The Best Hybrid Table Saws

For the home woodworker, there’s a holy grail out there: the best hybrid table saw. Unlike job-site saws, these dedicated behemoths of circular sawing will usually find themselves in one spot for the majority of their careers. They’re an incredible boon, as long as you have the right one, although many hobbyists find them to be a bit much.

Still, if you’re dedicated to making sure you have the most powerful and precise saw around you’re in good hands with a hybrid. They’re simply a step above the usual fare, so if you’ve been looking to get serious about your carpentry skills read on.

Top Pick

Shop Fox W1837

It’s big, bad, and all-around one of the smoothest cutting experiences you’re likely to find anywhere. All at a relatively low price… for a hybrid table saw. If you’re dedicated to making sure you’ve got a great saw in the workshop, this is the first place you should look. You’ll see in our reviews that there are better but it’ll give you the best value for your money.

In This Article:

The 5 Top-Rated Hybrid Table Saws

Editor’s PicksBrand
Rating
Overall Best Hybrid Table SawShop Fox W1837
5.0
Best Hybrid Table Saw Under $1000Grizzly G0771Z
4.7
Largest TableGrizzly G0691
4.6
The Upgrade PickSawStop PCS31230-TGP252
4.4
Honorable Mention Hybrid Table SawPowermatic PM1000 1791000K
4.1

What is a Hybrid Table Saw?

For some people, there’s a bit of confusion around these saws.

There’s a good reason for that: one of the saw types which the hybrid name is derived hardly exists anymore.

The original intention of a hybrid table saw was as a bridge between the mostly stationary “contractor” table saws of the past and the large, borderline industrial cabinet-maker’s table saws. The former are almost impossible to find these days, having largely been replaced with what most people think of as a “table saw” which is much smaller than those in days past.

Contractor saws are pretty distinct from those commonly seen today. The motor was mounted on the exterior of the cabinet so that it could be removed and allowed the saw to be moved with “only” two people.

Sounds a bit inconvenient compared to modern saws, right?

Cabinet maker’s saws run on at least 220V, making them largely a commercial or industrial saw, and are contained entirely within the cabinet itself. They’re likely to spend the majority of their lifespan in one spot in a shop and are prohibitively heavy to move.

The distinction these days is pretty simple: a table saw can be considered a hybrid if it’s a self-contained, stationary table saw which runs on 110V.

So don’t get confused as we go on, cabinet table saws which run on 110V are hybrid table saws.

So, Who Needs a Hybrid Table Saw?

Realistically, most home DIY tasks and even most cosmetic tasks can be easily performed through the use of a modern table saw. That leaves the modern hybrid saw in a bit of a bind: they’re too bulky for contractors and too expensive for most home hobbyists.

For professional cabinet makers and carpenters, there are cabinet maker saws available and their shop is going to have the 240V power pulled to allow them to function.

That leaves them in a tight niche: for the serious hobbyist who has the money to properly outfit their home workshop. The cheapest modern hybrid or cabinet table saw is going to run you a bit less than $1000, so they’re not common these days.

They can also serve a great niche for businesses which don’t primarily work wood but might need to make the occasional precise cut without sacrificing any bench space.

Essentially: serious home hobbyists with the skills to match and professional workshops which are mostly dedicated to materials other than wood are going to get the most use out of them.

How We Selected the Saws

Like many high-end tools, online reviews are pretty odd when it comes to hybrid table saws. We ended up asking around on hobbyist forums and talking to a couple of cabinet makers to see what was the best out there for us to review since it would have been impractically expensive to just grab everything that looks good on Amazon like we normally do.

If you’re in the market for one of these saws and are scraping online reviews instead of asking around we’d recommend you keep the following in mind: for the most part, high-end tools have a lot expected of them but the people who purchase them are unlikely to review them as long as they work as advertised. It leads to a skewing of review scores you really don’t see with things like circular saws which are present in pretty much every garage.

In this case, we didn’t set any benchmarks, we just took the recommendations at face value and tallied to see which brands and models seemed to be recommended most often.

Like any other table saw, we found the following to be useful guidelines.

Build-Quality

As always, build-quality is absolutely king as long as the tool itself functions. This goes doubly with something as expensive as a hybrid table saw.

Of those we tested and reviewed there wasn’t a whole lot to complain about here. They tend to come from ultra high-end manufacturers like Fox Shop and Grizzly. The only time build-quality might be at a major disadvantage is if you were looking to purchase a custom-built hybrid saw, in which case we suggest going through a stringent inspection process before making the final purchase.

Power and RPM

Like a regular table saw, the power of a saw can roughly be determined from its amperage. Higher amps means a more powerful saw in the end.

Smooth RPM controls were another key feature. While not super common on job site saws (which are mostly used for cutting up construction lumber) a smooth control is something you’ll want in a hybrid table saw.

As we noted above, most people who are looking for one of these machines are going to be doing some seriously skilled work and the ability to smoothly control the spinning of the saw is essential to working with exotic woods.

Some were single speed, however, and the added precision of a hybrid saw over a job-site saw still makes them a standout option for those who are working with expensive materials.

Storage Space

One of the nicest things about cabinet table saws and hybrids is the storage underneath. It’ll make your life quite a bit easier since you can keep all of the blades, belts, and other accessories readily accessible rather than being in a drawer across the shop.

Blade Size

Hybrid table saws vary little from the average stationary table saw when it comes to blade size: most will come in 10” or 12” variations. Which is best for you will largely depend on your intended usage of the machine over time, but the size variance isn’t a big deal outside of certain hyper-specialized applications.

Bigger blades tend to last longer since less total surface area is in contact with the workpiece but they’re also more expensive so it’s not the best measure of a saw in the majority of cases.

Warranties and Customer Service

If you’re going to drop four figures on a tool, it should have a comprehensive warranty.

We always pay attention to these when we’re bringing you tools, but in this case, we made extra sure that the warranties were good enough. If you have the option of an extended warranty with your tool: take it. These are an expensive purchase, even in the realm of tools, so it’s important your saw remains protected.

We also went through posts on the internet about each company’s customer service and went to see if they replied to customers in places where the saws were sold: both good measures of the overall customer service of a given company. In this case, as expected, we found that all of the brands maintained a good online presence and the vast majority of customer interactions with their staff were quite positive.

Shop Fox takes things a bit further, having their team answer even relatively minor questions wherever their products were sold.

Our Testing Process

It wouldn’t be us if we didn’t try out the tools in our shop. That’s precisely what we did in this case, although the tests were a little bit different from the normal rough-and-ready stuff which you might see and we had to find someone with the skill to actually notice the difference in the saws.

Remember: these aren’t the right tool if you just need to rip some 2x4s unless you just like spending a ton of money. A high-end DeWalt table saw will be virtually the same in the hands of an amateur as a hybrid table saw, especially if you’re cutting the usual suspects like pine and fir.

Instead, we had our carpenter test each saws functions thoroughly before we really put them to the test.

Our testing consisted of a few phases:

  • Kickback Test-We carefully noted any instances of kickback, of which we had only two during our entire testing run. These saws are generally at least 2 HP so it wasn’t surprising.
  • Precision Test-We ran some old oak planks through the saw, carefully marking each with a thin pencil line to see just how precise the saw was. While our “regular” tester didn’t seem to notice a difference, our expert was able to make incredibly precise cuts easily with the hybrid table saw while the contractor saw had a little bit more “wiggle” room.
  • Exotic Test-We’d love to tell you we went out and gathered ironwood from the heart of Africa and then ran it through, but our budget was pretty much exhausted after purchasing the saws so we instead poked around until we found some solid cherrywood flooring planks. These were then cut with precision and speed and the edges checked carefully for any signs of marring, chipping, or other problems.
  • The Workhorse Test-After that, we simply spooled the saws up and made eighteen rapid cuts with each on pine 2x4s to make sure that the saws could also function as a heavy work saw.

All of these tests led us to a pretty simple conclusion: there probably isn’t a single bad hybrid table saw on the market currently. To an amateur, they’re going to cut just as well as any other table saw and the minor difference made by our expert would only make a big difference to true artisans.

All five of the saws we tested passed the entire thing flawlessly, with some minor differences, which we’ll note in the reviews below.

Our Top Hybrid Table Saws

We always recommend only great tools, but in this case, we can conclusively say that it’s hard to pin a “best” label on any single saw. The differences are primarily in outlier features, the size of the table, and the price. Which is best for you is likely to largely boil down to the budget you have in mind.

Overall Best Hybrid Table Saw

Shop Fox W1837

At A Glance:

  • Table Size: 40 ¼” x 27”
  • Motor Power: 2 HP
  • Input Voltage: 110V
  • Speed: 3450 RPM
  • Blade Size: 10”

Undoubtedly our favorite due to the combination of price and function, the Shop Fox W1837 is an excellent example of everything that a hybrid saw should be. The cast iron table has a generous measure and the smooth gliding fence system was hard to beat.

Overall, we had a great experience with this saw and it should be more than enough to suit the needs of the majority of home craftsmen. The riving knife was excellent as well, allowing the whole saw to function with a smooth action that was hard to believe… until we realized that all of the hybrid saws we tested were about on par.

It wasn’t the cheapest of the saws we tested, but it definitely wasn’t the most expensive either. Since it’s a single-speed saw there is one thing to keep in mind: your only control on how fine the cut is, comes from what you’re able to do with the blade.

4.8/5
Our Opinion:

For those looking for an excellent hybrid saw, Shop Fox delivers, time and time again. This was our favorite for the majority of people but those who really want to go all out will find some more expensive saws below.

Best Hybrid Table Saw Under $1000

Grizzly G0771Z

At A Glance:

  • Table Size: 40 ½” x 27”
  • Motor Power: 2 HP
  • Input Voltage: 110V
  • Speed: 3450 RPM
  • Blade Size: 10”

Keep in mind that prices fluctuate a bit online, so we can’t guarantee that it will be under $1000 when you take a look but we got ours for just a few bucks under when we were doing the testing.

Overall this saw from Grizzly is probably our least favorite, but that’s not saying a lot and it’s still a dream compared to any table saw you’re likely to be familiar with if you’ve never worked with them in a professional context.

Compared to our favorite it seemed a bit less overbuilt and our expert assured us there was a bit less precision in the cut although we certainly couldn’t tell with the naked eye. We’ll have to take his word for it in this case.

It’s sure to serve you well but we’ve read reports of them breaking down more quickly than other saws and Grizzly can be a bit harder to contact although they’ll still stand behind their work.

4.8/5
Our Opinion:

That said, if you’re working with a $1,000 to slightly over budget, you’ll be in good hands with this excellent saw. We really didn’t expect it to be on the level of the other saws on our list which cost much, much more but it’s still a great saw overall.

Largest Table

Grizzly G0691

At A Glance:

  • Table Size: 27” x 74”
  • Motor Power: 3 HP
  • Input Voltage: 220V
  • Speed: 4,300 RPM
  • Blade Size: 10”

Alright, we’ll freely admit this one requires a 220V input, but if you’re looking for smooth cuts on an extremely large workpiece then this is exactly the saw you’re looking for. The beast of a motor is surprisingly smooth and allows the saw blade to power through just about anything like it is air.

On top of that, it has the majority of the features that we found essential to separate a hybrid table saw from the bog-standard variety. Smooth fence, good riving knife, and all of the goodies which we expect when we’re not getting into the serious money range.

It also seems to be of much higher quality than the cheaper saw which we tested initially from Grizzly. We’d honestly expect that from the higher end saws, however, so it wasn’t that surprising and compared to the others on our list it’s nothing special.

4.8/5
Our Opinion:

Still, if it’s a large, extended table you’re looking for then it might be worth seeing if you can pull 220V to your workshop, this saw’s extendable table simply can’t be beaten if you’re often dealing with large workpieces.

The Upgrade Pick

SawStop PCS31230-TGP252

At A Glance:

  • Table Size: 85 ¼” x 33”
  • Motor Power: 3 HP
  • Input Voltage: 220V
  • Speed: Unknown
  • Blade Size: 10”

This thing is an absolute beast. From the 3 horsepower motor to the enormous table, this is a professional grade hybrid saw from start to finish. On top of that, it has an interesting safety feature which simply no other brand can compare to.

SawStop makes safer saws. The way it works is by passing a minute electrical current through the blade, on contact with something conductive(ie: your skin) the blade will immediately engage a brake and the centrifugal force of the blade will carry it down into the cabinet of the saw.

We’ll be honest here: we didn’t test this feature out. You’re likely to still end up with some lacerations and you’ll have to reset the blade, but it’s an exceptional safety which no one else has at all.

Other than that it’s a solid saw, as good as any in the same price range. And… that’s the rub of it, this is an extremely expensive saw.

4.8/5
Our Opinion:

Still, if you’re looking for the best of the best then you’ll be pleased with this hybrid table saw from SawStop. The safety features add a good chunk to the price tag but the saw itself is still a contender for the price tag, you’re not just paying for a gimmick.

Honorable Mention Hybrid Table Saw

Powermatic PM1000 1791000K

At A Glance:

  • Table Size: 40”x27”
  • Motor Power: 1 ¾ HP
  • Input Voltage: 110V
  • Speed: 4200 RPM
  • Blade Size: 10”

The last of our saws is this offering from Powermatic. It’s an excellent workhorse saw and perhaps the best suited of the options we tested out when it came to these high-end tools.

Powermatic is a big name in this world and its reputation is well deserved. Despite being the smallest and least powerful of all of the saws which we tested it was a fast favorite with our expert who found it to be precise, well done, and generally a great saw for those who want one for their home workshop.

The overall construction was fantastic, all of the pieces of the saw moved and glided easily along. All of this added up to a great end-user experience that left our expert quite impressed, albeit he balked a bit when we told him the price.

4.8/5
Our Opinion:

If you’re looking for a solid, workhorse saw for the home workshop then you may just fall in love with this hybrid saw from Powermatic. Those on a tight budget may wish to look elsewhere, however.

Getting the Right Blade

As with most saws, the best hybrid saw in the world can get shortcutted by a bad blade.

Look, we’re not going to tell you what to do but if you’re willing to sink the money for a hybrid table saw it only makes sense to purchase high-quality blades. The vast majority of hybrids, just like regular table saws, run at a single speed which means the blade is vital to ensuring you get a smooth cut.

If you’re working with a hard exotic, African Gaboon for instance, you’ll want a blade which is both high-quality and has a high TPI to make a smooth cut and waste as little of the expensive material as possible.

Lower TPI blades, such as those which you’d use in a regular table saw, are perfectly fine for your normal day-to-day structural cutting.

The process behind how saw blades work is a bit more complicated than it appears at first glance. Most of us automatically accept that serrations cut but don’t truly understand the process behind it.

The way that it ends up working is that each tooth on a blade chips away some of the material. With a higher TPI blade, you’re looking at a smaller chip of material being removed with each tooth, while lower TPI blades are forced to remove much more material. The RPM of the blade, combined with the TPI is what determines the final quality of your cut, provided that you don’t do anything weird like jamming the wood too hard into the blade.

With one of these saws in your workshop, it only makes sense to purchase high-quality blades, while a cheap job site table saw may be only three or four times more expensive than a high-end blade when you’re working with machinery whose cost is measured in the thousands… well, just make sure you have the right blade and find a good brand rather than going with generic blades.

Hybrid Table Saw FAQ

So why are they called hybrid saws?

As we noted above, a hybrid table saw was intended to fill the gap between a contractor saw with an external motor and meant to be moved around a working area and the larger, more powerful cabinet maker saws which border on the edge of industrial machinery.

Can I use a step-up transformer to reach 220V for my hybrid saw?

No. It’s not going to work, if you don’t have existing 220V outlets it’s not a viable solution and it’s likely to overdraw the amperage on the circuit even if it did work in the first place.

Can I have 220V outlets installed in a residence for my saw then?

Absolutely. Call an electrician and inform them you want to install 220V outlets in your garage, workshop, or other workspace. They should cooperate easily. You’ll also want to make sure that you inform them you’re planning on using a high amperage tool, all of the saws we tested were at minimum 20A, so you’ll have to plan accordingly.

Is there a cheaper version available?

Yeah, it’s called a job site table saw. Unfortunately, once you start getting into these high-end tools you’ll be looking at at least $1000 for a new tool and the used market isn’t much better if you choose to go down that route. If you just need to chop 2×4’s the investment in a hybrid table saw is a bit foolhardy, these are dedicated shop tools for skilled hobbyists for the most part, although it won’t hurt to have one around if you already know that you plan on doing extensive woodworking.

Is a cabinet maker’s table saw a better choice for someone who works wood heavily at home?

The truth is that with just one person working the saw you’re not going to see much difference. As long as the saw holds up you’ll be good to go and cabinet maker’s saws are a bit overkill for non-industrial woodcutting.

You said you didn’t test the StopSaw, how well does it work?

Well enough that in demonstrations it doesn’t leave a mark on a hot dog. We’re dead serious on that, you can see the video here. You may not be able to cut wet lumber with one, but we couldn’t find a definitive answer on it and since we planned to return the saw afterwards, we didn’t risk it during our testing.

High-End Cutting for High-End Work

Hybrid table saws have a lot of power and precision that goes along with the increased expense. While they’re not going to be found in every workshop, these are seriously cool tools. Our expert wished to remain anonymous, but the look on his face as he worked the truly expensive ones was incredible.

If you think that your shop is ready, then we recommend the Shop Fox W1837 for the maximum value for your dollar, although those with the extra cash may wish to truly step it up with one of the other saws we tested.

Get dead set on your saw and get cutting. There’s no experience quite like using the best hybrid table saw around.