Portable Table Saws – ⇓Portable table saw reviews below this article⇓
One of the key types of table saw is pretty well summed up by its name and that’s a portable table saw. As the name suggests, a portable table saw is designed to be, well, portable. You’ll find that most table saws of this type are designed to be easy to lift and move around, which will of course be useful to carpenters who spend time on the move.
Whilst being portable in their form factor, you’ll find that most portable table saws still offer a lot of the same functionality as standard table saw sizes. However, this functionality tends to be on a smaller scale. They tend to use a range of lightweight pieces, including a smaller and lighter motor. This means that you are of course going to be losing out slightly when it comes to power, but this is a welcome compromise for some carpenters who are simply looking for their table saw to be as portable as possible.
It’s also worth mentioning that you’ll find many portable table saws use an aluminium top in comparison to a cast iron top that you’d find with the standard table saw. This is again designed to save you in terms of space and weight. That being said, we’d argue that an aluminium top is less durable than a cast iron variant. This might not be too much of an issue depending on what you plan on using the portable table saw for, but is again another example of where they lag behind in terms of build quality.
Why choose a portable table saw?
Whether or not a portable table saw is the right type of table saw for you will largely depend on how you plan on using such a piece of equipment. Contractors who move between different job sites and need to be able to take their table saw with them will definitely find that a portable variant provides the flexibility that they need.
It’s also worth mentioning that because portable table saws use lighter mechanisms and materials, like the aforementioned aluminium top, they also tend to be a bit cheaper. You might see this as a compromise in terms of quality but for many hobbyists, it can be a nice save in money and allows them to combine cost effectiveness and portability into one table saw. Again, whether or not a table saw is right for you depends on what you use it for.
If you plan on putting your table saw to use in a workshop or plan on having placed on a jobsite permanently, a portable table saw is far from the right option for you. If you don’t necessarily need the flexibility and portability offered by a portable table saw, your best option would be to instead choose either a contractor or hybrid table saw. That way, you’re still going to be able to take advantage of the full functionality of your table saw, whilst not having to make any compromises where you don’t have to.