Table Saw buying advice.

[PeterHad]

Hi all, I'm new here and although I've visited your forums to check up on a few items/reviews etc I have never registered.

I've been an avid hobbyist carpenter (is that a real word?) for more than a few years now and have largely managed to work my way into things with the help of various books and the internet, however last year I took the plunge, built myself a nice shiny new workshop and I am now busy upgrading some of my older, worn out tools, rather than blindly walk into retailers and go by their recommendations it seems logical for me to seek genuine advice, and hopefully be able to contribute if and when the time arises.

Which brings me to my point, my trusty table saw expired a few days ago and while I've managed to repair it and get it working again it really is time to move on, It's just a cheap one my wife bought me from B+Q 10 years ago, my works starting to require more accuracy, a larger capacity as I'm also working on much bigger projects with much harder wood.

I have a max budget of £1000, space isn’t too much of a problem but I would like to move it to the side if I need a little extra space, saying that I don’t really want a "site" type saw, I originally wanted one with an arbour capable of taking a Dado set but it looks like that’s a no go now due to H&S restrictions.

I have been hanging my nose over Axminsters AW10BSB2 £824.95 for a while now and it’s the favorite atm, I'm heading down to Axminster on Wednesday to have a look in the flesh , I’ve also looked at Record Powers TS250C-PKA that's currently £999.95, I'm not overly bothered about that one, seems a little poorly built but I honestly dont know what to expect.

I know this is just scratching the surface and there’s a larger range of manufacturers out there and I would greatly appreciate any advice you can offer me.

Many thanks

Peter

 

[heimlaga]

Have you considered secondhand?

Wadkin-Bursgreen AGS and Rapid are just two out of many models of compact cast iron table saws that can be found on the secondhand market. Buying secondhand and spending a little spare time on fixing up the saw would give your 1000 pounds a tremendous leverage. Essentially they would buy you a 3000 pound saw. Then we are suddenly talking top quality professional machines with a rigidity and accuracy you could never dream of on the hoybby market.
The secondhand route isn't the best route for everyone...... but always a route worth considering.

Such a saw mounted on a home made mobile base would be rigid yet movable a couple of metres on a concrete floor.

 

[PeterHad]

Thanks for the reply heimlaga, yes I have considered the second hand route, the two main problems I have with it is weight, due to its location I had to put a wooden base down for my workshop and as such I have to bear weight in mind, whilst it's a good strong well supported Base I'm not sure it's strong enough to cope with the weight of a cast iron TS, plus I have a problem gaining access, anything I buy has to be transported through the house and down a very long garden then up a small flight of steps into the workshop. That along with my inexperience with table saws and their inner workings and maintenance it would probably be the wrong choice for me, but thank you for the suggestion

 

[pcb1962]

I have been hanging my nose over Axminsters AW10BSB2 £824.95 for a while now and it’s the favorite atm, I'm heading down to Axminster on Wednesday to have a look in the flesh

When you look at that saw check carefully that the blade remains at right angles to the table as you raise and lower it. ISTR it's an issue with that model. Take a small engineer's square with you to check it.

 

[PeterHad]

Thanks pcb1962, that was a nice tip, popped down to Axminster today with my dad to have a look, asked about the blade moving as it get higher and the sales guy checked it with me, he also told me that they'd been selling that particular model for a while then proceeded to tell me how the blade release mechanism had been heavily discussed on UK workshop forums and as such they had upgraded it so cudous to you guys, I obviously came to the right place.

Anyway I bought the saw, (even got a free 80 tooth blade in for free) took four of us to get it up to the workshop, thankfully it's only me with the knackered back now much to the amusement of my two adult sons and my 78 year old dad, so I'll hopefully recover tomorrow and set it up on Thursday, just need to sort the 16amp supply out.

Yay new toy

Thank you again for the advice.