Hitachi C10RA3 15 amp 10-inch Benchtop Table Saw with StandHitachi C10RA3 15 amp 10-inch Benchtop Table Saw with Stand
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- 10-inch table saw and folding stand
- Telescoping table extends to 24-1/2-inches; 15 amp motor; self-aligning rip fence
- Steel stand; carbide blade; some assembly required
- Includes saw, stand, blade, rip fence, miter-gauge, wrench, cord, blade storage
- 58-pounds; 3-year warranty
After about a half-hour of assembly, you'll notice first that there's now more room to rip: The telescoping table extension gives you 24-1/2 inches of ripping capacity to the right and 10 inches to the left. And we can't figure out how they made it lighter, but they did, and without sacrificing power. It draws 15 amps and produces a whopping 5,000 rpm, enough to slice through anything you feed it. It runs beautifully with virtually no vibration; it's direct drive, of course.
Since you're shopping for a jobsite saw, you know you're not going to get a Biesemeyer-quality fence, but we have to say we really like the one on this machine. It's sturdy, self-aligning, moves super smoothly along its rails and locks down easily and very securely with a beefy handle. Hitachi also gets points from us for predrilling holes for any auxiliary fence you might want to use. The blade height wheel is on the front, and the bevel handwheel is on the right-hand side. The scale and pointer, though, are up front, along with the bevel lock. Both wheels operate smoothly and without hiccups. Be aware, though, that when you tilt the blade to 45 degrees and you're using the miter gauge, the gauge's handle will bump into the blade guard. It doesn't cause a problem, but users should just be forewarned.
We like the self-aligning metal rip fence for its stability, the quick-lock feature and how cleanly it slides. Should you need to realign, the process is fast and simple. The miter gauge is rock-solid and runs without play in the slots, and both pieces store neatly on the saw base along with the wrench, push-stick, power cord, dado insert and blade for transport and keeps them in easy reach for use. The stand is sturdy and we like the leveling foot on one leg to compensate for rugged ground at the jobsite or an uneven shop floor. To keep mess to a minimum, hook up your shop vacuum to the 2-1/2-inch port on the rear of the saw base. We think this is a great saw at a great price, and both the professional and the exacting do-it-yourselfer will be really pleased with it.--Kris Jensen-Van Heste
Amazon.com Product Description
Hitachi's C10RA3 10-inch Table Saw offer the complete package of power and portability. This saw features a powerful 15-amp motor with 5,000 rpm and enough power to rip through the toughest applications. The fence system is self aligning and the telescoping table extension gives 24-1/2 inches of ripping capacity. This saw also comes with a 10-inch, 36-tooth carbide blade and a dust port. The front mounted blade height and side mounted blade tilt adjustments are user friendly and the base has on board storage for the rip fence, miter gauge, wrench, power cord and blade storage. This saw comes with a sturdy folding stand for easy storage and portability.
Technical Details
Blade Size: 10 inches
Full-Load Current: 15 amps
No-Load Speed, 5,000 rpm
Capacity:
Table Size, 30-3/4 inches by 19-1/2 inches
Rip Capacity Right, 24-1/2 inches
Max Cut Depth at 90 degrees, 3 inches
Max Cut Depth at 45 degrees, 2-1/2 inches
Max Width of Dado, 1/2 inches
Tool Weight: 58.3 pounds
- Tools & Hardware: 0 pages
- Publisher: Hitachi
- Label: Hitachi
- Studio: Hitachi
- Average Customer Review: based on 11 reviews
- Sales Rank in Tools: #2925
The Pros:
I have been able to produce several pieces of furniture for use around the house with this saw. The saws greatest assets are its portability without having to purchase aftermarket lifts (I can fold it up and stow it away against a wall in under 2 minutes clearing the space for other operations), its small footprint (approx. 30" x 20" without extensions), dust collection bag (for those without dust collection systems), fairly accurate / easy to use fence, 1 - 1.5 hour assembly time, and its price. Everything was aligned right out of the box, and the directions were clear during assembly.
The Cons:
A large part of the saws portability is attributed to its weight. This attribute is an unfortunate double-edged sword. Because the saw is so light, it has a tendency to move back when ripping long (greater than 3 foot) boards. Should you run into some resistance when ripping a board (like going through a tough knot) the saw will tip up and away from you (the additional foot provided in the back of the saw will prevent the table from tipping over however). The miter gauge requires you to square it to the blade each time you use it. The anti kickback splitter requires a large amount of adjustment to get correctly aligned each time you place it back on the saw. All parts are metric, making replacement difficult to impossible unless you order directly from the company. Lastly, as I am now discovering, you cannot upgrade the saw with aftermarket parts (i.e. no zero clearance inserts, no riving knives, no splitters, no featherboards, no miter gauges, no jigs, not sure about aftermarket fences, but I am guessing no on that one). You either have to find a way to alter the parts (like featherboards because the miter slots are on the table saw are not standard) making them more expensive, or, you simply build them yourself.
Conclusion:
If you are looking for something simple, ultra portable, and you plan on using it for simple ripping operations or just plan on pulling it out occasionally: this is your saw. For beginning furniture makers, this saw will make your entrance into the hobby a little more difficult than other saws would, and you would be best advised to look elsewhere.
Positives: Adequate results, as long as you don't expect the sawn edge to be smooth. It's affordable and easily capable of more than the factory configuration.
Negatives: Lots, including the throat plate. I imagine I can shim it up flush, but haven't taken the time yet, and it's nowhere near tight enough for really thin cuts. BTW, a throat plate not flush to the table surface makes measuring the dado depths a royal pain - it's trial and error, not machine tooling. Getting the splitter straight to the blade is time consuming and aggravating - and especially aggravating because I do so many rabbets and dadoes. Each one needs the guard off, and therefore (we're good boys and girls, right?) back on again, with the same tedious alignment each time. The mechanism doesn't hold the old alignment settings, they have to be redone each time. Also, I found the setup instructions for the table extension grossly inadequate. When I realized that I had not understood the incomprensible setup instructions correctly, I had to remove one of the end clips - and broke it in removing it, because it was engineered only for people who do everything perfectly the first time. Sorry, I'm just human. I know there's an adjustment to get the blade parallel to the miter slot - when I get the right measuring tools, I'll try to get all that straight.
I'm sure that, with a new blade, a half-day of fussing, and a lot of patience, I can get all the results I paid for from this tool. Still, I expect to spend a lot of time making up for my budget limitations. And that guard - well, I keep telling myself I really should use it, when applicable, but it keeps arguing against me. Going through all that again, every time I need the guard on again after being off, seems more than daunting. I'm pretty sure the Hitachi lawyers added it to the parts list, not the engineers.
I'm not an advanced woodworker, so I'll use this saw and enjoy it, to a point. Still, it will help me look forward to that day when I decide to trade up.
-- wiredweird
(PS: One of the attachment screws in the throat plate was so glued in place with black paint that I stripped the Phillips part of the Phillips/straight head trying to unscrew it the first time. Grr.)