Taurus Table Saw (Aldis)

[Grim]

Greetings All,
I am new to the boards and an aspiring Woodie! I plan to get lots from these pages as I get deeper into the addiction that is Wood Working.

I have like many other handymen often dreamed of what I could do if I only had the right equipment. I have a range of reasonalbe hand and power tools and have been able to put them to good use around the house for maintenance and some basic construction of pergolas and the like. I had been planning on switching my beer money over to becoming tool money. I figured that my figure would appreciate the change of purchases as would my long suffering wife! I had reached a point where I was ready to make the commitment but wasn't sure where to start. So. I am on the way to Moruya on the South Coast of NSW to spend a few days being told by my Mother in Law what some of my weaker points are, when we stopped in at the Batemans Bay Plaza to buy some stapels (I still needed some beer to get me through the visit!). There in the middle of the shop taking up pride of place was a Taurus Table Saw for the pretty price (as far as I was concerned) of $199.00 I knelt down next to this wonderous sight and looked to the heavens to see if there was going to be a fanfare and a godly hand pointing though the light at me. There wasn't. This did in no way stop me from calling back my Wife who had walked straight past this gift from the heavens. This is what I need I said to Kathy. If I had one of these I could make heaps of things. I must have had someone looking down on me that day because 10 mins later I was walking out pushing a trolley with my new prized table saw. So, I have got this thing what now. Well what now was I had to spend 4 days at the coast no playing with my new toy.

Upon arriving home from the coast, the first thing I did was take my new box of goodies down to the shed. I know there was going to be some work to put it together and was quiet frankly a little worried that the instructions may have gone the way of many other instructions translated into English by someone who spoke Chinese and was reading them from a master written in French. I was however peasently surprised to find that the instructions were fairly easy to follow and made proper sense. I guess it took me about an hour and a half to get the components all together and looking like a real table saw. If I had to give a score out of ten for the instruction/construction phase of my ownership, I would give it a 7 and a half. Anyone with a reasonalbly mechanical mind will be able to put one of these together with out to much ado.

I have used the saw to rip down som old hard wood tree stakes I found at the timber tip and turned that timber into a very nice picture frame for a photo for my Mother. The saw has plenty of power and didn't hesitate at all when put to the test. The accuracy of the rip fence is good for the price of the saw. I am sure that with more practice I will be able to turn out some very good work. I am not a big fan of the riving knife set up that they have used. It is functional, but it takes a bit to remove the knif if you want to cut rebates or tennon type joints.

In all, $199 for a table saw that is reasonably powered and can do cuts up to 45 degrees I think it is a very good buy. In all I would give it a 8 out of 10.

Cheers,

Grim.:)

[AUSSIE]

Hi Sounds Great
Any Photos please

[Yeldarb]

Sounds like you are very happy, I have bought a couple of from Aldi and so far cannot fault them...for their price they seem to function well.

[Old farmer]

Grim, thanks for the review. As are all, it is valuable. Hope the saw continues to please you.

I am a little concerned, though, at your vow to put your beer money into shed toys. Is this not extreme? How will you face life's problems?

[Yeldarb]

Hi plan is to go to the shed and not leave...therefore no life problems :D

[Batpig]

Dear Old Farmer,

I am a little concerned, though, at your vow to put your beer money into shed toys... ...How will you face life's problems?
I love that...:2tsup: You've obviously still got a bit of "spring in your step" for a seniorish lad...

Best Wishes,
Batpig.

[Old farmer]

Batpig, thanks for that, mate. Yes, I am much more fortunate than some but, 13 months ago, we moved from the farm at 800metres and are finding this Sydney heat tiring.

Of course, you would not notice it.

In the early 1970s, I was in Brisbane on an hot day, had my first XXXX and, getting into a cab, said to the driver, "That XXXX is a good beer!" "Is there a bad beer?", was the, wise, response.

Like the ''seniorish lad". Thanks.

[damian]

Fosters, swan....

[rotten_66]

Bud, Coors, Fosters, Swan (Do you remember the Light?), XXXX, Heineken just to name a few

[Wongdai]

There's nothing wrong with a Swan Lager!

[koala_1977]

On a hot day theres nothing that quite beats a XXXX gold.......

[27saxophone]

As one who works for a Brewery, I can tell you that any cold beer is a good beer on a hot day. But for a hard-earned thirst, the best cold beer is - you guessed it. :wink:

[mjmjm]

Some history.

The Ad for VB is actually buried deep in the past.

Many decades ago in Qld we had two beers, Fourex and Bulimba. Bulimba's main brand was Gold Top.

Pretty awful beer as I remember, but they came up with a great ad.

Can't remember all the words, but it ended with "and the big big beer is Gold Top" to the same "tune" as the current VB ad.

Well Bulimba was taken over by CUB many years ago, and ever since, CUB have been using the old Gold Top ad.

Michael

[AUSSIE]

Beer--- I thought this thread was about Taurus Table Saw (Aldis)

[mjmjm]

It used to beer.

[Grim]

Hi All,
Here are a few pictures of the Taurus Table Saw. I hope this isn't a fauxpa and they should be in the pictures.
Cheers,

Grim.

[Mulgaman]

Bad beer? yes there is, it is, or was called Cascade!

[DonB]

G'day Woodies,

Hey I have found that most of the tools that Aldi sell are very good for the price. But be aware that they do not make them themselves. So who does?
The tablesaw in this case is identical to the GMC brand one sold by Bunnings and other Chinese importers.
That is not so say that it isn't any good, for I have the GMC tablesaw, and it does much of what I want it to do. I have replaced the blade with a much higher quality one, and keep the original blade for rough cutting. I agree about the knife though, can be a pest.

Keep on keeping on, regards, Don.

[Grim]

I have replaced the blade with a much higher quality one, and keep the original blade for rough cutting. I agree about the knife though, can be a pest.

Hi Don,
I am going to upgrade my blade as well. Can you tell me where you bought yours and what price you got it for? After using the machine for a while now, I have found the same to be true. Does the job but a little rough on the finish.

Cheers,

Grim. :)

[AUSSIE]

There's nothing wrong with a Swan Lager!

Narr-- Is that right?:tongueroll::AO::monk::flog:

[wheelinround]

Hi All,
Here are a few pictures of the Taurus Table Saw. I hope this isn't a fauxpa and they should be in the pictures.
Cheers,

Grim.


Grim what you doing with my dog .............:;

[Grim]

Grim what you doing with my dog .............:;


That's Bundy:) Very cool little dog that likes to hunt possums, rats, rabbits and roos (cept the last roo cut him open pretty good:C) He is a Jack Russell/Terrier Cross. We have another, Rocky. So when Bundy gets on Rocky I got Bundy on the Rocks!:2tsup:

[DonB]

G'day Grim,

I bought my blade at Gasweld, but I can't recall what it cost. It has much finer and numerous teeth than the original. Any good tool shop should be able to help.

Regards, Don.

[bpj1968]

Hi Don,
I am going to upgrade my blade as well. Can you tell me where you bought yours and what price you got it for? :)


Try www.sawandbits.com (http://www.sawandbits.com) he has a lot of blades taht he is clearing out at ridiculous prices A lot of us have stocked up on his router bits

[Grim]

Thanks for the heads up Brian. I have already ordered some blades and router bits. Sensational prices!

Cheers,
Grim ;-)

[Tomislav]

Grim,

Thanks for the travelogue and the great story.

Can you give your opinion as to:

How well it cut,
How accurate the machine was,
What sort of maximum cut it couldl do.
Comment on build and hardiness
Fitness for the task. And possibly comapre it to ones at a much higher price..?

Beer does not cut wood

[Homer1]

Hi - thanks for this review - I am new to this game and was looking for a bench to rip shelves with. I was considering a triton 2000 (If I can find one considering the circumstances), the Ryobi table saws (but they looked like warped plastic rubbish to my untrained eye), or the new Ozito flip top bench that sells at bunnings for around $499. I will now go and look at Aldi's at what they have (I have never been to an Aldi's store before). Still very confused, but enjoying the journey . . . . .

[Justin]

G'day Grim,

Are you a left or right hander ? The reason why I ask is that I noticed you have the fence set to the left side of the blade. That's cool if you're a left hander, but if you're a right hander you'll be twisting yourself around when ripping, given that you need to apply some pressure on your workpiece against the fence. Using a push stick in your right hand would also be awkward. You also need to stay out of the firing line of your workpiece in case of kickback.

The following google books preview has a good writeup on the procedure for ripping, read page 90 onwards.

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=dmClj9dTOZQC&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=table+saw+left+rip&source=bl&ots=1kLIkWAv5A&sig=fKyL-RgLcr6n9L_nQF-5xSAS4aY&hl=en&ei=SFXsSfLNOs2UkAW93aCnCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#PPA90,M1

I guess if you're a lefty you'd reverse everything including your stance (and your fency pozzy is therefore fine), but if you're a righty I'd really urge you to read up, particularly for bevel ripping because that can be a bit tricky. As a matter of fact I'd urge you to read up anyway, there's a lot of "tablesaw 101" books out there, and they'll help you produce better quality output.

I hope you haven't interpreted this as a lecture or similar, just trying to keep a fellow woody safe and happy. :2tsup:

Cheers,


Justin.

[Expat]

First time I saw the first Dundee movie was while I was visiting Colorado Springs. I laughed my backside off when the pub came up on the screen with those huge Brisbane Bitter signs on it. "Brisbane River" we used to call that garbage.

CUB lured the head brewer away from CP and set him up with everything he needed - or so they thought - to make a rival for XXXX. Well he used the same ingredients, mixture and methods that he had at Milton and what he got was nothing like the original. Why you ask? They had forgotten one thing about making beer - you need to mix all those ingredients in water. The Castemaine brewery is on the old town water supply and the CUB brewery is on the new town supply. Idiots. It's why Power tasted like garbage as well.

[Grim]

Hi All,

Okay, looks like I have a few posts to reply to all at once!

Fristly, Justin, Thanks! I am right handed, and now that you have pointed it out to me I do realise that I have the rip fence on the wrong side! I guess that this is a common mistake newbies make :B. I have been sort of twisting to put the cuts through and stay out of the firing line. I had done a read up on safety before using the saw as I am fully aware that it is a very serious bit of kit even if it is a cheapie from Aldi's! Must have got confused with my other right :doh:. I will change that over this arvo for sure. There was no thought of lecture or anything like that. I appreciate you comment and the concern you have for the members of this fourms safety.

As far as the quality of the equipment and the accuracy etc... I have had the unit awhile now and have knocked out quite a bit of work on it. The biggest fault of the machine is the slide that the fence "should" go it. It is a bit loose. Given that I have been using it as the mitre slide it may not be all that bad. I have replaced the blade that came with it with a 60 tooth professional series blade from www.sawsandbits.com (http://www.sawsandbits.com) which has imporved the finish of the cut. I highly recommend the gear from these guys. Good service, prompt delivery and excellent price!
The overall construction of the machine is very good. It is light enough for one person to move around, yet feels very stable when in action and used for cross cutting or ripping. I did find a number of old tree stakes at a scrap heap. Not exactly sure what it is, but it is a hardwood of some type. These stakes are about 6' or 180cm or so. I have ripped down a number of them on this saw to use for various jobs. The saw, even with the old blade had no problem getting through and the motor seems very strong. It states it is 1500w motor.
As far as comparing it to more expensive equipment, I guess the old addage of you get what you pay for must be considered. If you are a home handyman like me and want to be able to do a range of things that are beyond your basic circular saw but you are not expecting to be turning out a factories worth of first class furniture, then this is a very good option. It will be a long time before I have $1000.00 or more to spend on a high qualilty small table saw. I think someone with plenty of experience would be able to turn out very high quality work with this machine.
I am very happy with the machine and would buy it again in a flash. I have a little router table by the same mob and in conjunction with the table saw, I have a far broader range of things I can do.
As an example, I have replaced the full timber window in my shower room using this machine and you wouldn't be able to tell that it wasn't done by a tradesman (I think!).
I hope this give a clearer indication of what the saw is capable of and how good it is. I don't think anyone buying one would be unhappy with it. I plan on having mine for a long time.

Cheers,

Grim :)

[Bleedin Thumb]

Many decades ago in Qld we had two beers, Fourex and Bulimba. Bulimba's main brand was Gold Top.

Pretty awful beer as I remember, .



Thats one of the biggest understatement ever made on this forum!:oo:

Actually i think there was three beers Calton (white death) was the other. The great beer strike of 1979 put an end to all that.:)

[Tomislav]

Grim

That's the sort of review worth reading. Congrats.

I will look out for it next time it comes up.