Whatever happened to granite-topped table saws?

[GrumpyDad]

My granite top saw was wonderful - but I wanted to use MagSwitch products. Sold it - went Sawstop PCS instead.

[gsmittle]

Did you buy one?

There in lies the answer.

Oh, heck no. Couldn't afford any saw other than a BT3100 back then.

[Black walnut]

Remember a few years ago when granite-topped table were all the rage? Granite was supposed to be the Next Big Thing, and then they just disappeared. I got to thinking about this a couple of days ago …

Did you buy one?

There in lies the answer.

[LCHIEN]

Did anyone other than Ridgid offer granite top table saws? Steel City? Craftsman?
Reading through internet forum posts Steel City (now defunct) made them OEM for Ridgid and Craftsman.

forum at Woodworkingtalk.com discusses chipping as a problem and also magnetic attachments not working. And weight.
And of course breaking. If the saw was dropped the granite would have a good chance of cracking (shipping damage was frequently mentioned) and then the saw would basically be totaled. Whereas a cast iron top is virtually indestructible.

But, it would not rust. Looks pretty sexy.

Ridgid R4511 Granite top 10" table saw





Steel City Granite top saw

[cwsmith]

I can only write from my own experience from seeing them in the local Home Depot and commentary on a couple of the forums at the time.

Home Depot proved to be a disaster, mostly from mis-handling. From the two that I actually saw, one was chipped and had a crack along one side. Asking about that, I was told that they receive several with the tops damaged. Later talking to one of the 'orange aprons' (as I used to call them), the cartons were stacked on top of each other and the extreme weight resulted in a lot of scrap. I also seem to recall that there were a few mentions of this on the forums.

IIRC, the prices were significantly higher than many of the other saws at the time and being significantly heavy you definitely needed some assistance unloading them and getting them into you shop, especially if it was in the basement. I think their introduction and popularity was around 2005 - 2007, but honestly I don't know for sure; and if so, I had already purchased my BT3100. Either way, a granit-top wasn't within my price range and I wasn't particular impressed with what I saw, at least not in the Ridgid line. In my area about the only tool merchants were Sears, Home Depot and Lowes and you would have to travel some distance for anything else.

CWS

[gsmittle]

Remember a few years ago when granite-topped table were all the rage? Granite was supposed to be the Next Big Thing, and then they just disappeared. I got to thinking about this a couple of days ago …