buck wrote:
Well I guess you better be careful for what you wish for.... Just
picked up
the Delta TS300 from Lowes today. It was the last one and discounted
to
$220. I have it sitting in the garage until I read through the
manual.
Most of the reviews appeared to be good. I bought it because I
needed a
hobby/home type saw and couldn't pass up the price.
I do realize that this saw is not to be confused with one of the
great table
saws but hope it is adequate enought for what I need. Any comments
from
owners would be appreciated. Think I also will need to get a mobile
base
for it too.... Any good sources??
-Thanks for any help!


Buck,

I guess the first question is what do you need it for? I have a
similar, but older model 36-600, which I believe is what the TS300
replaced. Are you going to be able to cut through 6' of 8/4 maple
without trip the circuit breaker? Probably not, but I've managed to
use mine for 4 years now and have turned out some decent projects.

First piece of advice (and this only goes for this saw) is drop the
blade guard/splitter (if that's what you can call it) in the trash can.
It only attaches to the shaft coming out the back of the saw unlike
better TS that also bolt through the table insert. At best is useless
junk, but more likely an accident waiting to happen. Because it
doesn't attach through the table insert, it flexes as you push the wood
through the blade. A few times, the wood got caught in the prawl and
if you don't notice it right away you end up bend the prawls into the
spinning blade.

I would strongly recommend making some zero clearence table inserts and
try to incorporate a homemade splitter. I bought some plastic on from
Woodcraft but have not had a chance to try it yet. The problem is the
table inserts on these saws are only 1/8" thick, which someone please
correct me if I'm wrong, is much different on a better saw. So
anything you buy off the shelf needs to be modified.

The table itself is smaller than a normal contractors saw. I built an
oversize sled for cross-cutting and have some supports for ripping down
sheets (still mostly use a cirular saw and guide though) or long
lengths.

As long as I watch your feedrate and have sharp blades, even the
tougher woods (oak, maple, walnut) cut fine. Haven't had any problems
with dado blades or the fence. I don't recall the setup being too bad,
but it was a while ago.

Feel free to drop me a line. You could probably DAGS on WoodChuck34
and 36-600, I think I did some back and forth with some people in the
past.


One tip:
And this is if you really want to tweak this thing later. I ordered
replacement fence parts and that I'm planning to install after I build
an extended table to the right of the saw. I'll let you know how it
works, and even if it is only a marginal cut to break down those
sheets, it only cost me something like $60.

Good Luck!
Chuck