Tablesaw

as far as table saws go the bigger the better, at least a 4' fence and a 8' push off table... we have a 220 delta saw with the T square fence and its cuts very well and stays in square....

 

The Saw Stop is said to be the Jesus of all table saws. Our member gafftaper has one an adores it. The ultimate in safety and well built. We have a few threads on the Saw Stop, do a search for them.

Also, I see you're new, have you stopped by the new members forum yet? Welcome to CB!

 

OUTFEED TABLE! [user]Van[/user], where are you when I need you? And I don't believe you ever did comment on [user]gafftaper[/user]'s run-off table question.

To the OP, Rockwell/Delta Unisaw is the best the most money can buy. Jet and Powermatic make good cabinet saws also. If for a non-professional situation, the SawStop is highly recommended.

For my own garage workshop, I bought a Delta contractor's saw, and am quite happy with it.

 

Heck I'm having a hard time keeping questions from work aswered. I'm being a bad CB member lately and just haven't been able to keep up.

I'm a big fan of the cabinet saw 3 HP min. If your going to be ripping 2x4 specially cheap pine, you need the HP. I've got a 5 HP United with a 4 ' beismyer fence with a 48" in rip and 12 " out rip guide , that's a 6' tabl on the saw alone.
When I first got to ART the shop was outfitted with a 8" Ryobi contractors saw that wasn't nailed down to the floor and no dust colection. It would bog down in the middle of ripping a 1x4, hated that saw. I did keep it as it had a really cool side table that doubled as a router table, now that's all I use it for except for the occasional Luan or masonite ripping operation, as that's about all it will cut without really bogging down.

 

Yep I've got a Sawstop 5 H.P. 200V 3 phase with the extra wide table. It rocks! It's precise, clean, relatively quiet. AMAZINGLY safe! It'll cost you but It's a sweet ride.

They invented the safety device and tried to sell it to Delta, Jet, and Powermatic. The big three turned them down. So they said, We'll build a better saw than you AND put our safety mechanism in it. Since then it's won several awards/top ratings as being one of the top saws you can buy from the various woodworking magazines,with or WITHOUT the safety mechanism. If you can afford it get it. When you start messing around with it you realize that every detail has been carefully considered and every part is really precisely made with no expense spared. I love it!

Also note they are coming out with a contractor saw this summer. Which should hopefully be a little cheaper. I was also told they are working on a way to install a variation of their safety mechanism in both a compound miter saw and in a band saw. From what I was told, these models are a few years away.

As for Derek's comment that the Sawstop is not for professional use. I know someone who works for a large Mouse in southern California but can't talk about it. The Mouse apparently loves Sawstop and went out and bought several of them for the Mouse's shop. They put them through a TON of use and have nothing but good things to say. I would say that probably qualifies as professional grade equipment.

...and I'm still waiting for Van to respond to my run off table question.

 

You mis-implied my inferment. What I meant for you to construe was that for an educational setting, the importance of the safety aspects of the SawStop is even more greater.

 

I kind of have to agree with Derek, I think the Saw stop is a really cool thing , but wow if my tablesaw is completely out of commission, till I can get replacement parts, 'cause somebody knicked their finger ?
Don't get me wrong I'm not denegrating the saw stop, or shop safety, or the importance of keeping all your fingers, I'd just like to see a saw stop like device that doesn't completely de-commision your most important tool until you can spend ? hrs re-fitting it. < I don't know how long it takes to reset the saw stop device but I do understand it's expensive. >

 

The brake mechanism costs about $80. You buy a spare ahead of time... so you don't get shut down for a couple days waiting for one. The brake does not destroy the blade... early models did but not anymore. You remove the blade from saw and unscrew a couple things to get the brake out. I haven't had to replace one so I don't know the time, but installing the brake initially took about 5 minutes.

Let's think about it this way.
If you touch the blade on a Sawstop you put on a Bandaid, replace the brake, and you are back to work in 15 minutes.

If you touch the blade on a Unisaw, there is the 911 call, the remains of the finger in the bag of ice, the trip to the ER, the emergency surgery, recovery, physical therapy. The guy left behind has to clean up the blood and do the paperwork. I'm thinking the shop is going to slow down more than 15 minutes. This stuff also costs a lot more than an $80 break device.

I've had a lot of contractors wander through the shop as construction was winding up. They all stop and drool over the quality of workmanship that has gone into the machine. Every one has left agreeing that it's easily as good if not superior to a Delta, Jet, or Powermatic. When are you coming up to give it a test drive Van?

Derek's been in a rather jovial mood lately... perhaps its finding his calling in life by joining TEAL.

 

Good point.


Also anyone who thinks its acceptable to get lazy and complacent around any power tool shouldn't be operating one in the first place. It's still capable of doing some serious damage. True there are occasions where the person gets away with something like a paper cut. But most of the injuries documented on the website still require at least a few stitches. Remember the alternative is they cut off a couple fingers and may or may not get them back and have the functional again.