Help me decide what saw to keep...

[Michael Boyet]

What part of the country are you in? I'm in the market for a used SawStop Industrial if you decide to keep the Oliver.

South Florida

[Michael Boyet]

What kind of work do you do, Michael? The real benefit to the Oliver is it takes an 18" blade. Thats about 5" of cut depth compared to 3ish on the sawstop. Even though its a short stroke slider, thats still better than a miter gauge in the sawstop. What fence does your oliver have? I personally might prefer to own the Oliver just based on it being more unique, better history, more heft, etc. However, i fully realize the sawstop is the easier machine to own. Tooling is less expensive and everyone makes a 5/8" bore. Does the Oliver take 1 or 1.25"? 18" blade for the oliver is going to be pricey.

I might have a shoe thrown at me for saying this, but both will cut wood. The Oliver will look better and have a cooler story to it, but both will make furniture just the same.

For sure. The blades are not cheap. Dado, even worse. For the price of a dado for the Oliver I could buy a used little unisaw that needs TLC to run dados on LOL.

It takes 16-18" blades wit a 1" arbor. I do have 3 brand new unused blades that came with the purchase. forrest too...

I do case goods furniture mostly. Dressers, nightsands, etc...

[Michael Boyet]

I would keep the Oliver. Since you bought the SS used chances are you can sell it for what you paid for it. Like you said, you can always get another one. Fix up the Oliver, try it out, and decide if you like it. If not then sell it and replace it with exactly what you want. Selling both should give you more than enough cash to buy a full size slider (if you want/ have room) or another SS.

Valid point

[Michael Boyet]

Nest them back to back and they take up no more space than one saw and an outfeed table.

I thought of that but since the Oliver has a slider they would have to be offset by the width of the sliding table and would end up taking up a ton of space

[Andrew Hughes]

I also vote for the Oliver. I have a Oliver machine and it's the flagship of the shop. I also agree with a bigger blade is better.
But that's mostly my vision based on the woodworking I do.
Good luck

[Jacob Mac]

Do you have employees? Anyone else work in the shop?

[Michael Boyet]

Do you have employees? Anyone else work in the shop?

It's just me. Occasionally I will have help a couple days. But that is rare.

[Frederick Skelly]

Have you used a slider much?

Let me suggest a third option. If it will only take you a week to get it cleaned up and running, why not do that and use it a while...then decide.

That way, you will make an informed decision, and the Oliver will probably bring more $ in set up condition also, if that is your decision.

This sounds like a smart approach.

[Matt Day]

Fox up the Oliver while you have the SS to use. Then crush the SS with the Oliver. Keep the Oliver.

[Michael Boyet]

Fox up the Oliver while you have the SS to use. Then crush the SS with the Oliver. Keep the Oliver.

ahahaha THERE WE GO

[Jeff Bartley]

I’ve had two saws now for a couple years and I would not want to go back to a single saw of any type. My set up currently is a Jet 10” exacta saw that I’ve run for years, and an Oliver 260D that I’ve had for a couple years.
The difference in the two saws is immediately evident. There’s just no comparison. The Oliver is in a different league. I keep a cross cut and a FTG rip blade in the Oliver and usually a rip blade in the Jet.
The real utility is having the ability to set up a cut on one saw and use the other for something else. With the Oliver I can set up the quadrant gauge on the slider and then move it out of the way to use the rip fence.
My vote: keep them both!
Things are going to get interesting for me soon when I pick up a full size slider. I could squeeze all three in the shop but I’ll have a similar choice to make.
Micheal, how tall is the 88? The 260D is 34” tall, my only complaint!

[Michael Boyet]

I’ve had two saws now for a couple years and I would not want to go back to a single saw of any type. My set up currently is a Jet 10” exacta saw that I’ve run for years, and an Oliver 260D that I’ve had for a couple years.
The difference in the two saws is immediately evident. There’s just no comparison. The Oliver is in a different league. I keep a cross cut and a FTG rip blade in the Oliver and usually a rip blade in the Jet.
The real utility is having the ability to set up a cut on one saw and use the other for something else. With the Oliver I can set up the quadrant gauge on the slider and then move it out of the way to use the rip fence.
My vote: keep them both!
Things are going to get interesting for me soon when I pick up a full size slider. I could squeeze all three in the shop but I’ll have a similar choice to make.
Micheal, how tall is the 88? The 260D is 34” tall, my only complaint!

Yeah for sure. Awesome you can keep the Jet around. A cabinet saw is very practical and fast.

I don’t know why this is even a discussion, I know the Oliver is a whole hell of a lot more saw. I guess it’s one of those "once you have it", it’s hard to sell situations with the saw stop. I wish I could keep both and that was my plan originally, it's just not possible. I’m guessing the 88 is in the 34" range as well. it’s on 4x4 skids right now and towers over the sawstop

[Jeff Bartley]

Have you run the 88 yet? If it’s anything like the 260 you’re in for a treat. Once you have it off the blocks you’ll be shocked how stable it is, mine will balance a dime on edge......until you raise the blade and the rush of air shoots it off the table!
Which rip fence do you have? Mine has the ‘F’ fence. One thing I would encourage would be to make some sort of nice auxiliary fence for the quandrant. I’ve been just making wooden fences and that gets old. Some flip stops and a length of 80/20 extrusion would do wonders......I just haven’t made the time for that project.
Early on though I did make racks to hold the fences and accessories, it’s really nice to have a place to put the rip fence when you’re not using it, mine stays off unless in use. I have yet to use the miter gauge.
In my shop I’ve been keeping on bay open enough to pull my van in but I think those days are numbered!

[Michael Boyet]

Have you run the 88 yet? If it’s anything like the 260 you’re in for a treat. Once you have it off the blocks you’ll be shocked how stable it is, mine will balance a dime on edge......until you raise the blade and the rush of air shoots it off the table!
Which rip fence do you have? Mine has the ‘F’ fence. One thing I would encourage would be to make some sort of nice auxiliary fence for the quandrant. I’ve been just making wooden fences and that gets old. Some flip stops and a length of 80/20 extrusion would do wonders......I just haven’t made the time for that project.
Early on though I did make racks to hold the fences and accessories, it’s really nice to have a place to put the rip fence when you’re not using it, mine stays off unless in use. I have yet to use the miter gauge.
In my shop I’ve been keeping on bay open enough to pull my van in but I think those days are numbered!

awesome to hear you love your oliver. I have not run mine, yet. its literally in the corner with stuff piled on top of it.

I also have the type F fence. Good tips on the quadrant. I'll get around too that some day. I posted my SS for sale, just to see... Got a really great offer immediately. Looks like I’m keeping the oliver.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

It's really nice to have a couple saws if you have the room. If you were within 1000 miles, I'd try to buy the Oliver from you to help make your decision easier. I wouldn't drive 100 miles for a sawstop.