This is easily the most asked question on any of the many woodworking forums. The problem is, most of the answers a person receives to a "What tablesaw should I buy" question or a "I was considering a (make/model), whaddya think?" question will be of the "I have a (model/make) and I like it" or "I had one of those once, it was junk" type of answer. What does that tell you? Well, not much really. You usually have no idea of the responders experience or how the saw was used, and for what, etc.

So what do you do to really get help figuring out which saw to get?

In my humble opinion you first need to stop and think about WHAT you are planning on using a tablesaw for....

Sound silly or too simple?.... Consider this:

Tablesaws, as in all things (not just all tools) selling today are designed and sold with a HUGE influence by people that are professional Marketers and Sales Representatives with an eye for designing a tool for a particular "niche" or market, so that sales are maximized.

Makes sense right?

YOUR job, when trying to figure out which saw you want/need, is to find the saw that was designed with YOUR needs (as closely as possible) in mind! So... stop and think... WHAT am I going to do with my new saw?

Ask yourself, and write down your answers to these questions.
WHAT you want to build?

Is portability an issue? How so?... Will you be taking the saw to a jobsite?, or just rolling it around on wheels?

How much space do you have available?

How much use will the saw get?

Once you've figured out as best you can WHAT you want to build, the type and size of the raw materials that you'll be dealing with, where you're going to do this woodworking, how much space you'll need, etc., then it's time to find the saw that BEST MATCHES YOUR NEEDS.

Let's look at the following saws and types of saws.

Benchtop/Portable saws.

These saws were designed and built for jobsite work... like finish/trim carpentry at a construction site. This means that the Primary design features are going to be

Ruggedness

Lightweight

Fast setup/teardown

Cheap price

These saws are also marketed directly to the First Time/Impulse Buyer due to their low price. They use a Universal motor because of weight and cost, and most are direct drive which makes it possible to make the saw smaller and cheaper in price, but direct drive runs rougher and is not as long lasting as belt drive. Universal motors are the same type of motors found in today's Routers, and are designed for fairly short durations of use as opposed to cutting all day/everyday as in a cabinet shop.

Some of the features/accessories of a benchtop saw are:

Table extensions

Movable rails

Dust collection hook-ups

Contractor saws

These saws were designed for more heavy duty work, and there are such a wide range of saws today that are called "contractor saws" that this classification of saws needs to be further broken down to be comprehensible.

Generally, these saws feature a cast iron top, 1 or 2 cast iron "wings" (table extensions), A fence system at several different levels of quality, a splayed sheet metal legs/stand and an induction motor that hangs out the back of the saw and is connected to the arbor via a pulley and long belt. These long belts and pulleys tend to cause vibration, and this is why you see such huge sales of "Link Belts" and machined steel pulleys that help to eliminate the vibration for woodworkers who are not "contractors" and are wanting to do furniture or other "fine" woodworking.

The basic variables that you'll be dealing with (NOT counting Quality) are:

Size of Table

How many, and what type of Wings (solid or open grid)

Miter slot - standard size so after market accessories will work? "T" type of slot?

Horsepower
Fence system

Included accessories such as

Router Tables as extensions

Mobile base

Included blades

Dust collection

Other factors to consider are:

Type of switch

Voltage of motor (110v or 220v)

Size/construction of hand wheels

Overall "beefiness" of trunions, arbor, blade elevating/tilting mechanisms... "the guts" eh..

Quality factors/ranges basically are:

Quality of cast iron i.e. was it "aged", flatness, smoothness, mating of wings to main table etc.
Switch - from a little flip up/down cheap toggle to a large magnetic switch
Motor - Cheap mainland china made to an American made Baldor TEFC (Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled)

Fit and finish - basically, how well everything matches up and how smooth the parts are.

"Stealth Factors" are what I call the factors that influence the buying decision, but remain hidden and unseen or talked about... They include:

The Buddy Factor - If you're going to have buddies see this new saw, or your neighbor has a Unisaw, you're going to lean toward a bigger more powerful saw whether it's "overkill" for your needs or not.

Color factor - Some saws are just plain painted a butt-ugly color and this makes you think it's a lower quality saw... whether it is or isn't doesn't matter, it's what YOU think that matters.

Ego Factor - Face it... we buy a lot of things based on this... if we didn't, we'd all drive Yugos and Corvette's wouldn't have sold at all.

Cabinet Saws

Designed for commercial use, these saws are big, strong, heavy and designed for years and years of use and then they can be passed on to another generation for more use.

The "Standards" for a typical cabinet saw are:

Large cast iron table and wings

Heavy enclosed stand/cabinet
3-5 horsepower 220v TEFC motor connected to the arbor via 3 short V-Belts
Large beefy trunions. arbor, bearings, and "guts"

Hybrid Saws

Right now there are 3 tablesaws that I would include in the category "Hybrid", meaning a cross between two or more other categories.

The DeWalt DW746 Contractor Table Saw

The Jet JWSS-10PF "Supersaw"

The Ryobi BT3100

I'll have to interject some "personal" opinion here that is a lot more heavy handed than I want to be, but the Jet and the DeWalt have price tags that put them into, and beyond the prices of full size cabinet saws, and I personally haven't a clue what "niche" these saws were designed for.

If you're going to spend $1500.00, wouldn't you want a 3HP cabinet saw instead of a 1 1/2HP contractors saw?

The Ryobi BT3100 is a hybrid in that, size wise, is about the same as some Benchtop saws, but it has some unique differences that set this saw well apart from both Contactor and Benchtop table saws.

The main differences/features that set the Ryobi BT3100 apart from most Benchtop saws are:

Dual Belt drive instead of direct drive

An accessory table that attaches to the rails as a wing is included as standard equipment... again, this is normally an add-on feature. This accessory table is easily convertible to an onboard router table.

Excellent dust collection, utilizing a blade shroud to direct the dust and chips to a port

A high quality accurate fence system.

Rails that slide left/right to handle larger stock

A good Freud combo blade

2 year warranty

With a $299 price tag and an online forum dedicated to just BT3X00 users, this is a saw to consider if it meets your needs.

A couple of other comments from yours truly....

When you post a question on one of the Woodworking Forums, be as specific as you can with your question.

Here's the deal... EVERYONE likes their tablesaw! So you get a lot of responses like "I have a (make/model) and I love it".
Stop and ask yourself, Does that person and you have the same needs?... does he have any woodworking experience?

I've read this typical response many many times... I'd love to read once in a while that "I love my (insert make/model) because it has (feature) and (feature) and (quality) and, and, and...
Now that'd be useful eh?

Another important point is; The fence that comes with the tablesaw is VERY important! The good news is, nearly all the major players are great, and there's just differences in features, design, and price. I can't go into fences here, because that's a subject all by itself!

Summary

Here it is, in a nutshell:

Buy a benchtop if:

You need portability and will be taking the saw to a job site or...

Cannot afford a BT3100

Buy the Ryobi BT3100 if:

You can only afford a benchtop, and you want an excellent, highly versatile saw for a home workshop

Buy a Contractor Saw if:

You will be working with heavier stock or sheet goods and/or

You need a saw that's going to be run for a long time each day and/or

You cannot afford a Cabinet Saw and/or

You're not really sure if this is a lifetime hobby for you

"Stealth Factors" wont let you buy a Benchtop or a Ryobi BT3100

Buy a Cabinet Saw if:

All the reasons above for a Contractors saw and

You want/need more power

You want a smoother saw

Stealth Factors" wont let you "settle" for a Contractors saw

You want a saw that will last for the rest of your life... and your kid can inherit it and keep working!

I hope this helps give you the basics, and provides you with the ammo you need to shop and ask questions more effectively. Keep in mind, these are my opinions...
.... your mileage may vary.

Thanks!

Marc Phillips

Sharpening Turning Tools
Marc Phillips

This is always an interesting discussion for me... one thing I know for sure is that sharp tools cut better ... hehehe....

There is one thing missing from all the discussions on Tormek VS Wolverine, and that would be a side by side comparison using the same model gouges... one sharpened on the Big T, the other on the Big W...

That would probably tell me instantly which system was better... but that aint happened yet to my knowledge, and even if it has it wouldn't completely convince me one way or the other because to be totally convinced I would have to be the one turning the wood with the 2 gouges!

So... where does that leave us....

Freehand - I can sharpen almost any tool freehand, and compared to the ease and quality of the job that I get on the big W it's not even close.... the big W simply holds the tool at the correct angle every time... and that can't be done freehand, no matter how good you are. There are lots of turners who sharpen their tools freehand, and I will admit that I like the shiny bevel of a gouge sharpened on a belt sander, but in my opinion it doesn't cut any better. I guess I just like the feel and cutting ability of the hollow grind you get on a wheel. VS a belt... i.e. slightly concave VS flat... especially on my scrapers...

Tormek - Just too expensive for me... and for what I use a sharpening system for, just too slow. This is a personal thing, but I can refresh the edge on my gouge in less than 30 seconds and be back turning... I am sure if I had the big T that I would use the chit outta it... and do like Sonny and sharpen everything in sight :) I have also read that changing a profile on the big T is a slow process... whereas on a grinder it's a fairly quick thing....

Wolverine - Easy to set up... had it installed and working in less than 20 minutes... Best wheel dressing system I have seen... really works fast and easy to dress the wheel flat again... I guess I just really like the simplicity of the system, and it's made bullit proof... like it'll last a lifetime. I will be changing to an 8" grinder when I can afford it, as there are height issues using a 6" wheel that wears fairly quickly... kinda hard to explain, but basically the tool needs to hit the wheel above center eh... anyhoo...

There has also been a lengthy and even heated discussion on "Burr VS NO Burr" schools of thought... and I aint gonna go there... I will tell you what works for me... and we're talking scrapers here ....

I use a 60 grit grey wheel for the scrapers... I have tried belt sanders, freehand and with a jig and tool rest... and I have tried 120 grit, 100, and 60.... White, pink, and grey... I have tried honing the edge using compounds until it was literally like polished glass...

... and the cutting action I get after a quick pass over the 60 grit wheel using the beefy big W tool rest on the 2 speed grinder still amazes me every time I use it... I keep thinking that I just got lucky one time... except that I can get that edge that I love every time and in about 20 seconds... I can honestly say this... When I change to an 8" grinder if the cutting action I am getting now on my large Crown scraper changes even 1 iota, I will buy another wolverine system just for the scraper... that's how well it cuts for me! That is one tool I can honestly say that I have no intention of trying to improve the cutting on.. and for a constant tinkerer like me that is quite a statement.

Lastly (yea yea, I know... thank goodness!) I will say that it was a lot easier to use the Ellsworth gouge as a template to set up the big W so that any gouge I sharpen gets that angle... I could have played with the setup and eventually gotten the right angles so that I got the grind I wanted, but "copying" the Ellsworth was pretty easy... I just kept blacking out the bevel on the Ellsworth with a sharpie, and turning the wheel by hand and examining the scrape marks to see which way to adjust the jig... only took a couple/three tries to set it up so that the scrape marks were even all the way across the bevel and wings... and I haven't changed the setup since then :)

This is what I use and how I sharpen my turning tools... for now ;)

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