Table saw choices.

[Random Orbital Bob]

I really hate to pour cold water but I had a TS200 and hated everything about it. It was underpowered to the point where it would simply stop during a rip of modest pieces of oak, the side table was bowed and even after TWO replacement tables it was still bowed and in the end I had to make a home built flat top for it. The fence was woefully inaccurate in that though configurable it was so flimsy it would give under modest pressure.

Everything about it screamed cheap AND nasty. I upgraded in the end and was glad to see the back of it. I guess if people build all the shop made mods that extend and beef it up it could be reasonable but nothing is going to solve the powerless motor issue unless that's upgraded too.

Sorry to be a doomsayer but this was my legitimate experience. I would buy 2nd hand any day over kit of this nature if the issue is budget.

 

[dave_87]

Thanks for the Input guys,
Any particular makes/models I should keep an eye for on the second hand market? Could probably push the budget to about £400.
Thanks.

 

[Ed Bray]

I sold my mid 90s Kity 419 with extension and sliding tables with a host of accessories (including 3 new Freud Pro blades Rip, Cross and Combination) for £250. I think I might have sold it too cheaply as I was inundated with calls about it.

Any of the old makes Startrite, Wadkin, Sedgewick, Older Kity (Kity tend to have non-standard mitre slots and aluminium tables)

There's a 12" on ebay near Liverpool: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/table-Rip-saw ... 339b79d0a4

as was said on another thread, bide your time and be prepared to travel a bit and you will get a bargain sooner or later. I would use the time to save up a bit more and push your budget up to nearer £500, you should get a nice saw with induction motor. cast iron tables and good fence for that amount.

 

[dave_87]

Thanks, will see What eBay has to offer.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

This is worth reading to kind of put some meat on what I'm rabbiting on about....

 

[Inoffthered]

as was said on another thread, bide your time and be prepared to travel a bit and you will get a bargain sooner or later. I would use the time to save up a bit more and push your budget up to nearer £500, you should get a nice saw with induction motor. cast iron tables and good fence for that amount.

I like the idea of an old lump for a table saw but I wouldn't want the risk and uncertainty of repair/service and obtaining spares for an older machine. Then there's the logistics and cost of actually getting something on eBay and having to travel to collect something (without any guarantee or warranty) that will, in all probability weigh a ton.

I have read the "problems" with the TS200 but at the end of the day mine cost me £170 (and it has an induction motor and a cast iron table and a better fence would cost £70), is quiet, portable and has a guarantee so I know i am covered if it goes wrong. It may not cut big lumps but that is not what i wanted it for but having seen it slice up some beech, oak, walnut and mahogany I struggle to imagine putting anything through it that could cause it to stall!

It is easy to say that you can purchase something "better" for £500 but that is almost three times what the TS200 cost. Now if you can justify trebling your budget and get a return from the increased outlay then by all means go for an older machine.

As for buying an old machine, if you are confident in your ability to identify faults in electric motors and old kit and can repair them yourself then maybe pushing the budget out may be worth doing. If however, the first time the thing stops working you are reaching for the yellow pages to get a man in to fix it then perhaps having a lump of Great Britain's industrial heritage in your workshop may not be such a good idea.

 

[dave_87]

I had thought about getting parts for an old machine could be an issue.
Tbh I'm looking at the a ts-200 as a £300 saw (with all the bits), I've now seen a Makita mlt100 for just over £300 with the same accessories as the ax, I get the impression that the Makita is going to be more site saw ish though. Anyone have any experience with Makita's?

 

[dave_87]

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=390818305718&alt=web

This is the Makita.

 

[pcb1962]

If noise is a consideration where you work the Makita has a brushed motor and will be far noisier that the TS200.

 

[dave_87]

Last one in to the mix, a charnwood, have read a few good reviews. Bit more ££ than the ax though. Any thoughts?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=221582375654&alt=web

Cheers.

 

[dazcastle]

Is that not a rebadged axi ts200 ? . looks very similar to me

 

[Bodgers]

Yep, It is a TS200 with the extension table, extra kit and a nice stand.

Which is no bad thing.

Only problem is you can buy a TS200 for about £140 from Axminster. If you wait long enough you will be able to pick one up for a fiver.

 

[dazcastle]

Yep bought one myself 4 days ago with free extension table for £148 well chuffed

 

[dave_87]

It's now 196 with the table.

 

[Bodgers]

Yep Axminster doing their best to wind people up with the random price generator.

 

[Inoffthered]

Yep Axminster doing their best to wind people up with the random price generator.

You are clearly unhappy with Axi but it is your right not to buy stuff from them and take your custom elsewhere.

I suspect however, that there are more on here who are more than happy to have bought a TS200 in the sale. I bought at £170 but I don't begrudge those bought cheaper. It just goes to prove the old adage that you cannot please everyone.

Most businesses have sales in January and recently, because of the state of the economy, sales have started earlier. Anyone buying a big ticket item in October or November must surely realise that the item they have bought could well go down in price in a few months. (In my youth cash used to be the preferred christmas present because it was better to buy the stuff you wanted in the January sales and get more than would have been possible if people had given the items as presents.)

It is naive to think that other companies don't operate similar policies. Axi is a retail business and it buys stuff to sell. It had surplus stock of a line that was about to be replaced with a new model. They discounted it to get rid of excess stock and having created space in their warehouse they stop the deep discounting and revert to a more "normal" price to get rid of last few. What would you have done in their place?

I question Axi's business model and worry about their ability to survive but not based on their handling of the TS200 overstocks which seems an eminently sensible business strategy to me.

 

[Bodgers]

What would I have done? Refund the difference to those that bought within a month of the drop.

That's the kind of thing that makes a company not a box shifter.

See Apple Inc.

 

[Inoffthered]

Why a month? Wherever you draw a line, someone will always feel they lost out.

Do you feel similarly aggrieved if a supplier does not extend a "show" discount to people that did not attend the show?

 

[Bodgers]

Not sure what you mean with the 'show discount' thing.

It is not unheard of for a retailer to give the difference back after a month or two.

Apple have done two months in the past, for example.

 

[Willy]

As I said to you on the other thread, Apple are one of the biggest companies, if not the biggest electronics company in the world turning $180bn revenue a year. Comparing their actions to those of Axminster doesn't really do much to help prove your point. Axminster don't owe you anything and I'm still surprised that you act like they do. They offered you a free saw blade as a good-will gesture which was pretty nice of them. On the day that you purchased your saw, you were happy to pay what you paid. All that's changed is that someone else has, on a different day, got a better deal than you. C'est la vie.