You’ve decided to start a hobby as a woodworker but can’t make up your mind on the perfect woodworking tool to buy. The process of selecting a table saw of choice is admittedly tasking, especially if you don’t know what to look out for.
Suppose you’ve decided to purchase a model that allows for flexibility and mobility. In that case, you should research the best jobsite table saws for woodworking in the market today.
One question remains, though: should you really buy a table saw in 2023? Is it worth it? This article will give you insights you may not have considered before when it comes to purchasing a table saw.
Table Saw: What Is It Good for?
If you need to cut lots of wood accurately and lengthwise, buying a table saw is worth the investment.
Table saws are great for cutting angled and straight lines. They’re also the perfect choice for making smoother cuts on long and small planks or boards. DIY enthusiasts and professionals use table saws extensively and for different purposes
Most woodworking projects require precise cuts that only table saws can accomplish. Other cutting power tools or hand saws are good, but they’re less precise than table saws.
Is a Table Saw a Worthy Investment in 2023?
If you’re not so sure buying a table saw in 2023 is worth it, try answering this list of questions below:
- Do I really need a table saw, or do I only want one?
- What is attractive about the table saw?
- Do I want to pay more attention to woodworking as a DIY enthusiast, or do I want to build a career out of it?
- How often will I use this table saw?
- Is the table saw I have in mind affordable?
- Finally, do I possess a tool that can achieve the same results a table saw can?
Providing answers to these questions will go a long way in helping you determine whether or not you should buy a table saw in 2023 and beyond.
That said, let’s touch on some of these critical questions.
1. What’s the intended purpose of the table saw?
This is the primary reason behind your decision to purchase a table saw in the first place.
If you’re a beginner who’s serious about woodworking projects, getting a table saw to assist your cutting needs is essential. Table saws don’t come cheap, but there’s really no way around it if it’s an important tool to have and use in your workshop.
2 How often do you intend to use the table saw?
On the one hand, if you plan on using your table saw daily or every week, investing in a good table saw is a wise decision.
On the other hand, if you need one for a single woodworking project, consider borrowing the versatile cutting tool from a friend or family member who loves woodworking projects.
If none of your loved ones own a table saw, consider renting one in your locality or online. This is cheaper and more reasonable than buying a cutting tool that you’ll only store in a cabinet for months.
3. Is it affordable?
Spending your last cash on a tool you’ll hardly use doesn’t make sense and requires reconsideration. However, if the table saw is going to be a necessary item, despite cheaper alternatives, you should go for it.
Moreover, you should keep an eye out for special sales or days like Black Friday, July 4th, etc. These are periods during which some e-commerce stores run promos and sell stuff at less-than-usual prices.
During such periods, table saws are usually affordable, so you plan to get one then.
Avoid yard sales, especially if part of the items sold is a table saw. It’s usually not advisable to purchase used table saws. This is because you have no idea how long the user has been using the tool.
You also don’t know if it has some hidden defects that may not be readily obvious when testing the tool before purchase. Rather, go for a brand-new table saw that you can return within the warranty period if something goes inexplicably wrong with it during operation.
4. What’s the table saw quality?
It’s not easy to pinpoint the overall quality of a table saw.
However, you can read the reviews of others who have purchased specific table saw brands. These owners must have used the table saw they bought and decided to bare their minds about their woodworking tool.
Reading reviews is highly beneficial as you may discover some unfavorable issues with the brand of table saw you had in mind to purchase. This is why you should be open-minded enough to jettison preconceived ideas and look for a more suitable table saw.
5. Does it have safety features?
Research shows that table saws cause more woodworking shop accidents than other tools. Most of these injuries occur due to kickback — where a table saw operator pulls the wood being cut backward onto the tool’s rotating blade.
Therefore, focus on purchasing a table saw equipped with advanced safety features.
Here are the typical safety features you should look out for in a table saw:
- Riving Knife and Splitter
- Push Stick
- Anti-Kickback Pawls
- Magnetic switch
- Blade Guard
- Sensors
It’s advised to purchase a dependable and well-known brand of this powerful tool to ensure safety at all times.
This means steering clear of all poor copies or counterfeiting that unknown brands make. The reason isn’t far-fetched: cheap table saws are made of inferior materials and usually lack safety features.
6. How much space do you need around the table saw?
Indirectly, the space you need for woodworking projects can determine the type of table saw you purchase. In an ideal situation and according to a general rule of thumb, there should be at least 3 feet of space on every side of the table saw.
In addition, there must be at least 5 feet in front of the blade.
This gives you plenty of room to work and react swiftly if something goes wrong and you need to escape.
Conclusion
Table saws are versatile cutting tools that should be the heart of your woodworking workshop as a pro or just a DIY enthusiast. However, should you buy one in 2023? If you’ve read this far, you should know the answer to this question based on the different prompts analyzed in this post.