You ever get a saw like that, or a sliding chop saw, make sure you have a neg. hook blade to prevent the blade from climbing onto the stock. Negative hook blade will prevent the saw from coming at you once cut starts giving you more control

That blade do not look like a neg hook blade.

Man, you could have snapped a picture of the serial number and sent it in for the recall and got a quick 60 bucks!


I recently went through the table saw research.

I had an old Craftsman 113, aluminum table, direct drive unit. It was okay, but Zero safety equipment. Got tired of fighting with the fence, and I didn't want to spend the money on a fancy fence for a 50 year old saw.

If you are looking at used,
1- Do you want 110 or 220?
2- Cast iron table - Good ones are difficult to move. You aren't tossing it in the back seat.
3- Riving knife - If it doesn't at least have this, you don't want it.
4- Contractor or cabinet case?

I decided on new, the used big box table saws just weren't worth the headache.
A new big box unit was half the cost of a new Laguna Fusion 2. Which was half the cost of a Sawstop.

I waffled on what to get for several months before I decided on the Sawstop. Yes, if triggered, you will need a new cartridge, saw blade and underwear, but still cheaper than a visit to the emergency room.

Yes, I know real men have been using these things for centuries without losing a finger, but I am a big old wuss.

Now the next thing you need will be a track saw. Just about removes the need for a table saw for cutting panels.

Track saws are nice but do we really need one? We have a Festool track saw, its great but I can do the same with a saw guild made of plywood for under 10 bucks and get the same accuracy. Track saws and guilds are only rough cut jugs if you ask me. Everything should be squared up on the table or panel saw to get uniform and accurate dimensions.

I do. My work space isn't large enough to run a sheet of plywood over the table saw. The track saw makes short work of breaking down the sheet.

And then I use it for any odd cuts that I can't do safely on the table saw. It is pretty useful for me.

This is how I use to break down plywood. I made miles of cabinets out of my father's garage with only a contractor's table saw (grizzly), drill press and a couple of router tables and portable power tools.

I never have to pick up the whole sheet of plywood or Melamine by my self, always only half. I use a 1x materials on edge made into a grid couple inches lower the the tail gate of my pick up truck sitting on saw horses. Once the plywood is slid onto the cutting grid/ table from the bed of pickup, the T square saw guide goes onto the marking and the piece gets rough cross cut to 1/4" over (you bet your behind its perfectly sq). Set that piece aside and next one get cut. Set up table saw and trim all to size. By now, the pieces are easy to manage. All table saw cuts are done inside two car garage. I rigged my saw with a 52" fence due to lack of room and on HTC mobile base. I can cut a typical kitchen by myself in one to two days and finish assembly in about a week.

I have 4' and 8' edge clamps I can use as a guide for saws and routers.

I've used radial arm saws extensively in the '80's. Most dangerous power tool I ever used.

Ultimately it comes down to 2 things - what's it going to be used for and what do you have space for. I had an old Craftsman cabinet saw, that was bullet proof, but had a crappy fence. I didn't have room for all of the wings, and it was constantly a game of Tetris every time I had to pull it out or put it away. Decided space and a solid fence were most important to me, so I ended up with the Dewalt contractor saw:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-15-Amp-Corded-10-in-Job-Site-Table-Saw-with-Rolling-Stand-DWE7491RS/204512007

Overall, I'm way happier with this saw. I've built garage and (in process) kitchen cabinets with it. I bought an adjustable height roller table, that I can use as an in-feed or out-feed table.

I have two table saws that I have owned for a long time . One is a Delta 10 " cast iron top with heavy stamped steel extensions . Belt drive 1/2 HP . Not much will slow her down . Have it on casters so it can be moved around .

Second saw is a Makita 8 1/4 " aluminum table top . Nice and light and great for material that doesn't need a large table . Self contained motor I can't believe she still runs after all these years . Thin kerf blades work best .

I had three of those 'lil Makita saws. Even bought a folding estension table that allow us to cut up to 38". Great for job site use. couple of them wore out and one got stolen. My personal one got ripped off. I am still pissed about that. If they made new ones, I buy again without thinking twice about it. Its size and weight was perfect.

I am a DIY'er and collected the following tools to renovate my daughters newly purchased home. She and her husband bought a wreck of a place and overpaid. To make the place livable we did the work ourselves but did not have the tools since I live in an apartment. I ended up buying most of the tools on craigslist and waited until I found ones that had either little use or were crazy cheap. Once the work is complete, I will resell some of them for what I paid initially. Youtube was a great source for how-to videos on every job we did. We replaced all of the floors/doors/trim and baseboards and one bathroom. Next up when they save more money is kitchen and second bathroom and some outside work.

I found that the quality of the tool should be directly proportional to the amount of work that you are going to do with it. For the miter saw and table saw I wanted good ones because they were going to get used the most. Even though the miter saw was nearly new I had to square it up to get a perfect miter.


Here is my power tool list for the renovation:

Paslode Cordless Finish Nailer - makes for quick work on all trim with no damage.$125
Craftsman Air Compressor - already had this for work on my car.
Prosensor M210 stud finder - best one for the money
Makita Angle Grinder - many many uses - $25
Hitachi Cordless Drill - necessary tool - everyone should have a cordless drill
Dewalt Laser Level - makes lots of jobs easier. leveling cabinets, tile work, etc. $35
Kobalt Multi Tool - all Kobalt tools listed were purchased for $75. could not pass this one up.
Kobalt drill Driver
Kobalt Jig Saw
Kobalt Battery charger
Dewalt Compound Miter Saw - used for every job in the house. nearly new with stand for $200
Bosch 10" Table Saw w stand - great saw - another great buy used for under $200
Craftsman wet/dry Vacuum - keeps the work site clean- $10
Dewalt Reciprocating saw - great for many many odd jobs - $30
Craftsman Circular Saw - not great but it gets the job done - $10
Dremel Multipro - not used very much but real handy for some odd jobs
Sears Belt Sander - useful tool -$15
Bostich flooring nailer - now that the floor is in it will be sold. very good tool. $110

Getting close to the finish line.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668195170.jpg