i need a table saw

What about a track saw? It will store away much more easily and is certainly safer than a table saw. I have some knockoff woodpecker-type parallel guides I use for doing rips and they’re awesome. I do still use my table saw, but it’s less and less frequently.

I have a corded makita with two tracks for long rips. I’m pretty happy with it. Ideally, I’d have liked a battery powered saw, but I use Milwaukee platform and they weren’t making a track saw when I bought mine.

I could see the track saw working on the ply but depending on the width of the 1x it may be much easier to cut strips on a table saw.

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i will need to rip 1x cypress boards down to 2" wide

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Table saw will definitely be a better option if that will be a primary use, though you can manage that on a track saw as well.

SawStop makes the best portable "jobsite" table saw but also most exensive of course. Also doubt it is available locally.


I've had a bosch 4100 for over a decade and would buy again if I couldn't justify the cost of sawstop.


Track saws are great for breaking down large plys and putting a straight edge on wide boards but they don't replace a table saw.

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What about a track saw?

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1/4" plywood might be too flimsy for a track saw, maybe. Unless he uses a good sub work piece to support the plywood.

I don't have a track saw (one day maybe), I have a Kreg sled jig with a dedicated 7400 rpm circular saw.

I also have an 8ft piece of 4" aluminum cable tray I clamp to my workpiece as a straight edge and use a regular circular saw.

I like the Dewalt. Fence is plenty accurate. Easy to use. Not too heavy.
The first one I had the gears that raise/lower the blade got gummed up with sawdust and lubricant. Got harder and harder to change the depth, eventually stripping the plastic gear. The desalt store estimated the repair at 300 bucks. I declined and went to buy a newer model for 320. I did look underneath and they changed the plastic gear for a metal one. I did buy a replacement gear for 5 bucks and one day I may get around to replacing the bad one. But, I’ve been using this one regularly for over 15 years. Usually gets a really good workout with all the stuff I ask it to do.

Mine doesn’t have a stand or wheels, but my son bought the one he can roll around.

Can’t recommend a specific brand, as I’ve gone from a Ryobi jobsite to a Laguna cabinet saw, but I think you can’t go wrong with any of the jobsite saws that have a rack and pinion fence. Those fences will be more accurate and easier to stay dialed in versus the cheaper clamp fences on jobsite saws.

Second thing I would recommend would be to use an 8ft level clamped up against the fence to help make long cuts of needed and you can actually joint boards this way if you stock doesn’t come jointed and parallel to each other.

Also there are a bunch of videos on YouTube to modify/make infeed and outfeed support which corrects some of the problems with the smaller table size of jobsite saws.

I guess it all really depends on how anal you are about the finished product and how much effort you want to put into making the jobsite saw work almost as well as a cabinet style table saw.

PMC Machinery in Hammond should have what you are looking for if you didnt want to go the bigbox route.

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Agreed. Track saws are great for what they are intended for..... when you need to make a cut here or there on a piece too large for a table saw or one too wide so the fence is unusable. If you constantly just ripping trim or standard sheets of ply wood, table saw is the way to go.

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I’ve built a lot of cabinets and built ins in my time, and unless I’m ripping face frame material, I use my track saw. All of the plywood rips and crosscuts are done with my track saw. As mentioned in my original reply, the parallel guides are the key (I also have a square guide for perfect 90° crosscuts). It’s incredibly versatile and much safer than trying to rip— or more so, crosscut— full sheets on a job site table saw.

Now, if I had a large shop that could accommodate a shop-sized table saw with an outfeed table and crosscut sleigh, things would be different, but like OP, I have limited space and have to store everything away.

And OP, this is the table saw I have. It’s been a good little saw. As stated above, I mostly use it for ripping face frame material or the like, and cutting dadoes, rabbets. It’s easy to break out and fold away, which is pretty crucial given my limited space.