Table Saws

There is an ongoing and not particularly interesting debate as to the most important tool in the shop and the first tool someone should buy for their shop. It's like arguing about whether the pot, the stove, or the refrigerator are the most important when it's pretty hard to make dinner without all of them. The same argument could be made for your heart, lungs, and liver. Regardless, the debate goes on and the table saw is one of the contenders for both first major tool to buy and most important.

With a table saw you can rip, cross-cut, bevel, miter, rabbet, dado, and do a million variations on each of those cuts with other fancy names. A well-tuned machine with a sharp blade and an accurate fence will plow through lots of material and produce accurate, repeatable cuts.

What a table saw does that is very difficult to do with any other tool is make long smooth rips. You can do cross-cuts on a miter saw and produce bevels, rabbets and dados on a router table. There are bandsaw folks that swear by ripping on their favorite tool, but even good bandsaw blades leave a rough edge and you can't handle sheet good. Friends that have delayed getting a table saw finally give in when they need to rip a bunch of molding or cut up a pile of plywood.

Types of Table Saws

There are three types of table saws that each have their strengths and weaknesses. Actually, they just get stronger, smoother, and better as you add money, but they tend to lose portability along the way. Your application and the frequency you intend to use the saw will determine which type is best for you.

Portable Table Saws

The least expensive type are the small portable models. Most have no legs, but a few are available with foldout legs or legs on wheels. Generally need to put them on a bench, table or stand to do anything. Best of all, you can throw them into the back of a truck or an SUV and take them out to a job. They'll also hide quite nicely under your workbench and you can take it out when it's needed. For smaller jobs and infrequent use, portable models are great. They don't have the power, dust collection or smooth action of a larger saw, but if all you plan to do is rip a little molding, they'll do fine.

Contractor Table Saws

The next step up are the contractor saws. They are somewhat like bulked-up portable models with legs. They have moderately sized motors that still generally use 110VAC so you don't need to rewire your garage to use one. The motor drives the blade using a belt rather than being directly connected like the portable models. Interestingly enough, we see contractor saws more often in people's home shops than on contractor sites unless it's a big job. Contractors seem to prefer the smaller portable models.

A new class of contractor saw has emerged over the last decade called a hybrid saw. It has some of the features of a cabinet saw, but will operates on 110VAC so that it can be used in most home shops. The closed cabinet makes dust collection better, it has a little more power, and may offer an improved drive system to reduce vibration. These saws were introduced to appeal to the small shop owner who is serious enough to want an improvement over the standard contractor saw, but does not want to spend the additional money and rewire his garage for 220VAC to use a cabinet saw.

Cabinet Table Saws

Cabinet saws are the staple for serious shops. The goal of a good cabinet saw is to make clean, repeatable cuts with as little mess as possible and this requires low vibration, a strong rigid frame, a sturdy fence, and a closed cabinet to trap the dust. To reduce vibration, cabinet saws add mass and use a three belt system with the motor enclosed in the cabinet. The test of a good table saw is to place a nickel on its edge on the table while it operates. If the nickel doesn't fall over due to vibration, the table passes the test. Lately, we've seen ads for a saw that claims to pass the test with a dime, but at some point it becomes a little silly. You're cutting wood, not diamonds.

The most common cabinet saws are from 3-5 horse power and use 220VAC. The most popular saws use 10" blades, but saws with the capacity for larger blades are available. Remember that it's not just the cost of the saw that goes up when you get above 10" blades; the blades themselves become much more expensive. The standard arbor (the thing you put the blade on) is 5/8" and American saws have long enough arbors for a stacked dado head of just under an inch.

European Saws

European table saws are different beasts than their American cousins. They use a different sized arbor (30mm), but are usually available in the US with a 5/8" option. They are often bundled in machines that feature planers, jointers, shapers, and blenders (Ok, the blender is an exaggeration). For a shop with limited space, they are something to consider, but you'll want to really see one in action before you make your decision.

Rip Fence

The rip fence is a guide that can be moved to various distances from the saw blade. A good one on a well-adjusted saw will ensure that cuts are straight, consistent, and there is no burning. A bad one will ruin your life or at least make it temporarily miserable. A table saw might look like a good deal, but have a flimsy fence. The fence should not flex under pressure and it should lock down tightly so that it cannot move. Many higher end saws are available with different fence options.

Miter Gauge

A miter gauge has a long piece of metal that rides in a miter slot (there's one on each side of the blade) and a cross piece that is adjustable to different angles. It is used to guide work pieces through the blade to cross-cut them. We've always wondered why it's called a gauge. The miter part is clear enough because that is what it helps you do. It has a gauge of sorts on it to show the angle of the cut, but you don't gauge anything with it. It's likely there is some history behind the name. If anyone knows, please enlighten us.

Miter gauges included with table saws tend to run from bad to mediocre, but good third-party miter gauges are not terribly expensive so it's not usually a significant determining factor for purchasing a saw. A cross-cut sled is a better and safer choice for most cross cuts anyway.

Cross-cut Sled

There are a variety of devices that ride in one or both of the miter slots that collectively are called cross-cut sleds or panel sleds. They probably have other names as well. The blade comes up through sleds that use both miter slots. Generally, there is a piece held by the operator against which the piece to be cut rests. Because the sled is riding in both miter slots, it is very stable and should be safer to use than a miter gauge. Sleds excel at right-angled cuts. Once a good sled is made (or purchased and installed), it will cross-cut consistently at 90 degrees to the blade every time. Miter gauges tend to require frequent calibration to ensure that they are accurate. It is easy enough to drop a cross-cut sled onto your saw and then store it, but many shops with two or more saws keep a sled on one table saw at all times and use it exclusively for cross-cutting.

Most table saws don't come with a cross-cut sled so you either have to make one or buy one. Even if you buy one, you'll have to fit it to your saw's miter slots. They may be a "standard" width and distance from each other, but unless the sled runners are adjustable, it's unlikely that they will fit snugly or be properly aligned. Most sleds are made specifically for the specific table saw on which they ride.

Left and Right Tilt Saws

The arbor on table saws can tilt up between 0 and 45 degrees to produce angled cuts. In the past, all saws tilted to the right, towards the rip fence. Now, left-tilt models are available for many brands. The table below details some of the advantages of each tilt, but in the end what you feel most comfortable using is probably more important than a specific feature. It sounded silly at the time, but we got some good advice years ago from a salesman. If you are used to right-tilt saws and feel comfortable with them, get a right-tilt saw. If you don't have a preference or just don't know any better, get a left-tilt saw. It turned out to be good advice, but you'll need to make your own decision.

Table Saws Analysis

Average Grade Average Price products B $372.56 51 Portable Most portable saws are a little like circular saws with a table strapped to them. They tend to be ...  To read reviews of products in this analysis and the overview (and our pick), click here. Click here for data on why we prefer the Bosch 4000-09 for the Portable Table Saws analysis. For more information about why we prefer the Jet 708315BTC for the Portable Table Saws analysis, click here.

Average Grade Average Price products B $1658.84 94 Contractor These are quieter, bulked-up portable models with legs. You won't have to rewire your garage or ...  To read product reviews in this analysis and the entire overview (including our pick), click here. For more information on why we prefer the Jet 708301K for the Contractor Table Saws analysis, click here. For more details about why we like the DeWalt DW746 for the Contractor Table Saws analysis, click here.

Average Grade Average Price products B $1730.56 131 10" Cabinet Cabinet saws are the staple for serious shops. The goal of a good cabinet saw is to make clean, ...  To read reviews of products in this analysis and the overview (plus our pick), click here. For more data about why we like the Powermatic 1792000K for the 10" Cabinet Table Saws analysis, click here.

Average Grade Average Price products B $2747.61 32 12-16" Cabinet 10" blade table saws expose just a little over 3" of their blade for cutting. Going to a 12", 14", ...  To read the full overview and reviews of products in this analysis, click here.