Is there a Left tilt table saw advantage?

[Jerry Williams]

I'm thinking of replacing an old tired craftsman table saw soon with a much better one and wanted to get the members perspectives on the pros and cons of left and right tilt table saws and why one would prefer either over the other?

[Mike Cutler]

Jerry. First off, Welcome to Sawmill Creek.

I have a left tilt General, and a Right tilt Jet. I prefer the left tilt personally because the fence is to the right of the blade,and If I am doing bevel angled cuts with the fence as a reference the material is not pinched. I also never have to reset my fence as I did on my right tilt Jet to do this. As I said it's a personal thing though, and I don't make enough bevel angled cuts to begin with to make it that dramatic of a difference for me. I use them both.

Once again though, Welcome to Sawmill Creek

[Maurice Ungaro]

My first saw was a right tilt contractor model. Now I have a left tilt UNI. My brother has a right tilt UNI. We both got screamin' deals on ours and I think it comes down to what is available. Both left & right have their points, but if you've got a good deal looking at you, don't let the left/right thing be a deal breaker.

[Mitchell Andrus]

There's a minor advantage to a right tilt for me. I use a tenon jig a lot and prefer to use the left track so I'm clear of the blade's output area, so making an angled tenon cut is a bit easier. - the blade is tilted away from the tool... minor +.

As others will tell you, it's really a personal preference thing. If I had gotten a left tilt, I'd have found a slight advantage for some other cut and been just as happy.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Jerry, the advantage of left tilt is twofold;

- when making bevel cuts, there isn't a piece trapped between the blade and the fence (think kickback)

- when making bevel cuts to fabricate a box for example, the good face of the wood is up, producing a better finish, and when making the second bevel rip, the bevel is up off the table against the fence. This prevents it from sneaking under the fence and making crooked cuts.

The only disadvantage I can think of is that the fixed arbour flange is on the left, making the rip tape measure useless when grooving, since the dado stacks outward towards the fence.

I have only owned left tilt saws, and find that the advantages out weigh the disadvantages by a substantial margin.

Regards, Rod.

[Peter Quinn]

As noted above for most right handed users when ripping bevel cuts it is safer and easier, perhaps more natural, to have the fence to the right of the blade and the blade tilted away from the fence to avoid pinching and a potential kick back. At the cabinet shop where I work we have both right and left tilt saws and I find it is ideal to have both as right tilt offers a distinct advantage for certain cuts. For instance certain rail and style assemblies have styles that are mirror images of each other, so one cut is easier with a left tilt, the other with a right tilt with the fence set to the left of the blade. A few things we have made genuinely required both to produce.

Few small or home shops have the space or budget to acquire both and it is in any event more of a convenience than a necessity. I prefer left tilt in a single saw situation and that is what I use in my home shop.

[Chris Friesen]

Hi Mitchel, it must be too early for me. Are you saying that with a right tilt saw, using the tenon jig in the left mitre track means the blade tilts away from the tenon jig?

I visualize it opposite to what you're indicating.

Yep, too early. Think about it again...jig on the left, blade tilting to the right.

[glenn bradley]

If I found a GREAT deal on an evil-tilt saw I would probably get it. All things being equal I would get a correct-tilt . . .er . . . I mean left-tilt.

All kidding aside; It is a personal prefrence. Rod touches on the points that matter to me. YMMV. Ford / Chevy, Tastes Great / Less Filling.

[Rod Sheridan]

Yep, too early. Think about it again...jig on the left, blade tilting to the right.

Yes, it was too early, that's why I deleted the post, however not before you responded.

For some reason, I was visuallizing the saw blade correctly, however I had the tenon jig on the wrong side of the blade.....Duh...............Rod.

[scott spencer]

It's really a matter of preference, but there are pros and cons for both. I've owned both and prefer LT. The main advantage of left tilt is that the blade tilts away from the fence on a bevel cut, which is considered safer. But there's also the benefit that the arbor nut goes on from the right side (right hand) and has normal thread orientation. Now for the downside...because the arbor flange is on the left, the right edge of the blade is registered to the zero reference of the tape cursor so blade thickness can effect the zero reference if you change blade thicknesses...ie: changing from full kerf to thin kerf. The work arounds are to either recalibrate the cursor, use a shim as a space to offset the thickness of a thinner blade, or measure by hand and ignore the saw's tape. There's also the benefit of having much lower likelihood of ever needing the rip capacity on the left side of the blade, meaning it's possible to slide the rail over to the right to gain some extra capacity on the right using the stock rails....you can get an extra 10" or so with most.

Right tilt has the arbor flange on the right, so the right side of the blade registers against the flange meaning blade thickness changes don't make any difference. The blade tilts to the right toward the fence which creates a bit of a hazard....the work around is to move the fence to the left of the blade and do bevel cuts on that side, which is a less familiar operation, so has different hazards in itself. The arbor nut mounts from the left side which favors mounting it with the left hand and has reverse thread orientation...it's a minor thing to some but I found it a constant nuisance that I'd rather not deal with....the whole "Lefty Tighty, Righty Loosy" thing confused me! :D

[Chris Padilla]

You can tilt the blade on a table saw??!!!!





;)

[Chip Lindley]

The issue of bevel cuts toward, or away from a right-mounted fence have been aptly covered.

One last small issue, which may be huge to some, is that with a left tilt saw, the tilt crank is on the right side, and any storage cabinet must be located to allow knuckle clearance of the crank wheel. A right tilt saw is not much better, in that the motor cover protrudes to the right. Maybe this is a *dead heat* within a couple of inches.

I just enjoy a left tilt saw! I grew up with them! Craftsman, then Rockwell contractor, and now a PM66. That crank just feels right on the Right!

[Chris Padilla]

I grew up with a RT. I also have an Incra fence on my TS and when the need arrises, it is pretty simple to move the fence to the left of the blade and viola, my RT TS tilts away from the fence. I have done this a few times.

[Jim Becker]

My personal preference is LT for a cabinet saw and RT for a slider. It has to do with how you cut the bevels and where the material physically is during those cuts. Cutting narrow bevels been the only thing that has been more difficult for me with my slider since one cannot move the fence to the left of the blade. If it's a 45º edge, I've taken to using a chamfer cutter on the router table for this, in fact. Fortunately, I don't need these cuts very often.

[Von Bickley]

I have a right tilt TS because it was a gift, and I will NEVER have another right tilt saw in my shop.

The left tilt TS is the only way to go...... ;)

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Twenty years or so they had Swine Flu inoculation. Turns out it was a cure for no known disease. Left till cure for no known problem.

My .02

Greg

[Paul Joynes]

One aspect of LT saws that is nice is that you don't have to crawl under the right hand extension table to gain access to the motor compartment. Much easier to retrieve dropped arbor washers, vac out sawdust, etc.

[Chris Padilla]

One aspect of LT saws that is nice is that you don't have to crawl under the right hand extension table to gain access to the motor compartment. Much easier to retrieve dropped arbor washers, vac out sawdust, etc.

So you only bang it when adjusting the tilt then? ;)

[glenn bradley]

You can tilt the blade on a table saw??!!!!

I just blew coffee on my monitor :D. That was my initial reaction as well. 99% of my TS use is at 90* but, that's just me.

[Mark Boyette]

I do a lot of dadoing for my cabinet assembly so I like the right tilt. This way my beismeyer fence is still reading accurate measurements. Left tilt you have to substract the dado blade width from the measurment. With spacers used on various sheet goods it gets to be a pain.
yes.. the left tilt are safter for beveling though.
Mark.

[Mark Carlson]

One small negative to my left tilting General 650 is that the dust port is on the left side. I would prefer a port that was in the back or on the right.

~mark

[Paul Atkins]

Now for you engineers out there. How would you design a saw that tilts both ways? Seems like it would be useful for something and cost twice as much. My RT saw drives me nuts sometimes enough to put the fence on the left side. Since I'm right handed this is a bit risky.

[Myk Rian]

One aspect of LT saws that is nice is that you don't have to crawl under the right hand extension table to gain access to the motor compartment. Much easier to retrieve dropped arbor washers, vac out sawdust, etc.
Hmm. My LT saw has the door on the right.

[Myk Rian]

TOne last small issue, which may be huge to some, is that with a left tilt saw, the tilt crank is on the right side,
Hmm. Mine is on the left.

[Jim O'Dell]

Hmm. My LT saw has the door on the right.

What kind of saw, Myk?? Jim.

[Chris Varas]

I know left tilt saws have been the “in” thing for a while on various ww’ing forums for the last few years but I personally have no desire to have a left tilt saw. The “big advantage” to left tilt saws is the blade tilts away from the fence (assuming your fence is right of the blade) on beveled rip cuts. This is a good thing for those types of cuts because it keeps the off-cut from get jammed between the fence and the blade.

OK but really, how important is that in the sense of, how often do you make a beveled rip cuts? If you do need to make one on a right tilt saw, you simply move the rip fence to the left side of the blade. Sure, that will dramatically decrease your ripping capacity on most US saws (to around 12”) but again, how often are you ripping beveled cuts and of those few times, how many of those cuts would exceed that capacity? Even then, I still feel that you are OK as the whole wood getting jammed between the blade and the fence on really seem to be an issue with narrow boards. I’ve made bevel cuts on wide boards (over 12”) with the bald tilted towards the fence. Maybe I was lucky but I had no issues doing that.

What is an issue that would effect me often is with a left tilt saw is anytime you need to use your dado head, your fence’s scale will out of calibration. Sure, that can be worked around too but I look at it this way. How often do I use my dado blade and how often do I make beveled rip cut? I use my dado head all of the time but I rarely need to make a beveled rip cuts so for me, the dado head issue is much more important then the beveled rip cut issue. YMMV but I just thought you should here the other side of this never ending debate. :)

I will say that I like the fact that left tilt saws have their motor access on the left side of the saw cabinet which is much easier to access and that the new Unisaw, which looks pretty sweet, is only available in left tilt but I do hope they decide to come out with a right tilt soon.

[Von Bickley]

OK but really, how important is that in the sense of, how often do you make a beveled rip cuts? If you do need to make one on a right tilt saw, you simply move the rip fence to the left side of the blade. Sure, that will dramatically decrease your ripping capacity on most US saws (to around 12”) but again, how often are you ripping beveled cuts and of those few times, how many of those cuts would exceed that capacity? Even then, I still feel that you are OK as the whole wood getting jammed between the blade and the fence on really seem to be an issue with narrow boards. I’ve made bevel cuts on wide boards (over 12”) with the bald tilted towards the fence. Maybe I was lucky but I had no issues doing that.

If you are building kitchen base cabinets that are 24" wide, you can not get that on the left side by moving the fence. So you set the fence on the right side of the blade and make your cut. Your work piece is trapped between the blade and the fence and that could cause a big problem. Look at your work piece, you are also putting the good side down with the bad side up. When I'm ripping plywood on a TS, I like to have the good side up........

[Myk Rian]

What kind of saw, Myk?? Jim.
Steel City Hybrid cabinet. My old Craftsman LT had the tilt wheel on the left also.
The sawstop has the crank on the left and door on the right. In fact, all the LT saws I've owned and seen are that way, except for Grizzlys, Deltas, & Jets.

[Larry Edgerton]

I go both ways.:) I have both in my shop and they both have strengths and weaknesses. I have a 66 left and I like that when you rip if something goes wrong and it lifts it is not ruining the piece, but then there are some operations that I like to do to the left of the blade that do not work out so I use the SCMI or Delta right.

If I had to buy just one i would be hard pressed, but I am leaning right. I do appreciate the left tilt, but I still think if I was one saw I would go right.

[Karl Brogger]

I have both, and use both.

Right tilts are nice to use for a dado saw. Being that everything gets stacked up left of the arbor the fence number doesn't change, or you don't have to think about it when setting it. Like adding 5/8" for a 3/4" dado. Today in fact I had to miter the end a 8" board for a mantle. I didn't have enough room to the right of the blade to make the cut, so I did it on my uni-saw instead of the 66.

For general use though a left tilt is the way to go. If I had to have only one tablesaw it would be a left tilt. Right tilts are scary for mitering face frame material and clips in my opinion, and I never seem to be able to get as good of results doing that either.

[Mark Boyette]

I'm with Chris V. on 100% on this one. Even is I 45 degree at 24" it's ok if you take your time off the right side. dadoing for me is much more of a concern. I have a right tilt at home and left at work. I'd dadoed a few cabinet panels that were off by 3/4" already at work after we got the new saw stop (left tilt only).
I guess it's just preferrence.
Mark.

[James Suzda]

Right tilt are better because both Norm Abram and David Marks use RT saws! :D

[Chip Lindley]

No need to bang your head at all.....IF....ya got a saw with a front access door!! That is a little item that many new saws fail to include....

It sure comes in handy on my left tilt PM66, since there is an Exaktor sliding table covering my motor opening.....

[Chip Lindley]

Buncha WHINERS!! Are those complaining about RT saws so *BrainDed* that they forget that the extension table *could* be mounted to the -----L E F T -----of the saw????? Biesemeyer originally did offer this configuration. Left-reading measuring tapes are still available!

If you have a rear angle iron rail on your "Biesemeyer-type* fence, the front and rear rails could be reversed to allow use of the miter slot notches, and new holes drilled. If you possess only the front angle iron, you must cut your own notches, BUT what else do you have to Gripe about????? huh? huh? huh? Somebody GO FOR IT!!!

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I actually considered putting the extension table to the left on my right tilt saw. Unfortunately, I built the mobile base, cabinetry and table before I realized it. However, the tape measure won't be accurate when the blade is tilted due to the pivot point on the yoke being on the 'wrong side'.

I have a right tilt Unisaw for 20 years. It still tilts the wrong way. :)

-Jeff :)