Table saw review

[Cootling]

I'm in the process of upgrading my shop for the joint purpose of building bows and furniture.  I got a wild hair on Black Friday and bought a Jet Proshop hybrid saw to replace my Craftsman table saw.

I did  a lot of homework first.  I considered high-end contractor saws, Grizzly cabinet saws, used upscale cabinet saws, and the Jet.  I chose the Jet due to better reports related to quality control, for the ability to run on either 120 or 240 volt power, and because benefits of more massive cabinet saws were not clearly evident, given my needs.

So I brought home the Jet.  The first thing I discovered was that I could not carry the frame, motor, and central portion of the table without help.  Other parts were smaller and no problem.

Assembly was easy. Everything fit together perfectly.  This is frequently not the case with some brands, so I was pleased with the Jet.

Operation is smooth, quiet, and powerful.  No vibration at all.  I was able to crosscut 2" oak without any apparent strain.

The fence is very solid and easy to adjust for parallelism to the blade and angle to the table.  The miter gauge seems like inexpensive construction, but is dead on, relative to my ability to measure, and can be adjusted to fit the miter slot with zero play.  Blade tilt adjustments are rock solid and as precise as I can measure.

My Craftsman was a good saw for the money and served me well... but this is a whole 'nuther breed of cat and well worth what I paid for the upgrade.  If you're contemplating getting a good saw and plan to spend somewhere around $1000, a Jet Proshop hybrid saw is worth considering.

[Crooked Stic]

Boyh my bandsaw and tablesaw are Jet. Both 9 years old. I don't use them all day everyday but enough to know my money was spent on a good product.

[Ranger44]

Thanks for the review.  My table saw has been "resting" for a while but I plan to get it up and running again this winter.  I have an old Craftsman that I got at an auction and did a lot of upgrading and learned how to tune it so I could stand a nickel on edge while it was running.

To me the best thing I did was get a very quality fence to put on it.  If and when I upgrade that fence will go on anything new I buy.

It's been a long time since I looked at quality tools and reading your review got me thinking about it again.

[Trux Turning]

That's a nice looking saw- thanks for the report. I have a 1960's craftsman saw that was my Dad's that is still going strong- the fence on mine is the only thing I don't like.

[Cootling]

So I've been dinking with this thing lately, making a desk for my daughter.  Three things are worth pointing out.

1) Safety--It takes very little effort to control wood during feeding.  I can keep my hands much further away.  This is due to the smoother cut and better fence, as well as the riving knife.  

2) Precision--Cuts are perfect to the limits of my ability to measure.

3) Cut quality--This REALLY surprises me.  Same blade, different result.

This stuff is worth mentioning because I was happy before.  I would not have thought that the difference between my old setup and "perfect" left room for such gains in performance!  NO buyers remorse!

[canopyboy]

Awesome.  Sounds like a good saw practically out of the box.

Similar to what Ranger44 spoke of, I contend that most saws can be tuned to a high performance level.  But it sure is easier with a quality saw that starts out cutting well!