Micromark Minature Table Saw?

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Hi, I'm considering buying from Micromark, a MicroLux Mini Tilt Arbor Table Saw for cutting small pieces of wood. Occasionally, I might use it for cutting short, thin strips of 3/4" plywood, something this saw can apparently do with the proper carbide tipped blade.

Does anyone own one of these little table saws or perhaps, have used one? It's supposed to be very similar to a Proxxon (sp?) table saw. Or, can you recommend a similar, but different brand of table saw?

http://www.micromark.com/MicroLux-Mini-Tilt-Arbor-Table-Saw-for-Benchtop-Hobby-Use,7500.html
 
You can cut small and large pieces of wood with the Bosch 4100-09... I have had one for three years now, and have no complaints. 
 
My apologies for a long post but I would like to respond as completely as possible.

I have the Proxxon FKS/E which is identical to the MicroLux Mini Tilt Arbor Table Saw except for a change in the color of the plastic.  I think the saws are sold with different combination of accessories.  Micro Mark has more accessories than Proxxon and these work perfectly on the Proxxon saws.  These saws are made in Japan and are high quality tools targeted to serious model makers.  In contrast to a few other similar sized tools on the market, these are not cheap toys. 

I’ve only had my saw for a short time, bought it with a lot of the options and can only give some initial commentary.

The op is an established FOG member and power tool user but it is important to note to anyone else reading this post that this tool is a serious table saw and all usual table saw safety rules apply.  For example, despite the saw’s diminutive size and inherent cuteness, you should never make free hand cuts and always use either the miter gauge/crosscut sled or the rip fence.  I keep the blade guard installed.

The saw is stronger than expected.  In the past I had used a friend’s Dremel table saw and found it woefully underpowered.  The Proxxon/Micro Mark is a much stronger saw.  It will rip hardwoods that the Dremel would have trouble with.  The Dremel has a 1/20 hp motor with a flat belt drive that slips whereas the Proxxon/Micro Mark has a 1/3 hp variable speed motor with a 3/8” (10mm) cog belt drive system.  The motor is smooth and quiet.  The left side slides out to support longer pieces of material and making a semi-permanent infill wing is easy.

The saw must be bolted/clamped down to use it.  The bottom is smooth plastic and the saw will not stand still in one place by itself.  The instructions state how to make a mounting board or where to drill holes in your work table to mount the saw.  There are four tapped aluminum mounting parts under the saw for this purpose.  Micro Mark sells a clamp for temporarily attaching the saw to any table.

The saw came with a toy-like steel blade but Proxxon, Micro Mark and others sell carbide blades with 10mm bore for this and other saws.  The same blades fit this saw and the similar sized miter saw.  I am running with a 24 carbide tooth 5/64 inch (2mm) kerf Avenger blade.  It rips oak and mahogany quite well.  The closest Proxxon blade is 1/16 inch (officially 1.6 mm) kerf.  Other blades with more and fewer teeth and both thinner and thicker kerf are available.  The Avenger blades are fine and cost a fraction of what the Proxxon blades cost.  Low-cost zero clearance inserts are available from Micro Mark.

The variable speed should enable easy cutting of plastic and metal and the fiber reinforced cut off wheel should power through anything.

For cross cutting, the included miter gauge isn’t good.  It is plastic, wobbles in the shallow miter slot and I will not use it.  Micro Mark has a low priced crosscut sled that I plan to buy and set up to accurately use the two miter slots.

In contrast to the tacky miter gauge, the rip fence is good and rides in a dovetail slot under the front of the table.  The Proxxon fence on my table is solid but short and does not lock to the rear of the saw and seems to be the same as the Micro Mark optional heavy-duty fence.  The standard Micro Mark fence in their illustrations is longer and is said to lock front and back.  The Micro Mark Heavy Duty Fence Set easily attaches to the standard Proxxon fence and raises the fence to 2 inches.  I use it all the time.

An option that I have and appreciate is the Micro Mark Accuriser II which is a fence that locks front and back and is easily micro-adjustable parallel to the blade and is calibrated in 0.005 inches (0.13 mm) increments.  It works.

Dust collection is almost perfect.  Although there is a soft rubber adapter that works with the Fein and other vacuums, the Festool 27mm hose plugs into the standard port in the back of the saw.  When the saw is plugged in to my CT22 in automatic mode the dust collection is total.

Even the blade guard works and is functional.

The point here is that the Proxxon FKS/E / MicroLux Mini Tilt Arbor Table Saw is a fully functional small scale table saw that will probably not disappoint you.  Whichever one you buy, download the Micro Mark instruction manual as it is superior to the one printed in Germany by Proxxon.

Gary
 
The Byrnes table saw is very highly rated amongst model makers. I have the Proxon mitre saw and it is a pretty decent machine. I have a Proxxon router and it is appalling. So my Proxxon conclusion would be that the quality is very machine-specific.

I would go for the Byrnes saw if price was not an issue.

 
GaryLaroff said:
It will rip hardwoods that the Dremel would have trouble with.

The Proxxon/Micro Mark has a 1/3 hp variable speed motor with a 3/8” (10mm) cog belt drive system.  The motor is smooth and quiet.

Micro Mark has a low priced crosscut sled that I plan to buy and set up to accurately use the two miter slots.

In contrast to the tacky miter gauge, the rip fence is good and rides in a dovetail slot under the

An option that I have and appreciate is the Micro Mark Accuriser II which is a fence. It works.

Dust collection is almost perfect. When the saw is plugged in to my CT22 in automatic mode the dust collection is total.

The point here is that the Proxxon FKS/E / MicroLux Mini Tilt Arbor Table Saw is a fully functional small scale table saw that will probably not disappoint you.  Whichever one you buy, download the Micro Mark instruction manual as it is superior to the one printed in Germany by Proxxon.
Click to expand...

A big thanks to everybody for quick and detailed responses and especially to Gary Laroff who wrote a detailed opinion of his Proxxon table saw which is fully comparable to the Micromark tilting table saw.

As some of you know, I've been looking to rent or share Toronto workshop space in a wheelchair accessible location for a number of years. (Or a location that I can make accessible without too much difficulty or cost) Not yet having found anything suitable, in the meantime, I've all but converted half of my living room into a workshop. Certainly not totally ideal for entertaining visitors, nevertheless, I can entertain myself with a small amount of woodworking.  :)

Thus my search for a small tablesaw that I can handle and is relatively dust free. Dust *is* my biggest concern and along with my CT22, I should be ready to go. I plan on purchasing most of the accessories for this saw including the crosscut sled. After I buy this Micromark table saw, I'll let you know my personal impressions of it when I put it through its paces.

To Peter: I did have a look at the Byrnes table saw. Despite the high recommendations I've read, I decided to pass on buying one because of the tilting table accessory. It was a little off putting and a function that is already integrated into the Micromark tilting table saw. And yes, I have visited Roger Savaterri's site as well as read his detailed opinion of the Bridge City JMP.

So, thanks to everybody.

Dave
 
I'm actually considering getting another Brynes that would fit within a special dedicated table top as to rip longer pieces,

So my vote is for the Brynes. (no special clamp needed -and the NO. 1 systainer makes for a good temporary outfeed table.)
Also, no clamping device is necessary, the thing is built like a miniature Patton tank.
The vac port works great in extracting the dust when I connect it to the various ct's that I use.

One of Jim's (the machinist that builds and sells them) clients actually accidently dropped his Brynes down a flight of stairs it was a little beat up, but it still worked.

I have his drum sander as well for taking down small parts, his machines are truly a work of art.
I consider myself very fortunate to own two of his machines.

cheers,Roger

Peter - thank you for the kind words.
 
Roger Savatteri said:
I'm actually considering getting another Brynes that would fit within a special dedicated table top as to rip longer pieces,
Click to expand...

Damn you Roger. I'd all but made up my mind and now you're making making me second guess myself.  [laughing]

If I had a choice, I might go with the Byrnes saw, but I emailed them a few weeks ago and was told that they will not ship to Canada. So that makes my decision much easier.

I guess I just have one question. Can I correctly assume you have the auxiliary tilting table option? And If so, what is your opinion of it ~ form and function?

Thanks

 
btw,

The non-tilting aspect of the original table saw was to sustain Dead-on accuracy.
The focus of his design was originally for model ship builders, where straight on cuts are usually the norm.

To tell you the truth, in the years that I have owned it, I haven't found the lack of a tilt-able arbor an issue.
It's great for ripping down veneers or thin resawn lumber for glue-ups.

That being said, it's great that Jim came up with an option for angled rips,
but again - something I rarely use.
 
Upscale said:
Roger Savatteri said:
I'm actually considering getting another Brynes that would fit within a special dedicated table top as to rip longer pieces,
Click to expand...

Damn you Roger. I'd all but made up my mind and now you're making making me second guess myself.  [laughing]

If I had a choice, I might go with the Byrnes saw, but I emailed them a few weeks ago and was told that they will not ship to Canada. So that makes my decision much easier.

I guess I just have one question. Can I correctly assume you have the auxiliary tilting table option? And If so, what is your opinion of it ~ form and function?

Thanks
Click to expand...

[oops]

To add to what I said above, regarding the tilting table option, I'm actually going to order it next week.
 
Roger Savatteri said:
[To add to what I said above, regarding the tilting table option, I'm actually going to order it next week.
Click to expand...

Good. Please post your opinion of the tilting table option.
 
I have the Bosch GTS 1031 coming Monday. I needed a compact table saw to fit in my Avalanche. I have a Bosch 4100 with Gravity assist Stand but when I put it in the back of the truck laying down the base of the stand sits up about 5-6 inches above my cover. The GTS has the same motor,HP,cut depth, angle etc. as its big brother. I usually use the 4100 for cutting oak flooring and smaller stuff so no need for it.Im hoping the GTS will work out, I haven't been disapointed by Bosch yet.  The TS75 is going to be for ripping sheet goods.
 
JLB builders LLC said:
I have the Bosch GTS 1031 coming Monday. I needed a compact table saw to fit in my Avalanche. I have a Bosch 4100 with Gravity assist Stand but when I put it in the back of the truck laying down the base of the stand sits up about 5-6 inches above my cover. The GTS has the same motor,HP,cut depth, angle etc. as its big brother. I usually use the 4100 for cutting oak flooring and smaller stuff so no need for it.Im hoping the GTS will work out, I haven't been disapointed by Bosch yet.  The TS75 is going to be for ripping sheet goods.
Click to expand...

Let us know how you like the 1031, I have the big brother also and have thought about the smaller saw, selling the larger one and getting a more "shop based" saw.
 
If you need a saw of this size there is no equal to the Byrnes.

It easily cuts in .001 increments and is a great compliment to  my Micro Fence equipment and my CNC. There are not many tools you can take a consistent .001 inch off , with this you can(micrometer stop needed). I sold mine before the move when I sold many of my Festool stuff here a couple months ago and got 390 for it. I think I only paid 440 or 450.00 to begin with. If I get another it definitely will be the Byrnes, for me it is far superior than any other saw in this modeling size by a far margin. The weight and and mass give it a feel no saw this size has, it's just in a different class. I read about Roger having one a while back and I just had to have one, no regrets at all.
 
tjbier said:
JLB builders LLC said:
I have the Bosch GTS 1031 coming Monday. I needed a compact table saw to fit in my Avalanche. I have a Bosch 4100 with Gravity assist Stand but when I put it in the back of the truck laying down the base of the stand sits up about 5-6 inches above my cover. The GTS has the same motor,HP,cut depth, angle etc. as its big brother. I usually use the 4100 for cutting oak flooring and smaller stuff so no need for it.Im hoping the GTS will work out, I haven't been disapointed by Bosch yet.  The TS75 is going to be for ripping sheet goods.
Click to expand...

Let us know how you like the 1031, I have the big brother also and have thought about the smaller saw, selling the larger one and getting a more "shop based" saw.
Click to expand...
The 1031 is more compact but not lighter or lacking any features. It doesnt seem as light as the guy in a picture carrying it up some stairs. Comes with a push block and more features than my 4000. The weight is good in a way, does not vibrate and move around like some other job site saws. Same motor and blade size. Other than the weight very good saw, very happy.

As far as cutting .001 WOW thats pretty wild. 
 
Sorry Jaime, but it's not the same motor.  If you do a search in my former posts, I told the differences between the two saws as told to me by Bosch's American product team manager.  If I have time I'll look to find the post.
 
Ken Nagrod said:
Sorry Jaime, but it's not the same motor.  If you do a search in my former posts, I told the differences between the two saws as told to me by Bosch's American product team manager.  If I have time I'll look to find the post.
Click to expand...
Ah yes I stand corrected. Looks the same from underneath. The way it is built does not feel like a compact saw, it is a solid table saw.
 
is that the same saw that was posted about earlier in the year where there was someone carring it up a stair well. that saw looked great.
 
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