So I am going to buy a portable table saw

iesheepdog said:
I have 3 myself. Bought my boy his second one at Christmas. I told him: trust me , you’ll use it.
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For sure, cause if he's anything like me, he'll misplace at least one and be all pissed that he can't find it when he needs it...... I know where my battery charger is at all times (screwed into the garage wall), but sometimes that drill just seems to wander off to strange places in the garage.....and I don't even have but one kid left at home and you can hardly get him out of his bedroom, much less out of the house, so I can't blame that shit on him in good conscience.
 
MarineUKFan said:
Dang, that's kinda crazy to think about since the blade is 10". You'd think they would figure out a way to make it taller, but then they'd sell fewer 12" saws I suppose lol.

Been thinking about @batchaps4me wanting his brother to be able to cut 4x4s on a table saw (cause he builds decks mostly) and it also seems to me that using a table saw for that application wouldn't be ideal anyway. Ya gotta sink/anchor the 4x4s first anyway before you cut them, so a hand saw seems like the preferred tool (either circular or sawzall).
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You gotta take into account the arbor and the thickness of the actual table, and you can’t jam the arbor right up against the bottom of the table. Nobody really buys 12” table saws. I have a 12” slider, but that’s a whole different animal, the whole table slides, they’re super expensive, you won’t see one with a name like dewalt or Milwaukee, or even delta or jet.

I use portable table saws all the time for cutting 4x (even my cordless). Just because it won’t cut all the way through doesn’t mean it’s not still the best tool to make a particular cut. Flip it over and finish the cut from the other side…if it’s a notch, you can feed it backward through the saw…there are a lot of little tricks to learn about using table saws to make difficult cuts easy, and you still often have to finish some cuts with other saws. I could show you how to make raised panel five piece doors using nothing but a table saw (well, glue and clamps, but no other cutting tools).
 
midcal said:
You gotta take into account the arbor and the thickness of the actual table, and you can’t jam the arbor right up against the bottom of the table. Nobody really buys 12” table saws. I have a 12” slider, but that’s a whole different animal, the whole table slides, they’re super expensive, you won’t see one with a name like dewalt or Milwaukee, or even delta or jet.

I use portable table saws all the time for cutting 4x (even my cordless). Just because it won’t cut all the way through doesn’t mean it’s not still the best tool to make a particular cut. Flip it over and finish the cut from the other side…if it’s a notch, you can feed it backward through the saw…there are a lot of little tricks to learn about using table saws to make difficult cuts easy, and you still often have to finish some cuts with other saws. I could show you how to make raised panel five piece doors using nothing but a table saw (well, glue and clamps, but no other cutting tools).
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I've seen videos of folks doing ornate wood sculptures with nothing but a chainsaw, so I have no doubt about the door thing.....

Forgive me for rambling on about this stuff. I see stuff like this and my mind starts swirling about projects I could do when the fact of the matter is that my claim to fame in this area is building a work bench in my garage two houses ago and building and installing a desktop in a window alcove in a bedroom/bonus room of my previous house.
 
MarineUKFan said:
I've seen videos of folks doing ornate wood sculptures with nothing but a chainsaw, so I have no doubt about the door thing.....

Forgive me for rambling on about this stuff. I see stuff like this and my mind starts swirling about projects I could do when the fact of the matter is that my claim to fame in this area is building a work bench in my garage two houses ago and building and installing a desktop in a window alcove in a bedroom/bonus room of my previous house.
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Those guys that make any type of carving look easy are very talented. They must have a 4 dimensional depth perception or something. If I try freehanding shit like that, my proportions are gonna be off. I can’t even mold shit out of clay.
 
MarineUKFan said:
I've seen videos of folks doing ornate wood sculptures with nothing but a chainsaw, so I have no doubt about the door thing.....

Forgive me for rambling on about this stuff. I see stuff like this and my mind starts swirling about projects I could do when the fact of the matter is that my claim to fame in this area is building a work bench in my garage two houses ago and building and installing a desktop in a window alcove in a bedroom/bonus room of my previous house.
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I concur. I can’t even draw a stick figure right. I’m glad @midcal dropped into this thread. When it comes to diy projects or anything construction, he is the guru.
 
midcal said:
Those guys that make any type of carving look easy are very talented. They must have a 4 dimensional depth perception or something. If I try freehanding shit like that, my proportions are gonna be off. I can’t even mold shit out of clay.
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I'm right there with ya on that, brother. I can measure and cut stuff and follow a plan, but the artistic gene skipped my ass entirely. Best I can do is draw a profile view of Snoopy's head......
 
midcal said:
No 10” table saws will cut all the way through a 4x4. You can’t even rip a 4x4 with a Delta unisaw in one pass. If you buy him a table saw that will cut through a 4x4, it will cost you $4k for a lower priced 12” saw and it certainly won’t be portable.
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The Rigid Pro series claims it can cut through a 4X4 because its max cut depth is 3.5 inches. That and the warranty was the biggest draw for me to this saw even though I decided to buy the Dewalt.
midcal said:
This is the one you want
www.acmetools.com

DEWALT 10in Jobsite Table Saw 32 1/2in Rip Capacity & Rolling Stand

DEWALT 10in Jobsite Table Saw 32 1/2in Rip Capacity & Rolling Stand - DWE7491RS from DEWALT
www.acmetools.com www.acmetools.com
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That is the one I bought. I used my military discount and bought the extended warranty ending up with about a $575 overall cost. It is in the garage waiting for this Saturday so we can fire up the smoker, sip on a beer and assemble it. I really do appreciate the advice everyone has given and let y'all know that I acted on it. I want to act proud that I made the right decision going with the Dewalt, but if it ever gets known that I am capable of good choices then my wife is going to start expecting more and raising the bar for me. I can not ... will not ... allow that to happen.
 
batchaps4me said:
The Rigid Pro series claims it can cut through a 4X4 because its max cut depth is 3.5 inches. That and the warranty was the biggest draw for me to this saw even though I decided to buy the Dewalt.

That is the one I bought. I used my military discount and bought the extended warranty ending up with about a $575 overall cost. It is in the garage waiting for this Saturday so we can fire up the smoker, sip on a beer and assemble it. I really do appreciate the advice everyone has given and let y'all know that I acted on it. I want to act proud that I made the right decision going with the Dewalt, but if it ever gets known that I am capable of good choices then my wife is going to start expecting more and raising the bar for me. I can not ... will not ... allow that to happen.
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I just looked it up. It says 3.12” cutting depth at 90 degrees.
 
midcal said:
I just looked it up. It says 3.12” cutting depth at 90 degrees.
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That's odd ... I am not disputing you and did no research past the specs on Home Depot's site that has the bullet point:
* Capable of ripping through a 4x4 in a single pass.

It shows that the maximum cutting depth as 3.5" as well on the HD page that I linked. Either way, I purchased the Dewalt primarily because IMHO the Rigid's lifetime warranty probably does not add enough value with all things considered. If they are fudging the numbers and making claims that are untrue, then I know Dewalt was the right choice.
 
batchaps4me said:
That's odd ... I am not disputing you and did no research past the specs on Home Depot's site that has the bullet point:
* Capable of ripping through a 4x4 in a single pass.

It shows that the maximum cutting depth as 3.5" as well on the HD page that I linked. Either way, I purchased the Dewalt primarily because IMHO the Rigid's lifetime warranty probably does not add enough value with all things considered. If they are fudging the numbers and making claims that are untrue, then I know Dewalt was the right choice.
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Ok, I just looked again. Out of the 6 saws they sell, one says 3.5” cut depth. Only the one with the scissor stand. But it’s the same saw that they put on the folding stand and sell without a stand, both of those say 3.12”. I know it won’t rip a 4x4. My guess is someone writing the description mistook 3.12 for 3-1/2. Even the rigid contractor saw says 3.12.
 
midcal said:
Ok, I just looked again. Out of the 6 saws they sell, one says 3.5” cut depth. Only the one with the scissor stand. But it’s the same saw that they put on the folding stand and sell without a stand, both of those say 3.12”. I know it won’t rip a 4x4. My guess is someone writing the description mistook 3.12 for 3-1/2. Even the rigid contractor saw says 3.12.
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Thanks!!! I looked at a lot of saws and that was the outlier, which made me a bit curious. Either way, the primary interest stemmed from the lifetime warranty and even then I chose the Dewalt. TBH I cannot think of a reason to rip a 4X4 other than perhaps to notch it and there are ways to avoid or accomplish that. Around here, the code for decks/deck covers calls for bolting the beams to the 4x4s and the real pisser is to build my wanted patio cover to code, 8x8s are required.
 
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