Barney, I had a look at the P-C 270TS at Lowe's, and frankly, I'm not impressed at all. Personally, I wouldn't buy it. It's maybe a $300 saw IMO, and here's why:
- The action of the hand wheels was not smooth at all. It felt like there were multiple detents as I turned the wheels. I felt resistance and heard a "click-click-click-click" as I turned either of the wheels. Not smooth at all. Also, the front-mounted tilt adjustment has an additional right-angle gearbox in order to do its thing. As I mentioned earlier, the benefit from having that crank on the front isn't big enough to warrant another mechanical thing that can get jammed up with sawdust or break.
- Based on what I've read on the web, the blade height adjustment gear is plastic. That would be a deal-breaker for me. The whole integrity of the blade position relies on the trunnion being rock solid. I just don't see plastic holding up, and I saw one person posting on Lumberjocks to complain not only about the busted plastic gear, but that he was having trouble getting a replacement from P-C.
- The throat plate does look to be an odd size and thin, which would potentially make it difficult to find or make a zero-clearance insert for the saw. (A zero-clearance insert is critical, IMO.)
- The dust collection port is 2 1/2". That'll fit a shop vac, but a shop vac is not a very effective dust collector for a table saw. My preference would be for a 4" port, since that's a more standard size for dust collector hoses. (It's also easier to reduce a 4" port to fit a shop vac than it is to enlarge a 2 1/2" port to fit a dust collector.)
- The two extension tables are indeed stamped steel. Although workable, they are much harder (if not impossible) to get flat and level with the cast iron core table.
- The blade tilt indicator on the top of the table is a nice marketing feature, but worthless in the shop, IMO. The scale on the dial is nowhere near fine enough to accurately set an angle. My guess is that it'll get you within a degree or two of what you're wanting, but when I set my blade to 45 degrees, I need it to be exactly 45.0 degrees, not 44.9 or 45.1 degrees. (For that reason, I use other tools to set my blade angle and pay no attention to the indicator on my saw.)
- The On-Off switch is mounted on the cabinet itself in a position that looks like it would be hard to turn off with a knee or thigh. For me (at 6' 2" tall), I'd have to bend to turn off the saw with my hand. (I like to be able to turn off my saw with my thigh or hip, so I can stop it in an emergency without letting go of the workpiece.)
- I will say that the fence operated smoothly and the fine adjustment knobs seemed handy, but the fence only locks on the front rail, which means it can flex a bit if you put pressure on the back half of the fence. Also, the miter gauge is decent and comparable to other factory miter gauges I've seen, including the Ridgid. (I don't like any of them...I much prefer the Incra miter gauges.) The miter gauge slot is 3/4", which is a good thing.
So after looking at the P-C, I decided to go to Home Depot to see what I could learn about the latest Ridgid. Like you said, all they have on display is a box and a price tag, but I did learn a few things at the store and on the web afterward:
- Sadly, the Ridgid also has stamped steel extension tables. I guess that's what had to happen to stay in the same price range.
- The fence looks comparable to the P-C, although it locks in both the front and back. When locked, I'd expect there to be no flex. It does not have the micro adjust wheels, but IMO those are not critical.
- The Ridgid has a 4" dust collection port.
- The On-Off switch mounts on the bottom of the rail where it can be hit with a hip or thigh if necessary. Its position can be slid anywhere along the rail, so it can be positioned where it works best for you.
- I can't tell what size or thickness the throat plate is, but if Ridgid followed their past actions, buying or making a zero-clearance insert should be relatively easy.
- Both saws are belt-driven, run on 120v or 240v, and have built-in mobile bases.
If I had to choose between the two, I'd go with the Ridgid in a heartbeat. The money saved could be applied to a good thin kerf blade. (The factory blade is probably pretty decent, but most of us have different blades for different cuts.) I still prefer my older TS3650, though, primarily because it has cast iron extensions. (The new one has better dust collection, though.) I know I sound like a Ridgid fanboy, but Charlie is right about them being pretty much the gold standard in this market segment.
Keep in mind these are just my own opinions...whether you buy new, used, gray, orange, or rusty, you should get whichever saw you think will work best for your needs and budget.
