[Jordan.T]

I've recent up an interest in woodworking to make my own shelves and cabinets. I've worked in a carpentry shop for a time in the past and took woodworking in school. I'm buying tools to begin working and I'm having trouble deciding on a decent and affordable saw. would a portable table saw system be best or a mitersaw and stand. I intend to start off making several bookshelves for my personal library. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dave Paine]

I'm buying tools to begin working and I'm having trouble deciding on a decent and affordable saw. would a portable table saw system be best or a mitersaw and stand. I intend to start off making several bookshelves for my personal library. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

A very common question. Lot's of existing threads. Worth looking at some of these.

A table saw can rip and cross-cut with mitre gauge or sled.

A mitre saw can cross-cut, but cannot rip.

If you do not need to rip the boards you intend to purchase then either will work.

If you expect to need to rip, then I think a table saw will be a better purchase.

 

[ryan50hrl]

A miter saw also cannot effectively dado anything, It's my opinion that every good shop is built around a tablesaw.

 

[knotscott]

I'd heavily favor a TS....I'd also heavily favor a full size saw with a belt drive induction motor over a portable or benchtop model....there's no comparison in longevity, ease of use, stability, and every other characteristic you can name aside from portability. If there's a way to make it work, I'd encourage you to head in that direction.

With that said, if a full size saw just isn't in the cards, the DW, Bosch 4100, and Ridgid R4510 are perennial top dogs.

 

[Jordan.T]

I've a larger work area than I have storage area so the table saws I've been reviewing have been of the portable job site variety. so far I had been looking at the DEWALT DW744X 10-Inch Job-Site Saw or the Bosch 4100-09 10-Inch Worksite Table Saw. My selection of tools have been dewalt and Bosch products thus far. anyone have any suggestions on other table saws that're decently portable and easily storable in a small shed/garage without taking a ton of space?

 

[LRTX1]

I bought this one a few weeks back. Reasonably pleased with it, wasn't hard to set up to achieve accurate enough cuts. Like you I have a very small space and portability was high on my list of needs. Also was the width of cut being 24". It can run a dado stack but is limited in size.

http://m.sears.com/productdetails.do?partNumber=00921828000P

 

[Pirate]

You should post your general location, in case one of us knows of any saws that are available.
Older Craftsman belt drive saws (older the better) can be a decent saw, for around $100. See them on CL quite often.

 

[fire65]

I will always say a table saw is the center of any shop be it large or small. It will do so many things with the proper jigs.
Sure all the other saws, chop, RS, etc are great but they do what they do.
NOW, if you get into production you will need them all. I do not have time to set up many, many times a day just to use my TS for all things.
But it is my goto saw because it is totally accurate.
IF I had to buy one tool to start a shop it would be the best TS that would fit my shop.

 

[MORRIS76]

A table saw will serve your purpose better than any other type of tool.
A full size contractor or hybrid saw would be my first recommendation but if you don't have room for that much saw some of the portables can be quite good. Go to a store that has display models you can play with.