Any woodworkers?

Bought the

$650 DWE7491RS DEWALT 10" Table Saw with Rolling Stand, 32-1/2" Rip Capacity (DWE7491RS)

DWE7491RS about a year and a half ago to replace the 744. One of the most stable jobsite saws I have ever seen. Still need an outfeed table to rip sheet goods. But very good saw.

 

Hate to cut in on this conversation, I used my dads 1970's cast iron table saw when I what making the heads for my craftsman trim. At first I was laughing....later I was loving that thing. Impractical, yes,accurate very.

 

1/3 of my funds are in Home Depot gift cards, so I'm limited to the 745, 7480, 7491RS (roller stand), 7490X (scissor stand). With the price of the 749s, the scissor stand is $100 less and likely fits my storage limitations better.

Is the table saw worth splurging on? It'll eat a lion's share of what I have to spend right now, if not all of it, depending on which model is acceptable for my use.

 

It's the most expensive woodworking tool in the shop. Depending what you do, will be the most used as well. Money is well spent here.

 

Why not buy a table saw off Craig's List? You can get a model like OZ has...then spent your gift cards on fancy air nailers...I did that...to this day I never regretted it. I bought the pricey stuff used and the cheap stuff new.

 

This is the one I have, at Pete's recommendation. @DCSBFTMFW if you find this model used, go for it. I find the scissor stand a bit...ungainly, but altogether it is a great set up.

 

I could.. checked there today (and ended up getting that PC joiner), the table saws were old, beat up cheap saws or commercial units. Which is the norm.. been looking for the previous year, haven't seen a reasonable used option pop up locally.

The joiner was actually picked up by another TW member for me, since the seller was about 2.5 hours away from me.

 

I'll take it.

 

@DCSBFTMFW both good points above. And don't forget you need some good blades, too, depending on your needs.

 

As a former trim guy. A blade makes all the difference.

 

So just to confirm info over the last page.. table saw is a better use of funds than a circular saw with rip fence and a sliding miter? Those being the work around for lack of table saw, mind you and also letting me cut wider material than my current (borrowed) miter saw.

 

Unless your making farm tables....yes

 

.. and thanks for the voices of experience chiming in here with my crappy, noob questions.

 

There are no dumb questions...I research everything before I make a decision. I think you get it.

 

I built one last year with a borrowed sliding saw as a test run for a higher end version. So.. that's on the 5 year plan.

My needs now are more closet storage (built in shelves, say 12" deep), a pikler triangle (multiple cuts of equal length 1"+ wooden dowels), some floating shelves (I believe my Rockler mounting hardware limits these to an 8" depth), and a wall organizer/whiteboard thing the woman has asked for which will be small cuts of thin material.

Outside of that, some picture frames, and a bed frame or two. I'm also planning to build some cabinets in the garage and some drawers, etc,.

Some are more suited to a capable miter saw, or a well equipped table saw setup.. and others to a table saw almost exclusively, which is the fence I'm currently residing on.

 

My wife wanted some rustic free hanging shelfs....thats not problem...if she wanted a cherry roll top desk I would have to re-evaluate my tool set. Lol

 

Ideally I'd have $2k to blow instead of a few bucks shy of $700.

I do want a drill press, and a bench grinder, in addition to the stuff I've already mentioned.

 

I would normally say a drill press isn't worth it, but I used one to do the spindles on my deck so....they have their moments.

 

With the above projects as general ideas for my plans.. table saw still the most appropriate purchase? Figuring that item is pretty much equivalent in cost to the miter, circular saw, and rip fence combined.

 

I'm also building a 1949 Chevrolet, so it'd have multiple uses for wood and metal projects in the future.

They're not inexpensive, though.. and likely not on my list for this round of purchasing.