Esqy
Established Member
- Joined
- 28 May 2023
- Messages
- 69
- Reaction score
- 41
Was in the workshop today and my table saw started making a funny smell - Was an electricy type smell - You know the type.
I feel like it's going to give up the ghost soon, so wanted to get ahead of it and start browsing.
Budget is about £200-£300 (Maybe a bit more), And I use it mainly on plywood, but have a few exotic hardwoods that I'll need to slice up at some point.
Current one is a Lidl Parkside table saw (Yeah, yeah, I know..) and I figured that if it's breaking down, I use it enough to justify upgrading.
What I like about this saw:
I like the table size on this one - 580mm side to side, and an extension table in the middle at the back which brings the depth of the table to about a meter.
What I don't like:
I don't like the fence. It's flimsy and the plastic catch keeps falling out of the lever thingy and theres no support at the back, so I have to be super careful at the far end.
The mitre tracks are really thin, and not a standard shape, so buying a fence or other slidey bits is tricky, as is making one.
I was looking at an Evolution - I like how the trolley lets the whole thing fold up when not in use, however the plan is to make a flip table for it with the planer/thicknesser on t'other side anyway, so not a big deal. I like the sides that fold out to make the work area bigger on the RAGE though.
I also noted that the bore size on the Evos is 25.4mm, which really limits which blades will fit. A quick look on Screwfix, and there are 17 blades at that size, as opposed to a selection of 250 at 30mm - Based on that, it'd be harder to shop around for a bargain, and probably less likely to have stock on-the-shelf. There are also folk saying that the table insert is flimsy, not always flush and a pretty big gap next to the blade.
It's pretty hard buying something like this without seeing it in the flesh, but any advice would be awesome.
I feel like it's going to give up the ghost soon, so wanted to get ahead of it and start browsing.
Budget is about £200-£300 (Maybe a bit more), And I use it mainly on plywood, but have a few exotic hardwoods that I'll need to slice up at some point.
Current one is a Lidl Parkside table saw (Yeah, yeah, I know..) and I figured that if it's breaking down, I use it enough to justify upgrading.
What I like about this saw:
I like the table size on this one - 580mm side to side, and an extension table in the middle at the back which brings the depth of the table to about a meter.
What I don't like:
I don't like the fence. It's flimsy and the plastic catch keeps falling out of the lever thingy and theres no support at the back, so I have to be super careful at the far end.
The mitre tracks are really thin, and not a standard shape, so buying a fence or other slidey bits is tricky, as is making one.
I was looking at an Evolution - I like how the trolley lets the whole thing fold up when not in use, however the plan is to make a flip table for it with the planer/thicknesser on t'other side anyway, so not a big deal. I like the sides that fold out to make the work area bigger on the RAGE though.
I also noted that the bore size on the Evos is 25.4mm, which really limits which blades will fit. A quick look on Screwfix, and there are 17 blades at that size, as opposed to a selection of 250 at 30mm - Based on that, it'd be harder to shop around for a bargain, and probably less likely to have stock on-the-shelf. There are also folk saying that the table insert is flimsy, not always flush and a pretty big gap next to the blade.
It's pretty hard buying something like this without seeing it in the flesh, but any advice would be awesome.
