If I were in the market for a Uni-Saw I would take an older one over a new one any day. Delta has gone to crap over the last few years and fell off a cliff a couple of years ago.
Member
If I were in the market for a Uni-Saw I would take an older one over a new one any day. Delta has gone to crap over the last few years and fell off a cliff a couple of years ago.
[OP]
Member
Randy, glad that you found what works best for you. I would love to have a SawStop for the safety aspects but they are not cheap and I haven't seen any used ones on the market. I'll keep looking and asking questions as they come up.
[OP]
Member
So Ive heard. Do you know what year they moved production overseas?Originally Posted by Ted Derryberry
Contributor
I was just suggesting that, after assessing your needs, you might not need a full-blown cabinet saw (whatever that is). The Sawstop Jobsite saw isn't for everyone, but it is less expensive ($1,400), can be easily moved around the shop, still has a 1.75 HP motor, above average dust collection, is a very accurate saw (in my opinion), and it has Sawstop safety. It might serve your needs in combination with a Track Saw (not necessarily Festool) or a bandsaw and jointer. Depends what other stationary tools you own or plan to acquire. I think sometimes power is a main factor in acquiring a saw. I have not yet met up with something the jobsite saw can't handle, including 8/4 maple and oak. Sometimes I need to feed it a little slower, but it has handled everything. There are a lot of borderline cabinet saws with 1.75 HP power that may serve your needs. The Sawstop Jobsite saw definitely isn't a cabinet saw but really functions very well for me.
Member
I'll second Randy's comments on the SS Jobsite saw. It's what I use, and I have no complaints. That said, if I had the room, I'd have gone with a cabinet saw myself.
Randy, I use the Incra Miter Express on mine. Gives you a lot more space in front of the blade for crosscuts. Easily adjustable for square cuts, and it stays that way.
Contributor
NO! We cannot.
"Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."
Member
What makes a saw a "Cabinet Saw"?
According to dictionalry, table saw is - a short broad-bladed saw with parallel edges, one sharpened for ripping and the other for crosscutting.There's really no agree upon standard that the industry uses to define cabinet saw. The lines are now definitely blurred, and some of the hybrid companies calling their saws "cabinet saw" doesn't help. But the true industrial cabinet saws, typically 3+ hp, are heavier duty in every regard. The hybrids that have cabinet mounted trunnions still tend to have much lighter duty under pinnings, lower weight, smaller motors, etc. The biggest difference will be noticed during use and over the life the saw.
Typical hybrid saws with "cabinet mounted trunnions":
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Typical industrial cabinet saw:
My circa '76 Unisaw has an original 1.5 hp motor in it and it works great, never found a need for more power nor has it bogged down. Make sure you use the right blades for the job. I have a nice Dimar coated 24 tooth rip blade that cuts through thick oak and maple no problem. Don't feel the need to get caught up in the hp race as some who say you must have 3 hp just say it because they see other people mention it.
[OP]
Member
I see my old thread is back again.
I'm very happy with my my decision to go with the Laguna F2. Its working well for me. It has cabinet mounted trunions and 1 -3/4hp. I don't know if its a hybrid or a cabinet saw as those terms are still as ambiguous as they were a year ago. I just know that it works fine and I'm happy. And in the end that is all that counts.
Question: can anyone name a tool that we haven't or won't debate?
Marshall
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A Stickley fan boy.
Guest
Water.
Extra characters
Contributor
Well, ya know, there's water & then there's water...
Member
From what I’ve read, cabinet, hybrid, portable, etc are all marketing terms and not particularly useful. Ive seen an old ad featuring a table saw weighing several hundred pounds with an equally heavy hit & miss engine attached that is advertised as a portable saw.
I do think cabinet typically denotes better, more commercial grade.
I’ll submit the following definition for debate:
If it was originally purchased in a borg, mall or department store catalog, it’s not a cabinet saw.
Member
How various table saws are defined has changed over time.
The first table saws were simply a blade mounted on an arbor with pillow blocks, mounted to the bottom of a wooden table. The blade and table did not move in relation to each other and one could not cut bevels with such a saw unless they used a sled set at an angle to the blade holding the workpiece. These were typically pre-1900s saws driven by lineshafts.
The next invention was to move the arbor's pillow block mountings to the base of the saw so one could tilt the saw table to perform bevel cuts as the saw blade stayed in place but the table tilted. The Delta 1100 series tiltys are good, small examples of this class.
The third invention was to put the arbor pillow blocks on a trunnion so the saw arbor could be tilted in relation to the table, rather than the table be tilted in relation to the arbor. The Delta Unisaw from the late 1930s was one of the first saws to do this and Delta mounted the trunnions to the base as one would with a tilt-table saw. Unlike most previous saws, the Unisaw had an enclosed sheet steel cabinet unlike most of the previous open-based saws, so the term cabinet saw was born to describe a table saw with trunnions mounted to an enclosed metal cabinet. Unisaws were made with anything from 1 hp 120 volt single-phase motors on up to 5 hp 3 phase motors.
Contractor saws moved the trunnion attachment to the underside of the table rather than the saw cabinet, as the contractor saw base is far less substantial than a Unisaw's cabinet. This allowed for a cheaper, lighter weight saw. Nearly all of these could be run on a typical 120 volt residential branch circuit.
Benchtop or portable saws came along later and unlike essentially all of the previous table saws, were little more than a circular saw mounted upside down underneath a thin sheet steel or aluminum table. They are notably lighter than a contractor saw and much, much lighter than a cabinet saw. These are the only table saws to use a universal motor, all others use an induction motor or for very old units, a lineshaft.
Sliding table saws have a left table that slides in relationship to the blade and this table is used to feed stock through the blade.
Today, the term "cabinet saw" is a term used to describe a saw with an enclosed sheet steel base, trunnions that mount to the cabinet rather than the table, and has a table/cabinet/trunnions similar in size of the original Delta Unisaw. Currently-produced cabinet saws are all 3+ hp saws running on a minimum of 208 volts. A "hybrid saw" is a saw with an enclosed sheet steel cabinet and cabinet-mounted trunnions but is smaller and lighter than a Unisaw and typically can be run on 120 volts.
Guest
What if the base is cast iron or rolled steel?
Contributor
What the old machines had were heavy bases for the trunions to rest on. Dave
Member
Unisaw parts were made overseas, but the saws were assembled in the US—although I couldn’t tell you when. I’ve also read disparaging remarks about saws made at the Tupelo plant during the late 70’s.
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