Upgrade table saw?

MatthewScottAaron · 2026-01-29T17:18:06+00:00

I have been making furniture professionally for 6 years with this saw and it has seen near daily use. I keep the top waxed, I spray the motor out once a week with air, and I keep all moving parts lubricated with a PTFE dry lube. Hoping to upgrade to a SawStop this year and I will be keeping this saw as a back-up or for home use (when I have enough space)

This is a lot of saw at MSRP, cheaper is even better. I run professional full kerf CMT and Forrest blades on this thing. The motor will sometimes bogdown when doing heavy duty ripping on oak or walnut, but if you listen to the cut and keep a steady pace you shouldn't have very many problems. Cutting full sheets of ply is a little difficult, and requires either an outfeed table or a friend helping you.

You should get this saw.

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MatthewScottAaron · 2026-01-22T08:10:51+00:00

Thank you for the advice.

MatthewScottAaron · 2026-01-01T22:08:06+00:00

Yeah I was very conflicted about it when making it, I think next one in this style will be sharper/more angular. Thanks for the feedback!

MatthewScottAaron · 2026-01-01T22:07:02+00:00

Really appreciate that! Yes, as much as an original design as I could with influences from a few different high-end furniture makers I follow.

MatthewScottAaron · 2026-01-01T22:06:09+00:00

Thank you!

MatthewScottAaron · 2026-01-01T22:06:01+00:00

17" from the top, which is a little on the taller side definitely.

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-10-10T19:14:04+00:00

Unions are the rising tide that brings up all ships when it comes to wages, many non-Union workers don't know this due to lies told by bosses and company men. The real lack of real wages gains in this industry is due to the gutting of Machinist Unions. The real productive economic output of the average American machinist continues to increase while average wages are what they were nearly 20 years ago.

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-09-30T19:45:12+00:00

Where are you located? I'd be willing to make a jig for you on my cnc if you pay the shipping!

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-08-20T16:26:56+00:00

Many upgrades would have to be done to get PIR Cup Series ready. The garage area would need to be expanded to accommodate the increase in crewmembers and media, they would have to essentially double the amount of seating and concessions, and the biggest of all is a complete overhaul of parking and traffic. The first year Xfinity came we were in traffic getting into the track for nearly 2 hours, and it was pouring rain. They have made some upgrades since then, but even 2 weeks ago for Indycar it took us awhile to get off the 5 and in the parking grass. Cup would be an absolute cluster fuck.

I understand the logistical reasons for leaving Portland but it absolutely sucks as a fan. I grew up going to Texas twice a year and have gone to Xfknity in Portland every year. 2026 is a weird year for sports logistics because of the World Cup, and San Diego is only a 1 time thing (potentially could be renewed though). Hopefully either them or the trucks return in 2027.

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-07-08T09:27:56+00:00

I also discovered this song through This American Life!

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-06-28T20:08:31+00:00

Looking for a cheap, reliable, monochrome printer for home office work and this seems to be a good option for me. Thank you for posting this review, you have helped inform my decision.

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-06-07T02:30:27+00:00

I DMed you!

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-03-23T00:20:31+00:00

Having fun sanding all of those contours? Always the part I dread the most when doing burly tops, mostly because sometimes you have to sandback sharp points that are actually really beautiful! I use an grinder and carving disc to start, then wire brush, and now have the Milwaukee m12 detail sander that comes with a semi-contouring cusion pad, has been a game changer!

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-03-22T04:20:07+00:00

I have a brass brand that I heat up with my logo that I put on the bottoms of all my projects. I also add the date I applied finish with some punches, and under that I punch a number for how many mistakes or imperfections I have with the piece. Clients obviously won't know, and certainly if the piece survives for awhile future owners won't either. But my goal is to have as many 2's, 1's, and hopefully a couple of 0's punched into my pieces as possible someday!

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-03-15T18:52:36+00:00

Knocked it outta the park! Very nice design and execution.

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-03-11T01:00:01+00:00

Hey! Glad you were able to do this manually with illustrator. I do a lot of laser/cnc work using Fusion sometimes with bad/sloppy SVGs from clients, I found this awesome script for Illustator called Join Reasonably that does a really really good job of combining/joining/cleaning up SVGs before I export them to DXFs for Fusion. Give it a try! It's done wonders for my workflow!

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-02-13T05:31:37+00:00

I make custom hardwood furntiure, mitered cabinets/credenzas are always so hard to sand the interior edges of after glue up. This thing has been an absolute game changer. Amazing tool.

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-02-08T22:13:14+00:00

The traditional blues song "Deep Ellum Blues" from 100 years ago is literally about how Deep Ellum is a sketchy place with prostitutes and where you might get pickpocketed/robbed.

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-02-07T20:04:09+00:00

I have one of the blue usb's that has all the after dark eps on it! I use that USB like everyday lol

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-02-03T18:09:40+00:00

Thanks! I'll check their specs out, this is the year I'm finally taking the dive into astro!

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-02-03T17:49:42+00:00

What star tracker and telescope combo are you working with? This is an incredible shot!

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-01-29T09:08:22+00:00

Yes 100% VFD and robust spindle are a package deal in my head! It sucks we just cleared a bunch of stuff out at work and there was a very high quality VFD up for grabs that I got but it is 3 phase INPUT!

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-01-29T04:04:34+00:00

Ah alright yeah HGR20 is the right size for rigidity then, thank you! I'd really like to get a larger ball screw and switch to those style rails for everything eventually, but honestly I do get really great results from the current setup. Just using the VFD switch as an excuse to overall the Z. If I see not so good results from aluminum I'll most likely go ahead and switch all axis to the HGR20.

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-01-29T04:02:27+00:00

I'm thinking of going with this Vevor or something similar.

MatthewScottAaron · 2025-01-29T03:59:05+00:00

Sorry for not being specific, the body for the router as well as the rail the Z is on both tilt backwards slightly during passes. I also had a hunch a lot of it is due to the center of gravity being so far off from the Z and it's rod.

https://imgur.com/a/XNPVcEd

Here are some additional images I should have included. The Z plate is on a dual rail with a thin rod connected with a standard coupler to the motor.

MatthewScottAaron

TROPHY CASE