Skilsaw 8-1/4-inch Worm Drive Table Saw Addresses Portability and Improvements
One of the upcoming tools we saw at World of Concrete 2020 was the Skilsaw 8 1/4-inch worm drive table saw. UL’s regulation on table size and blade diameter ratios are driving the need and Skilsaw took the opportunity to make some improvements.
10-Second Summary
- 8 1/4-inch blade diameter allows for more portable size
- New rack-and-pinion fence system added
- Same size worm drive motor as the 10-inch
- $399 saw, $89 stand
Why Build a Skilsaw 8-1/4-inch Worm Drive Table Saw?
Skilsaw’s original worm drive table saw has a 10-inch blade and it does great work with a high level of portability. However, UL now has regulations defining the relationship between the size of the table and the diameter of your blade. Skilsaw’s choice was to bump down the blade diameter or increase the table size.
They decided to go with the smaller blade in order to maintain the easy portability that we’ve enjoyed. It’s actually a little smaller and lighter than the 10-inch model it’s replacing.
Is Just a Different Blade Size?
While the Skilsaw 8 1/4-inch worm drive table saw was under development, the team made a few improvements at the same time. The biggest one is a new rack-and-pinion fence system similar to the one that’s on Skilsaw’s heavy-duty model. It’s a system that our team prefers and an upgrade Skilsaw was hearing about from their user feedback.
The project team decided to stick with the same motor, though. The nice thing about it is that you’re getting the same 10-inch saw’s power with an 8 1/4-inch blade. There shouldn’t be any power concerns no matter what material you’re used to cutting.
Projecting Ahead
Skilsaw launched its 48V TrueHVL cordless platform in 2019 with the first true cordless worm drive. They’re following it up this year with a 10 1/4-inch version that cuts 4x in one pass.
It’s not a difficult stretch to think that the new 8 1/4-inch worm drive table saw can also be the foundation of a cordless model. The design is already solid, so it’s just a matter of cutting the cord and adding a battery connection. That’s an oversimplification of the challenge, of course, but I’d love to see a cordless version of this exact saw.
Pricing
As the new table saw phases out the 10-inch model, expect the price to run $399 for the saw and another $89 if you’d like the stand. That’s a little bit of a bump over the current model’s $379 price tag. However, we think the extra $20 is well worth it for the rack-and-pinion fence.
If you’d like to stick with a 10-inch blade, Skilsaw’s heavy-duty model runs $529 with a pretty sweet rolling stand.
