About to dive in, sub-$700 budget for a table saw, wwyd?

[Jim Lafferty]

Thanks Lisa. I'd been considering this strongly, too. Just a circular saw guide and the table saw. I fully appreciate the idea behind "just go straight to the best" with the suggestion of a cabinet... however I'm also kind of wary about justifying that from initial cost, to space in my garage, to overall manageability, and finally, would my work justify the need of something so pro? Probably not.

Jim, depending on the future projects you envision, I'd forgo the miter saw and combine the money with that for the table saw. You can breakdown lumber to manageable pieces with the circular saw. Build a decent crosscut sled for the table saw and you'll be golden for most projects except woodwork in a house or similar. With the combined money, you should be able to go directly to a cabinet style table saw that will serve you well for a much longer time. For your current projects, the miter saw is what you need, but down the road?

[Jim Lafferty]

So this makes it two votes for the Ridgid, huh. (edit: three!) I know how superficial and silly this sounds but I just don't like how it looks when compared to the Delta. It feels like it was designed by Tonka :O

I had heard mixed things about Delta, and had also seen (via YouTube) comments in the opposite direction - that Delta has just been taken over by a company keen to restore its reputation.

Delta has a terrible reputation right now, and has for several years, regarding tool quality and customer service. I recommend going with a different brand.

Given your budget, I recommend a new Ridgid TS4520. It's a little above your stated range, but probably the best quality you can buy at that range. You can get it at Home Depot. I bought a TS3650 maybe 12 years ago, and I'm still using it. I've had no issues with it so I can't comment on customer service. With good quality thin kerf blades, it will cut 8/4 lumber well.

[Jim Lafferty]

I'd shop for something made in the 70s. Those job site saws are a POS in my opinion for everything but loading in a pickup to work on site. If it's going in a shop, those screaming motors are a real put off. Tiny tables and rip fences are not fun to work with either. For you budget, go old cast iron.

This is interesting. Guy down the road from me is a woodworker and his advice was similar, he said at his shop, all the best gear was made 50-70 years ago, "when they used real steel." Not sure I have the patience required to wait for The Right One, and I expect you'll all rightfully glare at me.

[Jim Lafferty]

North-East, New York state to be exact. At the moment this is the thing I was most interested in on CL:

https://worcester.craigslist.org/tls...256918477.html

A neighbor cruised FB marketplace on my behalf and sent me screengrabs of the same listings that are on CL.

After some thinking on it, I am just not especially excited to pay $400 for an old saw that needs some upgrades. If it were $200 I'd *strongly* consider it, but I'm not about to insult the poster

What part of the country are you in? Sometimes good options pop up on the IRS auctions dot com. Check CL as well. Also FB market place. I'm pretty well in a vacuum it seems for such items. Or if they do pop up they want new price. Patiently search is the best advice I can give.

[Tim Nguyen]

I started out about 1.5 years ago. I have a Dewalt sliding miter, had a dewalt jobsite table saw, Cutech jointer, and Cutech planer.

Today, I have Sawstop PCS and the same miter, jonter, and planer.

If I had to do it again I would skip the miter. I cross cut long board with the circular saw or Grizzly tracksaw. The slider on the Dewalt has a little play that creates slight angle deviation; I crosscut the lumber again on the table saw anyway.
The jobsite table saw was good, but the fence and the table top had slight gives that created slight deviation. I was going to get a contractor saw and looked at the Rigid, Dewalt, and Grizzly. I was going to buy a Grizzly hybrid saw, but my wife wanted me to get the Sawstop for the safety feature. I wanted the contractor saw for the cast iron top (I was going to add in the cast iron wings too), the better fence, and the better angle adjustment. I hated adjusting the blade tilt on the Dewalt because it was a friction adjustment.
So get the best table saw you can for $700. For $700 get the Rigid contractor.


My two pennies.

The other piece of power tool I would like to upgrade is the jointer from the bench top to something larger. I hope the longer heavier top will support for longer work piece.

[Richard Coers]

So this makes it two votes for the Ridgid, huh. (edit: three!) I know how superficial and silly this sounds but I just don't like how it looks when compared to the Delta. It feels like it was designed by Tonka :O

I had heard mixed things about Delta, and had also seen (via YouTube) comments in the opposite direction - that Delta has just been taken over by a company keen to restore its reputation.

You'd better check the date on that Delta information. The current company has no interest in restoring the old reputation, or even providing a fraction of the machine line. They are only marketing mass produced Chinese machines painted to their color. There was a time when parts from this version of ownership provided zero parts support. People who bought their wood lathe were SOL when a control board or switch failed. They quickly owned a small boat anchor. It took them 6 months to pay my rebate check when I bought the version 2 lathe. Amazon stopped selling version 1 when every single one of them got to the owner with a broken switch. It was mounted on the back of the control box and took major hits during shipping. I finally shamed them on their Facebook page and the rebate check came in 2 weeks. I would stay far away from that company.

[Bill Dufour]

The blades, the fence, mobile base and the router insert are worth it for that saw. No riving knife. other then that no improvement for a newer model. Many prefer the unifence, which is no longer made, to any other fence.
Bil lD

[Bill Dufour]

I suggest buy that delta and use it for 5-10 years. If you decide you like woodworking and want to upgrade you will sell it and not lose any money. For a home owner only bearings and possibly the arbor will wear in your lifetime. The gears and table slots will not noticeably wear in 75 years of home use. Bearings cost under $10 each and there are only four total. The arbor will cost about $100 and will last forever if it is not abused.
Bill D

PS AFAIK only the Unisaw, of commom makes, uses an oddball mount motor. That saw does not. The big 12/14 unisaw does not either.

[Ron Selzer]

North-East, New York state to be exact. At the moment this is the thing I was most interested in on CL:

https://worcester.craigslist.org/tls...256918477.html

A neighbor cruised FB marketplace on my behalf and sent me screengrabs of the same listings that are on CL.

After some thinking on it, I am just not especially excited to pay $400 for an old saw that needs some upgrades. If it were $200 I'd *strongly* consider it, but I'm not about to insult the poster

Personally you need to jump all over that one
Extras/upgrades
fence
router plate
mobile base
No rust very nice clean shape, wait and someone else will have it
I had one from 1986 to 2015 when I got my Sawstop ICS, good saw for where you are at now
good luck
Ron

[Charlie Velasquez]

First a disclaimer: I don’t have a table saw. I have 3 RASs, a ... .

For starting out on a budget I think the best bang for the buck is a Dewalt radial arm saw. Well made and capable of precise cuts.
For $50 you can buy a big enough saw for all your stated projects. For your $400 budget you could buy a saw big enough to cut and build a timber framed house.
Some would argue against it as being too dangerous or too finicky.
But the proof is in the contrapositive. There is an entire forum of users that can demonstrate its precision and safety. It is in knowledge of the tool that is the difference.
With respect to safety, the biggest concerns are the blade climbing when crosscutting, and kickback when ripping.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aUnZpUDvzgs
Crosscutting on the RAS. Proper sharp blade, well tuned.
Carl Kunkel, son of Wally Kunkel, is demonstrating the RAS does not climb if done correctly.
Can’t see, but he is just using his fingers to move the saw. He goes at various speeds and even stops to show it doesn’t climb.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vyZ0RYl27jU
“snotzalot”, DeWalt Radial Arm Saw forum administrator, is demonstrating ripping on the RAS. When done correctly is as safe as any other manually fed tool.

The radial arm saw, when tuned in, is very precise.
Brian Weekly’s video is excellent. He has read the various “bibles” of ras, (“How to Master the Radial Arm Saw” - https://www.mrsawdust.com , and “Fine Tuning Your Radial Arm Saw” -https://joneakes.com/learning-curve/75-radial-arm-saws ), incorporates the strong points of each, then presents it in a clear manner.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ_HXSuh1PU
I would highly recommend all of his videos, he sets a high standard.

[Steve Eure]

I've got the Delta saw you are looking at. I bought it a Lowes 6 years ago and it is as strong and accurate as it was the day I bought it. I use it everyday and have no issues other than the dust collection on it. I've modified it somewhat, but it still sucks, not in a good way. As far as the saw, it has done all I've asked of it. I do use a lot of jigs and sleds on it. My goal is to buy a cabinet saw soon. I was unaware of the problems that Delta was having at the time of my purchase and had I known then what I do now, I probably would have looked elsewhere. But again for the price it's been a remarkable saw.
Have you considered a hybrid saw from Grizzly? I don't now the price range of those type saws today since the trade wars started, but they were all around your price point upwards of $900 at one time. The reviews were good at that time also.
Good luck in whatever route you take. BTW, when I bought my saw, I paid around $450 for it. That was a selling point also.

[Jim Dwight]

I would buy a track saw for what you describe. Big things are easier to cut on a track saw than a table saw. I have and use both. My table saw is a PCS, it also saved me serious injury when I got stupid early this year. First table saw incident in at least 40 years using them. I would not get the Rigid or the Delta. I believe both have issues changing angle slightly when you raise and lower the blade, at least that is what I read. Admittedly for crude projects it may not matter much but I build furniture and it would matter to me. I would save up and buy at least a Grizzly hybrid. But you can also do a lot with a mainly plastic portable table saw IF you have a track saw. You might want to watch some Ron Paulk youtube videos. He is a trim carpenter who mainly works at worksites but he's a professional and at least until recently did everything with a little portable saw, track saw, and sliding miter saw.

I've said this many times but I will say it again now, a circular saw with a guide is NOT a track saw equivalent. I did that too for decades. It works well be break down sheet goods but does not work well for making final cuts. Track saws, at least in my shop and usage, are makers of final cuts. The cut quality is equivalent to my table saw and the accuracy is too. They can also do cruder things. I found mine handy for cutting stringers for a staircase, for instance. I did a lot of the cuts with a skilsaw but I found my track saw cuts flatter and more accurate.

You will not outgrow a track saw, it will always be handy. Wen is probably the cheapest. Powertec tracks get good reviews and are cheaper than most. I have a DeWalt but most seem to like the Makita better in the mid prices saws. Kreg is worth a look too. I'm sure Festools are nice but they're pricey and have less power than my DeWalt (the ts55). Your budget would get you a pretty good track saw. It will only get you a table saw you will want to replace if you get serious. I have literally been there and done that.

[Dave Seng]

Whew - you're getting a lot of advice! I spent about 20 years with a Makita jobsite tablesaw (super light weight with a marginal - OK terrible - fence), a good Makita miter saw, and the usual carpenter's assortment of other tools. Built a ton of decks, sheds, garages, several houses, etc. Even did all the trim in my last house with a cheap Bosch router table and router. You can do just about anything with just about any set of tools. It's just harder and takes longer to get good results. High quality and precision tools enable you to do precise work, easier and faster. But tools don't provide skills. And skill gets the job done. If you're planning on doing mostly remodeling type home repair jobs, I'd go for a good, precise, miter saw first (accuracy is more important than capacity!), buy a Sawzall if you don't have one already, and get a cheap tablesaw if you must but TRY to upgrade to a good cabinet saw when you can afford to. A good tablesaw with a good fence makes a huge difference in accuracy and, accordingly, the results of your work.

After 25 years of working without a track saw, I bought the Makita track saw, but remain unconvinced as to its true utility. Kind of a pain in the rear to get out and use - from my personal experience. Others swear by them.

[Ron Citerone]

Just a comment about Craigs List. I have bought lumber snd used machines and tools along with boats and fishing stuff. Presently, with Covid, I have noticed fishing and woodworking deals to be less frequent and less of a deal. I think it may be that both fishing and woodworking and home renovations are something that has really increased in popularity. People feel safe doing them. It may not be the best time for CL deals right now. My 2 cents.

[Frederick Skelly]

Jim,
First off, welcome to SMC. We're glad to have you with us! You can learn alot from this crew - I know I sure have!

Listen, don't get tied up in a knot - if you've already been looking around, just buy what you can afford without waiting another year for the perfect deal. If you cant find a good contractor saw (I have an old delta 34-444 with a good fence and love that thing), just go to home depot and buy one of the Ridgid's folks recommended above. Most people who have had a Ridgid saw seem to think well of them. I dont think you can go wrong there and you wont greatly exceed your target price.

Let us know what you decide to buy and what you think of it as a beginner.

Fred