After suffering with an anemic, 30+ year old, 9" Craftsman saw with a rather wimpy fence, I finally bought a used 10" Delta Contractors saw with a 30" Biesemeyer commercial-grade fence (it also came with a 52" Unifence, but ai don't have the room for it. After reading a lot of rave reviews, I equipped it with a Forrest Woodworker II thin kerf blade and a 5" stabilizer.

All I can say is WOW! I realize that this in not the be-all and end-all of table saws, but the difference between it and my old saw (now converted into a disk sander) is HUGE. It is much easier to use and zips through everything I run across the table. The finish on the sawn pieces is as good or better than my jointer and planer produce.

Here are some suggestions:

- Buy a good used saw, rather than a lesser new one for the same price. My local want ads are always chock full of used table saws. I've got a total of $550 into mine (including the new blade), but you should be able to find a good saw and equip it with a high quality blade for under $400, possibly much less.

- Get a saw with at least 1.5hp. It really makes a difference.

- Get a good fence. My old one was weak and hard to keep parallel. The "Bessy"
is rock solid and perfectly repeatable. Having a fence with a scale is an enormous convenience. I no longer have to measure every cut and set the fence. Supposedly, the fences on the Rigid and higher end Craftman saws are very nice for the price. The stock fences on Delta, Jet and Powermatic saws are also reputed to be very good.

- Spend the dough for a high quality blade. The hoopla about Forrest blades is true; they are amazing. The single 40 tooth Woodworker II blade easily replaces a pair of blades (rip and crosscut) from other manufacturers. This is NOT the place to skimp on price or quality. The Forrest blade is on sale currently for $89.95 at www.forrestblades.com (regularly $120). I've also heard that Dewalt blades are quite good, if you can't afford the Forrest. Freud blades are popular, but they make different quality levels and lots of models, so finding the right blade can be a daunting task.

- A good table saw is a joy to use and it's the foundation for your shop. Investing a few extra bucks up front will save you from having to re-equip down the line.