phillamb168
Established Member
I know the first two are completely different from the second two, at least in terms of price, but I'm trying to get my head around the best saw for our shop. We don't have a ton of space, probably 3mx10m, so footprint is a concern, although unfolding things for doing panel work will not be a problem as long as it's temporary.
What we'll be doing: some table-based joinery - rabbets, half laps, also miter cuts, crosscuts, ripping etc etc. Mostly using it for shelving/cabinetry and furniture-making. No pro stuff, but I don't want a toy either, otherwise I'd be looking at a little contractor saw. Dust collection is more important than normal because the shed is a shared workshop + brewery + sausage-curing thing.
Other than that, I don't really know what to ask about. I want cast iron, I no longer think that a dado-capable table is necessary (despite the fact that I agree with this guy: http://benchmark.20m.com/articles/Cabin ... rosaw.html when he says "The common Euro response when it comes to the "dado question" is that they are illegal in Europe and there are other (inference = better) ways of performing the same operation. In reality this is at best a lame excuse, the dado blade is a very good way of making grooves, if it weren't, they wouldn't be popular. Although molding heads have lost much of their popularity due to inexpensive router bits, they are still a cost effective method of producing molding.") ... Thoughts?
What we'll be doing: some table-based joinery - rabbets, half laps, also miter cuts, crosscuts, ripping etc etc. Mostly using it for shelving/cabinetry and furniture-making. No pro stuff, but I don't want a toy either, otherwise I'd be looking at a little contractor saw. Dust collection is more important than normal because the shed is a shared workshop + brewery + sausage-curing thing.
Other than that, I don't really know what to ask about. I want cast iron, I no longer think that a dado-capable table is necessary (despite the fact that I agree with this guy: http://benchmark.20m.com/articles/Cabin ... rosaw.html when he says "The common Euro response when it comes to the "dado question" is that they are illegal in Europe and there are other (inference = better) ways of performing the same operation. In reality this is at best a lame excuse, the dado blade is a very good way of making grooves, if it weren't, they wouldn't be popular. Although molding heads have lost much of their popularity due to inexpensive router bits, they are still a cost effective method of producing molding.") ... Thoughts?
