Broke woodworker needing a table saw......

[Dominick Giarraputo]

Josh, I have the craftsman version of the Ryobi RB3100 that Lynn has and I can vouch for what he said. It's a great saw & fence system and the sliding miter table is wonderful. It also doubles as a router table, nothing like a full size table mind you, but it's works well enough for small projects.

[Steve Evans]

For those people looking for a good deal on the Ryobi, Home Depot has it for $200 and a $50 rebate, making it $150 after rebate.

Steve

[Josh Goldsmith]

Wow thanks to everyone who responded with there .02. I live in California. San Luis Obispo to be exact. I did look at the ridgid table saw at home depot for $569 or something close to that. A couple of you mentioned a hybrid saw? What exactly is that? I don't mind buying a used saw as long as it is on the newer side and not damaged. Thanks for all your imputs. Josh

[Corey Hallagan]

I think that Lowes sale on the Jet contractors saw is the best deal going right now. That is a lot of saw for $299.

Corey

[Tim Palmer]

Josh,

I have a cabinet saw, but I have been looking at the table saw market to help a friend who wants to buy a table saw and he has the same price range as you do. I found that most any of the newer contractor type saws from the major manufactures are great. The newer hybrids saws are also very nice, and there are serveral great deals on cabinets saw out there. The question you need to ask yourself is what do I think is important in a tablesaw. Good fence, adequate power, price, dust collection, adaptability, footprint size. These are all viable questions. In my opinon most all of the major brands make table saws with good fences, adequate power and are adaptable to most situations. So that leaves you with Price, Foot print, and dust collection. Imho I think that for the price you stated that one of the Craftsman Zipcode saws gives you the best footprint and the best dust collection for the price and all other things mentioned being equal. I do not know the actual part number but the middle priced Craftsman Hybrid saw has the abilty to adjust the fence rails to the right giving you approx. 36" right of the blade for your cut. This is the one I recomended to my friend. I am sure the other more experinced members of this forum could give you many more suggestions. Good luck in your search Have fun.

Tim

[roy knapp]

Well i think i can sort of explain it.

A hybrid saw is if you to part of a contractors saw and part of a cabinet saw and they made one tablesaw out of it. its not a cabinet saw but close to it.

on a contractors saw the motor hangs off the back of the saw and on the Hybrid saw it is inside like a cabinet saw.

the trunion (spelt wrong) assembly is much larger on the Hybrid saw than the cotractors saw. (this used for the blade arbor and bearing and the tilt and elevation)

if space in the shop is a issue the Hybrid with the motor inside will allow it to be moved closer to a wall.

[Marcus Hutchison]

Hello,

Sunhill Machinery just emailed me an ad for a clearance sale they are having. They have a 10" cabinet saw on sale for $695. It has a 2hp motor, a left- tilting arbor and a built in mobile base. I don't know anything about the saw other than what I've seen in the ad, but my brother has bought a few things from Sunhill and they seem to be made about like the Grizzly stuff. The model number of the saw is CT-250T. Here is the page it's on http://www.sunhillmachinery.com/Hot%20Deals.htm. Hope that helps.

Marcus

[Brian Austin]

Okay, one more shameless plug:

Five year old Craftsman contractor saw, solid cast iron wings, rebuilt motor, link belt, Freud thin kerf blade ($50), mobile base, with Incra TSIII fence. All manuals included. NO safety guard, however. Saw was originally $799 (their highest end model at the time), fence was originally $379 (added six months later). $450/best offer.

E-mail me at bjaustin68@yahoo.com if you're interested. I can e-mail detailed pics. I'll be in Southern CA (Escondido) on the 14-17th and can meet you in the LA area if you give me directions.

/Shameless plug

[Kelly C. Hanna]

If you are like me you'll go cheap and buy a used saw (I got a Delta 36-670 for $225), a good used fence (I got a Beis foir $80) and make a cabinet for the saw yourself. I have a little over $400 in mine including the router table extension, cabinet and used Bosch 1617 router.

[scott spencer]

Hi Josh - I upgraded an excellent GI contractor saw for one of the new Craftsman 22124 hybrid/cabinet saws last spring and have been very pleased with the switch. The 22124 is typically beyond your stated price range, but the 22114 has many of the same advantages....cabinet mounted trunnions for easy blade alignment, tons of mass & stability, enclosed motor for excellent DC, and a smaller footprint than contractor saws. The 22124 isn't quite on par with a full blown 3hp cabinet saw, but it's a good compromise IMO...especially if you don't have 220v.

http://www.epinions.com/content_184778395268