Not bad, until you use something better

Got the $299 saw as well. Going to retire the craftsman limited edition soon which included a stand for $140 like 5 years ago.

-- tkos

Glad you got a good saw. I think those little deltas are extremly——-not safe——

-- Bob Kenosha Wi.

I agree, I had the $100 Delta myself as a first tablesaw. I guess you probably can’t get any better for $100 though. I put a decent thin kerf blad on mine and it made a huge difference in relative power and cut quality. You’re right, the fence wasn’t bad, except for a max rip width of something like 11 inches (if I remember right) and the miter gauge did stink. The worst part for me was the noise and lack of dust containment. Anyway it sounds like you got a great upgrade, enjoy yourself.

-- "Never measure......cut as many times as necessary." - PeteMoss

Glad you got the Ridgid saw on that screaming deal of a price… Good saw, not a lot of money… I have had friends with that particular Delta table saw, and they burnt them up in less than a year. Some folks wonder why I don’t have any Delta in my shop… That saw is a good reason… Delta should know better than to slap their name on something like that.

-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!

I used a delta contractors saw for many years and it did a good job. It was about $700. A few years ago I got a powermatic 66 for about $2000. Its great and will probably be my last saw.

In short. You get what you pay for. Especially with table saws. I always tell people to buy the best saw you can afford. It is the foundation of most shops. Skimp on clamps or something.

Anyway, sounds like to got a huge upgrade. Happy sawing and don’t cut yourself.

-- Emmett, from Georgia

A $100 saw is better than no saw.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I also Bought the $299 Ridgid Granite TS at the Home depot! This is a Definite Upgrade to my $69 Clearance price Firestorm Table saw (all Plastic) and i am sure i will either Donate the B&D TS or find a good use for it!

P.S any ideas for the B&D Firestorm Saw?

-- I Now Bleed Orange! Thank You HD For the Clearance Sale!

jp93274: I’ve been thinking about what to do with my old saw too.

One idea would be to install a sanding disk and use it as a sander. This would be very easy to do.

You can also take the motor out to build a tool such as a sander or sharpener. There was a post on the forums about building a nice looking stationary belt sander.

BTW, I used the Ridgid saw for the first time tonight, to cut some plywood sheets. It is just a wonderful saw. It cut through the plywood like nothing else! That 30” rip capacity is something else too! I still need to make some ZCIs for it though.

-- Charles from California

Hahaha…I bought the same saw when I became interested in woodworking in 2003-it’s a total piece of junk. The miter slot gauge is off, the slots have too much play, the fence is awful…yet I spent so many hours with that saw that I still keep it as a memento….and to use for outdoor projects that require no accuracy. I’m thinking that it could be turned into a dedicated sander with one of those kits Grizzly or Rockler sell.

-- Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

I have to second ladiesman217 on all counts. I bought the same saw from Lowes to finish a trim job in my house and while it worked for what I bought it for, it was junk right out of the box. The miter gage would catch in the slot as I moved it, the fence didn’t move when locked down but it would move from it’s position when I locked it down. Then I had to unlock it, re-measure both ends to the blade while leaving enough error in anticipation of it moving and then try locking again. What a pain in the ass. The list goes on. . . it was too small, underpowered, too light, too noisy, too much runout, too much vibrtation, too ugly . . . . .

I used it for only a couple of small things after that, and then I rebuilt an old Unisaw. I put the P.O.S on craigslist before the Unisaw was up and running. I couldn’t get rid of it fast enough.

Ok, it was a $100 table saw. It was cheap and I got what I paid for. Lesson learned.

-- "I am endeavoring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bear skins."