"Nascar Raiders" wrote in message
...
I'm 45 and just a novice woodworker and have finally got some extra
cash to rid myself of my "bench top" table saw that the wife got me for
Christmas 8 yrs ago....boy I think I did things on that thing that would
amaze even you pro woodworkers.
The wife says I deserve an upgrade (gee thanks hunny..lol) Anyway
I've checked at my local Harbor Freight and to be honest their selection
was way less than what I thought it would be.
I checked at Sears and of course they stock the CRAFTSMAN brand name,
and have what I thought to be a pretty good selection in my price range
of about $500.00 but not more than $600.00....now they do have what they
call the "professional" model at $1000.00 but I really don't want to
spend that much....wow.
Anyway, if you guys/gals could give me some sort of guidance on this
I'd love to hear the pro's and con's.of what you think, or your
suggestions.
You can mail me directly of post here and I'll check for
replies....thanks so very much for your help.
Paul
You need to get upwards towards a thousand dollars ready to go. IMO Grizzly
is the best bang for the buck, right now, but that can be legitimately
debated. Watch the fence. The Shop Fox fences are adequate, and will give
good service, but if you could scrape together a bit more money, I'd upgrade
to Biesemeyer or a one of the clones.
www.grizzly.com
Hint: I have the 1023ZX. It ships at right at a 500 pounds. The sheer
mass of that saw dampens vibration, and allows even smoother cuts. However,
as long as you jump to the "cabinet" saw nomenclature, you're probably going
to get better performance over the "contractor" set up. That said, the
high end contractor's saws will give essentially the same performance as a
good cabinet saw, but they end up costing essentially the same, too.
Hint: Figure out where you're going to set that saw and then take the time
to stabilize and level it perfectly. You can buy trolleys to move them
around, (I have one), but a solid, well stabilized saw really is the goal.
Hint: The saw blade is a limiting factor on any saw. The better the blade,
the better the cut, and while it's not always a direct relationship
(!!!!!!), generally the more expensive the blade the better the cut.
Matching the blade to the cuts to be made, is worthwhile, too. I have one
super-dooper odd ball blade, specifically designed to cut plastics and
melamine. It works marvously on those materials. (It's some kind of triple
bevel setup. With care feeding of stock, I can get perfectly smooth results
with little or no chipping.) Doesn't handle everyday crosscut/rip duties
worth squat. The top line blades are probably going to exceed $100 in cost.
You can get by with less and I certainly do, but I keep one or two of the
top line blades in reserve when the job calls for it.
Hint: I like blade stabilizers. They're cheap.
Hint: The best fences invariably lock down, ONLY in the front. That way,
you can add extensions to the outfeed, at a later time. The Shop Fox locks
in both the front and back and while my SF fence always locks parallel and
straight, it's still a PITA because I can't figure a way to make a outfeed
extension without some serious work.
http://www.woodpeck.com/tslssystem.html This is a helluva of a system, but
it still suffers from the same shortcomings as the Shop Fox fence, i.e.
front and back lock. On the other hand, I have a Incra miter gauge that is
worth every penny, I paid for it.
http://www.biesemeyer.com/home_fence/index.htm I'm going out on a limb
here, but this is probably the "gold standard" in fences, right now.
(Alternate opinions are certainly possible here. In fact, I'd welcome some
alternate opinions.)
While I don't know where, there *has* to be some kind of commercial
relationship between Shop Fox and Grizzly.
James...
It's free advise, so you know what it's worth......nothing.