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I spent a lot of time researching tablesaws in the benchtop category, as I have a very small shop, with a budget to match. I can really only compare it to my then current saw, a Delta benchtop, which I actually have thought was a pretty decent saw for the four or five years I've been using it, until I cut a board with the Jet. I truly wanted a contractor's saw, but I seriously don't have the room for it. I just received this tool yesterday, assembled it tonight, and cut with it to see what I have, and I am very impressed. the cut looked like I had bought a sander as well as a saw.Set up was spot on out of the box (I spent quite a bit of time checking it after assembly); Amazon's delivery was at least a week earlier than estimated; the tool almost seems as if it has a soft start motor; it's quieter than the direct drive Delta; runout was as near zero as I can measure (and I measure for a living so I can get pretty tight). I've read some negative reviews here about this tool, and took them into consideration before I added it to my cart, but other reviews won out, and I am glad I decided to get it.
After that, all was well. I bought one 1 1/2 years ago and I could not eliminate the excessive runoff (1/8") no matter what I tried until the motor bearing burned out and started a small fire in the dust that had accumulated around the corners of the housing. I rip 1" thick medium hardwoods planks into 1" strips. In the process I discovered that the inner rotor flange itself was not flat and that THAT was what had been causing the excessive runoff.
I bought a used Sears/Rigid iron table workhorse contractor's tablesaw as a replacement and now I'm glad my Jet burned out.Did I mention. So, I called to get that replaced as well. I had to get a special gear puller to replace the smaller bits on the armature of the motor. I would not recommend this saw to any of my friends or enemies, for that matter. It may be belt driven but it is NOT an induction motor so it is as loud as any of the other cheaper tablesaws in the market. I decided not to bother with the remaining three years of warranty or even fixing and reselling it as I would feel guilty selling a far inferior product.I therefore gutted the saw so that I could use it as a worktable.What do I saw.
I cut about 6 broad feet per weekend. That's all.Even so, the saw would frequently stall while cutting these planks.
Check out other brands before spending this much on this saw. This forced me to call in for a new motor and dismantle the assembly completely.
The ground bit on the plug also came right out after a few uses and the fence cracked a couple times at the bracket so that I had to weld it back together. that is, for a whole 6 months.
Then the motor burned out again. One last thing.
In my opinion it is $150.00 overpriced.
It takes a few minutes but will result in more accurate cuts if anything was off adjustment slightly as mine was. I have used the saw a few times now and it seems to work nice. Be sure to fine tune all adjustments as per the instructions to make sure everything is square. The price was reasonable and the features are OK. The combination blade height adjustment and bevel angle handle takes a little getting used to, but other than that, seems like a good value.
I've owned this saw for nearly two years and done a variety of projects with it. For the money I don't think that you can buy a better saw. The criticisms of the fence and miter are valid, and you really need to invest in a quality blade for best results - however, for a portable small machine it works like a champ. The saw is a valuable addition to my shop.
The one problem is building a zero clearance insert. For those just getting started with a table saw this item cannot be beat. It's easy to set up, (relatively quite) and reliable. There is a non standard opening and the shipped throat plate is just a sheet of metal that cannot be used as a template to cut the replacement. I solved it by buying a sheet of 1/4 Phenolic Plastic which I furst cut to size and then had to route insets so that it would fit the supports.
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