Is this Table Saw worth the money?????

#4 buy a used powermatic save the extra money to buy your dreams saw later.

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

I don’t know about the Griz, but I wouldn’t spend that much if I intended to get another later. I’d watch Craigslist and yard sales for a deal. There are a lot of them out there. I bought a couple generators that way until I was ready to drop $1K on a Honda just for the peace and quiet ;-))

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence Wake Up America!! Please read; http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

If it is the PC table saw that sits at around 500.00 then I have the hitachi version of it. I bought the last one on clearance and the PC was in its place a week later. Couldn’t tell the difference and neither could the sales person. The top on mine is dead flat and square to the blade. It is possible to adjust the squareness but it wouldn’t be all that easy. I couldn’t be happier and won’t bother upgrading for several years to come as it powers through everything I’ve tossed at it.

-- --Rev. Russ in NY-- A posse ad esse

I am with Jim, on the #4 option. Doesnt have to be powermatic but a solid used saw you could easily get your money back out of later when it comes time to get the dream saw. Based on some earlier posts you could have a significant wait for the grizzly. So if you want to go grizzly you may check availability first.

I would suggest you go to www.claz.org and set up an email alert for table saws in your area. It will daily search the free classifieds and alert you every time someone puts a saw up for sale. There are a lot of good saws on the market frequently.

-- "Measure twice, cut once, count fingers"

If you’re talking about the PCB270TS, it has a couple of drawbacks that I’m not particularly impressed with for $600. In addition to the steel wings, the fence is among the worst in this class IMHO…very easy to rock off 90°, but the biggest concern would be the longterm durability of the plastic gear in the blade height mechanism. It’s just not a saw I’d be drawn to is this price range, but that doesn’t mean it won’t make you happy. I think both the Ridgid R4512 and the Craftsman 22183 offer a bit more.

The Griz has got some nice features too, but only you can decide whether or not it’s worth the extra money. There are definitely drawbacks dealing with the mail order issues.

The Craftsman 22116 (made by Steel City/Orion) is another good candidate when the price drops below $800. The Jet Proshop is also a nice saw, but has not yet been updated with a riving knife. It’s always worth keeping your eyes peeled for a good used saw. Anything approaching a true 2hp will require 220v.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

If I was looking in that price range, I’d look for a good older better made table saw. If you buy a new one they have more plastic in the wrong places and they make them cheaper.
There are a lot of older guys getting out of woodworking for health reasons. Keep an eye out for good solid used saw. One way to get an edge on buying that good saw before someone else does at a sale or through an ad is to put a Wanted Ad in a few places. That way you get first shot at the machine! Sometimes you get an upgraded fence thrown in with the deal,too.

I have a Ryobi 10” saw from the HD and I am happy with it. It has plenty of power for the stuff I do and the fence is accurate. The only thing is that it does not have miter slots- it has a sliding miter table off to the left.

Good luck on the hunt!!..............Jim

-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!!

One of the problems is… I don’t want to buy another used TS until I know how to do the repairs and alignments myself. If I take it to a tool repair shop, they’re just going to try to get as much money out of me as they can.
I would buy a nice, used one from somebody that I knew and trusted, but I don’t know anybody that is selling one. I’m not going to give a stranger $600 – $800 for a saw that I don’t know if I can trust. Maybe the motor only has a few more months of life left, maybe it has some sort of other issue that is not apparent at first sight or use. I need something with a warranty or some sort of assurance that I’m not getting screwed.

-- Cheers and God Bless

I’m with Jim. $500 for a used PM or Unisaw. I’ve got the same saw you killed and I love mine to death. I’ve had the opportunity to buy flawless vintage PMs, new PM2000s for a song, etc. but I just can’t let go of my old JET. If it needed a $175 repair, I’d probably have to let her go, though. Green PM is my vote.

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

I would agree with Knotscott. I bought the Craftsman 22183 after studying the Hitachi at Lowes. Lowes replaced the Hitachi with the PC, but it’s the same saw. The Hitachi/PC fence is what turned me off. But then I looked inside and the plastic gear was the last straw.

My Craftsman is virtualy the same saw as the Ridgid R4512 now sold at HD; different paint of course. I Paid $410 for it about 15 months ago. It’s a good saw for the money, very good fence, strong motor, riving knife, adjustable arbor. Cons, useless manual, difficult arbor adjustment when you don’t know about the locking set screws the manual neglected to tell you about, internal fit and finish of the arbor mechanism is poor.

If I was considering a future cabinet saw purchase and also considering I need to take a saw to job sites, I would probably go for a top end jobsite saw in the short term. I like the Bosch or Ridgid, they are both around $500 to $600. Both have good fences, standard miter slots and can handle a dado stack. That’s the features you loose on cheaper saws.

-- Michael :-{| Diapers and politicians both need to be changed often; and for the same reason.

Most vintage saws you can tell from visual inspection whether they were used
in a production shop or not. Really, with the 10” saws, there’s a lot of them
on the 2nd-hand market that were only used by hobbiests or in 1-man shops –
so not punishing production work.

I dunno why people get so freaked out about buying used stuff and warranties
and all that. I’ve found machine break-downs in older equipment to be far,
far less of a problem than those who cry wolf (“new!”) would imply.

I loaned my contractor saw to a fellow who used it to build his house
When he returned it to me he did exactly what happened to yours.
I came home to find it on it’s edge with a corner dug into the sod a several inches where it was summarily dumped off the back of a truck. I suppose I should have been grateful he pitched it out in the grass and not the pavement.

-- When the moderator chooses sides, his site sucks.

I would think you could get a used delta or powermatic in the $350-$ 500 range. I’ve had a good number of students buy used saws and it’s rare to find serious problems with them. One of my students bought a use cabinet saw from our local High School that had been in daily use in the High school since 1955 and had no problems with it the last 3 years since they bought it. There’s nothing wrong with buying new if that’s what you want. Although I have not bought a table saw from Grizzly I have bought 6 other pieces of equipment from them over the years and have been very happy with them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NICE-DELTA-10-UNISAW-TILTING-ARBOR-TABLE-SAW-36-951-/130568345918?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e667ad93e

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

Here’s a Unisaw for $350 on CL. -Jack

When I can afford it I plan on buying the grizzly. After visiting there showroom and looking at there saws compared to craftsman/big box stores saws there is no question I will buy a grizzly. Even the $500 dollars saws at lowe’s you can skew and lock down the fence at 10-15 degrees out of alignment. The grizzly is smooth and has a good fence that you won’t have to square with every adjustment. I am not an expert by a long shot but I was truly impressed with the quality of grizzly. The powermatic saws are great but if you find one in the $500-800 price range what kind of shape will it be in and will you be constantly replacing parts and having to maintenance a 15-20 year old saw? I think the grizzly will more than suffice for the average woodworker.