When you buy a tablesaw, you’re buying a machine that you’ll use for a long, ong time. This is not a place to pinch pennies.

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

We identified five major features to look for: adequate power, a good fence, a left-tilting arbor, good dust collection and a dead-flat top with two solid, cast-iron wings.

The power of all these saws is limited by their 120-volt motors. At most, you can get 2 hp. If you stick to a sharp, thin-kerf blade, and don’t push too hard, you’ll be fine with any saw we tested. Fences are a bright spot in these saws. They’re very good, across the board. We favored fences with one of two kinds of faces: those that can easily be unscrewed and replaced, or those with T-slots for quickly adding an auxiliary face.

We prefer left-tilt saws, because they are safer and easier to use than right-tilt saws. Of all the features we looked at, this is the one factor that can’t be changed by upgrading. Whatever direction the saw tilts, you’re stuck with it. Dust collection and wings can be upgraded, but we preferred saws with good standard equipment.

Dust collection is best on a saw with an enclosed base or a shroud around the blade. As for the wings, you can generally upgrade to solid cast iron on both sides at any time,but it will cost $50 to $100 per wing.

If there’s one area where these saws could do better, it's with their safety features. We prefer a saw that has a blade guard that requires no tools to mount or dismount, a magnetic switch that’s easy to turn off blindfolded and effective anti-kickback pawls that stay sharp. Unfortunately, no saw has all these features.

Editor's Choices
DEWALT DW746X $900 This innovative saw was built from the ground up with the small-shop woodworker in mind.An integral sliding table ($450 extra) is icing on the cake.
Grizzy G1023 $800 A robust machine at a great price.This genuine cabinet saw is loaded with good features, but there’s a catch. Its high-amp motor may repeatedly trip a breaker or blow a fuse if you don’t have 240-volt electrical service in your shop.
Best Buy
Ridgid TS 3612 $600 This left-tilt contractor’s saw is a fine place to start on your way to a terrific saw.You can upgrade it later with an additional cast-iron wing and improved dust collection.
Bridgewood TSC-10CL $550 Packed with good features, this left-tilt saw runs well on either a 15- or 20-amp circuit, but it won’t cut thick hardwoods as aggressively as higher-amp saws. It has outstanding safety features, including a blade guard that’s a cinch to remount. It also has a built-in mobile base.

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