Live and learn.

Don’t buy a saw from lowes. You’ll get much more for your money if you shop around online. Glad you came to LJ too, lots of great people, advise and know how around here

-- Welcome to downtown Coolsville, Population: US! --Hogarth Hughes

Ben, I want that porter cable saw. It’s 600 bucks and no other saw touches it for that money. Believe me, I’ve been shopping TS’s for months.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

Ben, Try craigslist in your area. Look fro a good used Delta, Powermatic, or Rockwell cabinet saw in the 3 HP range. They are worth having. Most table saws have very similar footprints. Make sure it has an, accufence, newer style Delta fence or a Beisemeyer fence. A good fence is an important part of a table saw.

-- Oldworld, Fair Oaks, Ca

Second Ben’s opinion; don’t buy a TS a lowes. You might want to check out Grizzly; great stuff and reasonable prices.

-- Don, Royersford, PA

John, I can’t do 3 hp, not enough amps in my house to spare.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

Ben, here is a link to a possible table saw in Kansas City. These saws must be in very good condition to worth buying. No picture of this one for sale. Worth a call to get photos and condition.

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/tls/2879968549.html

-- Oldworld, Fair Oaks, Ca

Don, I’ve compared the Grizzly G0715P TS, (at $900 delivered) with the Porter Cable PCB270TS, ($600) And I don’t find enough difference to justify the extra $300. Tell my why Grizzly is better.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

John, I emailed to see it. Why doesn’t he just post the photos if he can email them?

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

Russ
I think there’s a small factor of folks that name call ,I would just focus on the other 99% .Like you say you’ve been on line and you know there are some folks that just don’t know any better. As for not following advise I don’t know how anyone really can since there are so many different approaches to any given question.
As far as table saws in the $600
I think Ridgid 4512 is one of the best out there in that range .http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=202500206&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=202500206&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googlebase-_-D25X-_-202500206
I have not seen a porter cable so I don’t know how it compairs to the Ridgid. But I have used a Ridgid and 7 or 8 of my students who have purchased the Ridgid’s and not one has been unhappy with there purchase. I own a much larger saw and when I’ve used one of my students Ridgid saw and was very surprised at how well it cut and how good the fence was for a saw in that price range. If you have just shopped on line and not actually tried the saws fence you plan on buying I would strongly advise you try the fence in person. As far as comparing Grizzly to the portercable model there is a difference in the style , I would say either will work depending on what kind work your going to work on. the cabinet(hybrid) saws will work better for sheet goods and have a higher resale.

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

Russell, I agree w/Jim. I have had a Ridgid ts3650 for yrs, and been happy. I think most people who have one, like it. Plus you may be able to use a HF 20% off coupon. I believe Steel City also has a pretty well regarded contractor saw. If you can get 220, a used cabinet saw, may be the best option. A new grizzly cabinet saw would probably be a nice step up from a contractor saw, but you would be double budget on it. You can do most woodworking w/a properly tuned contractor saw and a sharp quality blade.

Jim, that Ridgid looks good, and it’s cheaper. I usually don’t go to Home Depot because I’ve been using Lowes for so long I know everyone out there, but I think I’ll pay them a visit tomorrow…besides I’ve already bought all the straight 1×4’s at Lowes and I need more. A guy here in town on LJ told me about another guy about 5 miles away who has some walnut lumber for around the same price a board foot as what I was talking to you about earlier. I’m meeting with him tomorrow and hope to purchase lots of walnut and cedar. He has a mill and dry’s wood too. So I’m almost set now. I can’t wait to work some walnut even though his wood is 15/16 thick. I think walnut is an amazingly beautiful wood, and with Niel’s pre-conditioner it will be much easier to get a professional finish.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

Shane, what’s this about a 20% off coupon?
The Ryobi was a impulse purchase, I couldn’t pass it up at 199 as I was still up in the air about which TS to get. I figured it would get me by in the mean time.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

unfortunately the Porter-Cable name was bought and prostituted into a cheap version of its former self. It is no longer a quality company.
we use a Ridgid (15 years old and still perfect) in the shop, and a Hitachi (sorry no longer making TS) at job-sites.

-- I cut it 3 times and it was still too short?!?

Steel City has lots of saws but no prices.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

Russ,
I own an earlier version of the Ridgid saw and definitely recommend it over the PC. The one thing about Ridgid that PC can’t touch is the warranty and customer service. The one time I had a problem with a Ridgid part (it worked but it just wasn’t right) I sent an e-mail to Ridgid’s customer service with a digital picture and four days later Fedex delivered a replacement…no questions asked.

-- Greg, Severn MD