Table Saws

SpitfireIV

I was actually looking at that particular table saw ttm in a topline store (Connolly's of Bagnelstown) back in December. Cant recall the price now, but from my quick examination it did seem a pretty hefty, well made piece of kit! And for a small workshop the foldup base seemed ideal! Do you find the base strong?

I know these are relatively cheap, but they are after all a Ryobi, I know they arent up to Bosch or Dewalt etc standard, but they are a good make and well regarded in the US as a sort of intermediatery level brand. I have a Ryobi sliding mitre saw and a cordless drill, both of which have served me well so far (although the blade in the mitre saw was rubbish! :P)

ttm

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

I was actually looking at that particular table saw ttm in a topline store (Connolly's of Bagnelstown) back in December. Cant recall the price now, but from my quick examination it did seem a pretty hefty, well made piece of kit! And for a small workshop the foldup base seemed ideal! Do you find the base strong?

I know these are relatively cheap, but they are after all a Ryobi, I know they arent up to Bosch or Dewalt etc standard, but they are a good make and well regarded in the US as a sort of intermediatery level brand. I have a Ryobi sliding mitre saw and a cordless drill, both of which have served me well so far (although the blade in the mitre saw was rubbish! :P)

I was lucky enough to buy it for 220 euro inc delivery, someone must have made a mistake in the eBay listing, at that money its a great saw. For the current 320euro its still good value but I wouldn't pay the cheapest shop price I've seen it at which is 430 euro (Tom Currans Dungarvan and they would be one of the cheaper places to buy good tools)

I've had no stability problems. I was concerned before I bought it that the stand might not be good enough but it seems very solid. I might have bought a cheaper bench saw if I had somewhere dry I could leave it set up, then again that might have been a good excuse for a more expensive one

There are drawbacks with this saw but it will rip construction timber 4x2's without much effort and has a big enough support table extension to make ripping 3/4inch 8x4 ft sheets easy enough. Like an earlier poster mentioned it tends to loose its setup and not cut at exactly 90degrees all the time but its only a very small movement that I know can happen so double check with a square if I need it spot on when cutting thicker timbers (I've set mine so it cuts -0.5 to +45 degrees, depending how you look at it, and make any quick adjustments on the angle wheel). The blade its ships with is OK and fine for rough work but I might replace it sometime with somthing with a few more teeth for finer work.

ennisa

If you can afford it try and find one with an induction motor. The first one that croppyboy posted a link for on axminster has one. Mine does not have one ( it's on the first page of this post) and i was amazed when i was looking at some of the tutorials online when they started up the saw and all I could hear was a whine and they could talk over the noise of the saw!! With a universal motor this DOES NOT happen! I wear ear defenders all the time now when i use it. I have turned it on without wearing them and it is deafening now that I am not used to the noise. Or even if i take the defenders off before it has spun all the way down I am surprised at how noisy it it. The other things that I would recommend in order that I would want them (from the point of view that I don't have them and envy those that do) is riving knife that does not extend above the blade as I have to take it off everytime i do a non through cut, more room in front of the blade, a standard mitre slot so I could buy a better miter gauge and a cast iron table top.

The one thing that struck me about the wolf saw and somebody else pointed it out, is that the fence can not slide any further than the edge of the main table. In my experience this will severely limit the usage of the saw. Yes you can use it so the wast you are cutting off is between the blade and the fence but on small pieces that is dangerous. The guy in the aldi picture can tell you all about it because he is about to lose his family jewels in that picture when the work piece tilts against the fence and it kicks back

dubtom

I got this one in Mcquillans a year or so ago. Best money I've ever spent. I struggled with an akita (I think it was called) for years and couldn't cut a straight line. What sold this for me was the V sturdy double fence,no fence drifting,once in place it's locked.The 3 hp motor helped too, it's very quiet,actually I can't hear it at all over the roar of the extractor. I find blanch more open to haggling than capel with prices. Go to the main man up there,gerry,if he can do a deal he will to make a sale. The only draw back with the saw is it's size,I have the two extra cast iron beds attached each side which gives it a fairly large footprint,I didn't go for the huge sliding carriage that you can get with it,I wouldn't have been able to fit in my shed if I had.

ennisa

looks very nice tom, i didn't have that kind of budget though

dubtom

That kind of budget is unnecessary when a friend is a tradesman;)

ennisa

sneaky, I like it!

ttm

A quick update on the Ryobi saw above (ETS 1825) I've had problems with the throat plate. Its made of plastic and if it get a slap from a piece of timber thats fed badly or has a slight warp it gets smashed, so then there is no support around the blade for the timber. The supplier promised me a free replacement but that was 3 weeks ago, last I heard the supplier was talking to the Ryobi rep about it. So given up on the supplier and just ordered a couple of throat plates from powertoolspares.com in the UK, got two as the throat plate is badly designed and I'll be breaking it again I'm sure.

ennisa

when you get some that aren't broken then it might be good to make some copies from MDF. You can use the template to create a zero clearence insert the will improve the quality and accuracy of your cuts.

ttm

ennisa wrote: »

when you get some that aren't broken then it might be good to make some copies from MDF. You can use the template to create a zero clearence insert the will improve the quality and accuracy of your cuts.

Good idea and one I'd already thought of, but I'm not sure MDF is going to be up to the job as the plastic of the throat plate is very thin and only 3mm thick around the edges were it gets support from the table (there are webs under the throat plate to give it more strength). Once I have a replacement I was thinking more of gettting a chunk of 3mm thick aluminium sheet and cutting and filing it to size. Although plan "C" is to get a mate in the sign trade to cut me a few plastic spares including a Zero clearnence insert on his computerised router table.

SpitfireIV

ttm wrote: »

A quick update on the Ryobi saw above (ETS 1825) I've had problems with the throat plate. Its made of plastic and if it get a slap from a piece of timber thats fed badly or has a slight warp it gets smashed, so then there is no support around the blade for the timber. The supplier promised me a free replacement but that was 3 weeks ago, last I heard the supplier was talking to the Ryobi rep about it. So given up on the supplier and just ordered a couple of throat plates from powertoolspares.com in the UK, got two as the throat plate is badly designed and I'll be breaking it again I'm sure.

ennisa wrote: »

when you get some that aren't broken then it might be good to make some copies from MDF. You can use the template to create a zero clearence insert the will improve the quality and accuracy of your cuts.

I had an interesting experience with my table saw a couple of months back which sort of forced me to make an MDF zero tolerance throat plate .

My own stupid fault, but I was trying to cut a thin strip of oak. The timber was higher than it was wide. I was using pushsticks etc, nearly had the cut done and the piece went into 'kickback' mode. Being that the throatplate was plastic when the piece kicked downward it smashed the plastic plate, if the plate were metal it would have kicked down and then out! :eek:

Like you ttm my plate is pretty thin around the edges. I used a piece of 6mm I think and recessed the edges so as to drop the plate level with the table. Its doing the job fine so far.

owen85

hi all. know this thread is very old but can anyone tell me if this ts is any good? want to use it for making furniture (tables, wardrobes , presses, beds etc) for the house.

boards wont let me post a link because im a new user???
just delete the spaces in my link and it will work
thanks

www . adverts . ie / 5710456

recipio

owen85 wrote: »

hi all. know this thread is very old but can anyone tell me if this ts is any good? want to use it for making furniture (tables, wardrobes , presses, beds etc) for the house.

boards wont let me post a link because im a new user???
just delete the spaces in my link and it will work
thanks

www . adverts . ie / 5710456

Would you buy a spanner to drive a screw ? Forget cheap throwaway tools and save up to buy a proper cabinet saw which will give you a lifetimes service.