My table saw is a budget craftsman table saw, 10 years old and $100 it's small 1/4 horse motor. It is slow but those Forrest blades really make a huge difference. Same principle as a chainsaw no matter how crappy a good sharp chain or blade make all the difference.
I started with a Craftsman saw several decades ago. Moved to the Uni back in the late 80's......I think. Twas a long time ago.
We moved in the house and I went o boy I need a saw... it was a large chunk of change out of our budget at the time but it has more than paid for itself slow and scary it though it may be
I have a Craftsman bench saw from probably the 1980's. It is nothing fancy, no accu fence or decent miter. But I know how to set it by measuring the fence to the leading and trailing edge of the blade. I use a steel rule to set it and it is pretty accurate.
I also know someone with a pretty new table saw, and their ignorance of learning to set the fence and blade angle shows in the quality of their work.
I had a Delta contractor saw couldn't have a tool setting on it without it vibrating off, I put a power twist V belt on it and turned steel pulleys, huge difference, no more things falling off
I was just thinking of the same thing. I have the cast iron extenders with recesses to catch all the crap from hitting the floor.
I built mine into the workbench top and put a bysemyer fence on it that I got as a gift it is a nice fence. My only dislike is that it's in the bench top it wouldn't be if I had more room..... I hate that! The stock fence is junk but usable it took a few hours to get it aligned right and working properly. There's a spring in the back that is all but useless! It was designed to create tension on the unit when you pull the handle down except it is to long so I shortened it. That helped but I couldn't get rid of that fast enough! The current fence is nicer than the saw by far One day with a new garage I will fix that
I have been looking all day and night at reviews and am pretty set on the Triton at this point. Now I have to figure out what to sell out of my pile of crap so I can go buy it
I put one of those segmented belts on the old Craftsman, and it helped a lot. Sadly, I no longer have that saw. I'd love to have a 2nd saw as a dedicated dado cutter, but pigs don't fly yet, so.............. Just remember that April uses a lot of Triton tools. They're a sponsor of her Youtube channel.
April Wilkerson? I watch a lot of different youtube channels but she is fricken smart! I haven't watched any by here about Triton though ill have to go look. Problem with sponsored wood workers is they have to say they like it or are at least inclined to say so. Most of my searching has been forum advice.
I may have mis-spoken re: them being a sponsor. They may have outfitted her shop just for the free advertising, knowing that she's very popular. She's done some reviews on their stuff. She's def. smart, and way ahead of where I was at her age.
I like Forrest blades too, until I tried a Ridge Carbide. Their thin kerf blades seem to stay true a little better than the Forrest. But, I will take either. I am long on Contractor style table saws right now. I buy abused or neglected saws and nurse them back to health. In the process I put $100 to %150 in my pocket and the buyer gets an affordable $350 to $400 saw. Right now in inventory is a Powermatic - artisan, a Jet, a Delta and one off brand, that needs alot of work so might use it just for parts. My Delta Unisaw is in rebuild mode right now. In my past life when I had the large shop I had a 12" Grizzly 5 hp. i can talk table saws for ever.
Well then lets! My dream machine is the a jet 708674 Deluxe but unfortunately I do not have enough space for that.... My old job we used a lot of industrial saws but by far the best was Jet. We used its little brother Powermatic for one of the saws and it was good but had cheaper switches that drove me nuts................................ I put thermal overload switches on it and problem solved. It also had a smaller motor but it wasnt that noticable. Our Delta Table was OLD 20 years old and I had to scour heaven and earth to find a new motor because I couldnt get parts to rebuild it or even find anybody that could rebuild it. That was a great saw. We used an original saw RAS made after they bought out Dewalts saws and that was garbage industrial my butt I had to fix that thing every week for the first 8 months. One company I will never buy from horrible service. The problem is they have the market cornered. Its hard to get a RAS in the US now aside from Craftsman or Original saw Delta sold their linup as well. Our backup was the cheapest tool in the entire building! Craftsman professional RAS. It did pretty good after I ordered good roller bearings to replace the junk it had on it. I would own that in my shop if I needed one. I have a really well kept RAS that cost $60 from a gentleman who was selling his wood shop. He kept that like new and I mean clean! I love talking saws!
I put a Systematic blade on the TS many years ago that served well, until I discovered a few teeth chipped. That's when I decided to go with a Diablo for a while. Thinking about this now.......Woodworker II - Thin Kerf :: 10" Woodworker II Saw Blade - 40 Teeth - Thin Kerf -
So would a 12" - 80 tooth blade be similar to a 10" - 80 tooth blade? Or does it cut more like a 60 tooth? Im guessing a 12" has more teeth by circumference but does it equate to the quality of cut on a 10" - 80 toof?
