Small Table Saw & MFT Functions Experience

[grbmds]

I appreciate the responses. Even though much of it has been said before there were some new thoughts and, all taken together, it die help me make a decision. Thanks.

 

[JimD]

I use a DeWalt track saw and a Ryobi BT3100 table saw.  I had a wide table kit on the BT3100 for over 60 inch rip capacity before getting the track saw.  Now I have it on a small rolling cart with a few drawers under the saw.  I do not want to try and do everything with the track saw (even with parallel guides) but I am fine with reduced rip capacity traded for more space in my small shop.  I also have an old Ryobi jobsite saw that I use occasionally.

You should google Ron Paulk and check out his workbench.  He puts a portable table saw at the end of a MFT type table.  He even has his version of a crosscut guide for it.  I plan to build something like it for my shop.  Ron is a professional home builder who uses his stuff to build cabinets and do other woodworking.  He uses Festools. 

 

[Gary in Texas]

I appreciate the responses. Even though much of it has been said before there were some new thoughts and, all taken together, it die help me make a decision. Thanks.

If you don't mind sharing, and I think I saw in another post here on the FOG, that you did buy a table saw,so, what did you get???

Gary

 

[grbmds]

I appreciate the responses. Even though much of it has been said before there were some new thoughts and, all taken together, it die help me make a decision. Thanks.

If you don't mind sharing, and I think I saw in another post here on the FOG, that you did buy a table saw,so, what did you get???

Gary

No, I don't mind sharing although I do not want to start a deluge of posts that rehash the plusses and minuses of table saws, job site saws, etc.

I bought the Sawstop job site saw mainly because I feel much better knowing the blade brake feature is there as a back up for me in case I lose focus some day. I feel the saw may be overpriced (understatement?, I don't know.) However, once I got it home, and got it out of the box (essentially preassembled except for the wheels and handles) I found a lot to like.

I like being able to store the accessories on board the saw, including and extra blade.

I like the rip fence. Although it was initially off less than 1/32" of an inch and I could find no instructions on adjustment, I found that the cursor could be adjusted that much and, with a test cut and measurement of the cut piece with a digital caliper I found it to be right on the mark after I adjusted it. That is an improvement over my past saw.

I like the blade guard with an integrated riving knife and anti-kickback pawls that can be removed (since I hate the marks they usually leave on the wood surface). I also like the fact that a separate riving knife is included so that, if you want to just use the riving knife and other push sticks (like the Grripper) to keep your hands away from the blade, you can do that.

The ease of folding it up and wheeling it into the corner (one of the reasons I bought a small portable saw) is amazing. I can just wheel it out when I need it, then put it away again when I'm done. Since I'm a hobby WW, this is great. Plus, it doesn't take up that much space so, if I want to leave it up, I can and push it off to the corner.

As for cut quality, I have only cut a test piece to test the rip fence, but it was great. I didn't measure runout on the blade, but the lack of saw marks on the finished piece indicates to me that the included blade is a good one and the runout must be tiny.

It's easy to adjust blade height and for bevel cuts, easy to change blades, extremely easy to install the blade guard or riving knife when you want to switch them out.

The table is fairly flat and I was able to get the throat plate adjusted essentially level with the table. Is it perfect? No. I don't intend to use the saw for dadoing as I like the result better with a router, especially the OF1400 and guide stops on a guide rail.

Dust collection with only the riving knife installed is better than my previous table saw (although probably not as good as most Festools but then Festool really doesn't make a table saw). Some dust escapes from the top like table saws allow. I didn't try it with the blade guard/riving knife but would imagine less dust. I was able to use the 50mm hose on my CT48 for the saw and it fit in the port like it was made for the saw. If they come out with the blade guard with a dust port, I'd try using a Y connection to the vac to take advantage of topside dust collection. I would imagine that would improve an already great result from the dust collection below the blade.

So, the only real criticism of the saw is the miter gauge included. It cheapens the whole tool. It is almost like a wood working toy, similar to the type of tools included in a child's toolkit (my opinion). There are no stops at 90 or either 45 degrees. It does go to 30 degrees on either side. I'd have to take test cuts each time I reset it. Not sure why they didi that. At least it should have the 3 stops. The bar on the gauge has some slop in the slot (even though it's a T-slot) with no way to adjust for that. I have another digital miter gauge from Sears  that I've never been happy with but is a huge improvement over the Sawstop gauge (at least the bar can be fit into the slot and, once set at 90 degrees I don't have to test it each time).

So, that's it. I really haven't used it much except to test cuts. I think it's a great saw Is it worth the money? That's a personal decision and depends, to some degree, on what value you place on the blade brake safety feature. I do think that it is a better quality saw than than the others, at least with regard to fit and finish and use, but that is only based on what I saw in the store when looking at other saws.

Sorry for the long review, but I felt that, as long as I was answering I might just as well give a initial review. Whether this is the saw for you is completely a personal decision.