Advice on Table saw purchase please

[topcat]

I'm in the market for a Sawstop table saw. I'm a hobbyist and have limited space in my 3 car garage for tools. I have several Festool products and thought I might be able to do without a table saw but I realize it's not something I want to live without. I won't be staying in the house I'm currently in for more than 6-8 years at my wife and I plan on leaving suburban living and getting a smaller place with a workshop on the property. At that point space for tools won't be an issue. At this point I'm leaning towards the new job site saw from Sawstop. With my Paulk workbench, MFT, plunge saw, etc. I'm not sure if I need a professional size saw. Money really isn't much of a consideration in the purchase. Another thing I forgot to mention is the flooring I have in my current garage. I have Swisstrax plastic tile flooring (Think Barrett Jackson Auctions) in the entire garage so I'm concerned that a larger saw with a mobile base might not roll well on the tiles. I can roll most of my tools with mobile bases on the flooring without difficulty but they aren't anywhere near the weight of a full size saw. Maybe someone on the boards has similar flooring that can comment. I've even considered bringing tiles to a local woodworking store and seeing if they'll let me set them up and place one of their saws on it and see how it goes.

I think the top question I have is whether or not the job site saw is a good enough table saw to compliment my Festool products and satisfy ones needs for a table saw.

Thanks in advance for your comments/recommendations.

 

[tiralie]

If you own a track saw for sheet goods and cross cutting, a job site saw is a good solution if you are not processing a lot of hardwood or exotics thicker than 1 1/2". A good band saw  and SCMS can also fill in when a small job site saw is weak.
If you plan to mill a lot of your own hardwood rough stock and you need a table saw to rip and crosscut it to size etc. a more powerful table saw with a larger table is an advantage.
I don't like to cut full sized sheet goods on a job site saw, but I can dado and rabbet parts with a good sharp dado set without too much problem.
Tim

 

[grbmds]

[member=42563]topcat[/member] I have owned the Sawstop jobsite saw since March and have lately begun to do more woodworking. As far as I'm concerned, it is a high quality table saw. Is it a cabinet saw? No. However, I have found the rip fence to be very accurate, the dust collection (with a cyclone dust collector) to be excellent. It is safe. I love the mobility of the saw and that it folds up to be moved against a wall when I don't need it.

One weakness is its miter gauge, so plan on upgrading that with an after market if you plan to use the saw for a lot of crosscutting. I already had one, so no big deal for me. Something else to be aware of is that the distance in front of the blade is short and, compared to a cabinet saw, the table is small. I remedied these size limitations by using other mobile work tables I have either on the infeed or outfeed side.

Then, of course, there is the safety aspect. I'm not careless, but I just feel safe with the saw.

For me, it serves all of my needs. Will it do exactly the same things a cabinet saw will? No, but I have ripped 8/4 white oak with no problems using the combo blade included with the saw. The finish on the rip cut was as good (possible better) than with the TS55 included blade - so great.

In short, I think it is a great saw and it works for me.

 

[topcat]

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.

I plan to buy a full size bandsaw , probably the Laguna Twelve 14. I figure the footprint is small enough for my shop and will help fill in gaps when I need to process larger stock. I'm not a fan of processing sheet goods on a table saw now that I have a TS55 to do that job. I'm sure if I had a large cabinet shop with a huge saw it wouldn't be an issue. I find the parallel guides and a track more than ample for my needs. I forgot to mention I also have the Kapex which helps with cross cutting boards.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Greenlee 495 with a whitney 77 slider for variety work.

 

[topcat]

My fingers are worth a lot to me. I can't do my job without them and I'm not willing to take a chance losing a digit. It will be Sawstop only for me. I've never had an accident in my 30 years working with wood products but I have had a few close calls and now that technology can prevent an accident I am willing to pay for the protection.

 

[Peter_C]

I haven't studied up on the portable saws, but wanted to make sure you knew of another option by Bosch.
http://www.boschtools.com/Products/Tools/Pages/BoschProductDetail.aspx?pid=GTS1041A-09

The Bosch stands I really like and have one under my table saw, and my SCMS (Which are both Bosch FWIW, as the price was unbeatable...well except by Harbor Freight).
http://www.boschtools.com/Products/Tools/Pages/BoschProductDetail.aspx?pid=TS2000

Can't fault you for going with a safety saw. I wish I had one!

 

[RussellS]

Sounds like your plan for a smaller table saw will work well.  You have the track saw for processing large sheet goods.  Track saw will also work for straightening one edge of a long board.  I think of woodworking using the following steps.  Rip a straight edge on a long board.  You can do this with the track saw.  Then cut the long board with a straight edge to the right lengths using a miter saw such as the Kapex you have.  Then ripping these short lengths to the right width with the table saw.  A small table saw will do this fine.

 

[Peter_C]

Also I tend to use my jobsite table saw with a table saw sled about half the time. Fun project to build and once built gets used fairly often. I even feel safer using the sled since my fingers stay further away from the blade. Plus kickbacks are going to be less likely. Small pieces can be cut safely too. My sled is stored mounted to the top of the saw with aluminum clamps. It does make the saw slightly wider when stored, but not by much. No accessible wall space to hang the sled on in my two car garage.

Can't imagine only having a track saw, as a table saw does a lot that would be hard with just a track saw and miter saw.

As mentioned in a previous post an outfeed table is important and something that I have on my list to build in the future. Bosch has their little slide out outfeed "rail", but it's uses are limited.

 

[Kev]

To me a table saw that actually compliments Festool would be something made by Felder! [wink] [big grin]

With regard to safety, if money is of little significance, invest in a manner that protects more than just your fingers (I like having my eyes for example). Maybe some skills training that keeps your fingers away from spinning blades in the first place (yes, I'm very anti dado stacks and practices like using a table saw without the guard for groove cutting, etc).

From a safety perspective I'd feel much safer performing a long rip cut on a quality, solid, heavy and accurate table saw of any brand rather than a blade dropping contractor saw (Sawstop, Bosch or any other). Space can be an issue and a contractor style saw can be a solution - but they are a compromise .. and certainly not what I expect to be using when I'm no longer space compromised.

I'm currently using a FESTOOL CMS TS75 setup that falls far short of what I want and I may go with a Felder or Hammer unit complete with rolling chassis that seemed to move well on commercial carpeting similar to what I have in my own workshop.

 

[Peter_C]

To me a table saw that actually compliments Festool would be something made by Felder! [wink] [big grin]

Show me a Felder that fits in a systainer and I will buy one!  [tongue]

Like many of us, my tools are stored in the garage and used in the front yard, or at a jobsite. It is not feasible to move a cabinet saw outside to use, let alone move to a jobsite. Plus there is that voltage thing...

 

[thedude306]

[member=42563]topcat[/member]

I can't comment on the saw stop saw performance but I can tell you that having a "jobsite" saw has been great in my shop with a track saw and with a router and jigsaw that go on the track as well.  And that's coming from a big general cabinet saw.  I don't miss it at all.  As for safety, well that's another debate but I will say I believe there are a lot more dangerous things in the wood/work shop then the table saw. 

Oh, I'm using my shop for the odd kitchen, furniture and small projects.  Not production use at all but more then a hobby.

 

[jbasen]

I'm also a hobbyist.  My only comment would be to think long term of where you are going with your hobby.  If your plans are for building high quality furnishings for your house where exacting cuts will be required then you may want to think about the Sawstop professional cabinet saw.  If, on the other hand, you are just using the saw for odd jobs around the house then the job site saw should fit your needs very well.

I have a Sawstop 3hp PCS and love it.  If you do decide to move up to a Sawstop cabinet saw then here are a couple of suggestions

1) I would highly recommend the 3hp saw over the 1.75 hp saw.  I have used both and there is a significant difference in performance.

2) I have a small shop and bought the 30" fence because it was all that I have room for and because I use my TS-75 for cutting large sheet goods.  Unfortunately, over time the fence developed a slight bow in the middle and this became a problem.  Rather than go with another Sawstop fence I looked for something beefier and ended up purchasing a fence from Very Super Cool Tools.  Replacing the fence on the Sawstop was quite an undertaking because the 30" fence uses a non-standard sized front rail tube.  Because you are talking about fitting your saw in a limited space you may also want to stick with the 30" fence so I wanted to make you aware of the limitation. 

3) You can put the industrial mobile base on the professional cabinet saw and it really makes moving the saw around the shop easy when you need to get the saw out of the way so you have room for using other tools.

4) I replaced the right side wing on my PCS with a cast iron router table top so my saw does double duty.  Saves a lot of space compared to having a router table and a table saw.

Hope this helps

 

[Kev]

To me a table saw that actually compliments Festool would be something made by Felder! [wink] [big grin]

Show me a Felder that fits in a systainer and I will buy one!  [tongue]

Like many of us, my tools are stored in the garage and used in the front yard, or at a jobsite. It is not feasible to move a cabinet saw outside to use, let alone move to a jobsite. Plus there is that voltage thing...

Agreed ... my comments about Felder being a compliment to Festool are really in relation to the dedicated workshop horizon of the OP. Anything else is a compromise and Felder seems not to offer anything resembling a compromise! [wink]

.. and to the OP, if money isn't an issue, forget Sawstop, look at Felder ..

http://www.felderusa.com/us-us/products/table-saws/sliding-table-panel-saw-new-k-700-professional.html

I just got quoted on this puppy in Oz with all of the motorised bells and whistles .. it'll be a while for me though [sad] and in all likelihood the Hammer saw/spindle variant will be my rational target ..

http://www.feldergroupusa.com/us-us/video/hammer-b3-winner.html

 

[Nestor]

If one wants the luxury of a panel saw AND the safety of a Sawstop...

 

[Kev]

If one wants the luxury of a panel saw AND the safety of a Sawstop...

Heck [member=4195]Nestor[/member] .. that's Italian AND red ... if it also came with a V12 exhaust note I'd probably be holding my breath and stomping my feet until my wife let me buy one [embarassed]

 

[Peter_C]

Heck [member=4195]Nestor[/member] .. that's Italian AND red ... if it also came with a V12 exhaust note I'd probably be holding my breath and stomping my feet until my wife let me buy one [embarassed]

Better start stompin' yer feet den, cause it sounds awesome! Or kinda like a powerful saw.