I need to get a tile saw and am looking to spend about $200-$300. The 3 saws I am considering are Ryobi’s WS730, Ryobi’s 750l at Home Depot and Lowes has a Felker TM-75. I am not a contractor, but have a bunch of tile projects (2 basement rooms, a shower and a hallway and bathroom at my parents) I will be completing in the next year or so. I think for I am leaning toward the Ryobi WS730; anyone have anything good or bad to say about any of these saws?
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I don't know about those units specifically, but in general terms Felker is a more respected name in tile saws. Ryobi isn't respected much with any tools. They're functional for occasional homeowner use, but not many pros use them.
You might consider a used pro saw on craigslist.
Actually, Ryobi tends to get a blanket "Pros don't use these tools" comment from people here, but that isn't exactly true. That's more snobery than anything.
Ryobi makes some very good tools, but I would say their lineup is hit and miss.
Examples: Their impact driver is tough and cheap, an more than one pro here (or used to be here) uses them specificly. Also, the previous interation of their jobsite table saw got very good reviews on FHB, it rated a Best Budget Buy I believe.
In looking in alot of trucks parked an the building stores, I see a lot of well used Ryobi 18v cordless tools.
I would say, as with anything, read the reviews! Don't abide blanket statements about anything.
view on Felker
I bought Felker tm75 from HD or Lowes. It is good saw although light duty. It came with fairly good blade. I re-sawed 1x1 marble tiles into 3 pieces for subway tile effect but the cuts were not exact. It also comes with plastic roller that rides on thin track. After a while, the roller developes a groove that will make moving the table harder. I did home-make a new roller with 1/2" copper repair coupling. Neither HD nor the Lowes carry replacement parts and Felker does not deal with individual calls. You have to go to hardware or tools stores that carry Felker parts, but I did not want to pay the middleman overhead.
Also smaller tile saws may not handle diagonal cuts, even the 12" ones, check this before you buy.
Hope it helps.