Customer Reviews

Skil 3400-08 15 Amp 10-Inch Table Saw with Stand

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

I don't even know where to start with how poor of a performer this table saw was. First of all, getting the blade 90 degrees to the table was nearly impossible. It shipped about 5 degrees out. To adjust the 90 degree stop you loosen a screw in the top... well even loosened it seemed to have a memory, requires me to literally FORCE the blade over to as close to 90 degrees I could get it, then hopefully get the lock tighened down before it slipped. Then, trying to change to another angle (on purpose) was very difficult because of the force required to start the motor & blade assembly moving. Once you broke it free it would fly all the way over to the 45 degree angle (or at least you WISH it was 45 degrees) Getting anything inbetween required some kinda luck.

So ok, on to cutting. The unit is so lightweight that trying to rip a 2x6 in half the saw just kept sliding across the floor when I would feed it into the blade. So I set the saw on some plywood to give it more grip, which worked, till it started tipping over on me. Not a very safe scenario here. Once I finally weighed it down so it wouldn't move the cuts were difficult to keep straight because the rip fence would left & right 1/4" on the far end. You have to be very careful not to end up with a tapered or otherwise defective cut.

The miter guage is pretty much useless as there's a lot of play in the slot and no kind of positive stops for 90, 45, or anything else you'd want to cut.

I don't know what else to say, other than the cord wrap was nice and it has blade storage on the side. It was powerful enough to rip wet 2x pressure treated material, if you could get the saw set up to not tip over or slide on you.

This saw is OK for someone who needs to do nothing other than simple straight rips. The power is adequate, and the saw is stable when mounted on a stand.

However, my MAJOR complaint is that the miter slots on the table are not standard. This is a big problem because it is almost impossible to find miter guides and other accessories such as sliding miter tables, etc. that will work with this saw. To make matters worse, the miter guide that comes with the saw is a joke. It is not very accurate, and it is very short. This makes it impossible to deal with anything wider than about 8" on the table.

I'm going to replace this saw on this basis alone.

My experience with this table saw is similar to what others have already reported. The stand I received with my saw is different from the one shown. Rather than go straight to the floor, the rubber footed legs angle outwards providing a larger base and increased stability. I've had no issue with the saw tipping or sliding as others have reported. The 15A motor is powerful and didn't struggle to make any of the tens of 2x4 and 2x6 pressure treated cuts I made. Short cuts were accurate, but trying to achieve a 90 degree cut on a piece of 8' lumber run length wise against the rip fence is near impossible. Per the instructions, I loosened the screw in the table top to adjust the blade, but I'm at full tilt and still can't achieve equal measurement from the front and back of the blade to the fence. Sure, with its shiny red paint job, this saw will look great sitting in your work shop, but don't turn it on w/o ear protection because it's deafening loud. And if you're worried about losing a limb in this thing, you should be. Unless mines defective, this saw doesn't have an internal motor brake to prevent the blade from spinning free after the power is turned off, like my 10" Ryobi chop saw. I haven't had a reason to make a miter cut yet, so I can't comment on that, but if I did have a miter cut to make, I'd find another saw because I'd be concerned that by loosening the blade to make the miter cut, the saw would fall further out of alignment than it is already. I understand that Skil is trying to make a moderately priced saw, and to that end they've succeeded, but a saw that can't make an accurate cut, at any price point, isn't a very good saw. I can't say that I expected much from this table saw - afterall, it's just a saw, but I did expect that it would make accurate cuts, which it doesn't. In any event, I suppose using this saw to cut wood is better than cutting by hand. Bottom line, this saw is adequate for making rough cuts, but open your wallet and pour out a few more dollars if you need a saw to handle more precise work.

I am a building contractor. This saw made it about about 2 yrs. on the site . Fence, motor, stand-- all junk. Smoke comes off the belt when attempting to cut oak, blade out of square with fence a lot. Would recommend dropping the money for a better one unless you plan to only cut pine or laminate flooring.

This Skil saw has been more than powerful than I originally thought for the jobs that I have done at my home. I have put up a deck in the yard and it cut through the wood easily and accurately. I also installed shelving in my garage with this tool. I like the fact that this saw is lightweight and has carrying handles built into the table top. It allows me to carry it wherever I need to go, whether it is in the garage, backyard or basement. I thought this Skilsaw was better than the other cheaper brands on the market. My dad always had Skilsaws and they've always been reliable.

Please keep in mind that I do know my way around a shop and the only reason I am writing this is to save someone from getting hurt...The reason for needing a cheaper table saw, like most others, was to do some light work around the house. I've owned this saw for a year and with it, I built a couple of box newels made from red oak, a shed ramp, shelves, etc. Nothing too heavy as I didn't want to over-tax a seemingly lightweight saw. After purchase and getting it home, one of the first things I noticed was that the stand, after assembly was pretty sturdy. Looking initially at everything else, I was a bit impressed considering what I paid for this saw. Big mistake...That good impression quickly went away during the first job using this machine. After a year of using it, I am done! I'm here now to tell anyone who will listen that it is not a safe machine to use! Here are my experiences during the past year...It did do simple cross cuts and ripping but it was never 100% accurate inspite many attempts to "properly" adjust the motor/blade as per the manual's instructions. Now, any work with the blade tilted at ANY angle became an issue. Just attempting to get the blade at a desired angle and locking it in at that angle was a major feat and if successful, is was purely by luck! Afterwhile, I simply stopped using this saw for anything other than 90 degree cuts. Now for the fence: It was supposed to be a "self-aligning" fence. Of course I always checked before running any stock thru but this thing was horrible. It seemed to lock down tight but getting the thing perfectly squared was also impossible. I think this alone was the most dangerous part of this saw. I am not sure if it was because of the saw's vibration or the manufactured quality of the fence was the actual cause but the fence always ended up slipping out of alignment. Now the scary part: I've had two experiences with kickback that in both cases ripped the featherboards that I had clamped to the fence off as well. This will never happen to me again! A kickback happened again yesterday and it is totally unacceptable considering the inheritant dangers of using any table saw. As such, it will now be disassembled and the motor will be used for something other than spinning a blade. My suggestion is seriously consider spending more to get a much safer saw. It is just not worth getting hurt!