Tinker said:
I'm not interested in a table saw, but the only tilting table table saw I ever used was a real PITA Shop Smith. You usually give great advise so I am wondering if I found the right information for the specific saw you mentioned.
Tinker
As a standalone tool I'd never recommend it. The complaints that people have about the tilting table, small overall size, etc. are legitimate---if you're evaluating it as a standalone tool. You have to take the reviews with a grain of salt though and realize that at the time the Inca was released people were still using table saws to break down sheet goods (and most people still do). For this application you wanted a heavy, rock solid machine with a 30"-52" rip capacity to breakdown plywood. A tilting table in this application is an absolute nightmare. Couple that with the fact that when this little saw came along with a price tag as high as a new Delta Unisaw or Powermatic people just didn't get it.
The track saw totally changed the game regarding the use and value of a table saw in a small shop though. Once you get a track saw it's unlikely that you'll ever use your table saw to break down sheet goods, cut bevels on larger pieces, or cross cut large panels again. As a track saw user you'll find yourself mainly needing the table saw for repetitive ripping of narrower-mid size pieces, doing joinery work (cutting tenons, box joints, etc) and cross cutting small pieces (on a sled). So all you really need is a powerful saw that's small in size, operates smoothly and is highly accurate. Unfortunately at this point no such saw exists. You have to choose between a heavy/smooth/accurate/immobile/large cabinet saw (or hybrid saw) or a small/portable/loud/inaccurate/light jobsite saw. There is no in between -- except for the Inca.
Ya, the tilting table can be a PITA for beveling panels, but you'll never do it since you have a track saw. Cutting bevels on smaller pieces is actually easier since gravity forces pushes the workpiece against the fence and all you have to do is just push it through.
The thing with these Incas is that their accuracy is unrivaled. The tolerances are just ridiculous. The 18mm miter bar drops perfectly into the slot with absolutely zero play. It's remarkable. There's a huge vernier gauge for the tilt mechanism that allows you to dial in the angle in fractions of degrees. The fence has a micro adjuster that gives you precise control of the fence down to .002". Couple the fence/micro-adjuster with a Wixey WR700 digital fence scale and you have an insanely accurate and repeatable fence system that that can be removed/installed in 30 seconds reducing the footprint of the machine down to smaller than 24"x24". The 259 model also comes with a built in horizontal mortiser and that coupled with their superb tenoning jig makes it a phenomenal joinery station as well.
Also, the motor on the saw is a strong 1.5HP Baldor motor. It'll cut through thick hardwood just as easily as a Sawstop PCS 1.75HP. not only that but the machine is as smooth as any 500 pound cast iron cabinet saw. It achieves this through engineering, not through the reliance on mass, to deaden vibration. I can balance a nickel on the edge of the table start it, cut a piece of wood and turn it off and the nickel will be dead still the entire time. I'm talking dead still, like it was glued.
And finally the dust collection potential for these machines is huge for a couple reasons. One is that the enclosure around the blade is extremely small. You don't need a 2hp high CFM dust collector for it since the blade enclosure is so small. It actually collects better using a high static pressure collector like a CT26. Second is that these machines use an overarm blade guard. What's exciting about the overarm blade guard is it can be modified with a dust collection port or, if you want better dust collection and visibility, a new guard can be fabricated out of lexan.
If you don't have a track saw then this is absolutely not the saw for you. You'e be better off with buying a traditional contractors, hybrid or cabinet saw. But, if you are a track saw owner already and machine size is a concern then I don't think there's a better saw out there than one of these Incas.
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Also, I saw the previous comments regarding people shooting narrow pieces out from the saw while using the fence. The reason for this is that the heel of the blade is actually angled away from the workpiece by about .015". This makes for a cleaner cut since only the front of the blade contacts the workpiece. The problems is that since the blade is angling outwards in the rear and not perfectly parallel as you move forward in the cut the gap between the front of the fence and the blade and the rear of the fence and the blade narrows and creates a wedging effect, which results in kickback and shooting of the piece if it is light enough. Same thing happens on a table saw when the gap between the blade and the fence at the rear of the table is narrower than the front. Just an FYI
