SawStop PCS31230 Review

• Prevents serious injury with always-on protection
• Included 52-inch T-Glide fence system provides smooth operation, precision measurement and sure lockdown without deflection
• Fully enclosed cabinet, industry leading dust collection
• Ideal for professional woodworkers, hobbyists, and low-volume production shops
• Compatible with 10-inch standard blades and 8-inch dado sets
• Left tilting blade helps prevent wood from binding against the fence
• 220-volt power requirement
• One-year limited warranty

In the global marketplace for table saws, it is a truism that a low cost is not necessarily the best deal. As more and more heavy equipment manufacturers get in the business as the machinery becomes more powerful, less expensive and easier to move, the options a buyer has for any product are increasing.

The exact line buyers draw between quality and price is of course a personal one for each individual worker. However, most buyers will want some measure of quality, rather than simply getting the cheapest table saw they can find, which seldom leads to anything good, ranging from mounting expenses of replacing saws to industrial accidents the likes of which are spoken about for years.

Of course, this begs the question of what saw is right for each wood shop. Naturally a professional grade workshop will need more than a typical school workshop and it absolutely will show in the quality of the product that emerges from the shop.

Whether it’s cabinets, artistic picture frames or entire bedroom sets, a wood shop dealing in high quality work needs a high quality set of equipment. Of these tools, a table saw is one of the most important and among the most difficult and dangerous to use, even by experienced operators. With all this in mind, it only makes sense to get a good quality table saw.

Somewhere in the mid-range of price but higher range of quality is the SawStop PCS31230 table saw, a good quality saw at a very reasonable price. Costing only a little bit more than low grade saws despite being a professional grade saw, this tool has been winning rave reviews for its safety features, powerful cutting ability and intense accuracy when making cuts with everything from soft balsa wood to hard maple wood. Given as it easily cuts all but the hardest woods, most wood workers will find that this saw can absolutely fit all their table saw needs, no matter what they’re building or what they’re building it out of.

The engine of the saw is a 3 horsepower engine, a fairly powerful motor for a piece of woodworking equipment. The blade of the device is exactly where it needs to be, and whereas most blades that come pieces of equipment like this are less than ideal, users of this device are reporting that the factory blades of these saws work perfectly well.

While a truly determined woodworker may well want to get a more impressive blade, the one that comes with the saw seems to work for most users of the device. These saws work particularly well with a sliding table, though many users who combine these saws with sliding tables have complain that they had to cut the rails to a certain length so the saw could accommodate the sliding table, which many users feel is something that should already be accounted for.

Putting the saw together is quite easy and the instructions are clear enough that most users have put the saw together without any serious problems. The parts of the saw are built to the highest quality standards, with many parts made from heavy grade steel.

The power of these saws is quite impressive as well, and many users who care little for the extra safety features none the less feel that the SawStop PCS21230 is among the best when it comes to raw cutting power and flexibility of operation, allowing users to cut anything in almost any way they need. The price of this saw is exceedingly reasonable for something so impressive, only slightly more expensive the lower grade saws on the personal shop market.