What you need to do good work with any table saw are 1) a strong, flat
table, 2) a straight, accurate fence, and 3) a good blade. The rest of the
bits and pieces attached to the saw don't matter very much but you need the
ability to raise and lower the blade and the ability to accurately tilt it
to any angle up to 45 degrees.

In addition, you need 4) an accurate miter gauge for crosscutting small
work, 5) an accurate crosscut sled for larger panels, .6) infeed and outfeed
support (tables, roller stands, etc.) for long and/or wide goods, 7) a dado
set, and 8-n) various other jigs for tenoning, finger jointing, dovetailing,
etc.

The less expensive the saw, the fewer of the first three items you will get
with it and will need to supply the tools and/or techniques to fill the
gaps.

The last group, 4 thru n, doesn't come with any saw - tabletop, contractor,
hybrid or cabinet - and will have to be supplied by you. Most you can make
in your shop or you can buy all of them.

I deliberately included a miter gauge in the last group. The devices that
come bundled with most saws are junk.

"Mike W." wrote in message
...
Im just curious to see people's projects (on their websites) who have a
contractor style saw. I keep seeing pictures of these Norm like sites and
get discouraged to even try to get a new tool. Seems like everyone I see
has one of these stationary cabinet saws. I'm going to be in the basement
for a while with a small shop and would like to verify that one can 'get
by'
at worst with a nice contractor style saw. Or do I have to step up to one
of the 'woodworkers' saws like the dewalt DW746?

Post a link to your site if you have one with pics of projects done with
your contractor saw... and tell me what kind of saw it is if its not
posted.

Thanks a ton.