.

I'm also interested in the Grizzly G0661, but I haven't read any reports from users who actually own this saw. I can't afford to spend my money on untested machinery that may have weaknesses I'm unaware of. It's also more expensive than the other two options with shipping charges.

Which would you choose, and why?

Thanks,

Anthony

[Jim Lind]

Anthony,

What did you end up doing? I am considering the same saws, although I am also considering the Craftsman 22114 hybrid saw. Jet just raised their prices - now $899 and $999 minus a $50 rebate. I wish I would have jumped when they were over $150 cheaper. The Craftsman will be $629 this next Craftsman Club days if you are a member. I called Grizzly and they said mid-October before they get the G0661. It has been changed from Feb to April to July now to October.

Jim

[Bob Genovesi]

Anthony,

I have an older Jet contractors saw that I did a few upgrades to and I'm glad I did.

When I bought it it was wired for 110 and I really didn't like the way it spun up to speed. I switched the motor over to 220 and was surprised to see just how lively the 2hp contractors saw really is. This saw spins up to 4000rpm in one second!

I added cast iron wings to both sides and a link belt to replace the standard V-belt. The arbor has a run-out of .002 which is great and I aligned the saw trunnions and fence to the T-slot along with the Xacta fence.

I added the JDS Accumiter and I don't think you can beat the accuracy and repeatability of this miter gage. I did take the clamp off and added a piece of rubber hose as a cushioned grip.

The dust collection port works very well and was included with the saws purchase.

The saw is very heavy and very stable..

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/BobbyG53/Jet-02.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/BobbyG53/Accumain_02.gif

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/BobbyG53/Jet-03.jpg

I've had nothing but great success with this saw and found Jets customer service to be second to none.

I really would like to have a Powermatic 66 cabinet saw but to tell you the truth the way this saw performs I'd have a very hard time justifying the upgrade.

[Robert Chapman]

Check out the Steel City line of saws. I bought the Model 35670 about a year ago and it has been a great saw. Got it with the Industrial Fence which is a really accurate fence. Cost me about $900 after a $100 rebate.

[scott spencer]

...What advantages would the cast wings of the JPS-10 offer? They add almost $100 to the cost of the saw....

Cast iron wings give a flat reference surface beyond the main table. They also tend to be smoother, add a lot of mass, are nicer to use (IMHO), and add resale value. I've owned both steel and CI wings, and heavily prefer CI, but admit that they're a "nice to have" feature as opposed to a "need to have".

+1 on the Steel City recommendation (or Craftsman 22124 also made by Steel City's Orion subsidiary). Both offer the advantage of cabinet mounted trunnions...more mass and easy alignment.

The G0661 offers the advantage of a riving knife and a one-piece arbor carriage if they ever become available to buy.

Any one of these are capable of good service.

[Anthony Watson]

Jim,


What did you end up doing?

I haven't done anything yet. I'm still trying to decide.... :)


I called Grizzly and they said mid-October before they get the G0661.

Yeah, I've heard about the delays for the G0661 also, which probably rules it out as an option.

Robert,



Check out the Steel City line of saws.


I'll have a look, but $900 is really out of my price range.

Bob,



I have an older Jet contractors saw


I have limited space in my garage, so I am only interested in the hybrid style saws with the motor inside the cabinet, rather than hanging off the back.

My cheap little Craftsman, for all it's faults, has a direct drive induction motor mounted in the cabinet. Considering how accurate it cuts after the addition of an accufence, it makes it difficult to shell out the cash for a new saw. More of a "want" than a "need"... :)

Scott,


I've owned both steel and CI wings, and heavily prefer CI, but admit that they're a "nice to have" feature as opposed to a "need to have".


Thank you for your input on the steel/cast iron wings. Maybe it's just because I've never had cast iron wings, but I guess I don't see any function for the wings other than supporting wider boards or plywood sheets. Seems a steel wing could do that just as well as a cast iron wing?

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

Anthony

[Eric DeSilva]

What about buying a used cabinet saw? I bought my Unisaw, with a 52" biesenmeier fence, tenoning jig, several blades, mobile base and other goodies for less than you are talking about on craigslist...

[Jeffrey M Jones]

If you're looking at griz, have you concidered the g0478? My friend has one and he loves it. It has an internal motor (doesnt seem like a big deal for a feature but youre right youd be suprised how much of a pain a saw with a rear mounted motor is to move around with little space), it can run 110 or 220(hybrid obviously) and it has CI wings, a sweet extruded fence, and cabinet dust collection. For the money you cant beat it in my opinion. I use my dads craftsman contractor saw which I really like, it has afforded us the ability to purchase other tools(jointer, etc.) but it will be replaced someday. that 478 should be in your range but there is 96 dollar shipping. I would spend the extra money for something that I wouldnt be disappointed with if I ended up using it more than I thought.

[Prashun Patel]

I have the JPS10 (gloat: I got it just before the price hike). I think Amazon still has the steel wing one for under $800. The thing I like about my saw is the fence and the guard/splitter.

The fence is butter and has nice track slots on the top for 1/4" bolts so jigs are easy to attach.

The guard mounts through the blade insert. It lines up with the blade well and removing it/reinstalling it is cake. The guard also flips up out of the way easily without having to take it off all the time. The thru-mount splitter also made it easy to make an outfeed table vis-a-vis a rearmounted splitter.

I also like that it has a full length arbor, so you can get the full width of most dado stacks on it.

I can't really think of drawbacks except the dc isn't the best.

[Matthew Hills]

I have the JPS10 (gloat: I got it just before the price hike). I think Amazon still has the steel wing one for under $800. The thing I like about my saw is the fence and the guard/splitter.

Wow... I'd agree on being pretty happy with the fence, but I found the guard/splitter to be a real downer. Very fiddly to align, and the guard often wasn't lifting smoothly as the wood arrived. i'll give it another look; maybe I was doing something wrong.

Also, agree on dust-collection not being great. Really needs some sort of shroud near the blade to improve air flow there.

Matt

[Jim Lind]

I have the JPS10 (gloat: I got it just before the price hike). I think Amazon still has the steel wing one for under $800. .

Thanks, Shawn - I ordered the steel winged one from Amazon. And, I asked Jet and they said it does indeed qualify for the $50 rebate. It will pay the taxes - shipping was free. Now I just need to sell my Delta band saw and table saw to pay for this . . ..:rolleyes:

[Don L Johnson]

Anthony,

I'm not sure were you live, but if you are in the San Antonio area, I have the Jet Contractor saw for sale.

[Anthony Watson]

I think I'm narrowing my choices down to either the Jet JPS-10 or the Grizzly G0478. Still have to think about it. I'm not one to rush into anything without overanalyzing it to death... :)

I'm in SW Washington state and have looked around for used saws, but there are very few available, and the few I have seen are still out of my price range.

Anthony

[Marlin Williams]

How about the Delta 36-979 with a T2 fence?

I got that setup, but returned the T2 when i found a Unifence for the same price.

Lowes has the table saw and fence for $600 but you can get a 10% off coupon easy.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=237665-32764-36-979&lpage=none

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=237669-32764-36-T30

[Prashun Patel]

I think I'm narrowing my choices down to either the Jet JPS-10 or the Grizzly G0478. Still have to think about it. I'm not one to rush into anything without overanalyzing it to death... :)

I'm in SW Washington state and have looked around for used saws, but there are very few available, and the few I have seen are still out of my price range.

Anthony


Fine Woodworking did a review of hybrid saws a year or 2 ago. You should check it out. The only reason I chose the JPS10 over the G0478 is the number of positive reviews. I'm sure either is very nice, though.

[Anthony Watson]

Fine Woodworking did a review of hybrid saws a year or 2 ago.


Yep, I've seen the review (it's sitting on my desk at the moment), which helped me narrow down my choices to the JPS10 or G0478.

Although, I just saw the JPS10 took a major price hike, which makes the G0478 more inviting. Even with shipping fees, it's $130 less than the JPS10. There's a Grizzly showroom about a four hour drive away, so in theory I could drive up and pick it up myself. But factoring in gas and a day of driving, it's probably worth the extra $40 for delivery. :)

Does anyone here actually own the Grizzly G0478? Reviews are fine, but I prefer to hear actual end user opinions.

One other question, I've never had a tablesaw with dust collection. Would I run into any problems just firing up the saw for a quick cut without the dust collector hooked up? I'm not always working on a full fledged project that I want to pull out all the equipment and hook up the hoses. Sometimes I just want to rip a single board and be done with it.

Thanks,

Anthony

[scott spencer]

...One other question, I've never had a tablesaw with dust collection. Would I run into any problems just firing up the saw for a quick cut without the dust collector hooked up? I'm not always working on a full fledged project that I want to pull out all the equipment and hook up the hoses. Sometimes I just want to rip a single board and be done with it.

Thanks,

Anthony

No problem there. You'll just need to clean it out eventually, and more dust will fly above the table.

[Anthony Watson]

With the recent price increase on the JPS-10 I was all set to order the Grizzly G0478, but thought I'd check Craigslist one last time. As usual, the vast majority of available saws were small contractor or benchtop saws like I already have. But down at the very bottom of the page I saw a week old listing for a Craftsman 22124 saw. I figured it would be long gone by now, but decided to inquire about it anyway.

I had read many positive reviews of the 22124, but didn't give it much consideration because a) it was out of my price range, and b) I had a lot of issues with my old Craftsman saw and figured they would all be equally bad.

I'm glad I put my preconceptions aside, because I'm now the happy owner of a Craftsman 22124 table saw. He had bought it new and only had about an hour of use on it. He even included a mobile base with the saw, a necessity I was going to have to buy anyway. And he lives right here in town, about 15 minutes from my house.

I spent about an hour checking all the alignments and making minor adjustments to various items, but just about everything was right where it needed to be. I cut a few scrap boards into smaller scrap boards, and have to say I'm very pleased with the 22124. I hooked my JDS dust collector to the saw and it seems to be fairly effective at sucking up most of the dust. A little bit blows up off the blade, but worlds better than the huge pile I always had under my old saw.

My only dilema now... How to properly care for the cast iron top? What do you use to a) remove rust or other blemishes, and b) protect the top from future rusting? This was never a concern with my old aluminum saw.

Yahoo! :)

Anthony

[Jim Lind]

Great job. Could I ask how much you ended up giving for it?

To take care of the table, I have read where either WD40 or paint thinner and steel wool removes the rust. I have used both WD40 and paint thinner and cannot tell the difference. I have also used a scotch-brite pad in a pinch. To keep it from rusting, I use Johnsons paste wax. Makes the wood slide easily as well. I think you can use any wax as long as it does NOT have silicone in it (the silicone gets on the wood and messes up finishing).

I'm still setting up my new Jet JPS-30, but so far have been pleased with the quality. I'll know better after making sawdust.

Jim

[Anthony Watson]

Jim,


Could I ask how much you ended up giving for it?

$725 for both the saw and the mobile base. I don't know if that's a good deal or not, but I would have had to pay more than that for a new saw so I actually saved money. The 22124 was about $1100 new last I looked and the mobile bases usually run around $75 or so. Not to mention, this saw was already assembled, saving me a great deal of labor. :)

It's in practically new condition, so it was money well spent.

I'll look for the paste wax on my next trip to town. Thanks for the tip!

Anthony

[Prashun Patel]

You made a great buy. People 'round here are quite happy with their zipcode saws.

[Jim Lind]

That's a great deal. Should last you a long time. Hope you make a lot of sawdust with it.

[jim hedgpeth]

Anthony, let us know what you end up with. I have been looking at the G0661 as well, and would like to hear from someone who has one.

[Jim Lind]

Jim - Look a few replies above. He got a used 22124 saw from Craigslist.