Considering a new tablesaw

[Dennis Jarchow]

Thanks again to all the replies. I appreciate it. One thing no one has mentioned that is at least a partial driver for an upgrade. The fact that my current saw gets out of alignment every time I move it around the garage. Is this a common problem with large and heavy saws or more related to my cheaper but heavy Ridgid saw?

[Mitch schiffer]

Thanks again to all the replies. I appreciate it. One thing no one has mentioned that is at least a partial driver for an upgrade. The fact that my current saw gets out of alignment every time I move it around the garage. Is this a common problem with large and heavy saws or more related to my cheaper but heavy Ridgid saw?

I move my saw stop occasionally maybe twice a month for a long cross cut. I have never had to readjust the saw for the original set up.

[Jim Becker]

Dennis, no, that is not normal. And keep in mind that cabinet saws are built differently than contractor's style saws and many hybrids...they are beefier and the trunnions hang from the cabinet with the trunnions and all the working parts pretty much "one unit". A quality mobile base makes moving them easy.

[Jim Dwight]

I rarely move my PCS but it has not needed to be readjusted since I originally set it up several years ago. The only adjustment I couldn't get fully "right" was the rip fence square to the saw top vertically. It can be square on the right or on the left but not both. Apparently the rip fence faces are not parallel. I rarely use the right side of the face so it isn't a big deal but my saw isn't "perfect". It is probably possible to fix this (like with a shim where the non-metal piece of the fence attaches) but not with the adjustments SawStop builds into the saw. Still a very nice saw in my opinion. I also briefly tried a large shop vac to remove dust but that did not work at all. You need a DC. The cabinet is pretty leaky so your vacuum has to be capable of moving a large volume of air. I do not think it needs to be real big, however, I think my old 1hp delta would have worked (but didn't for my jointer or planner).

[Aaron Rosenthal]

My 4511 never had that problem, so it might just be yours. Still, the PCS that replaced it was such a fantastic upgrade that I don’t mind anti rusting every so often (yet).

[Alan Lightstone]

No issues with alignment on my ICS. Nor would I expect there to be. Very rarely move it. I can talk all day about the safety issues, but we've all heard that enough.

I would definitely go for a sub-panel and 220V for your workshop for the reasons that have been stated above. It will be money very well spent, and allow you to buy once/cry once on machinery. I'm very happy I went with a more powerful saw. I think a 3HP PCS would be a very welcome step up from a 1.75HP version. I think you would appreciate that upgrade many times over the years. But again, need that 220. Also would allow far more capable dust collection.

[Robert Engel]

Adding a 220 outlet shouldn’t be difficult especially if the panel is in the garage. If you don’t have space for a breaker, what I’ve done in the past is convert 110 breakers to split or 1/2 breakers to free up some space.

If you can swing a PCS you’ll be going from a VW Beetle to a Porsche Boxster ;-D. Personally I wouldn’t want to wrestle a PCS on casters, but if your a strong young man it’s no problem.

A more practical solution for you might be a 1.75 HP SS.

[Frank Pratt]

[QUOTE=Robert Engel;3171490Personally I wouldn’t want to wrestle a PCS on casters, but if your a strong young man it’s no problem.

A more practical solution for you might be a 1.75 HP SS.[/QUOTE]

It's a piece of cake and I am not a strong man. I doubt you'd be able to tell whether it was 3HP or 1.75HP when moving it around.

My personal experience is that I've never wished I had less than 3HP, but there's a whole bunch of times I've been happy to have 3HP.

[Dennis Jarchow]

Thanks to everyone for the replies and suggestions. I appreciate it.

Problem with 240 in the garage is that the breaker panels are in the basement on the opposite end of the house (75 feet away) from the garage. The basement walls and ceiling are all sheetrocked, and the exterior walls where the panels are located are fully spray foamed. I had previously asked my friend who is an electrician about the potential for putting it in as a side job and he said "ooh that's gonna cost you by the time it is all done. You either pay me to run 200 feet of conduit and go outside the house; or you pay me to run it through the attic and you pay the drywall guy to fix all the drywall I gotta cut out". If I have to cut something the smaller motor can't handle, I have friends or the local maker space that have 3+ hp saws.

[derek labian]

Thanks again to all the replies. I appreciate it. One thing no one has mentioned that is at least a partial driver for an upgrade. The fact that my current saw gets out of alignment every time I move it around the garage. Is this a common problem with large and heavy saws or more related to my cheaper but heavy Ridgid saw?

I have an ICS base but I don't think thats relevant. I move it all the time, including multiple times a day. I've not had any issue with alignment and I'm not even sure how that would happen.

[Dennis Jarchow]

My saw has cabinet mounted trunnions and I think the top is moving slightly on the cabinet when I move the saw by the top or fence rails. The top is held on by 4 hex key bolts into threaded inserts in the granite top. I have tried to tighten it down tight but never went crazy for fear of pulling the insert out or cracking the granite.

[Derek Meyer]

I had electricians at my house yesterday for an inspection, so I asked them for a quote on a 125 amp subpanel (20 spaces) in my garage. They quoted $4000 for the panel and the hookup. For reference, the electrical in my house comes in at the farthest point from my garage, so they need to run about 90 feet of wire between the main panel and subpanel. I believe they said this required either 1/0 or 0 copper wire, or 3/0 aluminum. They would have to run the wire up the side of the house and into the attic, then across the attic and down into the garage. Once the panel is in I could either install the circuits myself or hire them out.

I want a 125 amp panel because my long-term goals are to have a minisplit, dust collector and air compressor, along with some 240V tools like my Sawstop and maybe a jointer/planer combo or a shaper. I currently only have a single 240V circuit in my garage so I'm limited on the larger tooling I can have, at least if I want to run more than one machine at a time.

[Jim Becker]

Derek, I'd suggest you get some additional quotes for that work. $4000, even with the wire run you mention is "a whole bunch of money". The panel and breaker to feed it is under $200, so the rest is just wire and labor.

[Frank Pratt]

As an electrical contractor I can tell you that, unless there are some particularly horrible conditions involved, the price they gave you is quite high. See if you can get a couple of other quotes.

[lowell holmes]

I use push sticks when using my 10" Delta saw. They are made of plywood and are 10''x 1/2". My hands never get close to the blade.