Re: Best small table saws?
TomD
My shop is 42x14, with a second half story, and my cat can't swing a mouse in there. But for a while it was pretty spacious, and even then the full saw was a terrible nuisance. It was a general with cut down rails.
The saw I use now, having gone about a decade without one is the larger of the two old Incas. There might be some overlap with the Hammond, though it looks far more limited in blade size, and specialized for it's original task.
There are 6 disadvantages to the Inca:
1) Doesn't fully retract 10 inch blades, which doesn't bother me as I like using smaller blades
2) Uses non-standard bore size. I have the machinery to do the cuts myself. But I guess 20mm is a standard size somewhere, and with the internet, it shouldn't be hard to find. Lee Valley or US sellers may even have stock. Not everything is in the catalog. Ofcourse, 20mm is better
3) Slow to raise or lower blade height, I rig a drill driver.
4) The table goes up and down, which is a problem if you intend to use outfeed tables, though I don't.
5) The blade angle adjusts by means of the table. This is actually an advantage in many cases, but certainly not if you do some kinds of cutting that require fiddling with the blade endlessly.
6) Not your granddaddy's table saw. so everything is a little different, which can be a safety advantage, or not, depending on how you learn.
The advantages are:
1) Cheap if sometimes difficult to find second hand (there seem to be a lot in Cali, I found lots around Toronto, and was briefly the second hand Inca dealer as I bought up lots)
2) Aluminum construction means moving it outside, or moving it generally is as easy as some of those table top contractor saws, yet it is made for precision. And in this weight class you are dealing with a real Leason, say, and a belt. Simple and machined dead nuts.
3) Zero ownership cost, as far as buying and reselling, they are already fully marked down.
4) Designed in the post war, unlike the US counterparts that haven't been upgraded since the Civil War, this is a huge safety factor. The saw doesn't need SS because they made it right from the beginning, though in fairness, it doesn't meet current EU standards, though I doubt a Delta would have met the standards an Inca was designed with back when they were originally made. Most of the problems of safety are just a mater of not doing certain things I don't do anyway. Basically just the tilting table. Some cuts are safer with a tilting table, and some cuts are suicidal. The problem being that one has to know the difference which is not something a saw should require of you, I guess.
5) Built with Swiss precision.
My second choice and I have had one of these since my Dad bought it, is the Rockwell Beaver 9". I have the contractor version, but for a while owned the cabinet version that had the skirt below the table executed in sculptural cast iron. These are just smaller versions of a Unisaw, though they vary in what the guts are hanging from, which I believe is a the table, so not Uni in that regard, but the experience is Uni on a small scale. I suspect my current contractor version, my Dad's saw, is currently underwater in the NB floods. These things sell for under 100 dollars, and are old world quality. I bought the mint cabinet version I had for a while, for 60 Canadian. There are many similar brands in this category. Not safe for nitwits. This would be my first choice if I wanted the American style saw, and it is productive. These saws take up a lot more space than the Inca. Reducing the size of a Uni type saw, solves some of the problems that are inherent in them. I kinda like the euro saws that are redesigned to have ergonomic and safety features, but I feel fine on the American saw, and don't feel I need a doomsday machine attached to it to blow it up before I hurt myself.
For those who have loose miter slots, if we are talking slightly loose you just peen them with a punch. They are supposed to need that. I seem to recall they used to sell stocks that had screw adjust in them.
