Is there a consensus on job site saws?

[vitabile]

I started woodworking with a Craftsman job site saw 13 years ago. I was able to make decent stuff, but there were drawbacks:

• The saw was so light that cut quality was not glue-ready. That is, I had to clean up all of my cuts before gluing if I wanted the project to stay together.
  
• The saw could only take a 6" dado set up to 1/2" wide.
  
• The thing was incredibly noisy.
  
• No dust collection (not that I have any dust collection now, but the dust does accumulate at the bottom of my saw's cabinet).
  

I personally would not buy a job site saw unless I were working on job sites cutting construction lumber, or anything where the quality of the cut doesn't matter.

Just my opinion.

[museumguy]

I had the Ridgid jobsite saw, not the model currently sold but it's predecessor. The major issue was a flimsy throat plate. I couldn't figure out how to make a new one so I was on the lookout for new one. I got extremely lucky and found a Dewalt early version on the local Craigslist for $200. With all of the goodies that came with it, it was a no brainer. I sold the Ridgid and the stand that came with the Dewalt and made half of my money back. I use the saw quite a lot and love it. It is very accurate, easy to set up and has plenty of power for a jobsite saw. With the proper blade and feed rate, I have no problems cutting anything that I need to. To be honest, I have never used any other jobsite saw than those 2 say I can't compare them to any other.

[daddo]

The Makita 2705 will accept a dado blade to 13/16".

[BloomingtonMike]

Dewalt DWE7491RS will rip 32.5" and the fence looks good. It will also take a 13/16" dado stack.

[Steve N]

Tom, Look at the local CL, and see if there isn't a good selection of Sears 113. contractor TS's available. Usually here they are 100 to 150 bux. You can add a Beis style fence, or a Vega, something with reliable adjustment,. and you have a great saw, that can make very accurate cuts, usually for less than a Bosch. If he really wants a jobsite saw for portability I would suggest the Bosch 3000 saw

[Scott W]

I bought a Ridgid 6-7 years ago. it was AWESOME. I foolishly sold it 6months ago and have regretted it. I didn't, but you can, add a router table where the wing slides out(search YouTube for that, there is a nice video). It was dead on accurate put of the box. The new ones are $399 I believe....but I sold mine for $350.

I now have a Ridgid TS3650 and am so far happy with it BUT I wish I had my other saw back and available for use. I'd did everything I ever needed it to...home rebuild stuff, sheds, and any woodworking I could try.

Oh well....buy a Ridgid and save the money over a Bosch.

[toolmiser]

Around here there are usually a couple old Craftsman saw from the 50's for less than $50.00.  They are belt driven, and have cast iron tables, some are only 8" blades, but still not a deal breaker.

[TDKPE]

Around here there are usually a couple old Craftsman saw from the 50's for less than $50.00.  They are belt driven, and have cast iron tables, some are only 8" blades, but still not a deal breaker.

My Dad's 8" C'Man is available, but Houston is just a tad bit too far to ship to from Connecticut.