Portable Tablesaws
Most people make a tablesaw their first machine purchase when they get serious about woodworking. And we heartily endorse that plan. But if a stationary cabinet saw with 3-hp motor and large cast-iron top is not an option for you due to space or budget limitations, consider a portable model for your first tablesaw. Choosing that route doesn't mean settling: You can find several capable saws in this category that should last for years. Let's take a look at the contenders.
How we chose the field
To be included in our test group, eachtablesaw had to meet the following criteria:
■ powered by a corded 110-volt motor;
■ uses a 10" blade and has at least 25" rip capacity;
■ mounted on a collapsible stand.
Note: We equipped each tablesaw with a new Diablo 24-tooth ripping blade for all rip tests, and a new 50-tooth combination blade for all crosscut tests.
Power up your search engine
Because all but one of these tablesaws use direct- or belt-drive systems and similar motors, they perform comparably when it comes to cutting power. The worm-drive motor in Skil's SPT99-11—like those found in its professional-series handheld circular saws—held its own against the other saws. We found we could bog down any of them with an aggressive feed rate, but backing off solved that. Bottom line: Power should not be a factor with any of these saws.
Definition: Worm drive—a spiral gear used to transfer power from the motor shaft that is oriented 90° to the blade arbor shaft, placing the motor parallel with the blade.
Ripping gets the nod
These saws rip wood reasonably well with some limitations. All boast sufficient capacity to rip a 4×8' sheet of plywood in half lengthwise. Six saws provide at least 30" rip capacity (see the chart at end of page), led by the Metabo HPT C10RJS with 35".
Definition: Rip capacity—the maximum distance between the blade and rip fence (the greatest width to which you can rip a workpiece). Rip capacity is greater to the right side of the blade than the left.
Each saw's rip fence can be removed and installed easily, attaching to rails at each end to hold it securely. Saws with rack-and-pinion fences (photo, above) adjust more easily—especially for fine adjustments—than those with telescoping fence rails (photo, below). In our testing, no saw's rip fence deflected or crept enough to create a problem.
All the test saws have a rip-fence attachment for making narrow ripcuts that would otherwise be problematic because the standard fence butts up against the blade guard. This low-profile component slips beneath the blade guard to position your stock for narrow rips. On all but the Bosch 4100XC-10 they permanently attach to the rip fence and rotate or extend into place. Bosch's L-shaped version fastens to the T-slot on the fence face, and stores separately on the saw when not in use.
Most also serve as a workpiece support when you extend the fence beyond the tabletop (photo, above).
The best rip fences couple scales featuring clear markings with an easy-to-use view window and hairline cursor. Both make it easy to accurately lock the fence where desired. We found the fences on the Bosch, DeWalt DWE7491RS, Metabo HPT, and SawStop to be the most accurate. All but three saws allow fence use on the left of the blade, with a second scale and view window. Of these, the DeWalt, Metabo HPT, and Ridgid lead the left-side capacity with 22". Fences on the Grizzly G0870, Oliver 10010, and Rikon 11-600S—nearly identical saws—cannot be used left of the blade because their rack-and-pinion rails lack the needed length.
Crosscuts need a miter gauge
Each test saw comes with a small, basic miter gauge, used for making (hopefully) accurate crosscuts and miter cuts. Unfortunately, most of these will only be as accurate as you make them. Three models (Bosch, Metabo HPT, and Ridgid) have stops, which can be calibrated, if inaccurate, for setting 90° and 45° angles. The other nine miter gauges use only a scale and pointer to set angles. With no stops, they make miter-angle misalignment all too easy. Use an accurate square or drafting triangle to set angles with these models.
Each saw's miter gauge has a T-shaped bar or a washer at the front end of the bar to help it stay in the mating slot and parallel to the tabletop if you back the head off the table. Despite this, each one fits in its miter slots loosely, making accurate cuts even more challenging. Add an auxiliary fence to eliminate grain tear-out at the cut exit, better support longer workpieces, and move cutoffs safely past the blade (photo, above).
Blade guards are your friend
Sawtop tablesaws provide a unique flesh-detection safety feature that prevents serious injury should you contact the spinning blade. Watch a video demonstration of how it works.
Each saw comes with a three-piece blade-guard assembly (photo, above). They're not perfect, but they work better than the guards of years past to reduce the likelihood of injury. The blade guard protects your hands from getting into the blade; the split faces of this guard keep one side of the blade fully covered if the workpiece doesn't extend beneath both. A splitter/riving knife mounts behind the blade to the arbor assembly, so it travels up and down with the blade. The splitter/riving knife keeps the workpiece and cutoff from closing up on the blade after the point of cut, which could lead to kickback. Teeth on the antikickback pawls will dig into a workpiece should it get pulled back at you, preventing kickback. However, these teeth tend to scratch the wood, especially softwoods, during normal use.
Our advice: Use all three components whenever possible. Remove them only when necessary, such as when making non-through cuts and when using a stacked dado set. If you choose not to use the blade guard and antikickback pawls, lower the splitter/riving knife so its peak sits just below the top of the blade.
In tablesaws, bigger is better
Portability is central to these saws' appeal, but making them easy to move comes at a cost: a small tabletop. (See the table sizes at bottom of page.) Although the rip capacity on many of the test saws allows you to work "wide," the table surface often proves limiting when working with long or heavy stock, especially full sheets of plywood or MDF. Four saws (Grizzly, Metabo HPT, Oliver, and Rikon) provide built-in outfeed extensions that add 6–10" of support. With all the test saws, though, use additional infeed and outfeed support for oversize stock.
For crosscutting, each of the saws provides at least 91⁄4" of table surface between the front edge and a blade raised 1". With the blade at maximum height (3–35⁄8", depending on the saw), that distance shrinks to 73⁄4" on half the saws, with the others at least 8". To crosscut a board wider than these figures, you'll need to back the miter-gauge head off the table or use a crosscut sled.
Move it on over
Each of these saws collapses to store in a space about one-third that of its in-use footprint. Those saws with rigid two-piece tubular frames that scissor-pivot in the center (Bosch, Kobalt, Ridgid, SawStop, Skil SPT99-11) set up and stow away the quickest, and maneuver easily while set up.
The other models require you to manually unfold each leg individually and then pull the saw upright while holding two legs in place. Generally the more stable design, these four-leg saws can be difficult to move once set up because the wheels do not touch the floor. Of these, we like the DeWalt (photo, above) and Metabo HPT best. The Skil TS6307-00 has four legs, but no wheels.
Remove any of the test models from its stand to use as a benchtop saw. Grizzly is the only manufacturer in this lot that sells the saw without a stand; DeWalt and Ridgid also offer their saws on scissor-type stands.
Saws that fold, tilt, and roll away necessitate storage for accessories, such as miter gauges, rip fences, blade-guard components, pushsticks, blades, and blade wrenches. With a few exceptions, these store on the test saws securely. We like SawStop's solution best (photo, above).
More noteworthy nuggets
* Blade and fence alignment. Before you use a new saw, check to make sure the blade aligns parallel to the miter slots (photo, above).This ensures clean, accurate, and safe cuts. Do the same with the rip fence. (Follow the instructions in the owner's manual.) We aligned each saw before doing any testing; see our grades for each model on page 48.
* Dado setup. Each saw accepts an 8"-diameter stacked dado set, but using a 6" set puts less strain on the motor without losing any meaningful capacity. All but one saw accept up to a 13⁄16"-wide stack, although you will have to leave the arbor washer off for some models. The Ryobi accepts only a 1⁄2" dado stack. You'll need to order the optional dado throat insert plate for each saw, or make your own.
* Dust collection. A shroud around the blade on each saw connects to a 21⁄2" port on the back side. When we attached a shop vacuum, it sucked up nearly all the sawdust.
* Cord wrap. All the saws have cord-wrap brackets, but those on the Kobalt and Ridgid models are mounted so close together that the stiff, tightly wrapped cords take on an almost circular form.
DeWalt DWE7491RS
High Points
▲ A release lever located on the outside of the cabinet makes this the only test saw that allows removing and repositioning the splitter/riving knife without first removing the throat insert plate.
▲ Featuring one of our favorite stands, this model is easy to set up and take down. It's also steadiest in use and easy to roll around when collapsed.
▲ With a dust-collection port on the blade guard as well as a blade shroud and rear port, this machine tied for best overall dust collection.
▲ The pushstick stores on the right side of the rip fence within easy reach when ripping boards.
Low Point
▼ Cranking the blade from fully down to maximum height takes a tedious 44 handwheel turns.
More Points
▶ When set up for use, the table sits 36 1⁄2" above the floor, tallest among the test saws.
▶ You can buy this saw on a scissor-type stand (model DWE7491X), but it costs more than the much-better wheeled-stand version.
SawStop Jobsite Saw Pro
High Points
▲ For the safety-conscious buyer, this saw's proprietary system provides a distinct advantage.
▲ It has the largest tabletop among the testgroup, the widest throat opening, a rigid phenolic insert plate, and easy blade changes.
▲ With a dust-collection port on the blade guard as well as a blade shroud and rear port, this machine tied for best overall dust collection.
▲ Cranking the blade from fully down to maximum height takes only one handwheel turn.
▲ A cord wrap makes it easy to store the 9' power cord when not in use, and this saw's unique storage tray provides an excellent and secure way to keep all parts and accessories in place.
Low Points
▼ At about double the next-highest price model, this saw's cost could prove too daunting for woodworkers with a limited budget.
▼ Aligning the blade to the top requires that you loosen the blade to access the adjustment bolt on the arbor assembly, then retighten the blade and check the alignment. It's a trial-and-error process that can be time-consuming.
More Points
▶ An 8" dado brake cartridge comes with the saw, but you have to buy a new insert plate if you don't want to lose the zero-clearance support of the insert for your 10" blades. (You cannot use a 6" dado set with this saw.)
Bosch 4100XC-10
High Points
▲ A gas strut makes setting upand folding this saw easy in one quick movement without any heavy lifting.
▲ The rip fence has T-slots on both faces, making it easy to attach featherboards and hold-downs. Its large cursor and scale make it one of the easiest to use.
▲ Adjustment screws on the outside of the cabinet eliminate under-the-saw work you encounter on most saws when aligning the blade to the top.
Low Points
▼ Off by 1° and with no way to calibrate it, the blade-tilt scale could not be relied on.
▼ When ripping stock longer than 4', the stand feels tippy; it never tipped over, but we were always mindful of the potential.
More Points
▶ The narrow-rip fence attachment mounts and stores separately from the fence, but the mounting screws and nuts vibrated loose and fell off when stored on the saw if not sufficiently tightened.
Grizzly G0870
High Points
▲ Outfeed arm pulls out for additional support.
▲ Its variable-speed motor (2,000–4,000 rpm) providesthe ability to slow the bladespeed for cutting plastics and nonferrous metals.
▲ We found Grizzly's owner's manual more detailed with clearer images than the Oliver and Rikon manuals.
▲ Cranking the blade from fully down to maximumheight takes a mere 51⁄2 handwheel turns.
Low Points
▼ The small on/off power switch is harder to shut off than with other saws because it lacks an easy-to-locate "off" paddle.
▼ We had to calibrate the blade-tilt stops and scale cursor, but doing so required removing the blade-height handwheel. The difficult-to-read cursor required squatting down low.
▼ Aligning the blade to the miter slots proved difficult.
▼ The miter gauge routinely falls off the saw from its storage position when moving the saw.
More Points
▶ We like the rip-fence view window for helping to clearly see the scale increments, but dust builds up on it frequently—more so than most models—obstructing the view.
▶ An optional 10" sanding disc (no. T30883) mounts on the arbor in place of the blade (another use for slower motor speed).
▶ You can buy this saw without the stand (model G0869).
Kobalt KT10152
High Points
▲ Thanks to its open "cabinet," we had excellent access to the trunnion-mounting bolts.
▲ The pushstick stores on the right side of the rip fence within easy reach for ripcuts.
Low Points
▼ The saw vibrates and the light-duty stand wobbles and scoots when cutting—an uneasy feeling when you're midway through a long ripcut.
▼ The miter gauge routinely falls off the saw from its storage position when being moved.
▼ The thin plastic throat insert did not sit flush with the table surface, with no way to adjust it.
▼ We accidentally broke the plastic dust-collection shroud around the blade when changing blades due to the narrow throat opening. The splitter/riving knife lock also impedes access.
▼ Cranking the blade from fully down to maximum height takes a tedious 43 handwheel turns.
More Points
▶ The narrow-rip fence attachment works only on the left side of the blade. Thicker than most, it can't provide workpiece support when you position the fence off the table.
Metabo HPT C10RJS
High Points
▲ We like the splayed-leg standfor its portability and stability, which includes an adjustable foot for leveling.
▲ Adjustable stops at 0°, 221⁄2°, and 45° make this miter gauge one of the two best in the test.
▲ This saw tops the competitors' rip capacity with 35" tothe right and 22" to the left. Its outfeed support and rip-fence attachment provide additional workpiece support.
Low Points
▼ Not only is the blade-tilt scale hard to read, but the sliding handwheel also creeps a bit as you tighten the lock. We were unable to get the blade fully to the 45° tilt stop, so we could not cut an accurate 45° bevel.
Oliver 10010
High Points
▲ An outfeed arm pulls out for additional support.
▲ Its variable-speed motor (2,000–4,000 rpm) provides the ability to slow the blade speed for cutting plastics and nonferrous metals.
▲ Use the included 10" sanding disc in place of the blade(another use for slower motor speed).
▲ Cranking the blade from fully down to maximum height takes a mere 5-1⁄2 handwheel turns.
Low Points
▼ The small on/off power switch is harder to shut off than with other saws because it lacks an easy-to-locate "off" paddle.
▼ We had to calibrate the blade-tilt stops and scale cursor, but to do so we first had to remove the blade-height handwheel. The difficult-to-read cursor required squatting down low.
▼ Aligning the blade to the miter slots proved difficult.
▼ The owner's manual includes blurry, dark photos that make assembly and use difficult. Some hardware was missing, requiring a trip to the store to get what we needed.
▼ The miter gauge routinely falls off the saw from its storage position when being moved.
More Points
▶ We like the rip-fence view window for helping to clearly see the scale increments, but dust builds up on it frequently, obstructing the view.
▶ During our power/stress testing, this was the only saw that tripped its breaker (twice). Slowing our feed rate eliminated this.
Ridgid R4550
High Points
▲ We found this saw's blade-tilt scale and stops easy to use and adjust.
▲ The pushstick stores on the right side of the rip fence within easy reach for ripcuts.
▲ It comes with a 5-year warranty.
Low Points
▼ The lock for the splitter/riving knife impedes access when changing blades.
▼ The stand scoots when cutting—an uneasy feeling when you're midway through a long ripcut. When collapsed, the stand's lock frequently comes loose while moving the saw.
▼ Cranking the blade from fully down to maximum height requires a test-high 47 handwheel turns.
More Points
▶ You can buy this saw on a scissor-type stand (model R4540).
Rikon 11-600S
High Points
▲ An outfeed arm pulls out for additional support.
▲ Its variable-speed motor (2,000–4,000 rpm) provides the ability to slow the blade speed for cutting plastics and nonferrous metals.
▲ Use the included 10" sanding disc in place of the blade (another use for slower motor speed).
▲ Cranking the blade from fully down to maximum height takes a mere 5-1⁄2 handwheel turns.
▲Comes with a 5-year warranty.
Low Points
▼ The small on/off power switch is harder to shut off than with other saws because it lacks an easy-to-locate "off" paddle.
▼ We had to calibrate the blade-tilt stops and scale cursor, but to do so we first had to remove the blade-height handwheel. The difficult-to-read cursor required squatting down low.
▼ Aligning the blade to the miter slots proved difficult.
▼ The owner's manual includes blurry, dark photos that make assembly and use difficult. Some small parts were missing and two small plastic knobs were broken.
▼ The miter gauge routinely falls off the saw from its storage position when being moved.
More Points
▶ We like the rip-fence view window for helping to clearly see the scale increments, but dust builds up on it frequently, obstructing the view.
Ryobi RTS23
Low Points
▼ The thin plastic throat insert plate flexes downward at times (depending on the task and workpiece); we worry about its longevity.
▼ The saw vibrates and the light-duty stand wobbles and scoots when cutting—an uneasy feeling when you're midway through a long ripcut. It's awkward to roll around when folded up, and the plastic feet repeatedly fell out of the metal-tube legs.
▼ When set up, the saw tabletop slopes 11⁄4" out of level with no way to adjust it.
▼ There's only one miter slot, to the right of the blade. Having just one could suffice, but we'd prefer it to be left of the blade.
More Points
▶ We found the rip fence fussy to set up, but once locked it held securely.
Skil TS6307-00
High Points
▲ An open cabinet and single adjustment bolt make it simple (easiest in the test group) to align the blade to the miter slots. Blade-tilt stops are also easily adjusted.
▲ Despite having no wheels, this stand folds up and carries easily. One of the feet also adjusts to level the stand on uneven surfaces.
Low Points
▼ The thin plastic throat insert plate broke during testing. We would replace this insert with one made from phenolic, aluminum, or plywood.
▼ After a few times of collapsing and setting up the stand and making test cuts, the blade and rip fence lost their parallel alignment to the miter slots and had to be readjusted.
▼ The narrow throat opening, plastic dust-collection shroud, and long splitter/riving knife lock lever make changing blades difficult.
More Points
▶ Curiously, the plastic shut-off paddle on the power switch is black instead of eye-catching bright red—not a problem, just unusual.
Skil SPT99-11
High Points
▲ We love this stand. It collapses and sets up easily, and its 16"-diameter wheels—twice as big as those on the other saws—roll easily over power cords, floor cracks, and other obstructions.
▲ Because this saw has no closed cabinet, we could easily access the blade-alignment bolts.
▲ You can raise the blade to a test-best 3-5⁄8".
Low Points
▼ The rip fence has a T-slot on each face, but the plastic end caps prevent inserting anything into those slots.
More Points
▶ Based on past experience with handheld circular saws, we expected the worm-drive motor to demonstrate greater torque than the other tested tablesaws. Instead, we found we could bog this one down with heavy cuts, putting it on par with the other saws in our test.
▶ The pushstick stores in a plastic housing, so it's easy to reach when ripping stock, but if you don't pull it straight out, you'll break the housing (trust us, we know).
Park your portable-saw dollars on these models
Several machines fared well in our testing, but two saws stand out: The DeWalt DWE7491RS and SawStop Jobsite Saw Pro share Top Tool honors. The DeWalt performed at the top or near it in every test and has the best stand for stability. SawStop's hard-to-beat safety system adds to its top-shelf performance. The Metabo HPT C10RJS performs well and it's our Top Value.
SawStop launches an even more compact benchtop saw
SawStop's newest tablesaw features a smaller footprint—and price tag—to make it more accessible to the home woodworker. This compact saw uses a tube-steel frame rather than a cabinet, and has rubber feet to prevent scooting during use. The 23×22-5⁄8" top provides 24-1⁄2" of rip capacity, thanks to its rack-and-pinion fence-rail system. The saw also features microadjustable blade tilting, three-piece blade guard, and SawStop's unique flesh-detection safety-brake system. It includes a 10" blade, 10" brake cartridge, and miter gauge. We were unable to include this saw in our test, but will review it in a future issue.
