On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 08:45:11AM -0400, eric@megageek.com wrote:
> OK, so I was at the local Sears looking at a new 6b bench top belt sander
> that is on sale (and the Craftsmanbs club gets an additional 10% this
> month,) when I saw something that made my jaw dropb&
>
> If you remember a few months ago I bought a new cabinet saw that I love and
> it works great. Well, I wish I would have waited, because Craftsman now
> has a line of cabinet saws with MARBLE table tops!
>
> Ibm SO jealously! A completely stable and flat saw top, that doesnbt
rust
> or need wax!
>
> Can someone here PLEASE give me a major downside to marble so I donbt feel
> so bad!?!?!
Actually, it's most likely granite. There are pros and cons to using it and
many a flamewar about it have been fought on various woodworking forums
around
the net.
Among the pros:
1) Granite is much cheaper than cast iron though the manufacturers may decide
to keep the difference to boost their profit margins instead of passing
the
savings onto the customer.
2) Granite doesn't rust. Folks in the southeast or folks who heat their
shops
with unvented propane heaters will appreciate this.
Among the cons:
1) Granite is brittle. This might be a concern for granite-top tablesaws
that
have a T-slot miter slot. Steel City and Rigid saws were prone to blowing
out the T-slot if too much pressure was placed on the miter gauge. I
think
Steel City redesigned their miter gauges to deal with this.
2) Granite is not magnetic. If you use a magnetic dial indicator to check
blade alignment, you'll need to use something else.
Frankly, there are more important features to look for in a new saw. The
presence of a riving knife instead of a traditional splitter is a big one for
me. These days, I'd refuse to buy a saw that cannot at least be retrofitted
with a riving knife.
Jimmie
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