Tilt - Left vs Right

[Andy Hoyt]

I'm thinking of getting a new cabinet saw mostly so I can get as far away from my Unifence as possible; but also because my current saw has a cracked trunnion and is under-powered for my current work.

I'm feeling conflicted over this left and right tilt thing. I've never run a left tilter and I'm finding it tough to visualize things vis-a-vis the benefits and associated learning curves with revised techiques.

So please chime in with your opinions - good, bad, or indifferent.

Please don't discuss brand names unless it's germaine to your answer.

Thanks, Andy Hoyt

[Von Bickley]

I have used left tilt and right tilt. I presently have a right tilt in my shop because it was a gift.

I can honestly say that I WILL NEVER have another right tilt table saw.

[JayStPeter]

I remember on Badger Pond, a left v. right tilt thread was the equivalent of an F v. E thread here. I read them with interest and eventually decided that since I was used to left-tilt, my new saw would be left-tilt also.
There is an argument of safety for left-tilt that says since the blade tilts away from the fence, you don't have to move the fence to the other side of the blade (the side you're not used to) for beveled rips. Some sort of slider makes the right tilt more safe. Frankly, I don't bevel cut enough that it is an important consideration for me. Doing what you like and are used to may be more safe anyway.

Jay

[David Duke]

I agree with Von, I have used left tilt saws for over 25 years about 2 yrs ago I go a pretty good price on a right tilt saw and to yet I'm still not use to it. My main area of concern is that the stock seems to pinch between the right tilted blade and fence, where on a left tilt this doesn't happen. Another disadvantage IMHO to the right tilt is since in most instances the long side of the miter is facing out you must cut with the "good" side down taking a chance of possibly marring the surface, especially when using sheet good.

These are just my observations and I know that others probably would have nothing but right tilt, thats why they make both available.

[Keith Burns]

I used a left tilt for years on my contractors saw. When I got my jet cabinet saw I got the right tilt because the left tilt motor interfered with my slider attachment. I've not regreted it for a minute. I think this is one of those things that is really a personal preference.

[Chris Giles]

Andy,

All saws used to be right-tilt years ago, and I dreamed of having a saw that would tilt the other way. Having the blade tilt towards the fence seemed to be a constant inconvenience in my day-to-day operations and I was forever moving the fence to the left side of the blade to avoid this. The day they unveiled the left-tilt blade to my attention, I bought one. A Jet 10". I have never looked back.

[Ken Garlock]

Andy, taxi over to the Bridgewood site, and sign up for a 10LTS and never look back.

[Mark Stutz]

Cutting a dado is the only difference I've found. You have to remeber to measure directly from the blade to the fence rather than use the integral scale. DAMHIKT.

Mark

[roy knapp]

dewalt 746x left tilt

[John Shuk]

I opted for a right tilt but the reason was so that I could get the Bench dogs router table/wing extension. It won't fit on a left-tilt saw.

[Dev Emch]

This is one of the oldest arguments in online woodworking forums. Yaawwwwnnnnnnnn.........

In the eary days, it was unisaw versus powermatic and everything else was that overseas junk. I have to say that the overseas junk has really improved over the last 15 or so years... enough to impress even the most hardened. But the argument still remains about left versus right tilt.

The unisaw was not the first tablesaw out there. The big industrial companies like oliver, tannewitz, northfield, beech, etc. all built tablesaws. In the early days, the arbor was fixed and the table tilts. Here you saw machines like the oliver model 80 and model 90.

Later on, came saws that had tilting arbors. In the case of the oliver 270 for example, the motor was on the right side and the fully tilting blade flask was on the left side. Here, the entire blade flask tilts outward. As most folks were right handed, this was convenient as was the ability to change blades without crawling into a hole. Remember, the extended rip capability usuaually meant huge cast iron right side table extensions. For years and years, this was the standard. It also meant that the blade tilts away from the slider or rolling top and not into it.

When delta came up with the cabinet saw and they are the father of the modern cabinet saw design in use today, they had to shrink the cabinet. In so doing, the motor had to lean out of one side. Thus, you have more mass on one side of the cabinet than on the other. Since your rip fence, rip rails and extension table were on the right side, it made sense to put the motor hang on the right side also. When used with a stand alone extension feed table, this almost eliminates the possibility of the machine tipping over. Also note that the first unisaws had cast iron base units to help keep the machine on the ground.

Later on, powermatic came up with the left tilt design to be different. I often wonder if there is some relic from the past weighing in at 1800 pounds with tons of surface rust and a left tilt arbor. True, it does solve the issue of tilting the blade into the fence, but it also ruins the ability to install a full figured sliding table on the saw. Also, there is nothing stoping you from using the fence on the left side of the blade if this is an issue.

After all these years and after using small table saws and big table saws, I have to say that I would not trade my oliver and martins for anything else. Even if they lack the fancy left tilt feature, its a feature I have never needed in all these years. So I have to wonder if its such a big deal after all. You saw stop guys, help me out here. Is it not true that the saw stop is also a right tilt saw? One would think that if safety was such a hot button with the saw stop designers, that they would have built in the left tilt feature. After all, this feature is free unlike the extra hardware needed to drive the saw stop concept.

Just my 5 cents worth over the last 20 odd years....

[Steve Rowe]

Dev - Are you the curator of a woodworking machinery museum? I really like your posts - detailed with a lot of historical perspective.

Left, right ... potatoe, potato - I really don't believe it makes a difference if the machine is set up properly and is used properly. I have always used a right tilt saw but the choice to do so was never scientific, it is just what I happened to buy. From time to time, I moved the rip fence to the left of the blade and never noticed any difference. After a few times, never moved to the left again.

Steve

[Frank Pellow]

I coducted a Saw Mill Creek poll on this subject a few months ago. See the thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=15356

At the time of the poll, I thought I was going to purchase a right tilt saw. But, I ended up with left tilt saw. The reason for this had nothing to do with familiarity or safety -it was becuase of the location of the dust port.

[Frank Pellow]

Dev - Are you the curator of a woodworking machinery museum? I really like you posts - detailed with a lot of historical perspective.

Left, right ... potatoe, potato - I really don't believe it makes a difference if the machine is set up properly and is used properly. I have always used a right tilt saw but the choice to do so was never scientific, it is just what I happened to buy. From time to time, I moved the rip fence to the left of the blade and never noticed any difference. After a few times, never moved to the left again.

Steve

Dev, I would like to add my voice to Steve's and say that I very much enjoy your posts that give us an historical perspective on our tools.

[Norman Hitt]

Just one other tidbit for History. I keep seeing posts saying that ALL saws were Right tilt except for powermatic until the last few years, but this isn't exactly true. I bought my Dad a Craftsman 10" Contractors saw for x-mas in the early 50's, (which I still have today, along with my Powermatic, ), and that old Craftsman is a LEFT TILT.