Charnwood W625 12" Contractor saw any good?

[jimmy1209]

I am looking for a first table saw which is under about £350. I was wondering if the W625 was any good. It comes in a package deal with a sliding table and rear and right hand extensions for about £340 with postage. I would be using it to cut sheets of plywood and ripping down planks. Would anyone be able to comment on safety as kickback seems a significant problem with table saws although I know a riving knife reduces this problem. I would also plan to build a number of various jigs for this saw which I suppose would slide with the table. How does this saw compare with the triton workcentre in terms of safety and accuracy.

Cheers

James

 

[9fingers]

James,

I don't know that saw so can't help there but kick back threat is much reduced by using a blade with cut limiters built. Freud LP30M is one such blade and readily available. The blade supplied new with most bottom end saws will be best used to make decorative clock for the workshop or somethiong similar to keep it well away from wood cutting !

Bob

 

[kevin dwyer]

hi, james has suggested something similar to what i was thinking and it doesn't look like a particularly good quality saw since the table is already not flat to the guide. Need to know what you're making, site saws are for sawn timber, roofs, shuttering for concrete etc, i had a nice one for fitting out the hold of a north sea fishing boat. Sawn timber is more likely to jam on the saw due to its coarseness and that's why it's sawn timber. Generally carpenter's make life easy as possible, ie they buy 2 by two sawn and put 2 by 2 sawn up. timber at lenghs won't fly back at you, the saws usually jam still. Short lenghs of hard timber like oak (ie 6 ") are to be avoided as they could potentially bounce around.









i

 

[jimmy1209]

hi guys,
Thank you both very much for your help. I feel a lot more confident about buying and using a table saw now. Would either of you happen to know a good starter table saw for close to that price. I also looked at the axminster TS-200. I would be planning to make various bits of furniture such as cabinets and tables. I was looking at a website which suggested a contractor saw as a first saw. Are contractor saws the same thing as site saws and are they generally too inaccurate for furniture?

 

[9fingers]

First decision is probably whether you want to buy new, shiny with warranty etc or a quality used machine that might just need a little clean up. Your budget would probably get you either.
Next is do you really want a 'starter' saw or one that will last you? Is woodworking going to be a long term hobby/interest or are you buy kit to get some specific jobs done and sell machines on afterwards.

I see a lot of people here impulse buy, regret and buy again with little chance of recouping funds from their first purchase.

For the type of work you suggest, a 10" saw will possibly suffice and stretch your budget further.
Always choose a saw with an induction motor - these run quietly and are capable of repair if ever needed. Brush motors are normally bespoke to the machine and expensive to repair when the smoke escapes. They are very noisy indeed.

The TS 200 is quite popular here and if your search the archive, you will find several threads describing improvements that members have made especially to dust extraction.
An essential is a tilting arbour for angle cuts (a few saws have tilting tables which are to be avoided) and ideally a standard 3/4" mitre gauge slot, which will allow numerous choices for accessories of other brands.
Used makes to consider include, Kity, record, startrite, wadkin etc in increasing order of desirability (in my view).

hth

Bob

 

[Andy RV]

You should be able to get a good old cast iron saw for that amount, do you have a 3 phase supply?
Have a look at ebay, there is normally a good selection, such as this one for example:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Startrite-12- ... 500wt_1287