# left or right tilt table saw



## Mitchman (Sep 17, 2011)

Could someone plese explain to me the differences between a left tilt table saw and a right tilt table saw as well as the advantages and weaknesses of one over the other.

Mitch


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## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

left tilt is a little safer for angled cuts. right tilt traps the wood beteen the blade and the fence whereas left tilt the wood isnt trapped. it rides on top of the blade rather than under it.

if i had my choice over again id buy left tilt.

with that said.............i love my right tilt unisaw


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

Like most things, there are pros and cons with each, so it really boils down to preference. I've owned both and prefer left tilt, but I wouldn't pass a great deal on a great TS over it. 

Left tilt:
pros: blade tilts away the fence during standard ripping operations (with the fence to the right of the blade), arbor nut goes on from the right side of the blade and has normal thread orientation (which I find pretty darn handy for a right handed person).
cons: blade thickness changes skew the zero reference on the measuring tape.

Right tilt:
pros: blade thickness changes don't impact the zero reference point. 
cons: blade tilts toward the fence during standard ripping operations (with the fence to the right of the blade), arbor nut goes on from the left side and has reverse thread orientation (harder for a right handed person).

There are work arounds for some of the cons of both....folks with right tilt saws can slide the fence to the left side the blade so it tilts away from the fence, though it creates a non-standard reversal from normal ripping operations. For left tilt saws, it's fairly easy to adjust the cursor to compensate for blade thickness differences, or you can setup the saw using your thicker blades, then add a shim to compensate for thinner blades....that trick won't help with a dado stack, so you'll need to measure by hand.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

I prefer right tilt because of accuracy to the tape on all blades.

If you are making a bevel cut (i.e. The blade is at an angle other than 90° to the table.) it is possible to "trap" the cut between fence and blade causing a kick back. The probability of trapping is slightly greater than that during a normal or square rip cut. The possibility of trapping increases as the width of the stock between blade and fence decreases. However, for narrow cuts it is possible to move the fence to the left side of the blade.

As many different saws (Brands and models) that I have used at school and home I can not remember using a left tilting saw for a bevel cut. When I make narrow bevel cuts on my saw at home, I move the fence to the left of the blade.

While my preference is for a right tilting saw I have to admit that I am a poor reference for a left tilting saw; positive of negative.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Nov 25, 2008)

I got rid of my tilting arbor saws, I now have 3 where the tops tilt.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Warner, you are so stuck in the 1800's*



WarnerConstInc. said:


> I got rid of my tilting arbor saws, I now have 3 where the tops tilt.


So how do you rip a bevel without the work sliding off the table.

Cross cutting bevels is probably not much fun either?

You need to make a video of the Old Iron in use... :yes: bill


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## WarnerConstInc. (Nov 25, 2008)

woodnthings said:


> So how do you rip a bevel without the work sliding off the table.
> 
> Cross cutting bevels is probably not much fun either?
> 
> You need to make a video of the Old Iron in use... :yes: bill


You can put the fence on the low side of the blade. Then gravity is your friend. 

To make it even more interesting, the fence faces can also tilt.

With the quadrant fences on the low side (the left hand table slides) and a clamp, all sorts of beveled angled cross cuts are fairly simple.

It took me a while to get used to it and I still have to think about it ahead of time, sometimes.


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## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

rrich said:


> I prefer right tilt because of accuracy to the tape on all blades.
> 
> .


i forgot to mention that. good point.


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