left or right tilt on ts

There are pros and cons to each, but there are work arounds for each con, so it really boils down to preference. I’ve owned both and prefer LT.

The primary beef against left tilt saws is that the arbor flange is on the left side of the blade, which means that blade thickness changes can effect the zero reference of your tape measure..dado stacks change the reference a lot. Blade thickness changes don’t make a difference on a right tilt saw because the flange is on the right side of the blade and the blade registers at the same point no matter how thick. Using the same thickness blades helps minimize that issue.

The primary advantage of a left tilting saw is that it tilts away from the fence, which is considered safer, though right tilt owners often slide the fence to the left side of the blade to accomplish the same thing when they do bevel cuts. Another feature that I like about left tilting is that the arbor nut goes on from the right side and has a normal thread orientation, whereas the arbor nut on a right tilting saw goes on from the left and has reverse threads…I find it easier for a right handed person to mount the arbor nut from the right, but YMMV.

Hey It’s hard to add to what Scott says other than I’ve had left tilt for years and it works great for me.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

And not all left tilt saws have the arbor flange on the left. Mine is on the right and the all of the above don’t change anything, in regards to the reference. Main gripe is having to move the fence to the left side of the blade, so the wood isn’t trapped between the blade and the fence, when doing angled cuts.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

left tilt ,
no burning against trapped parts ,
and no flying missles !

-- david ,new mexico ,allheart

i didn’t realize my used griz 1023TS was right tilt until i got it home. i was so excited i forgot to ask. my older bench TS was left tilt and i sawed a mile of wood through that screaming beater. the one thing i’ve noticed is that it seems safer for the blade to tilt away from your hands on the RT verses having the blade closer to your hands on a LT. not that you would have your hands so close to begin with. also i do like not having to account for blade thickness, which caught me once or twice on the LT. Norm Abrams was ask which he prefers and he said RT mostly because he was use to it. but still its strictly preference.

-- david roberts, houston area, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but that has never been a problem for me."

I like the left tilts because when you cut (certain) bevels the chip out is on the bottom of the wood leaving a nice crisp point. Also if your beveling both ends, after making the first cut when you turn the pc around, the point rides on the face of the fence opposed to trying to slip under the fence. With the right tilts, what patron said, trapped parts and flying missiles. Usually (to cut with the face up) you need to use a sacrifice fence and cut your pc to the correct length before cutting the bevel.
Blade thickness is not an issue, I reset the fence every time I change to a different blade. Just part of the blade change for me.
But there are pros and cons for both types, I guess you just have to have one of each. ;)