New Member from the Seattle Area - Woodworking Talk

Armchair Bronco · 03-23-2009, 11:06 PM

Hi there,

I'm Armchair Bronco, and I'm new to the site. I just posted a thread in the power tools section asking for advice on buying a 10" table saw. I've been working with wood since I was a kid, but it's usually been with very small projects like radio controlled airplanes and gliders. I still build these things as an adult (I'm 46) but now I use EPP (Expanded Polypropelene) as a building material for my combat and bungee-launched gliders.

I'm interested in doing some DIY-type projects around the house, maybe putting in some wood floors, rebuilding the wooden fence in my back yard, and making some small pieces of furniture.

My passion for wood working came from my Granddad. He was born in 1903 and carpentry and woodworking was a lifetime hobby for him. He did everything from finishing out rooms to building high-quality furniture and making sheds and small storage buildings.

I work as a software design engineer during the day, so it's important for me to have some hobbies that have NOTHING to do with computers, software, or programming. I play electric guitar every day. I also enjoy trap shooting, target shooting, and radio controlled slope and combat gliders (small ones with a 1-meter wingspan).

Hope to get some good ideas from the "experts" on this site and maybe learn enough to eventually offer advice for a newbie a year or two from now!

YouNGwOOd · 03-23-2009, 11:45 PM

Welcome to the forum... Delta has great table saws that are dependable and they last. They have some good saws for a descent price. The cheapest one that I've purchased was like 579$ out the door. It doesn't "bog" and makes great cuts. Unless, I use it for some 8/4 hardwood then it will bog, but for 4/4 wood its a great saw. There's actually one in my garage not being used also. To many tools and little space. But I have 3 table saws and a panel saw at the shop and the one I mentioned in use at home.

Armchair Bronco · 03-24-2009, 12:20 AM

Thanks for the info.

I'm looking for a solid name brand table saw that'll be dependable, safe, and accurate, but without a lot of frills and without attachments that target folks cutting huge pieces of wood or plywood. I've bought a lot of stuff from Grizzly in the past (my gun safe, a vise, and some shop tools) but all of their offerings are too expensive.

The Bosch and Dewalt table saws I looked at in Sears were the most well-made machines I peeked at today, but you really have to pay for that kind of quality. I don't need a Mercedes Benz just yet.

Armchair Bronco · 03-26-2009, 01:29 AM

Looks like I'm going to pull the trigger on a 10" Delta 36-979 contractor's table saw tomorrow @ Lowes. The initial advice I received on this forum was to get a Ridgid 3660 from HD, but unfortunately there's been a run on the last of these models -- every store in the Pacific Northwest is sold out. HD will be carrying the more expensive and much heavier granite-topped model. That one looks awesome but it's way more saw than I need.

Then I got more suggestions to look at the Delta 979. That looks like a worthy competitor, so I'm heading over to Lowes tomorrow. This will be my first serious piece of wood working machinery and I can't wait to get started with it.

I'm really glad I found this site, and I appreciate all the great advice I've received. (Before long, I'll be asking for more advice when it's time to get a router and a router table!)

EDIT: Just bought the Delta 36-979 10" table saw this morning along with a Delta T2 fence. With the 10% off coupon I had, I was out-the-door for $475 (+ tax).