Saw Stop vs Others

[dadohead]

It all depends what you do. The table saw is still the centerpiece of my shop. I'm doing a cabinet job right now so dealing with sheet goods, dados, ripping stock for face frames etc. A moulding job next... matching a house full of 1903 pine profiles: heavy jointer, planer, saw, and moulder work.

The patternmaker in me (apprenticed at Cat in the '80's) uses the bandsaw and disc sander for smaller work. Disc sander straightens and flattens better than anything!

Straightening/flattening on a disc sander is something you were expected to master in the pattern shop pretty quickly! It was Wacko-world from the cabinet shop I grew-up in though!

Back in the 70's, we all had track saws... you made them!

https://imgur.com/RzDmvI1

 

[Rustyiron]

For your use, a track saw would keep about 100 s/f of your shop floor open.
I tried to give away a 12" Craftsman t/s to my son in law then a few others. I had no takers among these younger guys.
No blade safety worries
No off feed space necessary
Simple setup
Suck all of the sawdust directly into a vacuum.
Big savings on the purchase prices.
Running a dado blade is about the only thing that you couldn't do that I can think of right off.