Table saw. 10" vs 12"

[S&S_Work_Saws]

I'm finally done working in the field every day!! After 10 years or killing myself every single day, I'm finally the guy that gets to sit in the truck and go jobsite to jobsite and make sure everything is running smoothly.
That being said I'm going to finally retire my portable 10" Bosch jobsite table saw and get a cabinet saw or contractors belt drive model.
Is it really worth the time and extra cost to get the 12" over the common 10" models?
I understand the extra cutting depth but beyond that what's the real advantage over a 10"?

 

[Bill G]

I have ran table saws my entire life and I have never had the need for a 12 inch. I think you will find that the price jump is enormous for new and used both. What saws are you looking at? The quality of new ones is very bad as compared to older units. I believe the only US made one will be a Northfield and you will be shocked at the price.

 

[blades]

That is about it, just the extra depth of cut. The 12" blade gives about 3/4-1" of extra cut depth. Generally that means you can make a 4" deep cut in one pass. 12" blades are stock with a 1" arbor vs 5/8" for 10" so you can't use your 10's in it unless you have the arbors opened up. Due to insurance companies requiring saw stop units in shops there are a lot of the Delta Uni saws- cabinet saws on the market and clones of same. On proper cabinet saws the table is independent of the motor arbor assembly, allowing things too be set up 100% square. Everything else is generally mounted to the table with little to no adjustment available. Mass and horse power are you friends. I have A PM 66 (10"). Early 70's unit cabinet saw. Delta clone. You can set a nickle on edge on the table and fire it up , the nickle will still be standing on edge after doing so. Do not be afraid of a 3 phase unit as you can run a phase converter to get 220 3ph from 220 1ph. I am a saw shop over 30 years worth. One thing about those Saw Stop units - if you trip it that's a $75 or more cartridge replacement and they almost always wreck the blade as well- cheap compared to losing an appendage.
Northfield is the gold standard. Delta Uni saw, PowerMatic cabinet saws are good also, The Grizzly offerings in a a cabinet saw are decent also ( clone of uni saw). I shy away from anything that is some what portable they vibrate and flex too much. Hint you can always make a base with wheels if needs to be moved around.

 

[Bill G]

I have never had a saw stop unit because of the cost of the new blade and the stop material.

 

[Bill G]

I just looked and I guess Northfield does not have a 10 or 12 inch. They are 14,16,and 18. It looks like they start at just shy of $18,000

 

[Sloughfoot]

I'd get the heaviest 240V, belt,12" I could afford if it was staying put. No replacement for displacement like with everything else. Faster and smoother for all work and won't bog ripping 2X and larger. You can always put a 10" blade on in a pinch.

 

[Woodwackr]

I'm finally done working in the field every day!! After 10 years or killing myself every single day, I'm finally the guy that gets to sit in the truck and go jobsite to jobsite and make sure everything is running smoothly.
That being said I'm going to finally retire my portable 10" Bosch jobsite table saw and get a cabinet saw or contractors belt drive model.
Is it really worth the time and extra cost to get the 12" over the common 10" models?
I understand the extra cutting depth but beyond that what's the real advantage over a 10"?

I've only worked at 1 shop that had a 12" and it never cut anything thicker than the other 10s there. As Bill said, cost goes way up and, imo, there simply is no need for it.
I have had 10" table and chop saws and just the 1 size blade makes things simpler.

 

[stretch5881]

I've had a Ridgid 10" belt drive for 25 years. I've cut enough with it to need expensive crosscut and ripping blades. I've made 0 clearance plates and have a dado plate for it also. I upgraded the miter gauge too. One 0 clearance plate I have installed a splitter kit to reduce kickback. The only thing I have ever done to it was to square the arbor. I have even used it to make furniture and cabinets.
If I were you, I would buy a 10" and put the extra money into upgrades, push blocks and roller stands.

 

[SCHallenger]

That is about it, just the extra depth of cut. The 12" blade gives about 3/4-1" of extra cut depth. Generally that means you can make a 4" deep cut in one pass. 12" blades are stock with a 1" arbor vs 5/8" for 10" so you can't use your 10's in it unless you have the arbors opened up. Due to insurance companies requiring saw stop units in shops there are a lot of the Delta Uni saws- cabinet saws on the market and clones of same. On proper cabinet saws the table is independent of the motor arbor assembly, allowing things too be set up 100% square. Everything else is generally mounted to the table with little to no adjustment available. Mass and horse power are you friends. I have A PM 66 (10"). Early 70's unit cabinet saw. Delta clone. You can set a nickle on edge on the table and fire it up , the nickle will still be standing on edge after doing so. Do not be afraid of a 3 phase unit as you can run a phase converter to get 220 3ph from 220 1ph. I am a saw shop over 30 years worth. One thing about those Saw Stop units - if you trip it that's a $75 or more cartridge replacement and they almost always wreck the blade as well- cheap compared to losing an appendage.
Northfield is the gold standard. Delta Uni saw, PowerMatic cabinet saws are good also, The Grizzly offerings in a a cabinet saw are decent also ( clone of uni saw). I shy away from anything that is some what portable they vibrate and flex too much. Hint you can always make a base with wheels if needs to be moved around.

That about saya it all! I have a PM mod.66 running a 3hp, 240V single phase & a Northfield 20 bandsaw running a 3hp Baldor (US made) via a triple belt drive. It weighs in at 970 lbs of all cast iron without the motor. You could write on the table when it is running! The PM 66 is also US made. Good stuff!
PS. The 66 is a 10in. As a non-commercial user, I can't imagine needing a 12in.

 

[Bill G]

In the 1990's through late 2000's my brother and I had a custom millwork business. We both had day jobs and ran it at night and weekends. I was teaching woodworking and he was working as a contractor. I searched out a lot of vintage quality woodworking machinery. In those days https://woodweb.com/ was a great source to find tools Later http://vintagemachinery.org/classifieds/ads.aspx. The business grew to the point he wanted to go large scale. I did not want to give up my teaching job. It went big scale and was equipped with new high tech tools. The small old moulders were replaced with new Weinig 5 head.

 

[blades]

For my pm66 I have both the 220v 1ph and a220v 3ph oem motors, currently wearing the 1ph unit. it is a 10". bandsaw wise I have a very old delta , think its 14" throat, 17" Grizzly 2 speed and a very old Do-All ( 3ph) which has a 2 speed transmission and variable speed, wood/metal., about a 14" throat Limited height of apx 7", I have worn out 2 switches on the Griz in the past 12 years and a bunch of tire bands.