Makita or bosch portable table saw?

[obdoor]

I am in the market for a portable table saw. I bring my whole Festool collectionto the job, including three MFT tables, but I need a portable table saw for small/thin freehand rips.I had a Makita for ten years and sold it to a job mate. I am torn between the Makita 2704 and the Bosch 4000. I would appreciate any and all feed back.
Kevin

 

[Eli]

If I lived in the states I'd go the makita, with a rousseau table.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Obdoor: How precise of cuts are you looking for? If you're just making rough cuts, I'd recommend the Makita 2703, which you can later pair with the Rousseau stand if you so desire. If you're looking for one of the larger wheeled designs, I have limited experience with those. I have a VERY large pro-Makita bias, but the riving knife on the Bosch 4100 might tip the balance for me if I were choosing for myself... What I'm waiting for is Makita or Bosch to release a saw similar in size to the Makita 2703 or DeWalt 745. I tried the DW745, but had problems with jobsite durability. I am currently using the 2703 for rough cuts (TS55 for precision cuts and sheet goods), waiting for Makita to make a next-generation 2703 or Bosch to make a smaller saw. Anyways, my two cents (and short rant...) 

 

[mike392]

I went with the Bosch 3 years ago and absolutely love it. Although I am not sure which Makita that is, I do know a fellow who purchased one about a year ago and it has developed problems, the worst of which is the fence (or sliding table) doesn't lock down tight resulting in tapered cut lines. The raise/lower wheel broke off, and the lack of soft start led to a pretty good jump on startup. I also don't know that he really takes the time to adjust his tool properly. Somewhat important, I think. The Bosch has nice smooth startup, one of the largest table surfaces of any portable saw, plenty of power to rip hardwoods, and excellent accessories (zero clearance and dado inserts, outfeed support, and side support). The riving knife is very nice to have and is easy to remove if necessary. I use a Freud combination or Forrest WWII, both thick kerf with no problems. Very accurate for a portable saw if set up, maintained, and not abused. I do historical trim restoration and build cabinets and furniture every day, and I am very pleased with the Bosch saw for the type of work I do. Good luck! Mike      

 

[Brice Burrell]

I have the Makita 2703, at first, I like the saw, but now I'm ready to sell it. It needed very minor adjustments out of the box, most table saws do. No zero clearance insert, in fact the insert is slightly below the table's surface, I don't like that at all. The fence is not the best design, you have to carefully set it up square yourself, that takes time. The 2703 is not a saw for precision work as Tom pointed out. The cut capacity is too small, at first I liked the idea of a smaller saw. I haven't seen the 2704 yet, I understand it's a much better tool. I'm going to try the Bosch 4000 or 4100.

 

[chughes]

  I don't have a Makita bias, but I do have a Rousseau bias.  Originally I had a Makita drop in my table and it was a very nice saw unfortunately somebody else liked it more.  The beautiful thing about the Rousseau platform is that table has a great fence, a wide base, a very wide right side which could receive a router, and an outfeed table available.  I have not used the Bosch but I have used many of the other portable saw set-ups and in my opinion they are all just a little to small.  To add one more added benifit to me, the Rousseau breaks down very small. 

 

[honeydoman]

i used for 6 years the bosch saw with the upright rolling cart.  last april I bought the dewalt mini table saw and the rousseau stand for it and the outfeed table.  excellent setup and lightweight. and fast setting up.  with the outfeed table you do not need someone to help you.  plus the dewalt saw can be used as a stand alone on the ground.

I am no fan of dewalt and have had more problems with dewalt tools.... but this mini table saw has been very good.  first thing I did was take off the blade and put a forrest woodworker II on it.

 

[Dan Clark]

I've been thinking about a small table saw for a while now.  I like many of the features of the Bosch 4100, especially the riving knife and the gravity rise stand.  That said...

The Bosch is pretty heavy and fence doesn't look that great.  And the top is somewhat small.

Now the Rousseau stand is very nice.  It looks like it's got a great fence, large top, and is portable and storable.  BUT, you have to lift the Bosch into the Rousseau stand from the top.  And the Bosch 4100 weighs at least 60 lbs - a bit heavy to be wrestling into a Rousseau stand.

The Dewalt DW745 is much lighter, but I don't think it's quite the saw as the Bosch.  And most importantly, it doesn't have a riving knife (to the best of my knowledge).  The same applies to the Makita.

So the problem is that there isn't a single, high-quality saw with all the features that I want and is fairly light.

So, I'm just hanging back to see what pops up.  If Makita could bring out a fairly light saw with a riving knife and other must-have features, it would be great in combination with a Rousseau table.  And I'd probably buy one.

Dan.

 

[lawhoo]

Unfortunately, I had a less than positive experience with a Bosch 4100-09, which I just returned.  I have a modest home shop and thought that a high-quality portable saw would be a good complement (mainly for rip cuts) to my Festools.  In the course of setting up the saw, however, I discovered that the blade was about .025'' out of parallel with the miter gauge slots.  When I tried to adjust the blade, I learned that (unlike the prior model) it couldn't be adjusted.  Bosch was willing to accept the return, but they told me that their tolerance is for a maximum .010" variation in parallel.  That's just not accurate enough for cabinetmaking and most woodworking.  While the 4100-09 looks like a really nice saw in other respects--and apparently many people don't have the problem I did--my experience left me thinking about getting a contractor's or hybrid saw.  I'm not familiar with the Makita saw.

 

[Tinker]

I am in the market for a portable table saw. I bring my whole Festool collectionto the job, including three MFT tables, but I need a portable table saw for small/thin freehand rips.I had a Makita for ten years and sold it to a job mate. I am torn between the Makita 2704 and the Bosch 4000. I would appreciate any and all feed back.
Kevin

How thin do you want to rip?

I have ripped repeatably accurate strips of 5/32 thickness up to 18" in length.  I would never attempt that with my table saw unless I was peeling the strips from the side of the wood away from the fence. That would mean resetting the fence with each cut.

Before learning how to cut such thin strips with my ATF 55, I always cut thin strips with my bandsaw.

Tinker

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Like Tinker, I've peeled thin strips >6 ft long using my TS 55 and a joined pair of guide rails.  But accurately setting the guide rail for each cut is a pain, especially if you don't have another board of the same thickness to use as support for the guide rail.  The other evening I needed a dozen strips about 5/16" thick X 1" wide and slightly longer than the guide rail on my MFT.  That is one of the reasons why I bought a hybrid closed based table saw at the same time as I bought my basic Festools collection.  I don't need portability like many others do.

Has anyone considered one of those old Inca (tilting table) saws?  They had a reputation for being very accurate, and most Inca tools were fairly low in weight, and I think some models could drive a 12" blade.

From the discussion above in this thread and others, it appears to me as another opportunity for Festool (after they get Kapex production up to demand) - high quality portable table saw capable of accurate ripping with modern safety features.  Or Festool could scramble to gain ? UL ? safety approval of some variation of their modular system so we could insert our TS saws for use as a table saw.  I would much rather not feel a need for a classic table saw due to its relatively immense floor space requirements, but until Festool or another comes out with something that is near equally effective....

Dave R.

 

[DavidW]

I just sold a Ridgid portable fold up saw and replaced it with a DeWalt 645. The DeWalt is small, light 46lbs(?), can be hooked up to a vac. and it  has a great fence. The Ridgid was a good saw with a nice fold up stand with wheels, but too large and heavy for what I do ( kitchens and built ins). I use the TS55 with a 55"+108" guides for anything large and the DeWalt for ripping fillers up to 16"

 

[Mike_Chrest]

  I'll go with Kreg's & Dave's vote for the DeWalt 745/Rousseau combination.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0DNKYCFE7QG40P934Q75

  I had an old Makita for years but it didn't have dust collection. Then I got a big Porter Cable which I still have ( it is so heavy I leave it in the garage). The little DeWalt is a joy to move and set up. You can carry it with one hand. It is accurate for small stuff with the supplied fence.

With the stand   

  http://www.amazon.com/Rousseau-2745-PortaMax-Table-DeWalt/dp/B000TYT86O

and out feed table you can cut up the bigger chunks. The Festool plunge saw cuts up the full sheets and big crosscuts ;D.

I have used the new Makitas and they would be my second choice. A standard dust hose will not fit in the dust port (you have to duct tape it on)

The Bosch is way too big. You have to use the roller stand to move it.

 

[Eli]

I have said elsewhere that I loved the Dewalt I had, because of the fence. I forgot about that when I suggested the Makita, but the M does have an electric brake I think, which is pretty nice.

 

[Mike_Chrest]

Tom,
 

I tried the DW745, but had problems with jobsite durability

What broke on your saw?

Mike

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Hi Mike! I had the DW745 for approximately three months. It was my first DW purchase (I own mostly Makita, Festool, and Bosch), and I was really bragging it up to my coworkers, because I think it fills a very underdeveloped tool category: small, benchtop tablesaws that are small enough to be carried with one hand, have standard sized miter slots, and a reasonably accurate fence. My idea was to use the 745 for ripping framing materials and smaller repeat rips, and use my TS55 for breaking down sheet goods and precision cuts. Anyways.....

Ok, so I had it for roughly three months and I was really liking it. My coworkers and I were replacing all of the soffit and fascia on a house, and I was using the 745 to rip 3/8" plywood to size and 1x cedar fascia. Unfortunately it was pretty cold outside (maybe 10 F or so) and snowing. So, the fence adjustment knob (made of plastic) eventually cracked due to the cold, and the rack and pinion system got clogged with snow and ice and basically fell apart. We were even trying to carry it inside between cuts. Even though it was out of warranty, the manager at the local DeWalt service center was nice enough to take it back and cut me a check for the value as a customer service gesture, which I very much appreciated.

I don't mean to dog on the 745, I think it's a neat saw and fills a niche that few other benchtop saws come close to matching. My concern with the design is the kind of plastic that is used on some parts of the saw. I've worked in temperatures down to -20 F (that's -28 C), and my concern is that the problem I ran into earlier with the fence adjustment knob might resurface in cold temps. I'm pretty careful about taking good care of my tools, unfortunately sometimes working conditions can be tough, and I didn't want to tempt fate with another 745. So, in the meantime I'm back to a Makita 2703, which matches the portability of the 745 but lags far behind in terms of accuracy and useable miter slots. Right now I'm just hoping that Bosch or Makita comes out with a competing product to the DW745 so I can do a comparison.... (Are you listening Bosch and Makita?.....) If they don't come out with a competitive product in the next year or two, I might consider going back to the DW745 and simply modify or fix parts myself if they fail....

 

[Dan Clark]

  I'll go with Kreg's & Dave's vote for the DeWalt 745/Rousseau combination.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0DNKYCFE7QG40P934Q75

  I had an old Makita for years but it didn't have dust collection. Then I got a big Porter Cable which I still have ( it is so heavy I leave it in the garage). The little DeWalt is a joy to move and set up. You can carry it with one hand. It is accurate for small stuff with the supplied fence.

With the stand   

  http://www.amazon.com/Rousseau-2745-PortaMax-Table-DeWalt/dp/B000TYT86O

and out feed table you can cut up the bigger chunks. The Festool plunge saw cuts up the full sheets and big crosscuts ;D.

I have used the new Makitas and they would be my second choice. A standard dust hose will not fit in the dust port (you have to duct tape it on)

The Bosch is way too big. You have to use the roller stand to move it.

Mike,

I think this combo comes very close to what I want.  However I see two problems...

First, the Dewalt does not appear to have a riving knife.  To me that's a deal breaker.    IMO, A riving knife is very important for safety.

Second, it's a Dewalt.    I have a Dewalt D24000 Tile Saw and a DW735 planer.  I think they are great designs.  Not quite excellent quality, but very good quality.  That said, I think that Dewalt tools have gone down in quality over the last several years.  I'm EXTREMELY nervous about buying Dewalt. 

I'm not trying to insult Dewalt fans, but I'm just... leery.

Dan.

 

[Brice Burrell]

  Dan, I starting the same way about Bosch, once know for top notch products, they are now slipping.

 

[Dan Clark]

  Dan, I starting the same way about Bosch, once know for top notch products, they are now slipping.

Brice,

I have a Bosch Miter Saw and a few other Bosch tools.  They're OK in general, but  I have several issues with them.  My Bosch Miter Saw is very heavy and the castings aren't very good.  And, the left wing of my miter saw is not coplanar with the table. 

The Bosch Colt router looks nice.  I came close to buying it several times.  Why not?  It's a Bosch.  Sad?  Yes. True?  Yes. 

Bosch and Dewalt need to realize that the "bad eggs" in their tool basket is affecting their reputation. 

Dan.

 

[Ned]

IIRC, back in the 70's Black & Decker ruined their brand name with some incredibly cheaply made tools.  Skil competed at the bottom too, but also had Commercial and Industrial grades.  BTW, all of these, both B&D and Skil, were made in the USA.  Bosch at the time was an import (I think all from Switzerland).

The B&D brand was so damaged that the company resurrected the DeWalt name, which I don't think had ever been used on portable power tools before, and introduced a line of tools far better built than the last of the B&Ds.  Now it appears the DeWalts are degrading.  Will the company never learn?

Ned