Table Saws

 

Table saws makes the once rigorous chore of ripping and precision cutting a snap. Rip 2x6's down to 2x3's or 2x4's with ease. A good table saw is priceless! The handy man or contractor is at a loss without a good table saw.

 

And now you can find great deals on table saws on ebay. At one time, if you had a table saw you were either a professional shop or a rich guy with money to blow. Not any more. Prices for table saws are within anyone's budget. And ebay has made them even more affordable!

 

 

Decide what your primary reason for puchasing the table saw is for.  Are you a cabinet maker or just a weekend handy man?

 

In a nutshell, there are two types of Table Saws, Contractors Models and Professional Cabinet Maker models. Most of the table saws you'll come across are classified as contractor models.

 

Most people will start with a contractors model. These are open based models that are lighter than the huge cabinet shop models. You can now get models with wheels on the legs to make them portable. Portable table saws are great for the contractor on the move.

 

 

Fence or "rip fence" as it is sometimes called: The fence is the part that you slip the wood against when you feed it onto the saw. Generally, the quality of the fence dictates the price of the table saw. What you want to look for in a fence is one that is parallel with the blade that can be adjusted for a smooth for accurate cuts. Most contractor saws have decent fences, but not all. For general cutting, a so-so fence will get your through. Run of the mill fences are okay for beginners and weekend handy men, but will lack the precision that a cabinet maker needs. What's nice is that you can always buy additional fences and choose the level of quality you want.

 

Tilt: A table saw will tilt so you can cut precise angles. This is usually called right tilt or left tilt. In years gone by, table saws only came with a right tilt, unless they were the professional cabinet models. Thanks to inovations in manufacturing, table saws with right and left tilt are now availabe. You have to pick one, you can't have both!  Right tilts are generally easier for cutting the long side of an angle while left tilt saws are favored by people who want the saw to tilt away from the fence while cutting. This is a safer way of using the saw rather than having the piece cutting toward you. Right tilt saws are still the most common and come with more accessories than left tilt table saws. But at the end of the day, it's still your choice.

 

Miter gauge: Table saws come with a tool called the mitre guage. These guages are T-shaped. There are two slots machined into the tabletop where the mitre guage fits into. This is where you'll guide the piece of wood that your cutting. Just as with the rip fence, most of the mitre guages that comes with the saw are average. Lucky for us, we can buy better mitre guages than what comes with the saw.  Buying Tip: When looking at table saws, insert the mitre guage into the slots and check to see how snug they are. If the mitre guage moves excessively, try another one. A snug fit is what you're looking for.

 

Size of Motor: The most common size for a table saw motor is either a 1 1/2 or 2 horsepower motor. The big professional cabinet saws will have up to a 5 horse motor. For most applications, the 1 1/2 or 2 horsepower motor on the contractor saw is powerful enough. To get the most out of your contractor saw, go slowly and use a sharp blade. I prefer carbide tipped blades.

 

Saw blade: Expect to find a 10 inch blad on most models, however, many of the most expensive cabinet saws have a 12-inch blade. The quality and type of blade is more important than the size. Just as with circular saws, table saw blades come in a wide shape and sizes. You can find table saw blades for just about any cutting chore you have, for example, some of the saw blades currently available are for ripping, crosscutting and combo blades that will do both plus cutting dados, and blades specifically made for plywood, plastic laminates, and other man-made materials. Daddo blades and combination blades are the two most popular and the ones you should start out with until you become familiar with other types of blades and their uses.
It's very important that you keep your blades clean of wood debris and pitch from the wood. 

 

Tabletop: The tabletop is probably the most important part of the saw. No wait, IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT part of the saw. As with most anything, you'll find a wide difference of quality among tabletops. It pays to buy the very best tabletop you can get. Make sure the tabletop is as flat as possible if you want trouble free operation. You'll find most table tops made of cast iron and milled to 1/1000th of an inch, but this is not a given. You can reduce your chances of future problems by going with a tabletop from a reputable table saw manufacturer.