Table Saw Tips for Newbies

[Larwyn]

I have one of the lightweight saws. A Delta, HD had them so cheap I felt it was perfect for my outdoor shop. I just cover it with a scrap of plywood and leave it outside in the elements. I do not expect it to last long with this type of abuse but that is the price I am willing to pay for the convience of not having to put away another large heavy power tool at the end of the day. Like most who own these little saws, most of my cutting is done with miter saw and a skillsaw with a straight edge. But once I have something cut down to a size that does not dwarf the little saw it does surprisingly well. I have used the little saw for ripping, cutting rabbit joints, etc in smaller stock. It actually does well on oak 1x2's and even 2x4 pine.

The little fence on this thing is surprisingly accurate too. It seems to lock square to the blade every time! Guess I'm just lucky there....

I feel the biggest drawback to using the small lightweight table saws is the size of the table itself. Seems my hands are always closer to the blade than on a larger saw. Always use feather boards and pushblocks when possiable. If an operation seems a bit risky on the little saw I will resort to a plane, router, skill saw or even a redesign of the project before I risk the loss of body parts to the saw.

[Guest]

George,
I would strongly recommend going with a belt drive saw, vinoscooter is right about those direct drives. I recently had to buy a new table saw because of that. I went with a belt drive Craftsman that also had a place to mount a router underneath.

[asianflava]

I'm thinking about getting that saw too. It is the updated version of the one I'm borrowing now. They seem to have fixed a few things that bugged me about the old saw.
1. They covered that hole in between the 2 "Craftsman" logos. Saw dust would blow out of there when cutting.

2. They shortened the rear clamp on the fence. The old one had a long clamp that prevented you from cutting stock at around 13inches. It would hit the bar for the outfeed support.

3. They made the side supports with the same profile as the table. Now you can clamp the fence to the wing and set the distance of the support. The old ones were just sheet metal, the fence would not clamp to it.

4. The base has wheels!

The old one has a different sized slot for the miter guide. I can't use my feather boards in it. I don't know if the new one is different.

[Larwyn]

I'm thinking about getting that saw too. It is the updated version of the one I'm borrowing now. They seem to have fixed a few things that bugged me about the old saw.

The old one has a different sized slot for the miter guide. I can't use my feather boards in it. I don't know if the new one is different.

I had the same problem using my feather board with the little Delta. I removed the aluminum bar from the feather board that goes in the miter gauge slot and "machined" it down on my belt sander to fit the Delta. Just keep the sides paralell and test fit oten. Just could not get myself to rip narrow stock on the saw without one, and the one I made to clamp to the table was less than perfect....

[GeorgeT]

Just before I retired we bought one of those direct drive craftsmans saws as in the pic and it turned out to be a surprisingly popular little tool in our sign shop. It was direct drive which I was leery of as I had had one before that was smaller and cheaper and not a craftsman. It was loud and had too much slack in the bearings which caused too much blade wobble. However this one had none of that. The fence was very accurate, no blade wobble and was substantially quieter. I easily had it adjusted for no tear out at the end of a cut. We used the heck out of it for the two years I was there before retirement cutting all sorts of wood, plastic and light aluminum. For the money and for a hobby person I don't think it's a bad deal. If I didn't have my belt drive saw now, I would get one as I think for around the home use for cabinetry, bookshelves, decks and such and 'cause of it's smaller compact size it'd be just fine. Probably wouldn't rip or cross cut full sheets of heavy plywood but I don't do that now with my larger belt driven saw. I do like most folks, clamp a guide down and use my circular saw. I would recommend though using a good sharp carbide blade preferrably with a thin kerf such as the Freud Diablo blade in it at all times and keep your feed speed moderate to keep your motor from heating up. 'Nuther words don't plow throw oak in a hurry. I believe thats a 3hp unit but thats not as powerful as a lesser hp motor that is belt driven cause of the gearing. So treat it nice and easy and it'll probably last as long as you need it. Just my 3 cents worth.