Granite for a Table Saw top ???

[Art Mulder]

Anyone else see the note on the Popular Woodworking website that Steel City is coming out with a table saw that has a 2" thick granite top instead of cast iron?

I had to check three times to be sure that this wasn't April first.

So, instead of buying some new iron, we're going to buy some new rock?

I dunno, I've heard that granite can be brittle, yet they must know that also.
...art

[Ed Falis]

Does that mean you get to put the saw in the kitchen?

[scott spencer]

I did see that! Lots of questions come up...how well does this stuff hold screw threads? I love the original thinking.

[Raney Nelson]

I did see that! Lots of questions come up...how well does this stuff hold screw threads? I love the original thinking.

According to the blog, it doesn't: it requires inserts epoxied into the top for threads and connection.

[Grant Wilkinson]

It will be interesting to see how it holds up. We have a granite top on a kitchen island, and it scratches quite easily. It is easy to polish them out, but I can't see it replacing steel any time soon.
I can see having a nice faux marble saw in my shop, though.

[Dick Strauss]

Granite makes sense to me...more stable, more mass to dampen vibration, has a lower coefficient of friction, does not rust, .....

My neighbor who is a retired patternmaker uses a 2" thick granite plate for the base of his overarm router. The plate is true to within +/-.001 over the 2'x3' slab.


Dick

[Steven Wilson]

Granite would get around the problem of having to season castings for a few years prior to machining. You would get a flat top that would stay flat right from the getgo.

[Kyle Kraft]

There are some metalworking machines that have granite bases, machining centers, grinders, and maybe some others. I haven't been to IMTS in Chicago in several years, so maybe you machinists can chime in.

[Andrew Williams]

just dont hit it with a ball peen hammer

[Paul Canaris]

Martin while not specifically doing this uses a lot of alternative materials to good effect on many of their designs. Granite reference plates have been a machining industry staple for years.

[Dave Ray]

Seems to be a lot of pluses for granit. Got to give Steel City credit for innovation. Just maybe the wave of the future. The tool has a riving knife also. Just imagine a tool with these features, coupled with a sliding table and the Saw Stop safety feature. The future for woodworking is looking good when major companies/individiuals constantly strive to improve the tools of our trade. We live in an exciting woodworking time, plus thanks to this computer era and SMC we learn about these tools almost at the time they are created.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I'm saying - - NO. It'll not happen.

The reasons:
granite is way too costly as a raw material and too costly to machine by comparison.
Granite is brittle
Granite must be thick to take torsional or expansive stress. The table saw top is a highly stressed structure especially if the Trunnion is to be hung from it.
Granite's necessary thickness will force the engineers to limit the amount of free saw blade you can get above the table.


A far far better choice would be blanchard ground aluminum plate preferably with a hard coat anodize.

But other than rust and humid shops there is no real reason to seek an alternative to cast iron. It's a technology that any one can get right. And done right it's pretty permanent.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Granite would get around the problem of having to season castings for a few years prior to machining. You would get a flat top that would stay flat right from the getgo.

So would epoxy coated concrete.
And it'd be cheaper, tougher (if reinforced with steel), and easier to repair.

I have been planning on building a big drum sander from concrete, The one thing that's holding me back is the manufacturing of the roller drums. I may have to have 'em custom made.

[David DeCristoforo]

"I'm saying - - NO...."

Have to agree for all the reasons stated. In addition, I drill and tap holes in my machine tops for attaching jigs, feeder bases, etc, something that would be far more difficult if not impossible with a stone top.

"...there is no real reason to seek an alternative to cast iron..."

Agreed. CI is the "best" material for this application. I don't care for alum either, anodized or not.

[Noah Katz]

"I'm saying - - NO. It'll not happen."

I guess you didn't read the article - they *are* doing it.

The granite only adds $50 over a CI top.

There's a granite quarry and cheap skilled labor to process it near the factory.

I'll take a 2" thick, stable, flat, heavy granite slab over a webbed CI casting any day.

The saw is only $1050 and has a true riving knife.

If this was out 6 mos ago, I'd have thought twice before getting a PM2000.