Best Table Saws for Small Shops
In a small shop with ordinary outlets, the DeWalt DWE7491RS is the saw to measure the rest against: $699, a rolling stand that folds in one motion, and 32.5 inches of rip, enough to break down a full sheet of plywood. If you want a cast iron shop saw that still plugs into an ordinary outlet, the Laguna Fusion F1 is the cheapest one here at $1,399.
The list divides by motor. Four saws run a 15 amp universal motor (the SKIL TS6307-00, SawStop Compact, SawStop Jobsite Saw PRO and the DeWalt), which keeps them light and portable but loud. The shop saws use motors rated from 1.5 to 3 HP and weigh 200 to 385 pounds where a machine weight is given, so moving one means a mobile base, which the Fusion F2 and F3 build in. The second thing that divides them is your wiring: nine saws run on a household 120V circuit, and one, the Laguna Fusion F3, needs 240V.
Our picks
- Tightest budget: SKIL TS6307-00 10" Jobsite Table Saw with Folding Stand. $329.99 for a full-size 10 inch saw with a rack and pinion fence, 25.5 inches of rip and legs that fold into a stand.
- Full sheets from a saw that folds away: DeWalt DWE7491RS 10" Jobsite Table Saw with Rolling Stand. 32.5 inches of rip on a telescoping fence, the widest of the portable saws, on a rolling stand for $699.
- Cheapest way to get the blade brake: SawStop Compact Table Saw (CTS-120A60). SawStop's skin contact brake for $899 in a 68 pound saw, though it will not take a dado blade.
- Shop saw that rolls back against the wall: Laguna Fusion F2 Table Saw. 36 inches of rip and a built in mobile base on a 1.75 HP saw that runs on a household circuit, for $1,999.
- When the shop is really a shelf: Festool CSC SYS 50 Cordless Table Saw. A 45 pound cordless saw that packs into a Systainer, with 11 inches of cut width for small, precise parts.
At a glance
| Option | Price | Motor | Power Supply | Rip Capacity | Weight | Dust Port |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $329.99source | 15 ampsource | 120V householdsource | 25.5source | |||
| $499.99source | 2 HPsource | 120V householdsource | 28source | 90source | 2-1/2 in.source | |
| $899source | 15 ampsource | 120V householdsource | 68source | |||
| $1,399source | 1.5 HPsource | 120V householdsource | 30source | 200source | 3-7/8 in.source | |
| $1,450source | 2 HPsource | Convertible 120V/240Vsource | 30source | 4 in.source | ||
| $1,499source | Cordless 18Vsource | Cordless batterysource | 11source | 45source | 1-1/16 in.source | |
| $1,699source | 15 ampsource | 120V householdsource | 25.5source | 113source | ||
| $1,999source | 1.75 HPsource | Convertible 120V/240Vsource | 4 in.source | |||
| $1,999source | 1.75 HPsource | 120V householdsource | 36source | 276source | 3-7/8 in.source | |
| $2,089source | 1.75 HPsource | 120V householdsource | 30source | 236source | 4 in.source | |
| $2,606source | 1.75 HPsource | Convertible 120V/240Vsource | 30source | 366.85source | 4 in.source | |
| $3,025source | 1.75 HPsource | 120V householdsource | 30source | 367source | 4 in.source | |
| $3,149source | 3 HPsource | 240V onlysource | 36source | 385source | 3-7/8 in.source | |
| $699source | 15 ampsource | 120V householdsource | 32.5source |
Jobsite saw or a cast iron shop saw
The corded portable saws cost $329.99 to $1,699 and weigh 68 to 113 pounds where the page says. The SKIL's cast aluminum top keeps it light at the cost of more vibration than cast iron, the DeWalt's top is aluminum too, and the 15 amp universal motors are loud. The Oliver Machinery 10010 sits between the camps: a 90 pound portable at $499.99 with a 2 HP variable speed motor, a magnetic switch, and a blade you can swap for a sanding disc.
The Laguna Fusion F1 ($1,399, 200 pounds) is where cast iron and a belt-driven induction motor begin. From there, compare fences and wings: the Fusion F2 adds cast iron wings, a double rail fence and 36 inches of rip for $1,999, while the Jet ProShop II JPS-10 ($2,089) keeps stamped steel wings to hold its price down. The Powermatic 64B-30 ($2,606) is 366.85 pounds and needs a mobile base to move at all.
Check the outlet before the saw
Nine of the fourteen run on an ordinary household circuit, including the SawStop 1.75 HP Professional Cabinet Saw, which is a full cabinet saw at $3,025. Three are convertible and can be rewired for 240V later: the Grizzly G0771Z, the SawStop Contractor Saw and the Powermatic. The Laguna Fusion F3's 3 HP motor needs a 240V circuit, so a garage without that circuit needs an electrician first. Even on 120V, Jet asks for a 20 amp circuit for the ProShop II.
Dust ports split the list too. The Oliver's 2-1/2 inch port and the Festool's 1-1/16 inch port take a shop vacuum hose. The 4 inch ports on the Grizzly, Jet, Powermatic and two SawStops are sized for a dust collector, which is a second purchase if you do not have one, and the Lagunas' ports are 3-7/8 inches.
Four SawStops at four prices
Every SawStop here has the skin contact brake, so the choice inside the brand is about everything else. The Compact ($899) is the smallest and its page gives 24-1/2 inches of rip. The Jobsite Saw PRO ($1,699) adds a cart that folds and rolls, a deeper table and 25.5 inches of rip, but it is still a loud universal motor. The Contractor Saw ($1,999) is the first with an induction motor and cast iron, on an open stand with stamped wings. The Professional Cabinet Saw ($3,025) is the enclosed, 367 pound version. On the cabinet saw, the brake cartridge is a consumable if it ever fires.
The options in detail
SKIL TS6307-00 10" Jobsite Table Saw with Folding Stand
The cheapest honest way into a full-size 10 inch saw. You get a rack and pinion fence that stays square, legs that fold into a stand, and a coated cast aluminum top, all light enough to stand in a corner between projects. The trade-offs are the ones every saw at this price makes: a universal motor that is loud and a lighter table that shows more vibration than cast iron, and the dado insert takes an 8 inch stack rather than a 10 inch one. For a first shop, or as a saw you carry outside to break down sheet goods, it is hard to argue with.
Oliver Machinery 10010 10" Jobsite Table Saw
A portable saw with two things you rarely see in this class: a variable speed motor with constant torque, and a blade you can swap for a 10 inch sanding disc, which makes it a disc sander when you need one. It also comes with a magnetic switch, a riving knife and onboard storage, so nothing important is sold separately. The aluminum table keeps it liftable, and there is a built in port sized for a shop vacuum. Oliver is a smaller name than SKIL or DeWalt, so expect fewer aftermarket parts and a thinner used market.
SawStop Compact Table Saw (CTS-120A60)
SawStop's smallest saw, and the cheapest way to get the skin contact brake that stops and drops the blade on contact. It is built like the rest of the line rather than like a budget saw: a rack and pinion fence that stays square, one knob for both height and tilt with a micro adjust, and rubber feet on a rigid tube frame. Two real limits: the page states plainly that it will not accept a dado blade, and the rip capacity is the narrowest of the corded saws here. If you work alone and the brake is why you are shopping, this is where the line starts.
Laguna Fusion F1 Table Saw
The entry point to cabinet style saws that still plug into a normal outlet. It has the things that actually separate a shop saw from a jobsite saw: a precision ground cast iron table, cast aluminum trunnions, an induction motor on a belt, and a sealed base that pulls dust from above and below the blade. Laguna pitches it at people upgrading from a portable saw or buying their first enclosed saw, and the footprint is deliberately small. The compromises against the F2 are the single rail fence and steel rather than cast iron wings.
Grizzly G0771Z 10" 2 HP Hybrid Table Saw
Grizzly's own page calls this the best hybrid option for small shops, and the spec sheet backs it up: an enclosed steel cabinet, cast iron table and trunnions, a quick release riving knife, and a fence Grizzly assembled from the best parts of three of its older designs. It arrives prewired for an ordinary household circuit, which is the whole point of a hybrid, and the cabinet routes dust to a full size collector port. Grizzly publishes only a shipping weight, so budget for freight delivery and a mobile base if the saw has to move.
Festool CSC SYS 50 Cordless Table Saw
The outlier here, and the right answer for the smallest shops of all. It is a battery saw that packs into a Systainer, so it can live on a shelf and come out onto a bench or a pair of sawhorses. Blade height and bevel are set electrically from a digital display rather than by eye, and you can store four blade positions, which makes repeat cuts genuinely repeatable. What you give up is capacity: the cut width and cut height are a fraction of any corded saw on this list, so treat it as a precision saw for small parts, not as your only saw.
SawStop Jobsite Saw PRO (JSS-120A60)
The skin contact brake on a cart that folds up and rolls into a corner, which is exactly the shape a crowded garage wants. The fence is a solid Hi-Lo T-style with a positive lock, the blade raises with one turn of a hand wheel rather than a long crank, and the blade guard pulls dust from above the table as well as below. Compared with the Compact it buys you a deeper table, more rip, and a stand you do not have to build. It is still a universal motor, so it is loud, and it costs about what a real cabinet style saw with more capacity costs.
SawStop Contractor Saw 1-3/4 HP with 30" Premium Fence (CNS175-PFA30)
This is the cheapest SawStop with an induction motor and a cast iron table, which is the jump that changes how a saw feels to use: quieter, smoother, and steadier under a wide board. It keeps the brake, adds a full size dust port, and the motor can be rewired for 240V later if the shop gets a circuit. It ships on an open stand with stamped wings, so cast iron wings, an outfeed table and a mobile base are all extras. SawStop's page lists a shipping weight rather than a machine weight and does not print a rip figure, which is why two cells in this row are blank.
Laguna Fusion F2 Table Saw
The F1 with the upgrades that matter most in daily use: cast iron wings instead of steel, a double rail cam action fence, and a digital readout for blade tilt so a bevel is set by number rather than by squinting at a scale. The feature small shops will care about most is the built in mobile base, which means the saw can be rolled out for a project and pushed back against a wall afterwards. Dust is pulled from above and below the blade with a sealed base. It is heavy and arrives by freight, so plan where it goes before it turns up.
Jet ProShop II JPS-10 (Stamped Steel Wings, 30" Rip)
A long running shop saw that Jet aims squarely at home workshops and small businesses. The details are the sort you notice after a year rather than in the store: a magnetic paddle switch you can slap off with a knee, a quick release riving knife so it actually gets put back, an arbor lock for one wrench blade changes, and onboard storage for every accessory it ships with. The table is cast iron with stamped steel wings, which is the compromise that holds the price down and the part to upgrade first. Jet asks for a 20 amp circuit, so check the garage before ordering.
Powermatic 64B-30 Table Saw with 30" Accu-Fence
The most machine per dollar in this group if you can live with the mass. It is built around a heavy cast iron trunnion and the Accu-Fence, which locks to the rail without play, and it adds the small quality of life pieces: an arbor lock reachable from above the table, a rack and pinion miter gauge with an extension plate, and a melamine extension table that widens the work area. The motor is dual voltage, so it can start on a household circuit and be rewired later. Two things to budget for: the blade is not included, and nothing this heavy moves without a mobile base.
SawStop 1.75 HP Professional Cabinet Saw, 110V, 30" Premium Fence
A genuine cabinet saw with the skin contact brake that still runs on a normal household circuit, which is the combination most home shops are actually looking for. The enclosed cabinet, heavy trunnions and belt drive make it the smoothest and quietest saw here, and the sealed body means dust leaves through the port rather than onto the floor. SawStop's own page is candid that 30 inches of rip handles cabinet parts and half sheets comfortably but wants outfeed support for full sheets. The costs to weigh are the price and the brake cartridge, which is a consumable if you ever trigger it.
Laguna Fusion F3 Table Saw, 3 HP, 220V
The one saw here that needs a 240V circuit, and the reason to want one. Three horsepower is what stops a saw bogging in thick hardwood, and the F3 pairs it with cast iron trunnions, a 14 gauge steel cabinet, a digital bevel readout and two fences, including the industrial Fusion fence. Like the smaller Fusions it has a built in mobile base and dust collection over and under the blade, so it still suits a shop where the saw has to be pushed aside. If the garage has only standard outlets, this is a saw plus an electrician.
DeWalt DWE7491RS 10" Jobsite Table Saw with Rolling Stand
The default recommendation for a garage shop, and it earns it on rip capacity: the telescoping rack and pinion fence pulls out far enough to break down a full sheet of plywood, then retracts so the saw takes up almost no floor. The rolling stand sets up and folds down in one motion, and every accessory stores on the saw itself, which matters when there is no wall to hang things on. It is still a jobsite saw, so the top is aluminum and the universal motor is loud next to an induction saw. If you want maximum capacity per dollar and per square foot, this is the one to beat.
How we researched this
Each saw appears once, in its smallest sensible configuration: Woodcraft sells the same SawStop and Powermatic machines in several fence and voltage combinations, and we took the 30 inch fence and the lowest voltage so the table holds fourteen different saws rather than several copies of one. Most rows are priced at Woodcraft, the Grizzly at Grizzly's own store and the DeWalt at Hartville Tool, all list prices for the base configuration without freight, which the heavy shop saws ship by. "120V household" covers pages that say 110V, 115V or 120V for the same ordinary outlet. Weight is machine weight only, so the Grizzly and the SawStop Contractor are blank because their makers publish only a shipping weight. The other blanks are figures the page did not state, apart from the SawStop Compact's rip, which its page gives as 24-1/2 inches.
Saws of 3 HP and up that need 240V were left out as bigger than a small shop needs, except the Laguna F3, kept so a shop that has a 240V circuit can see what it buys. The Grizzly G0715P is discontinued, and the Bosch GTS15-10 was left out because no reachable page stated its voltage, weight or dust port. The list leans on what Woodcraft carries. Before ordering, get the freight quote and confirm your circuit, since neither shows up in the price column.