Affordable table saw

[Cody Bond Arellano]

So 8ve been looking at getting a small but effective table saw. If $ was not an object, I would probably just get a Bosch or like a legit JET badA*# but, $ and space are limiting factors. I am a fan, for whatever reason I cannot help, of porter cable. But I was curious if anyone has ever used any of their miter or table saws on here? Less than $200 , seems good enough for what I need to do and first table saw, and like I said, there's just something about that black, red ,n grey. Thanks. 

[drzaius]

What kind & size of materials will you be cutting & what projects will you be building. A portable saw can work for some things, but will be severely limiting for others. If that's a problem, you could look at the used market. A cabinet saw is more compact & nicer to use than a contractor saw.

[Cody Bond Arellano]

Nothing larger really than a 4x8' plywood sheet. Most projects I'm doing now are of DIY nature. The biggest one I have planned is dining table but think that would get it done. What's difference between cabinet and contractor? Examples?

 

[drzaius]

51 minutes ago, Cody Bond Arellano said:

Nothing larger really than a 4x8' plywood sheet. Most projects I'm doing now are of DIY nature. The biggest one I have planned is dining table but think that would get it done. What's difference between cabinet and contractor? Examples?

 

A portable saw is no good for large sheets of ply, unless you build large in feed, out feed & extension tables for it, but you don't have the room for that. Get a good circ saw & make a couple of guides for it to break down the sheets. There's a ton of youtubes on how to do that. A track saw is nicer, but lots more money & the shop made version works well.

A cabinet saw has the motor mounted under the table & is built heavier. The contractor saw is lighter & has the motor hanging out the back.

[Chestnut]

I had one of those small "jobsite" table saws. They are good for sheet items that are under 24" square or furniture related parts. ripping a 2x4 over 48" creates challenges.

Do a circular saw and guides like Drzaius said. If you want to go whole hog a track saw would be nice but isn't necessary.I'm building a shed right now and the only saw I've used on it is a junky porter cable circular saw, and well a track saw because i have it.

 

[Cody Bond Arellano]

We might have same junky porter cable circ saw! Lol. Thanks for input man.

[collinb]

My 2 cents (worth about that)

I've seen a number of projects online where the small jobsite saw was built into a table for cutting sheets. It retains the problem of small blade/low power and thus would be difficult for heftier lumber & plywood. But it would get the job done on a lot of material.

Still, you end up spending most of the cost of a better saw after building the table, although you still have a portable jobsite saw.

IOW, it seems to me that unless you need the jobsite functions you're better of with a little bit bigger contractor's saw or hybrid saw. The $300 to $400 price point comes up pretty quickly.

My

[Andrew1]

The ridgid and delta are basically the same price as the better dewalt contractor saw. The ridgid is on casters and I believe the delta is too. Ridgid is the home depot model and delta is lowes. I checked out the PC when it was on black Friday sale I wasn't that impressed. The fence seemed less than reliable and just overall built cheap. With that said they were super cheap too and will still cut wood so it may provide bang for your buck.

[Coop]

JMO but $200 is not a good price for any table saw, even used. You get what you pay for, and an unsafe one at that. 

[Brendon_t]

I'm going to agree with coop that new, $200 won't get you a saw that was designed or built for what you started your use was. Besides the direct drive small motor, small table and sometimes smaller blade, the fence on those saws often times aren't worth the plastic they feel like. 

 I started wood working on a contractors 10" portable saw. I Fought the tool through a few small projects and moved to a hybrid saw within a few months and that fit the needs for a long time.

 

[Mycrossover]

A portable saw is no good for large sheets of ply, unless you build large in feed, out feed & extension tables for it, but you don't have the room for that. Get a good circ saw & make a couple of guides for it to break down the sheets. There's a ton of youtubes on how to do that. A track saw is nicer, but lots more money & the shop made version works well.
A cabinet saw has the motor mounted under the table & is built heavier. The contractor saw is lighter & has the motor hanging out the back.

And a hybrid looks like a cabinet saw but but the motor trunion is bolted to the underside of the table rather than to the cabinet, like a true cabinet saw. "Hybrid"seems to get misused a lot and applied to light duty cabinet saws.

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[wdwerker]

Anything called a hybrid is probably better than the best thing with Porter Cable labeling. I used to love my PC tools but the label doesn't mean what it used to. Other than the 7518 router motor I would be very suspicious of new PC tools these days. 

[drzaius]

My dad had a Porter Cable circ saw that was probably from the 50's & it was a beast.

 

[Mycrossover]

Anything called a hybrid is probably better than the best thing with Porter Cable labeling. I used to love my PC tools but the label doesn't mean what it used to. Other than the 7518 router motor I would be very suspicious of new PC tools these days. 

Since B&D and now, SB&D have owned DeWalt and PC, I think they have repositioned PC to be the slightly stripped down, less expensive version of DeWalt, that Lowes can sell for a few bucks less. Many models are very similar to their DeWalt counterparts but missing some features. Is that router table motor still well made in China?

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[Bankstick]

Good thread here, addressing the many facets of buying a table saw.  For large pieces of plywood, I recall a thread or Youtube video of making a panel cutting setup, similar to what they have in Lowe's.  Might not take up a lot of room as opposed to a large cabinet saw.

[Tom King]

What's your nearest city.   I'm a good Craigslist shopper.

I have three table saws, and what we call the third saw, is one of these.  It's actually, not a bad saw.  It's fairly heavy, with a cast iron top, and the fence works fine. Mine gets rough work, like carrying it down to a dock to work, on a hand truck, and setting it out in the yard, without a fence, to cut 10,000 lineal feet of Cypress by eye.  It's a direct drive screamer, but I don't believe it can be killed.  It came out of the same factory as Grizzly, and the top part is a match for their most popular model.

I have used several different brands of the little contractor saws, that belong to other people, but this is a better saw than any of them.

https://raleigh.craigslist.org/tls/d/10-table-saw/6584509726.html

 

[QHC]

This is the least expensive new saw that I would consider. Look for it on sale or go used.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-13-Amp-10-in-Professional-Cast-Iron-Table-Saw-R4512/202500206

Just my opinion.

So 8ve been looking at getting a small but effective table saw. If $ was not an object, I would probably just get a Bosch or like a legit JET badA*# but, $ and space are limiting factors. I am a fan, for whatever reason I cannot help, of porter cable. But I was curious if anyone has ever used any of their miter or table saws on here? Less than $200 , seems good enough for what I need to do and first table saw, and like I said, there's just something about that black, red ,n grey. Thanks. 

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[Cody Bond Arellano]

Thanks yall... I actually ended up going with the 10" kobalt mobile jobsite saw from lowes. On sale for 161$$ ( with military discount) so, could not really pass that up.. plus, already has mobility I was looking for and needed. Now just trying to get it dialed in to 90 degrees... thanks for input and advice!

[Coop]

Congrats Cody and enjoy your new purchase. Safe woodworking and continue to post. Looking forward to seeing your projects. 

[Cody Bond Arellano]

Hey yall. Been a hot second si de o  here last but just thought I'd give an update. First of all, I now know exactly what people mean and why they dont settle below a certain price poi t for table saws. That being said, for what I. Doing now as wood worker, and the price I paid, this saw has kicked some major butt! Took a sec to get dialed in andsquare, but haven't lost it yet., put a 60 tooth (overkill I know) from an old RAS saw, and it got even better. Dust is issue, but, just had birthday gift of dewalt shop vac and that is life safe for my half of garage space. Over all I think it's a good value. The fence is a bit dodgy but, mostly I just square it flush with blade, and try to stay within that rip capacity, and it's been just fine. Haven't really done miters on it yet but waiting to get digital r reader first. Miter gague has some play, but easily fixed with different things, ie. Upgrade,  tape, etc. But nbn I haven't had a need, again, I only starting to branch out from small stuff. The throat plate is the most annoying thing to me. Not all the other things people bring up. It just doesnt sit flush, there's always a tad proud or less than table top but again, haven't noticed major result except on 1 board, and it really just got burned up. So, I. closing, yes, could be made better and yes, better saws are definitely out there. But, for less than 175 bucks and a he portability , I really am happy with it. 

[bleedinblue]

For that throat plate, check YouTube for videos on how to make your own zero clearance insert.  My first table saw was a Dewalt jobsite that was probably in the same class as your saw, and I made about a half dozen zero clearance inserts for it out of MDF (not the best material for the job, but it worked) in less than an afternoon.

I'm no longer a big Steve Ramsey fan, but if you are brand new to woodworking he is a decent place to start.  I think it was his video on zero clearance inserts that I used as instructions. 

[gee-dub]

Glad that is working for you Cody.  I think you made a good decision.  Later, if the bug sticks with you and you want to upgrade there will not be any anxiety as the current saw was such a bargain. Congrats on your new tool.

[Cody Bond Arellano]

14 hours ago, bleedinblue said:

For that throat plate, check YouTube for videos on how to make your own zero clearance insert.  My first table saw was a Dewalt jobsite that was probably in the same class as your saw, and I made about a half dozen zero clearance inserts for it out of MDF (not the best material for the job, but it worked) in less than an afternoon.

I'm no longer a big Steve Ramsey fan, but if you are brand new to woodworking he is a decent place to start.  I think it was his video on zero clearance inserts that I used as instructions. 

Yeah man. Even though I'm still beginning,  I feel like I am starting to drift away from his videos. Just feel like I understand bigger and more complex concepts and I'm ready to just start trying, vice working way up. I mean, what faster way to learn how to swim if you don't jump in? I have seen a bunch of zero clearance plates. Will probably make on soon for projects coming up.