Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Job site table saw

Any recommendations?
Any to avoid?

I have a Rigid portable saw w/stand that's pretty nice and doesn't cost a fortune. Home Depot did sell them.

I have a Makita that's served me well for 20+ years but if I were buying new I'd look at DeWalt.

I was looking at the Ridgid 4513 portable at Home Depot but the reviews it gets are not great. I did think it looked a bit more rugged (and stronger) than those little DeWalts that get much better reviews. The Ridgid was $530 compared t $370 for the DeWalt. Then I saw they had 'special sales' on the discontinued DeWalt 745 (which has a great track record apparently). So with some uncertainty I bought the 745 for $300. The only thing I've done with it is mow through a few hickory planks but I have to say I have been impressed with its power. It's also nice in that it is easy to set up on the table for a couple quick cuts when needed and then set it out of the way again when it's not needed.

Time will tell if it was a good investment or not.

screw ALL of the direct drive bench style saws. Get an old belt-drive contractor saw. Not as 'portable', but still easy for one guy to load in the truck....

Building cabinets - Delta Unisaw

There ya go. And build a good outfeed table..

First thing I do when we get dried in.

Back in my Dad's day, on large jobs they built a "saw shed". A lot of the forms were built in the shed ahead of time, and the carpenters assembled them on site. Most times, the table saw was a belt drive but used a gasoline engine.

I am to the point I would rather have Black and Decker than Dewalt. Dewalt is no where close to what it use to be.

Bosch is the most recommended table saw.

Just depends on how portable you need to be.
Back when I did trim and set cabinets in track houses I was in a different house every day (sometimes two).
Those little 8" portables with a built in router fence are the ONLY option for that kind of work IMO. Especially if you plan on making any money.

A big custom or commercial job where I was going to be there for awhile,,, then yea, I'd bring in a big saw but not for production work.

Disagree. Black and Decker actually 'IS' Dewalts garbage line of tools.

I'd choose either Bosch or Dewalt...Rigid ain't too bad either.

GRIZZLY

We use Hitachi mostly. Table saw, mitre saw, compressor, guns, etc.
I used to be a big fan of Bosch, but it seems the quality is not the same as it used to be. We had 2 hammer drills, a portable planer and a jigsaw all go down this summer. Neither hammer drill made it out of warranty and we couldn't afford the down time. Went back to Milwaukee.