Looking for a table saw (1 Viewer)

[Chu Gai]

Something in the $300 or so range. Like it to be able to do dados, have extensions, etc. Can you guys bring me up to speed and if there are somewhat more expensive models give me the pros and cons?

 

[Allen Ross]

see what you can find for deals on the Ridge line, my buddy picked one up last year with a life time guarantee for 500 bucks, its a full size contractors style, but well worth the money.

IMO don't get the table top ones, they are cheap but such a pain to work with when dealing with large panels of MDF. and your budget might not cut it for a new contractors, so try and find used, Delta/Rockwell are all ways solid machines no matter if they are 40 years old.

 

[ThomasW]

In that price range the only thing worth buying is the Ryobi BT-3100

And you probably want to look around here
http://www.bt3central.com/default.asp

 

[Nick Hallett]

I'd give a vote for the Ryobi BT-20, it's a folding unit with 27" of right rip capacity, big enough to cut panels for most reasonable boxes. But if you can swing the extra hundred or so, go for the BT-3100.

 

[Andrus_R]

Becareful with that table saw....

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I just got my dad a 10" Craftsman jobsite table saw for $170 (regular $300, on sale for $200, 10% off saturday sale & 10% off craftsman club). I think the Craftsman Professional version (stronger motor, longer extensions, heavier duty casters) is not much more than $300, especially w/ some of the many discounts Sears offers around the holidays. If you're not looking for a jobsite/contractors saw then there are alot of good options. I would just make sure that the saw you chose includes a solid fence that slides in tracks on both sides of the table and locks firmly in place, some sort of dust collection provisions, and a cast table surface (as opposed to the stamped kind that often have guide tracks that don't allow you to use home-made guides). Does anyone know of any new non-direct (belt) drive models in this price range?