Bench top table saw

A very good frriend of mine called me and said he was having a problem with his "bench" top table saw. Claimed his fence was never parallel and his blade always burnt the wood. He does very little wood working and has a limited space for a shop.

So I recommended a blade, a Freud Glue line ripping blade. I said Amazon has them at 69.00. He gasped and said he only paid 70.00 for the saw from HF.

He's now looking for a reasonable priced Bench Table Saw. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Jiggs Elphison
 
I had a DeWalt DW744 Benchtop saw, when I got it in maybe 2000, it was certainly the best bench top saw on the market, I don't know if that is true anymore.

I read a Fine Woodworking >> article << and they reviewed these saws.....

Prices Saw Only/ with stand

Bosch_4100-09.jpg
Bosch 4100-09 $500/$650

Craftsman_21828.jpg
Craftsman 21828 $314/NA (stand included)

DeWalt_DW744X.jpg
DeWalt DW744X $530/$630 (Base model Includes simpler, non-rolling stand pictured)

Jet_JBtS-10mjS.jpg
Jet JBtS-10mjS NA/$610 (stand sold with saw)

Makita_2705X1.jpg
Makita 2705X1 $570/$690

Ridgid_R4510.jpg
Ridgid R4510 NA/$450 (stand sold with saw)

While I can't just copy the article from Fine Woodworking here (you need a membership to see the linked article above, but you can get a free 14 day membership) I think I can tell you what their conclusion was;

Picking a best-overall saw here is tough. Most of the saws have
enough power and accuracy to handle just about anything a serious
woodworker would throw at them, but it’s the little things
that make all the difference.
I think the Bosch is the best overall choice for woodworkers,
because it’s accurate, smooth, and powerful. It doesn’t really
have a single stand-out feature, but all of its features rank near
the top. It’s one of two saws with an arbor lock (for easier blade
changes), and it was the most powerful saw. Also, it easily has
the best stand and most useful accessories. Taken together, it’s
an excellent package.
The Ridgid and DeWalt saws are also very solid performers. But
since the Ridgid has the lowest price with a stand included, it gets
the best-value award.

Does your buddy need portability? if he needs to be able to roll the saw around or to a jobsite, then a good stand is important, but if it is just going to sit on a bench all day, then you could not buy the stand.

If you don't count the stand, the DeWalt and the Bosch are neck and neck, I've not seen the Bosch up close, so I can't really say anything about it, but, if I were in the market for a bench top or portable tablesaw again, I'd look REALLY hard at the Bosch, but I would not have a problem owning another DeWalt.

I hope this helps!
 
If the fence is misaligned a high dollar blade is not going to solve the problem. Adjust the fence. Even a HF fence can be tweeked to perform well.
 
Jiggs +1 on align the fence and see if there is any adjustment possible on the table.

There are reasonably priced blades at the Borg made by Freud for under $40 which would be a huge improvement.

At the end of the day a new saw is going to be in the hundreds at least. Could be worth another look at the old one.:)
 
If it were me, and it once was, with the same problem, I'd get a new fence. I bought the home version of the Biesmeyer fence, built a cabinet to house the bench saw, attached the new fence rails to the cabinet, squared the saw to the fence rails and the fence to the miter slot in the saw.

That same fence now sits on my Grizzly 1023 cabinet saw. I sold the fence that came with the Grizzly. So overall I am not out a great deal of money.

Coupled with a decent blade, you can have a better than average set-up than even a better bench top saw can afford you.

Just one person's solution to a similar problem.
 
I suspect that even a modest jobsite saw like that little Craftsman would be an upgrade from a $70 HF benchtop. The 21828 that Stuart shows is the same as the new Ridgid R4516...both made by TTI/Ryobi. It's on sale from Sears for $265. You might even find a used saw. Either way, good alignment and a decent blade are always critical...the Diablo blades from HD are tough to beat in the $30 range, but Rockler still has the Freud Avanti TK306 for $20...there are some free s/h codes around too.
 
Top