A new table saw

As some of you know, my old table saw gave me a great spark show and bit the dust, just before we moved in the new house. My friend BG, who fixes tools for a living, told me that it was not worth fixing it, so I've been in the market for a new saw for a couple of months.

I struggled for a while, as to whether to buy a small table top saw, as I had, or if to use this opportunity to upgrade to something of better quality. Apparently I had been pushing this saw too much with the house project, so maybe that was an indication that I needed to upgrade. Also, Cindy and I have a couple of furniture projects in the works, and a nicer saw could really help with those.

I did much research on saws, but everything kept on pointing to saws costing over $500. So I decided to wait and see what God would do. The first thing He did was that He used my lack of saw to help me build a relationship with my neighbor across the street, whose saw I have used several times. There is nothing like sharing tools and working together in the same shop for starting up conversation and getting to know people. So Don, if you ever read this, thanks for letting me use your saw and thanks for letting me get to know you a little better while I used your saw.

The second thing is that I believe He has finally led me to a good buy. So I was in Lowes the other day and I saw a nice saw on clearance (Delta TS350 shown in the picture), so I went home real quick, did some internet research and then bought it.

I had not done as much research as I had wanted, so I made sure that I could return it if it did not meet my requirements. So what were my requirements you ask? Well I wanted a 10" table saw with a cast iron top, possibly cast iron wings, stand, a nice solid fence, and a belt driven motor. Does the Delta TS350 meet those requirements? Nope. It turns out that it is a direct drive and not a belt drive.

So, I then asked myself why I came up with these requirements, and how hard these requirements were. That will be the topic of another entry ... BTW I'm keeping the saw and will also be reviewing it as I get to use it next year.