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I need a new table saw

ezcome-ezgo

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And my cheap-creep budget is less than $400. Open to recommendations. Skilsaw I bought from a neighbor 20 years ago is slowly dying.
 

ezcome-ezgo

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You ever find yourself in a situation with a neighbor where he offers you something that he knows you need and the price is your time and sanity? Such was the case with Old Mr. Wooten, who lived 2 doors down (since moved and deceased). He liked to just drop by and openly speculate about the things I needed. One such thing was this (honestly) piece of crap $99 SkilSaw table saw he found at a yard sale. Now we thought the world of Mr. Wooten and his delightful wife Shirley. They were kind people, broke, in debt, but just salt of the earth folks. But he'd show up at my house on a Saturday afternoon, I'm up to my elbows in a project, sweating, dirty. He'd dawdle about and jibber jabber about nothing and basically be wasting my time. "Burning daylight" we'd call it. Anyway, the price of him leaving on this day was $50 for this saw. I'm not a big fan of being strong-armed into purchases, particularly not with tools, but mercy sakes I needed him to leave me alone. So the deal was made and I had to go down there to his place and deal with the humiliation of dragging this junky-a$$ saw back to my place. And so it has been in irritating and frustrating service to me for 20+ years. Getting the fence parallel to the blade (the primary and essential purpose of a table saw) requires multiple measurements of the blade tips front and back to the fence, back and forth, and then herculean strength to lock the fence in that exact place. These days the start up of this machine is a curious performance where the motor will start/stop/start/start/stop/start/stop/pause/start. etc etc. I imagine life with an actual useful table saw as some kind of Shangri-La. If someone could lead me down the path of table saw nirvana, I'd be appreciative.
 

Hellion

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Are you looking at essentially a 1-to-1 replacement, same size and everything? I know next to nothing about "table saws".

Anyways, BUMP.
 

JimD

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If you are not familiar with Facebook Market Place it is really something. Changes everyday with new stuff and a lot of FREE stuff especially old snow throwers and lawnmowers that no longer work. Old people like myself that have a table saw in the basement and they are moving find that no one wants them and they offer them free to get them out of the basement. The site really works and you can sell things quickly if it is price correctly. Lot of tool and die guys retiring and you see their tool boxes with a lot of great gages for sale and very cheap because no one is going into those apprenticeship programs any more because they are too long in the opinion of a young person. The good old computer can tell them everything they need to know. It is a real shame so many schools have drop shop classes and stress everyone should go to college..
 

Whitetrashrocker

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Hellion

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We’ll get off your cheap A$$ and break out your dusty wallet and go buy one. Stop whining about it. It served the purpose when you bought it. Stop whining about it!

No! Give him recommendations. Find him the best deal and don't forget to encourage him. :devil2:
 

Sparkwizard

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If you want a direct drive "contractor" saw, Delta is definitely worth a look. Mine is about 20 years old now. The table is aluminum, but it is solid. I got the metal leg kit with it. Other than blades, it has needed nothing but a drop of oil on the fence every couple of years.

I just saw the 8 1/4 saw above...my Delta uses 10 inch blades.
 

Hellion

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I like the ones that come with legs, free standing, but the portable ones look like toys. And that guy that gets the kickback from the (unguarded) blade cutting him a new zipper (or emasculating him), heck no! 😬 That had to be a toy model.

Did Denny scare Ez away? I want to see pics of the old one. I want to see that olde worlde quality.
 

ezcome-ezgo

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The irony is the frontrunner (not freerunner) in my search this morning is the SKIL TS6307-00. Has good reviews on multiple sites, rack and pinion fence, and the arbor is long enough to accept a dado stack. And it can cut a 4x4 in a single pass, a task I do not see myself doing on a table saw, but it sounds impressive.

I intend to build one of those fancy benches around this saw so I have plenty of outfeed support. Fancy is the word of the day.

Denny cannot scare me away. He is like a brother to me, an adopted brother who used to steal my socks and give me wedgies.
 

Sparkwizard

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4x4 in a single pass? Is this a table saw or a miter saw? How big is the blade on this saw? It might be time for me to invest in some of this new technology.
 

ezcome-ezgo

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That's what they claim, can cut a "4x4" in a single pass. So the blade stands 3 1/2" tall off the deck at its highest setting. It's a 10" blade.
 

Sparkwizard

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Just thinking...a 10 inch blade on a direct drive saw...blade mounted on the motor shaft...5/8 shaft...
I need to go look at one of these saws.
 
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