Tool Test: Small Shop Tablesaws
A Complete Guide to 120-Volt Stationary Tablesaws
by Tom Caspar, American Woodworker (October 2002)
Art Direction: Patrick Hunter And Barbara Pederson • Photography: Staff, Unless Otherwise Indicated

Stationary Table Saws Guide
	Part 1, Introduction
	Part 2, The Winners: Best Overall & Best Value
	Part 3, Pros & Cons of All Manufactures

There comes a time when many wood-workers say, "That's it. I'm getting a decent tablesaw!" Maybe you've been frustrated by a hand-me-down saw with a balky fence, or disappointed by a portable saw with a dinky table. If it's time to shop for a new saw, you're in luck. We've done some homework for you.

120 Volt or 240 Volt?
Right off the bat, you'll have to decide whether to look for a saw that runs on 120-volt household current, or one that runs on a 240-volt circuit. A 240-volt circuit can deliver more power, so motors on 240-volt saws typically are 3 or 5 hp. Motors on 120-volt saws have a maximum of 2 hp.

You can install a 240-volt circuit in your shop for less than $50 in supplies, but be sure to consult a licensed electrician first.You'll have to install a new fuse or breaker, run new wire, install a new outlet and change the plug on the saw's cord.

If you get more horsepower with a 240-volt saw, is a 120-volt saw worth investing in? For a small shop, the answer is often, yes. It's easy to get seduced by the lure of more power, but frankly, you'll be able to cut anything you want on a 120-volt saw. You can certainly do professional-quality work.

However, if you're going to use your saw day in and day out, you're better off with a 3 hp or larger cabinet saw. You'll get much longer life out of its more powerful motor, because it will rarely be taxed to its maximum amperage.

We Tested the Best 120-Volt Saws
Our test group includes eight contractor's saws, one cabinet saw and three hybrid saws. (Hybrids are a blend of both contractor's and cabinet saws. For more details about the internal mechanisms of all three saws, see AW #95, September 2002, page 43.) The prices for these saws range from $500 to $1,000 (Fig. A).

We selected the best 120-volt saw each manufacturer has to offer. Some manufacturers sell other models at lower prices, but we only looked at the top rung of their price ladder. The saws we tested have the best fences and top-notch, solid working surfaces.

PHOTO 1	Powermatic 64A		PHOTO 2	DEWALT DW746X
Left-tilt saws are safer and easier to use than right-tilt saws because the blade tilts away from the fence. One major advantage of a left-tilt saw:You can cut a bevel on a wide panel with less tear-out, because the bevel faces down.			Good dust collection is a big bonus.The DEWALT DW746X has a shroud around the blade that directs dust to a 2-1/2-in. port. A few other saws have fully enclosed cabinets and 4-in. ports to trap and carry away dust.

Features

FIGURE A
	Prices for 120-volt tablesaws cover a wide range. These prices are only approximate, because many saws are sold with rebates or other special offers.

There are five important features to look for in a tablesaw:

• the accuracy of the fence
• the power of the motor
• the direction the arbor tilts
• the saw's ability to trap and collect dust
• the composition of the wings

Fences Are Uniformly Good
All the fences on these saws work well. That's a big improvement over many older models. They're so easy to use that you hardly have to think about it. They're all easily adjusted to remain parallel to the saw's miter slot whenever you lock them down. All use a measuring system that works so well that you virtually never need a ruler to set the distance between the fence and the blade. A few minor differences make some fences slightly more user-friendly than others (Photo 7).

Power Is Adequate, But Limited By Voltage
Most of the saws are fairly evenly matched in power. None are truly outstanding, but that's not surprising. Tablesaw motors only produce 1-1/2 to 2 hp on a 120-volt circuit. The difference between 1-1/2 and 2 hp is slight, but noticeable.

Small differences in horsepower and amperage ought to be taken with a grain of salt. First,horsepower ratings are notoriously hard to pin down. Second, the number of amps an induction motor draws is not an absolute measure of power, because it doesn't take into account a motor's relative efficiency.

No matter what the horsepower,the rate at which you push thick stock through a 120-volt saw has to fit the power of the motor. You don't have to crawl, just use a sensible pace.

The type and sharpness of the blade you use makes a significant difference in overall saw performance. Every saw we tested slowed down noticeably under a heavy load when we cut with a well-used, 1/8-in. standard-kerf combination blade. But when we installed a freshly sharpened, thin-kerf combination blade, the performance of all the saws rose dramatically.

PHOTO 3	Woodtek
Two solid, cast-iron wings have a lot of advantages, even when you're not using your saw to cut wood.They turn your saw into a truly flat assembly table, so you don't get a twisted glue up.These heavy wings also give the saw extra mass for dampening vibration.

Look For Left Tilt, Good Dust Collection and Two Solid, Cast-Iron Wings
All the models we tested have good fences and adequate power. You have to look further to separate the good saws from the great ones.We found major differences among the saws in three key areas:

• Left tilt. Some saws tilt to the right; others tilt to the left. Hands down, we prefer left-tilt saws. They're safer and easier to use when making bevel cuts (Photo 1). To avoid kickbacks and to make the cleanest cut possible, the blade of your saw should always be tilted away from the fence. On a right-tilt saw, that means moving the fence to the other side of the blade, an unfamiliar position. Here the cutting capacity is only 8- to 16-in. wide. On a left-tilt saw, you leave the fence in the normal position. Capacity is 26 to 52 in., depending on the length of your rails.
  
  
• Good dust collection. Tablesaws make clouds of sawdust. You can coat your whole shop with a fine layer of dust in no time. Two kinds of saws work best at collecting dust: those with cabinet bases and those with shrouds around the saw blade (Photo 2). Both have dust ports that can be hooked up to a dust collector. The downside to these ports is that they can plug up with thin offcuts, particularly if it's a port with a small diameter. Using a zero-clearance insert (see AW #95, September 2002, page 50) prevents offcuts from falling into the saw, however.
  
  Contractor's saws have open bases, which don't contain dust nearly as well. Some saws have a plastic dust-extraction fitting inside the case with a 4-in. port, but a lot of dust still comes out the back. You can buy an accessory fitting for about $9 for those saws without one.
  
  
• Two solid, cast-iron wings. All the main tables of the saws we tested are cast iron, but the wings on either side come in four different types. We preferred saws that come with solid, cast-iron wings on both sides of the main table as standard equipment (Photo 3). These wings will stay flat after years of heavy use and provide you with an extremely useful work surface that's guaranteed to remain dead flat. Their weight also dampens vibration from the motor and blade
  
  Some saws have ribbed, rather than solid, cast-iron wings. These wings have a grid pattern of openings between their ribs. Ribbed wings are plenty strong and flat, but woodworkers who have caught their fingers in the openings while moving the fence justifiably dislike them.
  
  Other saws have a solid, cast-iron left wing and a particleboard or MDF right wing. These tableboards extend farther than cast-iron wings, so you have a larger working surface, but they are notorious for sagging after years of use. Don't count out a saw with ribbed or stamped-steel wings or a tableboard, however. You can cover both types of wings with plywood or replace them with solid wings, although it adds $50 to $100 per wing to the saw's cost. Tableboards can be stiffened with additional braces.

PHOTO 4	Ridgid TS 3612		PHOTO 5	General International 200S-M1
All blade guards should be this easy to mount! You don’t need any tools for the guard on the Ridgid TS 3612.All you have to do is turn a thumb screw to release the guard.The guard is indexed so it will return to exactly the same position when you put it back on the saw.			A switch that's easy to shut off with your hand or knee is a big plus.We prefer magnetic switches, because they prevent your saw from starting back up automatically if you blow a fuse. Many switches look like the magnetic type, but only a few saws have the real thing.

Safety Features
Tablesaw safety is an awkward subject for most woodworkers. Most of us know somebody who's been injured on a saw, but in spite of that, many of us take too many chances and rarely use the guard.

Table saws can't do our thinking for us, but there are important safety features that can help prevent common injuries.

• Blade Guard. Most guards are a pain in the neck. They're hard to take off and put on. Many of us put convenience before safety and never use our guard. It doesn't have to be that way.
  
  The guard on the Ridgid TS 3612 stands out from all the others (Photo 4). It requires no tools and takes only seconds to mount or dismount. This guard isn't necessarily safer than the others, but it is more likely to be kept on the saw. All guards ought to be this user-friendly.
  
  
• Magnetic switch. This safety feature protects you if you forget to turn off the power when you blow a fuse or pop a breaker. With a regular switch, the blade will start up once power is restored, and that can shoot a board back out of the saw! This won’t happen with a magnetic switch. It shuts itself off when the current is interrupted.
  
  Many saws have what appear to be magnetic switches, but only a few are the real McCoy. You can upgrade any saw by installing a new magnetic switch, but they cost about $50.
  
• Easy-access switch. Every once in a while you’ll find yourself in the inconvenient position of having to turn off the saw in the middle of a cut. Taking your eyes off your work to find the switch isn’t very safe.
  
  All of the switches on the saws we tested are well-located push buttons, but a few switches stood out as being extremely easy to find without looking. In a real bind, you can turn off these switches with your knee.
  
  

• PHOTO 6	Ridgid TS3612
  Anti-kickback pawls must stay sharp to work well. At rest, the lead pawl should be elevated above the table. If it springs back and smacks the table, as it does on many saws, it will dull rapidly and become far less effective.

  Anti-kickback pawls. We were surprised by the lackluster performance of most antack pawls (Photo 6). To test the pawls, we slid a 3/4-in. board underneath them and then tried to pull back the board. In some cases, the board slid without catching on the pawl's teeth at all. We found three reasons why some pawls don't grab as well as others. First, some are just plain dull. Fortunately, you can sharpen them. Second, even if the leading pawl is sharp, it doesn't stay that way for long if the return spring thwacks it down on the saw table or throat liked pawls that don't hit the table. Third, some pawls just don't seem to bite at the right angle. That angle, and the tooth that does the biting, changes with every different thickness of wood. Most pawls performed much better with thick wood.
  

PHOTO 7	Delta 36-431		PHOTO 8	Grizzly G1023 S110
The best fences have cursors and rules that are easy to read at a glance.We preferred cursors with thin, dark lines and wide, non-magnifying windows.The most legible rules look like good tape measures, with large numerals and thin, clearly defined divisions.			Generous space around the front handwheel is a real knuckle-saver. Only a couple of saws are this roomy. Most are cramped for space around the handwheel, so it's easy to bust your knuckles under the tabletop when raising or lowering a blade.

Other Features

• Maximum rip, right of blade. Most saws come in two sizes, with short rails or long rails. The widest piece of plywood that you’ll have to rip for kitchen cabinets and most other projects is 24 in., so short rails should do fine. Some saws with short rails have a few inches less capacity than others, but all can handle 24-in.-wide stock. Long rails are terrific for breaking down a full sheet of plywood or for using your fence and a block as a stop for crosscutting long pieces. However, long rails increase the length of your saw from 5 ft. to about 7 ft.
  
  
• Maximum rip, left of blade. If you're looking at a right-tilt saw, check out how much room there is for the fence to be placed on the left-hand side of the blade. Extra capacity here is helpful for the occasional wide-bevel cut. (To avoid kickback on a bevel cut, the blade should lean away from the fence. That means moving the fence to the left side of the blade on a right-tilt saw.)
  
  
• Replaceable fence faces. Some fences have aluminum-extrusion faces with T-slots running down their sides. Other fences have plastic faces or laminate-covered wood faces, without T-slots. Some of these faces are easy to remove; some are not.
  
  Fence faces get chewed up, whether by accident or design. Sometimes you run a face too close to the blade, and other times you want to house a dado blade in the face to make a rabbet cut. It's times like this that you'll want a face that can be added, replaced or interchanged. For fences with faces that can’t easily be removed, you must clamp on a board (and the clamps often get in the way of the cut!), attach a board with double-faced tape or make a box to fit over the fence. On T-slotted aluminum fences, you simply slide on an additional wooden face. That works fine, but now you can't take a direct reading from the cursor and rule.
  
  
• Fence cursor and rule. You shouldn’t have to think twice before locking down your saw to a precise setting. We like cursors and rules that are quick and easy to read (Photo 7). The best cursors have clear, wide windows. Some fences have magnified windows that distort the rule on both sides of the cursor line, which can be a real distraction. We like simple rules with large numerals and no fancy markings. All cursors can be adjusted for different blade widths.
  
  
• Roomy front wheel. If you've ever banged your hand under the top of a saw while turning the front handwheel, you'll appreciate the generous amount of room some saws offer (Photo 8). You won’t have to hold the handwheel’s knob underhanded to keep from bruising your knuckles.
  
  
• Large throat opening. Large throat openings make changing blades easier. We've categorized the openings as Small, Medium and Large, but there's only 1/2-in. difference from small to large.

The High-Amperage Trap Is a saw that has a 2-hp, 24-amp motor a better choice than one with a 1-1/2-hp, 15-amp motor? Not necessarily. Popping a breaker can be a real problem with 2-hp, high-amp 120-volt saws.You can push these saws over the limit with a heavy cut. To avoid shutting down the saw, you’ve got to slow your feed rate. There’s a significant potential problem with high-amp motors: They may not be a good match for the electrical circuits in your shop. If you buy a saw with a high-amp motor, you may find yourself with a machine that is prone to blowing the fuse or popping the breaker when it's put under a heavy load. Popping a breaker isn't merely annoying. It can be downright dangerous. Unless your saw is equipped with a magnetic switch, you absolutely must remember to take your work out of the saw and turn off the power switch, so the saw doesn't start right up again when you flip the breaker back on. Only one of the 24-amp saws we tested comes with a magnetic switch. Most homes have 20-amp circuits, but many older homes have smaller, 15-amp circuits. For your saw to run its best, its motor amperage shouldn’t exceed 80 percent of the amperage capacity of the circuit it’s on. A saw’s motor won't draw its maximum amperage on most cuts. But as you increase the load on the motor by pushing faster or cutting thicker or denser stock, the amperage draw will increase, going higher than the rated maximum.The amp draw is also high at startup. The draw of a 24-amp motor under a heavy load can easily exceed the capacity of most household circuits, unless the motor’s belt slips first. Don’t r un a 24-amp motor on a 15-amp circuit. You may be okay on a 20-amp circuit, but even an 18-amp motor is capable of popping a 20-amp breaker, particularly if you have another electrical load, such as lights, on the same circuit. The trick to using a 120-volt saw with a high-amp motor is to run it on a circuit without any other loads. Then judge how far you can push it before it pops a breaker. The sound or speed of the blade will tip you off when you near the circuit’s breaking point. The best solution for a high-amp saw that continually pops a breaker is to bite the bullet and install one or more 240-volt circuits in your shop. You can easily rewire a high-amp motor for 240 volts. That drops the amp load in half.

Stationary Table Saws Guide
	Part 1, Introduction
	Part 2, The Winners: Best Overall & Best Value
	Part 3, Pros & Cons of All Manufactures