Pro-Tech 10" bench saw review
This 10 inch Pro-Tech bench saw has made some of the really hard cuts
for our latest building project a breeze.
I would say it's a must have
if you want to get clean and crisp cuts without wearing out your arms
using a hand saw.
You can use a reciprocating saw
to do most of these applications with a lot less accuracy and neatness.
Once you get a taste of the table saw you'll feel like you can't live
without one if you want to make the occasional building project
painless and fun.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Mark,
Table saws are nice, but also quite dangerous, especially older ones without a guard over the blade or a brake. Yours seems to be missing the splittter behind the saw as well, which is really dangerous. And the table is very small.
If you are sawing without a splitter, and you inadvertently turn the wood a litte, it will be picked up be the teeth coming up at the back end of the saw. Depending on the power of the saw and the size of the piece, you can end up with a piece of wood flying in your face.
Do yourself a favor and make yourself a crosscut sled. That will make cutting wood much easier and safer. It will also give you nice straight cuts.
I guess I'm a bit spoiled these days, because below is what I get to use at work. This is what a modern professional saw looks like:
(not to make you jealous, but to illustrate safety features
)
Adjusting the height and angle of the blade is done electrically. The sliding table on our machine is 3 meters long, and it has pneumatic cylinders (not shown here) to keep the pieces clamped.
Do you see the splitter behind the sawblade? And the black plastic extraction hood acturally has transparent sides to keep fingers out of the blade.
I've been working with tablesaws and other woodworking equipment for about 20 years now, and I've acquired a healthy respect for the risks involved. I started as a temp in a woodworking factory. You could easily recognize the temps there. They were the only people with all their fingers intact! Every one of the regular employees was missing at least a part of one finger. That's how dangerous those tools were. They had this big old bandsaw with 3 foot cast iron wheels that kept spinning for at least ten minutes after you switched off the power! Ditto for the 2 foot disc sander.
If I look at table and miter saws in DIY stores they all look and feel so flimsy and cheap. As if it's built to throw away after a couple of years.
Of course most of the woodworking equipment at work is at least 25 years old with quite solid cast iron frames.
Most of those machines like the jointer and thickness planer should be able to outlast me, at least mechanically. I like the sturdyness of these old designs.
Pro-Tech is apparently out of business, I don't think spare parts are available. I purchased one of these from Menards several years ago. I have cursed that purchase ever since then. As mentioned above the guard and splitter are missing, I still have mine but, I think I know why it's gone in your photo. The splitter is a very thin piece of sheet metal attached with one wing nut the guard is on top of the splitter, the entire assembly flops around making it impossible to make cuts past the splitter without wiggling it.
If you see one of the used I would pass on it, go with something like Craftsman or Delta.
HELP ! I was given a pro-tech model 4106 that is in desperate need of a new blade. The arbor wrenches are missing and it seems difficult to change without the proper wrenches. I have tried to find replacements online with no luck. Anyone know where I may locate a set or give me a useable alternative ?
Thanks in advance.
I was searching for parts for this tablesaw and came across this page. I'm looking for table extensions but with no luck. I have this saw bolted to a bench because it bounced around to much. Since I can't find extensions, if any one wants to sell theirs, I'd like to buy the table part, to bolt on mine as extensions. If anyone is interested email me.
Thanks, Roland Cook email: rcook2@neb.rr.com
The commenters who said that the Pro-Tech saw is dangerous are right. My Pro-Tech table saw has a blade guard that does not cover the entire gap around the blade. Yesterday, a piece of wood fell into the gap, twisted, and jammed me full force in the palm of my right hand. It bruised my right hand badly enough that I can't do much work, but I count myself lucky that all my bones are intact. If Pro-Tech owners like their saw, they could consider having a machine shop make a safer guard minus the 1-inch gap around the blade.
By the way, Sears Parts Direct sells parts for this saw.
Sorry...we can not help with parts for this saw.
Once I got the safety guide back in place I only use it a few times a year at most.