Yesterday of course, being early April, the great and the good from UKWorkshop converged at Yandles for a thoroughly pleasant day out amongst the timber, machinery and other drool inducing goodies from CHT.I went there primarily to cast the MKI eyeball over suitable table saws that might be on offer in the machine hall.
I knew that SIP would have one of their big machines on show and this is almost identical to the Axminster 10BS2 which is one of the contenders on my list. Suitably armed with my tape measure I was dismayed to find that the SIP was 2.3m from side to side and weighed in at around 240Kgs...far too big and heavy for my fairly lightweight suspended floor. I then sauntered over to the Record display and spent twenty minutes with the rep looking at the TS200. This little saw impressed me...decent build quality, cast iron table and 10" blade, the main features I'd been looking for. However, the glaring fault with it is that although there's sliding table...there's no outrigger arm, a bit like building a piece of furniture and forgetting to include one of the legs!
I was about to give up and go for a brew when I spotted the Charnwood stand over in one corner with the new W650, so not feeling very enthusiastic by this time I wandered over for a quick peek. What I discovered to my complete surprise was a saw that just about fitted all my requirements. The overall footprint is probably a smidgen smaller than my old Kity, but the main table is cast iron and much bigger. The sliding table is a direct 'lift' from the Kity model, but with the advantage that the small table is again cast iron. It sports a 10" blade powered by a 2.2KW induction motor so plenty of clout for sawing bigger stuff. It's also got a much better fence arrangement with a micro-adjustment facility, something that was just not available on the Kity. There was one feature on it that was very poor...the crown guard. Too big, too flimsy and made of cheap and nasty plastic, but easily replaced with one of these...
So what's all this got to do with Goldilocks? Everyone knows the tale of the 'Three Bears and the Porridge', one was too hot, one was too cold but one was just right for poor little Goldilocks.
On the other hand, you might think I've fallen completely out the tree this time and all this is just a load of golden...
You're probably right!
1 comment:
Hi Rob,
That looks like a good saw for the money, particularly when you compare it to the cost of the 10in SIP. I can see why the Record TS200 wouldn't suit you.
Does this mean you've written off the Jet JTS-600 then? Or, will you be driving down to Devon on another day?? :-D ;-)
With regards to crown guards, don't forget that Steve Maskery has made several of his own, if you wanted to save a little cash.
Olly.
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