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A little help here.........deciding on table saw

2K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  Charlie5791 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I am in the process of getting a "real" Table Saw.
A little background information.
I bought a ShopSmith about 30 years ago. I have never been real impressed with the Table Saw when I have used it. Then I was given an OLD (1950's or before) Delta Homecraft 8" bench top model. It did not have either a miter gauge or rip fence. I made a cross cut sled for it but still not happy with it.
My shop is in half of the basement, it is about 9-10' by 20-22'.

I have narrowed my decision down to 2 saws. A Grizzly G0715P, or a SteelCity 35990C. Originally I had decided on the Grizzly but was reading other posts and the SteelCity was mentioned. I have been looking at the SC and any info I can find about them. I am still not totally decided.
If you have either of these 2 saws or are familiar with them please share your opinion about the saw. I am looking for both Positives and negatives to base my final decision.

Thanks
Tom in Indy
 
#4 ·
I seriously considered the SC just a few months ago.
Then I saw one in person and was very disappointed.
I bought the delta 36-725.
This is a great machine. On top of it you can get it for $450.
Much more mother machine. This thing is great. He is awesome. Save yourself some money and get yourself a great saw.
In addition this is very popular on the lumberjacks. You will find help easily and quickly if you need any. Good luck.
 
#5 ·
I bought a Steel City 1.75 hybrid saw in 2008 and have nothing but good things to say about the saw, both the construction and performance. If memory serves I paid $999.99 on sale at my local Woodcraft ( Louisville). Mine has cast iron top and wings, I have no experience with the granite tops.

I use thin kerf blades at all times and try to make myself change them for ripping and cross cutting but to be honest I rarely do. I mostly use a Freud cross cut blade for all operations, but I keep them clean. The saw would rip much better if I was using a proper blade.

I would buy one with a full cabinet. The dust collection on mine is wonderful and I could not imagine going back to an open bottom saw.
 
#6 ·
To my mind there is not much choice between these 2 saws. The grizzly has a 2hp motor to the steal city 1.5. The grizzly has an enclosed base which makes dust collection better. The grizzly bessy clone fence is a proven quantity and is rock solid. I own one on my old unisaw and I am quite happy with it. The SC saw has a t-fence but I don't know anything about it.

The grizzly has a riving knife. This is huge and a very important safety feature. Looking at descriptions of the SC I see no mention of a riving knife which makes me think it does not have one. This reason alone should be enough to forget about the SC.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
The grizzly has a riving knife. This is huge and a very important safety feature. Looking at descriptions of the SC I see no mention of a riving knife which makes me think it does not have one. This reason alone should be enough to forget about the SC.

- Minorhero
Yes, it does. All new table saws being sold in the US have to include a riving knife and blade guard by federal law. You are welcome to express your opinion that you think the Grizzly is better, but please don't spread disinformation.
 
#9 ·
To my mind there is not much choice between these 2 saws. The grizzly has a 2hp motor to the steal city 1.5. The grizzly has an enclosed base which makes dust collection better. The grizzly bessy clone fence is a proven quantity and is rock solid. I own one on my old unisaw and I am quite happy with it. The SC saw has a t-fence but I don t know anything about it.

The grizzly has a riving knife. This is huge and a very important safety feature. Looking at descriptions of the SC I see no mention of a riving knife which makes me think it does not have one. This reason alone should be enough to forget about the SC.

- Minorhero
I am basically in the same mind.

Grizzly has 2hp….............................. SC 1.5
Griz closed base….............................SC open with legs
Griz 1 piece rails…............................SC 2 piece

Both have Cast Iron tops (there is NO way I would go to Granite I an TOO clumsy)

I guess the only thing that I am confused with is:
Griz table mounted trunion….............SC Cabinet Mount
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
I use thin kerf blades at all times and try to make myself change them for ripping and cross cutting but to be honest I rarely do. I mostly use a Freud cross cut blade for all operations, but I keep them clean. The saw would rip much better if I was using a proper blade.

- joey502
I use the Freud Premier Fusion TK blades for ripping and cross cutting. The rips are so clean, I can glue them up without sending them through the joiner. I have read several reviews and several report it being better than their "rip glue line" blades.
 
#11 ·
I got my Grizzly Christmas sale catalog, they have some tablesaws in it. The one that gets me excited is that slider with the 126" stroke, made in Germany. But it is 3 phase, and too many hp for my shop. If they would put a 5hp motor, 220, bet they could sell a bunch to hobby guys. Would be interesting to know what company actually builds it.
 
#12 ·
I use thin kerf blades at all times and try to make myself change them for ripping and cross cutting but to be honest I rarely do. I mostly use a Freud cross cut blade for all operations, but I keep them clean. The saw would rip much better if I was using a proper blade.

- joey502

I use the Freud Premier Fusion TK blades for ripping and cross cutting. The rips are so clean, I can glue them up without sending them through the joiner. I have read several reviews and several report it being better than their "rip glue line" blades.

- timbertailor
I agree about the performance of the Freud blades, they cut beautifully. I think my comment came across wrong. I was saying that my saw would rip with less effort if I were to use an actual rip blade or a general purpose vs the 60 tooth crosscut that is in it.
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have the SC 35990G (granite top). Mounting the wings and adjusting the miter slot width was a bit fiddly until I figured it out. First one took almost an hour. Second one maybe 15 minutes. I believe at least one model of the cast iron top from SC has the miter slots milled into the top as "normal" without the split slot arrangement. I did a complete write up on the split slot setup and if you read it through, it makes the job easy. Easier than shimming, tapping on, and fussing with a "standard" wing mount.

I also use freud thin kerf blades. AND I use full kerf blades. Depends what I'm doing. But I cut a LOT of 5/4 walnut with mine, a bunch of 4/4 cherry and hard maple, etc, and didn't have and saw-related problems at all. In fact it did a nice job.

Dust collection could be a bit better, but I have no issues with it. Once in a while when I'm changing inserts, I start the DC and knock off the dust piles inside (it hangs in the corners… that's about it). Dust collection is improved mightily by sealing the slot where the handle runs when laying the blade over at an angle (magnetic sheet like the stuff they print business cards and refrigerator calenders on… easy and cheap) and stuff some foam on the underside where the table and cabinet meet to seal any gaps there. Those are probably BOTH a good idea on ANY saw to improve dust collection.

Riving knife comes off easily for doing dadoes or rabbets. So far all adjustments have been easy to make. AND…. the granite is flat and doesn't rust. I still wax it, 'cause I like things to slide easily.

The FENCE was always the bain of my existance. The 2-piece front rail had the seam right where you have to straddle it to cut face frame-width pieces. If you don't get that front rail adjusted PERFECTLY (and you can ... it just takes some fussing) you end up with the fence aligned ever-so-slightly differently when you straddle the seam in the rail. HOWEVER I did get mine adjusted and built all my kitchen cabinets with this saw. So …. fence far from blade to cut panels and then in close to cut face frame pieces and stretchers, etc and no problems. You can simply replace the front rail with a piece of 2 inch square tube, OR….. you can find a Biesemeyer fence on craigslist for $50 (if you have a horse shoe implanted in your butt) like I did.

Table Cabinetry Property Furniture Wood


I was going to say, "So that's my 2 cents", but it seems I've gone to more like half a dollar :)
 

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