Table saws?

Question

I am a custom woodworker. I am soon going to be looking for a new table saw when I am finished with building my workshop. Price and portability are not important as the saw is a long-time investment and will never get moved once set up. More important is durability, large solid sturdy table, and power to be able to cut through 8 and 12/4 white oak, mahogany, rosewood and other dense hard woods. A good biesemeyer style fence, or other accurate type is necessary. Anybody have any experience with these types of saws? What would you recommend? At my buddy's shop I use an old delta unisaw, I believe ten inch, with 2 1/2 hp I think. It has a nice big, heavy cast iron table with a para-lok fence. It is wonderful, only problem is it is my buddy's and he's not selling either of the two he has. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I'd look seriously at Steel City Tools. It was founded by some of the top-level engineering, management and marketing people at Delta around the time they were bought out by Black & Decker. An insider told me they have some of their top people who know the business.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Answer 4

Buy yourself a new delta unisaw. Upgrade to a better fence, and you won't find a better table saw.

Answer 5

Craftsmans direct drive 15 amp contractors table saw?

Just kidding.

The best saw I've used was 50-60 year old Powermatic with a new Biesemeyer fence bought in an auction. Probably run another 50 years. A lot cheaper than new and better than some of the new ones. My point is more expensive doesn't always equate to better. But it sounds like you know what you want. Heavy duty, solid. With 12/4 (what are you building) yeah you need the power, at least 3hp. To be honest, I have never cut anything that thick, well except fence posts, haha. But I guess 12" blade with plenty of power. And make your own out feed table. Can double as a work table.

Answer 6

You can't go wrong with a Dewalt. I have a Dewalt
DW746 woodworkers table saw and I absolutely love it. Best table saw I've ever had and I have had a few. It's expensive but if you want something that will last check it out.

Answer 7

Certainly the old Delta Unisaws are well established work horses in the woodworking industry. (Rockwell was the same company)

Powermatic is one of my favorite brands as a professional woodworker.

Laguna Tools are well built also, and tend to come in at slightly less cost than the other two brands.

You may also want to consider other features... such as a sliding table, or combination machine (table saw / shaper for example). To purchase a good 'workhorse' of a table saw, you can expect to spend $3k or more. For a little more than that, you can get a combination machine, something to consider if floor space is limited in your shop.

You may want to check into used machines too... there are always some up for auction. I'd look at auction companies that specialize in woodworking machinery, not just ebay.
'Floor Demo' models can be a good purchase too.

And think about a feeder motor with 4 rollers...those are very handy, not only on the shaper, but the table saw too, for production work. (Just have to remove one or two of the wheels to clear the sawblade, depending on the model)

Have Fun

Answer 8

I would look at woodworker.com and the Delta they advertise. They come up to three horse and, all the "goodies" but, it's almost three grand.

Answer 9

if i had the shop space , i would get grizzlys 10 in. left tilting super heavy duty saw...model G1023S... http://wwwgrizzly.com

Answer 10

I`d check out a few woodworking publications. Seems they`re always testing and giving reviews on all sorts of woodworking tools.
Don`t know how good it is, but "Grizzly" seems to be a prominent adveritiser in most of these publications. If price is any indication, it should be a premium product.