Portable Table Saw Buying Advice

[NickM]

Hi Friends,

I am a DIYer--repairs around the house, build small furniture, help a neighbor or two from time to time.

With that said, I am in the market (new or used) for a portable 10" table saw. Space is an issue. Currently I am lookng over the Bosch GTS1031 and the Craftsman 21829 with the gravity stand.

Your thoughts/experiences with either of these saws? Perhaps another brand of table saw?

To do rips and cross cuts now I use the Eureka EZSmart rail guide system, and while it is a nice system I find it a bit cumbersome. In addition, I own a Ridgid 12" dual compound sliding miter saw.

Ok, let's hear it.

Thanks!

Nick

 

 

 

[Ken Darga]

Nick,

I've researched several portable and job site table saws quite thoroughly, for quite some time,

before finalizing my decision.

I settled on the Bosch GTS1031.

It has features others don't have.   Ideal for a small shop and limited space.

It's nice and compact, can be carried with one hand, weights a little over 50 lbs.

Stores nice on its end.

Not having an integral stand with the saw, is not an issue with me.

The saw can be placed on a floor, driveway, patio, deck,  or placed on a suitable portable stand.

I often need a tablesaw, to use at a jobsite, and the Bosch 1031 fits the bill.

The arbor permits dado blades up to 1/2".

Works for me.

[Ken Darga]

Nick,

The Bosch GTS1031 saw includes a 10" all-purpose carbide tipped blade.

It's suitable for ripping and cross-cutting rough material.

To obtain smooth cuts on plywood, and the like, purchase a separate 60 tooth carbide blade.

A 7-1/4" will suffice nicely for most cutting jobs, including trim and thin materials.

A fine tooth plywood is also very useful.

A 7-1/4" can also be used with your electric hand saw.

Nice to have a variety of blades to fit both saws.

If you decide to invest in a dado set, I recommend the 6" dia.

[Russ Haynes]

I have a DeWalt DW745.  My dad has the Bosch 4100, which is slightly different than the GTS1031 and comes mounted on a Bosch gravity-rise stand.  His Bosch is a nice saw, but it's heavier and harder to move, despite being on wheels.  My DeWalt is light and can be stored on a shelf.  DeWalt makes a stand to fit the saw, but it's separate and doesn't have wheels.  I like not having a heavy, tubular stand with wheels attached to the saw.  The DeWalt stand folds up flat when you don't need it.  Blade replacement is easy, dust collection is good, and making ZCIs for it is a snap.  The fence system is good, easily adjustable, and stable although the Bosch admittedley has a larger rip capacity -- the DeWalt fence will get up to 16 1/2" away from the blade, the Bosch goes out to 18".

 

But after a few years, guess who just ditched their Bosch and bought a DeWalt...  He said it was too heavy and too big a pain-in-his-a** getting it in and out of his car.  He looked at replacing it with the GTS1031, but finally bought a DeWalt like mine because the total cost (with the stand) of the DeWalt was far more reasonable.  Now, I love Bosch tools and have quite a few (not as many as my dad but his budget is a little bigger).  But when my dad said "I'm getting rid of my Bosch, just too big, do you want it?"  I said, "no thanks, it won't fit in my shop and my DeWalt does just fine."  And when it came to the table saw show-down, Mr. Bosch actually bought the DeWalt.  And he likes it -- although he hasn't let me put a ZCI on it yet or change the blade over to a Freud.

[Ken Darga]

The Bosch 4100 is more suitable as a contractors "job site" saw, vs the smaller GTS1031 or a DW745.

Akin to comparing a one-ton truck vs a 1/2 ton pickup.

The Bosch 4100 will handle cutting and ripping larger stuff than on a Bosch GTS1031 or a DW745.

The Bosch 4100 is larger and heavier, and with the integral folding mobile stand---and is too large to fit into the trunk of most regular size automobiles.

Akin to putting a truck load of landscape timers onto a 1/2 ton pickup bed.

The light duty stands, available accessories, for the GS1031 or a DW745, are not suitably built to withstand heavy-duty use, like when cutting larger materials.  Those light duty stands are susceptible to wobble---they're not very rigid, to my liking.

The GS1031 and the DW745 on for light to med duty cutting operations.

A GS1031 or a DW745 can be mounted and secured on a suitable stable stand or base, constructed of heavier wood materials, such as 3/4" plywood, and be of such size and weight, so as to make it sturdy and stable.  

Adequate HD locking swivel casters can be fitted onto the stand to make it mobile.  

The GS1031, can be fitted with a shop-made outfeed table extention, constructed of 1/2" MDF and adequately supported, so as to rip longer material, as well as supporting larger objects on the left side of the table.

The GS1031 can be fitted with a shop-made readily removable auxilliary fence, for ripping longer and wider materials, as well and cutting grooves into the end of a work-piece.

The GS1031 will accommodate a 1/2" dado blade---handy for making rabbets and dados and cutting grooves, ex, making tongue and groove joints. 

The DW745 will only accommodate a ''SINGLE" blade.

The accessories, that come with the GS1031, can be stored "on-board" the machine.

I think the Porter-Cable compact portable job site saw is better than the DW745, for comparable $$$.

A suitable shop-made cross-cut sled can be made available to fit either of the saws.

A cross-cut sled is more suitable than the generic miter gauges furnished with the saws.

Make "objective" vs "subjective" analysis when purchasing a table saw.

Buy the best you can afford.

[Russ Haynes]

I use a dado stack in my DeWalt frequently.  I always set it up for 3/8" (so I can cut a 3/4" dado in two passes).  I've never tried to throw a 1/2" stack on it, but there's room left on the bolt when I put on my 3/8" stack, which has the two outside blades, two chippers, and spacers/shims. 

 

The basic folding stand that DeWalt makes for this saw is surprisingly good.  I've had mine set up on it for a long time now.  It's amazingly stable considering the size and design.  And with adequate outfeed support (and infeed support when cutting larger stock or sheet goods), it's rock steady.  There are four orange folding roller stands leaning agaist the door in the back right. 

[Ken Darga]

Russ,

Glad to hear you like your DW745 saw, it's a nice saw.

When I reviewed the DW745 saw, the arbor length was too short, for my needs.

The shaft length didn't allow for installing a dado blade.

With a single saw blade installed, there were only 2 threads exposed, beyond the arbor nut.

Perhaps DeWalt has since extented the threaded portion on the arbor, to accept dado blades.

 

[Scott]

I too have a pain in my Awesomely Small Shop!

The saw to buy is the Sears 21829!!!!!!

Btw, I was in a local Sears the other day and saw the 21829 on clearance for just over $400. If I already didn't have a small herd of saws... ;))

This model is descended from the Ryobi BT3xxx series of saws, that has features only found on much more expensive offerings:
* Sturdy folding stand!! Unplug, hit the toe release and your saw wheels into a 2' d x 3' w space!!
* Wide rails that slide side-to-side to allow for 33" rips!
* Integrated router mounting plate and accessory kit! The convenience of having the router available all the time is truly valuable
* Sliding Miter Table (SMT) - The ability to handle cross-cuts of 21" depth is fantastic! You should spend some extra $$'s for a quality blade, and with easily made miter fence extensions, you have equally quality cross-cuts as your rips. I make a lot of cabinet and shelves these days, and having the ability to get such clean cross-cuts on pieces 42" long by 21+" wide is the best.
* Dust control is fabulous! A standard shop vac hookup catches 99% of ALL dust.
* Accurate, precise cuts! Do your initial alignments of the fences, the bevel (mine didn't require any - came solid gold out of the box:)) and this machine will HOLD! I straight-lined some rough the other day, and I had an 8' long piece of cutoff that was ~ 1/8" the entire length. That's possible with a great saw with a middle of the road blade that has many many miles on it (Diablo combo blade about $38)
* Powerful 15 amp motor - handles all the 2x ripping that I throw at it (and that's a lot)

Lots of accessories are available because most of them from the BT3x saw fit this model. The zero clearance throat plate took a bit of tweaking, but the add-on miter gauge slot bolted right on. Extra parts are also readily available through machines that are being parted out - extra tops come in real handy - keep an eye on CraigsList for parts machine (I got one for $60 last summer)

There's an enthusiastic owners community at bt3central.com where you can get lots of firsthand experience feedback and research. Tons of help & plans for making enhancement modifications too.

By the way, these machines are manufactured by Emerson Tools, who also have the Milwaukee & Ridgid brands. The Ridgid R4510 (mobile folding base) and the also mentioned R4512 get rave reviews. The R4510 even shares a few of the same great features of the Craftsman.

Be sure to check out the pictures of the 21829 - and get a feel for just how small a space it occupies when folded up - that's a value beyond words for us sharing our shops with stupid things like cars and such.

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-professional-15-amp-10inch-portable-...

At only $400, you should have enough budget left to pickup a good blade, a bottle of CMT blade cleaner, and maybe even toss in a decent router too boot!

And one last word of advice: no matter what saw you invest in, the first thing you do is build an OUT-FEED TABLE for it! My everyday one is a $6 desk top from Ikea with hangers to the saw's back rail and one of those fold-up flip-top support stands ($35 @ Lowes). Takes me 30 seconds to set up.

My SAFETY factor went up 1000% the day I added the out-feed! That eliminates the tendency to lean over the blade when dealing with any cuts longer than a couple of feet. No matter how cautious you are, when that 3' long board starts to fall off the back of the table, your instincts over-ride your brain and you want to reach for it.

Needless to say, I am an enthusiastic Craftsman 21829 (and Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100) owner :)

Scott

I too have a pain in my Awesomely Small Shop!

The saw to buy is the Sears 21829!!!!!!

Btw, I was in a local Sears the other day and saw the 21829 on clearance for just over $400. If I already didn't have a small herd of saws... ;))

This model is descended from the Ryobi BT3xxx series of saws, that has features only found on much more expensive offerings:
* Sturdy folding stand!! Unplug, hit the toe release and your saw wheels into a 2' d x 3' w space!!
* Wide rails that slide side-to-side to allow for 33" rips!
* Integrated router mounting plate and accessory kit! The convenience of having the router available all the time is truly valuable
* Sliding Miter Table (SMT) - The ability to handle cross-cuts of 21" depth is fantastic! You should spend some extra $$'s for a quality blade, and with easily made miter fence extensions, you have equally quality cross-cuts as your rips. I make a lot of cabinet and shelves these days, and having the ability to get such clean cross-cuts on pieces 42" long by 21+" wide is the best.
* Dust control is fabulous! A standard shop vac hookup catches 99% of ALL dust.
* Accurate, precise cuts! Do your initial alignments of the fences, the bevel (mine didn't require any - came solid gold out of the box:)) and this machine will HOLD! I straight-lined some rough the other day, and I had an 8' long piece of cutoff that was ~ 1/8" the entire length. That's possible with a great saw with a middle of the road blade that has many many miles on it (Diablo combo blade about $38)
* Powerful 15 amp motor - handles all the 2x ripping that I throw at it (and that's a lot)

Lots of accessories are available because most of them from the BT3x saw fit this model. The zero clearance throat plate took a bit of tweaking, but the add-on miter gauge slot bolted right on. Extra parts are also readily available through machines that are being parted out - extra tops come in real handy - keep an eye on CraigsList for parts machine (I got one for $60 last summer)

There's an enthusiastic owners community at bt3central.com where you can get lots of firsthand experience feedback and research. Tons of help & plans for making enhancement modifications too.

By the way, these machines are manufactured by Emerson Tools, who also have the Milwaukee & Ridgid brands. The Ridgid R4510 (mobile folding base) and the also mentioned R4512 get rave reviews. The R4510 even shares a few of the same great features of the Craftsman.

Be sure to check out the pictures of the 21829 - and get a feel for just how small a space it occupies when folded up - that's a value beyond words for us sharing our shops with stupid things like cars and such.

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-professional-15-amp-10inch-portable-...

At only $400, you should have enough budget left to pickup a good blade, a bottle of CMT blade cleaner, and maybe even toss in a decent router too boot!

And one last word of advice: no matter what saw you invest in, the first thing you do is build an OUT-FEED TABLE for it! My everyday one is a $6 desk top from Ikea with hangers to the saw's back rail and one of those fold-up flip-top support stands ($35 @ Lowes). Takes me 30 seconds to set up.

My SAFETY factor went up 1000% the day I added the out-feed! That eliminates the tendency to lean over the blade when dealing with any cuts longer than a couple of feet. No matter how cautious you are, when that 3' long board starts to fall off the back of the table, your instincts over-ride your brain and you want to reach for it.

Needless to say, I am an enthusiastic Craftsman 21829 (and Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100) owner :)

Scott

[michael evans]

Hi ken i have the dewalt 745 2 years old now ,bought because i like the rack and pinion system for the fence.Great little saw if somewhat noisey in use,it has its limitations but for me spot on .Mine has 4 legs and 2 wheels type stand which is great for a 12x8 shop[ manoverable]in the end we try too purchase what suits our needs best i guess ,oh i nearly forgot the dewalt will not take dado blades here the arbor too short.But dado blades illegal here mores the pity go steady ken, mick.
 
Ken Darga said:

Russ,

Glad to hear you like your DW745 saw, it's a nice saw.

When I reviewed the DW745 saw, the arbor length was too short, for my needs.

The shaft length didn't allow for installing a dado blade.

With a single saw blade installed, there were only 2 threads exposed, beyond the arbor nut.

Perhaps DeWalt has since extented the threaded portion on the arbor, to accept dado blades.

 

[Ken Darga]

Mick,

That's what I found.

Perhaps an "arbor stretcher" was used to make it longer.

michael evans said:

>>>... the dewalt will not take dado blades here the arbor too short....br/>

[Russ Haynes]

I must live in some strange, parallel universe then, because I use a dado set on that saw frequently.  I'll post a pic tonight - includiung the ZCI I took the time to make for the dado stack because I use it so much... 

[Ken Darga]

Russ,

When using a dado blade, do you "omit" the thrust washer(s)? 

---so as to obtain additional threaded shaft length on the arbor. 

[Russ Haynes]

Nope, one to start and one to finish.  My stack goes:  T-washer, cutting blade, spacer, chipper blade, spacer, cutting blade, T-washer, arbor nut.