When it comes to carpentry work, everyone needs a quality table saw. While most manufacturers offer some type of table saw, not all of them are created equal. Some table saws might have a great stand, while others offer various safety features for a user such as the Bosch REAXX. As a user, you have to decide what’s important to you in a table saw. So speaking of your next purchase, let’s take a look at the Hitachi Table Saw Review.
Hitachi Table Saw Review Overview
As a consumer, you can buy two types of portable table saws. You can purchase a professional table saw or a homeowner table saw. A professional table saw offers more features and a better build quality, but a higher price. A homeowner saw is less expensive, but the quality isn’t as high.
Hitachi is geared towards the professional contractor so naturally, this table saw is built with the contractor in mind.
Hitachi Table Saw Review Features
Before I jump into the saw, I want to talk about the stand.
Hitachi created a very nice stand to go along with the saw. Most stands we have tested such as the Bosch gravity stand are extremely easy to put up and take down. The Hitachi is a little different. While it’s still easy to put up and take down, it does require more work and more strength. But one of the pluses of their stand is it offers more stability. The legs are at an angle so as you push the wood through the saw, the saw stays in place and doesn’t move compared with some of the other stands we have tested.
When not in use, the stand folds up very easy and also has decent wheels to roll around from place to place. The stand features two 8″ wheels.
As with all table saws, all the important items are located on the front of the saw. Hitachi designed this saw around a 15 amp motor which has a soft start and an electric brake. The motor produces 4,500 rpm’s.
The bevel range is 0° to 45° for cuts ranging from 3-1/8″ (at 0°) to 2-1/4″ (at 45°).
I love the on/off switch. As you can see the green button is a push button and that turns on the saw. The red button is a push button but much bigger to turn off the saw. This is pretty cool because if you have to turn the machine off quick, it’s easy to do and you’re not fumbling around.
The height and bevel cuts are located on the center front of the saw. The numbers are very easy to read and set to the proper degree.
We are loving the rack-o-pinion fence. More manufacturers are designing their saws with this style of fence. This means better accuracy, easy setup and a much more accurate cut.
Everything is stored on the saw such as the push stick, safety items like kick back and even the cord has a nice way to store when not in use.
On the back of the saw, there is an extension table to help support wood when making a cut. If you don’t need the extension table it will fold back into the saw.
The Hitachi table saw has a nice big table which means you can cut more of a variety of sizes. The telescoping table extension can support up to a max rip capacity of 35″ to the right.
Hitachi Table Saw Review Performance
I have been doing a lot of work to my house and had a chance to put this saw to the test. I was getting ready to shingle the roof but had to replace the flat roof and all the soffits.
One of the best features I love about this saw is the soft start with the electric brake.
We ran a ton of wood through the saw. Now, most of it was soft wood such as Pine and Cedar. We did run a little Oak through for part of a project inside the house, plus we ran a lot of plywood through the saw.
While we didn’t use a dust collection system, you can hook one up to this saw.
Everything we ran through the saw, it handled perfectly. No bogging down and it produced great cuts.
The table is nice and we never noticed the fence moving or bending even after long runs.
Hitachi Table Saw Review Value
The Hitachi Table Saw retails for about $480. Skilsaw makes a powerful table saw with a very nice stand but that retails for about $550. The Dewalt DWE 7491 retails for about $580. The Bosch 4100-09 retails for about $550, same as the Skilsaw.
So when you compare the Hitachi table saw to some of the other makers on the market, the Hitachi is a great value. However, the other manufacturers all have stands that are very easy to open and close.
Hitachi Table Saw Review Final Thoughts
Bottomline, the Hitachi table saw is an extremely nice table saw. While the stand could be easier to open and close, it is a great stand that offers support when pushing larger lumber over the table.
The soft start and electric brake are awesome features to this saw and add another level of safety for the user.
Overall this is a great table saw and anyone looking for a quality table saw should give this one some consideration.
I was finally able to see this saw at Lowes. Its seems like a great saw for the money. A lot of their features mimic the Dewalt saw. I have seen the saw on sale for $299 which makes it even more of a great deal.
$299, that’s a great price. Didn’t know it got that low.
Just purchased mine for $299. Ran my 1st sheet of plywood. The on-off switch is great with the soft start and electric brake. Initial set up the fence and measurements were exact. Storage is a snap for the components as well as the setup and take down. Can’t wait for the next project to get started!
Awesome. I love this table saw. Keep us updated.