dagnabbit - table saw broke!

[JB740i]

Man I thought you broke it bad. I had some [lastic shelving collapse and fall over that had a couple bundles of extra shingles on the top. The bundles hit the table saw and bounced again. It's kinda lopsided now.

 

[D'Animal]

To be clear (I wasn't ) that paragraph was referring to buying a used saw, with a fence system included. Might be more 'bang for the buck' for you than putting a good fence on a homeowner saw. Depends on what you're gonna do though- I used a VEGA fence on a 40+ year old Craftsman saw for many years, and still have the saw today playing second fiddle to an older JET I picked up cheap.

From my experience

Home Owner Table saws fall into a few catagories.

Generally a true homeowner saw has a corrogated top and the blade plate does not sit flush with the table. The fences are crap and you can generally get a straighter edge by clamping a 2x4 to the tabletop using "C" clamps. The end play on the motor or blade arbor is sloppy and needs shimmed, if it even can be.

A contractor grade saw generally has a corrogated top and the blade plate does not sit flush with the table. The fences are good but it is designed for ripping 2x6' and ply wood. The fences can be upgraded to better quality ones. The arbor shaft on the motor and blade arbors are longer to eccept blade stiffeners to keep the blade flex to a minimum.

A Wood Worker grade saw generally has a flat smooth top wich is generally cast iron adn it can be expanded or added on to to make a bigger surface. The blade plate does sit flush with the table. Mutiple blate plates are available so you can run dado setups. The fences are very good but can be upgraded to better quality ones. The arbor shaft on the motor and blade arbors are longer to accept dado cobination and larger and thicker blade stiffeners for the 12" units to keep the blade flex to a minimum.

 

[john_eckels]

These are generally reffered to as cabinet saws. The trunions are usually made out of very heavy cast steel. The motor/belt assembly is connected to the trunions, and is inside the base of the saw rather than sticking out the back or being direct drive like the real cheap ones.

From my experience


A Wood Worker grade saw generally has a flat smooth top wich is generally cast iron adn it can be expanded or added on to to make a bigger surface. The blade plate does sit flush with the table. Mutiple blate plates are available so you can run dado setups. The fences are very good but can be upgraded to better quality ones. The arbor shaft on the motor and blade arbors are longer to accept dado cobination and larger and thicker blade stiffeners for the 12" units to keep the blade flex to a minimum.