Bench Saw

[GeneralMelchett]

Hello, I am looking to buy a bench saw for some home DIY projects (various but requiring ripping a straight edge) and was hoping for some recommendations; I could also do with a chop saw and wondered if there was something that might do both jobs without compromising functionality too much?

I don't have a big budget £150-200; would I be better buying a good quality circular saw? any thoughts and advice would be appreciated

General Melchett

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I think you'll be hard pushed to get a table saw worth having in that price range TBH. About the cheapest semi-decent table saw is probably the Makita MLT100, which comes in around the £330 mark (without legs stand) or £429 with the mobile base. I have an MLT100X for on-site work and it runs rings around the one and only Ryobi portable saw I ever tried, although it is a bit on the lightweight side for shop use. One thing I will say is that almost all of these low-cost saws (i.e. under £1k) seem to have universal motors, rather than the induction motors favoured by bigger kit. This make them very noisy in comparison.

 

[big-all]

clarke used to do a a table chop saw but that was £200
a flip say would be better with greater capacity and cost
sheet material your better with a circsaw and strait edge
lidls stuff tends to be fairly good at the price
http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=26094&ar=12

 

[joe-90]

You'll be hard pressed to better this for the price. I use one all the time as it's so portable.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Evolution-RAGE3-Multipurpose-Sliding-Mitre/dp/B00C23UCI8

 

[Deleted member 174758]

a flip say would be better with greater capacity and cost

I know that you still have the same flip saw I used to own, a DW742. Yes, they can rip stuff (albeit with a poor, inaccurate rip fence), but as a mitre saw they are inaccurate and lack capacity. Also the need to swap blades every time you change function (from mitre to rip and vice-versa) together with the ned to stow or "re-activate" the raiving knife makes them a pain to use IMHO. At best a poor compromise, but in any case way beyond the OP's budget. Tried the newer model a while back on hire - nicer, more accurate, but still not as good as two separates IMHO

 

[big-all]

yes i know what you mean about flipping
i quickly learnt the dewalt that superseded the elu i had used in college was fantastic value at £478 but was a compromise the saw is now perminentaly in table mode with a 72 or 96 tooth triple chip blade after buying a 712 pull saw
i have a high tooth blade as most off my use is converting timber to size and the tooth count of course loads the saw up far more but give an excellent smooth cut with virtually no "saw" lines and need no more than a light sanding to finish

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Make no mistake, B-A, I think that in their day - and I really think that means before the widespread availabilty of sliding compound mitre saws at affordable prices - they were a fantastic piece of kit for the small builder and house basher. It's just that the world has moved on. I have to agree that you still see a lot of them around, mainly in use as site rip saws in which role they are pretty nigh unkillable (induction motor). If only they had a better rip fence