Tested And Reviewed: Find Out Which Editor-Approved Portable Table Saws Made the Cut

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Portable table saws take the precision cutting function of this full-size wood shop workhorse and make it mobile, so you can take it to the worksite or your backyard. Unlike the stationary table saws contractors use, these relatively lightweight options rest on top of a workbench or come equipped with a folding metal frame with wheels for easy transport.

The vast majority of portable table saws are equipped with a 10-inch blade that provides more than enough height above the table to cut thick lumber. That big blade is backed up with a powerful motor that typically runs on 12 to 15 amps, ample power for cutting through hardwood, softwood or plywood.

Beyond those specs, however, there’s a lot that distinguishes one portable table saw from the next. Plus, it’s essential to choose the right blade for the job—whether that’s ripping wood in the same direction as the grain, or crosscutting. To help you find the best portable table saw for your needs, read on for reviews of our favorite models, along with expert advice on what to consider before buying.

The Best Portable Table Saws

• Best Overall: DeWalt 10-Inch Table Saw With Rolling/Collapsible Stand

• Best Value: Skil 10-Inch 15-Amp 120-Volt Corded Portable Jobsite Table Saw with Folding Stand

• Best Heavy Duty: Skilsaw 10-Inch Worm-Drive Table Saw with Stand

• Best Benchtop: DeWalt 8-1/4-Inch 15-Amp Table Saw

• Best for the Jobsite: Metabo HPT 10-Inch 15-Amp Table Saw

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What to Consider

To cut effectively—and safely—it’s important to use the right blade for the job. That means investing in a selection of blades to help the saw reach its potential.

Most portable table saws come with an inexpensive general-purpose blade (a 10-inch 42-tooth is common) that can rip and crosscut, but won’t do either one particularly well. Below, we cover a few common jobs and the best blade to use for each.

24-Tooth Heavy Duty Rip Blade

This blade’s angle, tooth shape, and heat-expansion slots are made for rugged work, such as quickly bringing stock to approximate dimension.

80-Tooth Plywood & Melanine Blade

This blade's sharp tooth tip alternates direction to resist chipping and tearing the wood veneer and plastic film surfaces of plywood and melamine.

60-Tooth Fine Finish Crosscut Blade

This blade isn’t for rough work. It’s designed to prevent chipping when crosscutting solid wood and reserved for work that must be perfect when it leaves the blade.

30-Tooth Glue Line Ripping Blade

This blade produces a ripped edge that is smooth and straight enough such that it can be joined seamlessly with glue to another similarly ripped edge.

Pro tip: An inexpensive outfeed roller increase your productivity—and also your safety—by providing a smoothly rolling support surface to receive the board as it leaves the saw table. Lacking such a roller, you need a helper who can deftly take the board and carefully support it without interfering with the cut—not a job for the squeamish.

How We Selected and Tested

Alex Rennie: During my time as a commercial and residential carpenter in New York City, I used a variety of cabinet and portable table saws. Whether I was working as part of a crew remodeling a townhouse ceiling or creating a custom bookcase in a restaurant, portable table saws provided the functionality and convenient size needed to tackle challenges posed by different job sites.

Tony Carrick: I handled the most recent update to this guide. And in doing so, I kept Alex’s experience in mind, including the brands, safety features, and ease of use he’s come to know and appreciate over the years. To complement this real-world experience, I extensively researched, evaluating specs and scouring through customers reviews of more than a dozen different portable table saws, to make the top five selections. Roy Berendsohn also contributed to this guide with his rigorous product testing.

Our Portable Table Saw Reviews

We’ve personally used this DeWalt jobsite portable table saw for chopping and ripping up lumber, and can vouch for its rugged durability and quality construction. The rolling stand provides a ton of stability too, making it easy to perform cuts safely and accurately. Rack and pinion fence rails allow for easy adjustments, and are strong enough to support an impressive amount of weight. We’re also big fans of the two-and-a-half-inch dust collection port for easy clean-ups, even after heavy-duty jobs.

On-board tool storage keeps the push stick close at hand, which encourages safe use and potentially cuts down on time wasted searching your workshop for whatever you need.

At about half the cost of other portable table saws, this model from Skil is a good pick if you’re on a tight budget. Rack and pinion fence rails create a sturdy base for ripping boards, and you can make micro adjustments to the blade alignment to ensure it’s parallel to the fence.

Skil’s portable jobsite table saw also comes equipped with a large 10-inch blade that’s capable of cutting through a 4x4, and it has the ability to make bevel cuts up to 45 degrees. It’s supported by four sturdy legs that fold up underneath it for transport or storage. And since it only weighs about 50 pounds—about half the weight of many portable table—it’s much easier to move than most.

With a torque-friendly worm-drive powertrain, and a maximum depth of three-and-five-eighths inches—deepest of all the options listed here—this Skilsaw is perfect for heavy-duty projects. It also features a 30.5-inch rip capacity and a user-friendly rack and pinion fence system for maximum accuracy.

The huge 16-inch wheels also help it easily traverse over bumpy surfaces, stairs, and curbs, if need be. We also appreciate the detailed and useful user manual, which is filled with technical illustrations that make clear the saw’s ability to be adjusted and dialed in for precise cutting. An owner’s manual of this caliber is just about unheard of in this class of product. You can have a look at the PDF yourself at the Skilsaw website.

This small but mighty Dewalt benchtop table saw is easy to haul from jobsite to jobsite thanks to its compact size and lighter weight, or to store if your workshop doesn’t have room for a full size table saw. A 15-amp motor combined with a smaller 8.5-inch blade allow it to reach blazing speeds of 5,800 rpm, plenty of power for ripping through hardwoods.

Its 24.5-inch ripping capacity and cutting blade are smaller than other portable table saws; however, it still has the ability to rip a 4x8 piece of plywood. Dewalt is known for the user-friendly features on its power tools and this table saw is no exception. Tool free adjusters on the guarding and telescoping fence guards make it easier to set up cuts. There’s also a blade break and a power-loss reset for safety and a metal roll cage that protects the saw during transport.

This Metabo table saw has the look and feel of a stationary table saw but in a portable design. Its 28-3/4-inch by 22-inch table and a wide 35-inch rip capacity, the most we’ve seen on any other portable table saw, is similar to what you’ll find on a stationary table saw. The motor also features a soft start for smoother operation and an electric brake that halts the blade quickly after each cut.

We also like the rack and pinion fence adjustments and metal miter gauge, which allow for executing more precise cuts. There’s also plenty of on-board storage for saw accessories like the blade guard and push stick. The Metabo is one of the heavier portable table saws at nearly 100 pounds, but a fold and roll design makes it manageable for transportation and setup.

Guide to Table Saw Terms

There are many confusing terms when you enter the world of table saws, their blades, and various wood-cutting operations. We offer this explainer to help guide you through.

Alternate Top Bevel (ATB)

A tooth configuration on table saw blades where the bevel on every other tooth alternates from left to the right. ATB teeth are used on all-purpose blades that offer satisfactory ripping and crosscutting performance but don’t excel at either.

Crosscut

A cut made across the long-axis of the wood’s grain direction. The primary grain axis in solid wood is parallel (along) the board’s length–the same direction that the tree grows. A cut made perpendicular to this axis is a crosscut, such as occurs when cutting a 2x4-foot wall stud to length. In plywood and composite panels, typically 4x8-foot sheets, crosscutting refers to cutting across the panel’s 4-foot width or perpendicular to the direction of the grain direction of its face veneer.

Dado

A wide, U-shaped and flat-bottom notch cut across the grain (across the width) of a board or workpiece. The nomenclature is tricky in this respect: A similar cut made along the length of the workpiece, such as in the edge or face of the board, is known simply as a groove, not a dado. Further confusing matters is that both a dado and a groove may be made with the same accessory, a dado blade (see next entry).

Dado Blade

A multi-blade assembly. It consists of individual dado blades and spacers. A dado blade (even though it consists of multiple blades and spacers) is used to cut a dado or a groove.

Flat Top Grind (FTG)

The simplest shape on a table saw blade tooth where the top of each tooth is ground to a flat tip. This tooth configuration is typically used on ripping blades.

Hook Angle

The angle that the table saw blade tooth leans forward. As seen from the side, each table saw blade consists of a series of wave-shaped cutouts made in the body of the blade. The saw tooth is either ground directly into the wave or, more often than not today, the tooth consists of a piece of carbide brazed in place. The forward-leaning angle of the tooth—where it contacts the wood—is its hook angle.

Rip

A cut made along the long axis of the wood grain. In solid wood lumber, this is along the length of the board, the same direction that the tree grows. With panels and plywood, it is along the length of the panel or parallel to the long axis of the face grain veneer.

Triple Chip Grind (TCG)

A grind geometry that shapes three surfaces of each saw blade tooth–the top, the left side, and the right side. This tooth geometry is used to reduce chipping, tearing, and splintering when sawing plywood, panels made of composite materials or panels with a surface of soft plastic veneer, such as melamine.

Throat Plate

The removable oval-shaped piece of metal or plastic set into the table of the saw through which the blade projects. A table saw will come with a throat plate that will accommodate a single blade. The manufacturer may or may not offer accessory throat plates that allow the user to operate a dado blade.

Worm Gear

A two-gear assembly consisting of a spiral worm and a worm gear. The output of the two gears reduces the speed coming from the motor, but increases the torque (turning force) delivered to the blade.

Zero-Clearance Throat Plate

A throat plate that is an accessory that is specifically meant to be used with dado blades. The plate will come with a slot in it wide enough to accommodate a dado blade or the user installs the dado blade in the saw, lowers the blade below the surface of the saw table, then installs the zero-clearance throat plate as it would be normally installed.

The user will then turn the saw on and slowly raise the spinning dado blade up through the plate. When the blade is raised up to its operating height, it makes a cut through the plate that corresponds exactly to the width of the dado. The lack of an air gap on both sides of the dado blade provides increased support to the workpiece being cut, improving cut quality and safety in the process.

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