Since so many of us are upgrading to bigger saws, I thought it would be helpful to provide a review of one possible alternative route.

After deciding to go upgrade to cast iron, I shopped for contractor's saws, hybrid saws and cabinet saws. I eventually realized that I'd end up with a cabinet saw anyway, so why not skip the middle man? After reading lots of reviews and looking at saws in person, I decided on the Shop Fox or Grizzly 1023 (same saw) equipped with a Shark Guard. Full cabinet saw for about the price of a hybrid! Since the Shop Fox was available at a local retailer and I could actually pick it up there, the decision was easy. Amazon reviews are full of nightmare stories of crushed and bent tablesaw parts. I didn't think I could endure the heartache again after recieving a shattered Delta bandsaw last year. Besides, I really like to support my local store whenever possible. I also like the white better than green.

This saw weighs around 500 lbs including fence and rails. It comes in two boxes. The main cabinet was loaded onto my pickup with a forklift. I got some buffed dudes from work to unload it for me. After that, it was easy for me to walk it off of the pallet, onto a mobile base.

There isn't much to assemble on one of these. Square the table top to the blade, bolt on the extension wings, bolt on the fence rails, square the fence, you're good to go. Total set up was around 3 hours. It takes one of those hours to clean the nasty packing grease off of the cast iron. I used brake cleaner, which was very effective.

Good stuff:

This saw does exactly what it is supposed to. It is easy to set up perfectly square and it stays that way. The table top is bolted to the cabinet on the corners. You just have to loosen three of the bolts and tap the top to get the miter slots square to the blade. Once tightened, you're done.

The fence is a Bis clone. It's massive and has no flex whatsoever. It is a welded unit which can't really go out of adjustment. No frills here. It relies on the "smack with your fist" method of microadjustment which actually works OK. The faces are lined with HDPE on both sides. One thing which is apparently unique is that you can set the fence parellel to the blade with a grub screw on the T section. Worked great for me.

The cabinet is accessed through a steel door with steel hinges. No plastic!
You open the door and everything is right there. Easy access to trunnion adustments, clean out, etc.

The height and bevel adjuster wheels are big cast iron affairs with center locking knurled knobs. Along with the big ol' trunnions, they adjust with authority then lock in place. There is no noticeable lash when changing direction.

The switch can be easily turned off with your knee. It's just the right height. It is also magnetic, so it will not turn itself back on after a power failure.

a 3hp motor will easily handle a full kerf blade. I ponied up for a WWII blade which has served me well for everything so far. I haven't ripped anything over 2", but you can pretty much shove wood in as fast as you want without bogging the motor. A full kerf blade does take a wider cut. I like that because I think it decreases the chance of the wood binding behind the blade. I may be imagining this, but I think the slower motor makes less fine dust than the BT3 motor. The chips seem bigger.

The saw is relatively quiet. It growls rather than whines. I still will always wear ear protection.

Dust collection is OK, upgraded to excellent with a Shark Guard. Very comparable to the BT3. I had decided in advance to use the Shark Guard from the old BT3100. Lee sold me a set of three splitters of different heights which mimic a riving knife. I had to drill the tops of the splitters to accept my older Shark Guard lexan top, but that was easy. The splitters have tool-free removal which takes only a second. The bracket which holds the splitter mounts to the rear trunnion. There is a little adjuster for getting the splitter aligned just right. Once set, the splitter can be removed with a ratcheting lever under the throat plate. Very slick, I think.

The saw comes with a standard and dado throat plate. These are cast aluminum and require no tools for removal. They are interchangeable with Jet cabinet saw throat plates.

My shop space is very limited, so I chose 25" rails. This is cool because it has about the same footprint as the BT3. The rails protrude around 15" past the cast iron top on the right. I installed a laminated MDF top with a router insert. This gives me a 15" x 27" router table top, which seems huge to me. There is also a cast iron rounter table extension available. If I ever get a bigger shop and want 50" rails, Shop Fox sell them with a leg kit for under $200.

Customer service is excellent at Shop Fox.

They actually include a drill bit and tap. I guess that is to clean up any bad threads. Mine were fine.


Not so good stuff:

The miter slots were not milled properly on the left side. I called Shop Fox and immediately got a real person who assured me that the top would be replaced if I couldn't file it to my satasfaction. I cleaned up the slot with a flat file and sand paper so it works fine but there is still a little catch at the far end of the slot. I will replace it when my current project is finished. To their credit, Shop Fox sent the new top to my retailer, so I can just drive over there to exchange it.

The stock miter gauge is bizarre. It actually weighs 8 lbs (no exaggeration) and is pretty crude. I bought an Incra V44 with a Hartville fence and I'm happy. As an aside, I bought a 36" Hartville fence but ended up sawing it down to 24" because the long fence made the Incra miter gauge flex.

The stock guard /splitter is so flimsy it actually seems dangerous.

The fence has no micro adjustment. I got really spoiled by the Ryobi microadjuster. Rockler makes an aftermarket one which I may eventually try. The fence will also move when being tightened if you have it tilted from square to the rails. Some higher end fences apparently don't do this. It is easy to compensate by pulling the T section of the fence tight against the rails before locking down. Still a minor annoyance.

A major annoyance is the magnified cursor on the fence. It is a dome shape and you really have to be directly over it to get a precise measurement. These are designed to be easily replaced. I will probably just make one out of clear plastic with a red line scribed into it. I also think the stick-on tape measure is kind of cheesey. I don't really rely on it anyway, but if I did I would upgrade it to a Starrett or similar.

The dust collection is on the left side of the saw instead of the back. Kind of awkward. I made a 4" chute which gently curves around the back of the saw using 45 degree S&D fittings. It Ys into the 1 1/2 hose for the Shark Guard, then to a friction fitting for the DC hose. I guess I could have just cut a hole into the back of the cabinet. I couldn't do it though.

You will need 220 in your shop. My shop/garage has the house's breaker panel in it, so I just added a 220 breaker and ran armored cable along the wall to an outlet. You have to supply your own plug.


Overall impressions:

This thing is a pleasure to use. I always feel like I'm driving a Cadillac. I have no experience with higher end cabinet saws, so I can't give a comparison based on that. I can say that it does whatever it's asked without any complaints. I really love the large cast iron top and the miter slots. I understand that saws with riving knives instead of splitters are soon to dominate the landscape. I still haven't missed the riving knife however, since I'm using a Shark Guard.

I really like having a heavy saw that I can feel good about putting a big piece of wood onto. There is no way this is going to move while ripping something like a sheet of 3/4" MDF. I made a 48" x 36" sled to cut bevels for a hardwood table top last week. It was amazing to have such good control of a big piece of wood.

I just like looking at it. The graphics are really pleasing.

I also feel comfortable with the money spent, since this is really only a hobby for me. I didn't feel bad about getting accessories like a Grizzly tennoning jig (future review!), a better miter gauge and a Forrest blade.

A word about Shop Fox:

Shop Fox is the same company as Grizzly. Whereas Grizzly products are strictly sold via internet and catalog, Shop Fox is intended to be sold through retail stores. The line is much smaller than Grizzly. I imagine that most Shop Fox products are mainly white versions of Grizzly's best sellers. I think it is nice to be able to actually see and touch something before dropping a grand on it. It is also nice to be able to support the local store. We actually have two local places which carry the line.


Price:

$998 for saw with fence
$89 for WWII blade
$46 for splitter upgrade for Shark Guard

Here's a link http://www.woodstockint.com/Products/W1677/