My First Cabinet Saw
by Patrick Harper - Blood, Sweat, and Sawdust
I never thought I’d own a table saw. I thought they were dangerous. I thought they were for people who lacked the finesse to master hand tools. It turns out, there’s so much you can do on a table saw that you can’t do with another tool.
I struggled between the European style sliders and the SawStop. I decided on the Saw Stop Professional Cabinet Saw with 36″ table. You can’t beat the European sliding table saws for accuracy and versatility. However, the Saw Stop is better for me in terms of budget, size, safety, and available support.
That said, the Saw Stop is an excellent cabinet saw. Assembly is straight forward (the manual is likely the best I’ve ever seen). The fit and finish are superb. The mobile base is easy to use. So far, there’s nothing not to like. I will give a more in-depth review after I’ve used the saw for a few months. I’ve only made a few test cuts, but they were square and clean, even with the stock blade (I have a Forrest Woodworker II to try out later). I also have a dado set on the way.
Stay tuned. I will have a quick video of the Minimax FS30 in use very soon.
Blood, Sweat, and Sawdust 
Welcome to the club… IT IS a GREAT saw and oh, by the way, it will not cut off your fingers.
Thanks Bartee! I need to build an outfeed table and cross-cut sled.
Talk to me about the out feed table. Mine is 3/4″ ply using pocket holes… Formica top is the best thing I have ever done.
Do you have plans or a blog post?
Wow! Nice saw. I’m a big fan of table saws, and wouldn’t know how to act without one. If nothing else, it’s necessary for just rough millwork. I buy big boards to make small things with, and mostly use this tool to cut lumber down to manageable size.
Hey Patrick: I just discovered your blog, and your roubo series is HUGELY helpful. I used Chief’s Assembly Table as an outfeed table for about six months, and I’ve been really happy with it: http://chiefs-shop.com/html/assembly_bench.html
Any chance you would be willing to share your Sketchup for your roubo bench with a fellow woodworker? It would be a huge time-saver and greatly appreciated.
Richard, thanks for the compliment. I can definitely share the SketchUp. Give me a day or so, and I’ll put it up.
Thank you so much!
Richard, check out the Roubo home page. I placed a link to the sketchup at the very bottom: https://bloodsweatsawdust.com/2015/01/04/2015-roubo-build/
Thank you again Patrick, I really appreciate this. Now that you have made the transition to electrons, is there anything you would do differently if you were building the bench now? Or do you find yourself using it at all?
At the moment I can’t think of anything I’d do differently.