How To Choose The Best Table Saw for Your Needs
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Shopping for a table saw is one of the most significant investment decisions a carpenter or wood-worker can make.
To make the right decision you really have to be specific about what your options are.
Types of Table Saws:
Virtually all table saws are categorized in one of these following classifications:
- ‘job-site’ or portable table saws
- contractor table saws
- cabinet table saws
- ‘hybrid’ table saws
For anyone hoping to buy a table saw, you need to understand what these categories mean, and what you can expect to get from saws in each category.
Portable Table Saws:
Portable table saws were developed for you to easily transport them round.
This is often beneficial to craftsmen along with others who spend considerable time on-site. Portable table saws nevertheless manage to carry out the same primary functions as heavier table saws, but on a lower level. Rather than having a large induction motor like on saws in other groups, these saws are typically powered with a compact universal motor. This may mean these saws have less power and may be noisier.
The progress made in the last few years to portable/job-site saws have ensured that they are far better and more desirable to serious wood workers.
Having said that, portable table saws lack sufficient enough power to cut through thick hard woods and tend to be inappropriately designed to give the true precision in which exceptional carpentry asks.
Contractor, hybrid, and cabinet saws provide better choices for the experienced wood-worker and extreme hobbyist, so now we’ll go through them in-depth.
Contractor Table Saws:
Contractor saws were originally meant to be light enough to be taken from site to site, on the go. Most have an open base and weigh in at about 250-350 lbs. They may also be priced within range of your keen hobbyist’s pocket.
Contractor table saws can be suited to simple cabinetry and carpentry tasks and straightforward furniture making. Tons of contractor table saws now feature premium fence systems. Making use of the highest quality saw blade, and utilizing blades suitable for a certain type of cut will certainly help the ability of a contractor table saw and allow it to complete some sophisticated carpentry projects.
Cabinet Table Saws:
Cabinet table saws – given their name due to the totally enclosed ‘cabinet’ type base platform. These kinds of saws represent the other end of the scope compared to the contractor saw. They are meant to match the capability and durability requirements of experienced woodworkers and carpenters.
Cabinet table saws are much more substantial and robust in their all round structure versus contractor saws. They’ve been created with greater trunnions, arbor assemblies, gearing and much more cast iron and steel. They are loaded with more potent huskier motors compared to contractor table saws. This means the cabinet saw is perfect for sawing through thick hard wood with ease, all day long!
There is very little wearing vibrations across the saws positioning and settings.
The cabinet table saw is much more costly than a contractor table saw.
They are not transportable, with a weight of above six hundred pounds. However, even with the higher cost, the power needs, and the hulk of the machine, cabinet saws have become the ultimate desired saw for certified woodworkers/carpenters and serious enthusiasts alike.
Hybrid Table Saws:
Lately businesses have identified that there’s an apparent gulf in class between cost-efficient contractor saws and high-end cabinet saws. It has resulted in a whole new group of saw – The ‘hybrid’ saw.
The hybrid table saw includes several of the most necessary cabinet saw capabilities at a price that may still be in range for a keen beginner hobbyist.
A few hybrid saws possess a more cabinet style foundation and other types possess a small enclosed base and legs. In each case, the base is enclosed, housing the motor inside.
Hybrid saws have more powerful trunnions and arbor bearings and in most cases have got a stronger drive belt system and gearing when compared to contractor saws. The trunnions of hybrid saws are oftentimes attached to the base of the saw, which makes detailed placement of the blade with the miter slot less painful and more enjoyable.
The fact is hybrid table saws are a scaled down adaptation of a cabinet saw. They’re lighter in weight and designed with less powerful motors. They aren’t in reality in the same class as superior cabinet saws, nonetheless hybrids have proven to be stable and well made and can offer several positive aspects to a keen hobbyist.
Choosing the Best Table Saw for Your Needs:
The type of saw that may suit your needs best is based on:
- Whatever woodworking you perform
- The time you spend woodworking
- Your budget and
- Your own working area as well as the sort of access you’ll have to your working area (for example, think twice before having to move a large cabinet saw into a smallish cellar or basement)
If you simply spend only a few hours per week in your workshop, building small cabinets and working on modest craft-type projects, even though a cabinet saw could be wonderful to have, it is beyond what you’ll need.
Having said that, if you’re managing a nice work shop and so you demand a saw that could run for several hours without hesitation, a low-end contractor saw might slow you down and you’ll wind up being frustrated.
Hybrid saws provide you with flexible options both for dedicated hobbyists and in particular small-scale specialist work shops.
In addition to the type of saw you need, the particular characteristics of the saw are equally as important.
More and more inexpensive contractor saws offer you several of the capabilities that you might find on an excellent cabinet saw.
But don’t forget that while saws within the cabinet saw category share specific characteristics, they are not all produced at the same level of quality. Be aware of the level of a saw’s components, which includes the standard of:
- The grind and finish of the top and extension wings
- The fence system
- The weight and positions of the trunnions
- The features that make power to the blade stronger
When you buy a table saw you’re making a large investment which means that it is worth thorough consideration. So read through reviews, analyze specifications and check out the good and bad points of any saws you are considering.
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Source by Ed Richards