For the last 14 years or so, I have been struggling through my woodworking projects using an old Craftsman table saw from the early 1960s. Nearly as old as I am, the old saw just can't cut anything harder than a sheet of three-quarter inch plywood so I began my hunt for a suitable replacement. Of the top table saw brands in my price range I was attracted to the Jet ProShop 10 inch for its versatile hybrid design without the limitations of a contractor's saw and without the cost and size of a full cabinet saw. 

The Jet 708492K JPS - 10TS lands right it in the middle of the road. I know there are saws out there that have larger motors but the one and three-quarter horsepower single phase motor seems to be powerful enough to push through the thicker hardwoods that my current projects have been requiring.

I began by unpacking the saw and working my way through inventorying the parts list. After verifying that all of the pieces were intact and present I began reading through the manual which I must say was pretty comprehensive. Starting with assembling the base and I was impressed with the saw's construction and the thick steel legs appeared like they could easily hold the saw and whatever material you are working with. After muscling the saw up onto its legs, I recommend that you recruit the help of a friend or neighbor since this saw is quite heavy. Now that the saw was upright I moved on to installing the pressed steel wings. I have never used a saw with pressed steel wings before and perhaps I might be spoiled but the pressed steel wings seemed a bit weak to me. To be honest the first chance I get I will upgrade to a set of cast iron wings. If you're considering buying this saw I recommend purchasing these cast-iron wings from the start. The next step was to install the railing system along the front and back of the saw. The railing system was again attached with oversized bolts that looked strong enough to withstand years of work. Only a few minor attachments were required to finish the assembly like the power switch and the vacuum port, both appeared to be made to the same quality as the rest of the saw.

After the saw was setup in my shop I locked the fence in place and tried out its movement. The fence easily slid the full length of the rails without binding or slowing. It required no adjustment at all; the fence was true right from the start.

The Jet table saw came with its own saw blade so I thought I would try it out before installing an aftermarket saw blade. The included blade doesn't hold up against the higher quality blade I normally use but that is what I expected. Next I grabbed several wood samples of varying lengths and thicknesses and I began feeding them to the table saw to see how it preformed. Unlike my ancient Craftsman, the Jet saw easily cut through every piece I tried. Raising the blade to its maximum height, I grabbed a piece of walnut a full 3 inches thick. The saw didn't hesitate as the piece was fed into the blade. I quickly decided this purchase was a good decision. Now I can't compare the Jet to any other saws as I don’t have access to all of the choices available but I can speak to my experiences with it. Several months after the purchase and through 4 different projects I can say that I am not disappointed. I would class the Jet saw as a medium duty saw which is just right for the home shop but a professional might need a bit more power. Still, it has performed flawlessly on every task I have used it for. I have used enough different table saws to know that the quality of the Jet JPS - 10TS is outstanding and I predict this saw will live in my workshop for a very long time.

Another feature that I like is the added safety feature of Jets' riving knife. It is easily removable when you need to. Their blade guard is well designed and doesn't move side to side like some I have seen. The guard is also easy to remove when necessary for non-through cuts or changing the blade.

Moving on, another attractive feature is Jet’s reliable and very accurate ProShop Fence system. Like most table saws the fence rides on 2 square steel rails that run the length of the bed. Right out of the box, the fence was very accurate and tested out perfect from zero to the end of the table without showing any deviation whatsoever.

So to sum up, I found the Jet 708492K JPS - 10TS hybrid table saw, with the exception of the pressed steel wings, to be the perfect table saw for my needs. I can easily recommend this saw to anyone that requires a moderate duty table saw for their own workshop. I do suggest that you look into investing in the cast-iron wings; I just felt that the cast iron ones will hold up longer than the steel ones. I would also love to be able to use the larger table but my small basement shop has limited space. So whenever I use it all I have to do is slide it into the middle of my shop and it is able to cut the larger pieces. The motor is on the small side, a larger one would of course be a nice upgrade but I have yet to cut anything that it couldn't manage. At around $1200 the Jet 708492K-10TS is not going to break the bank and this price keeps it even with comparable models from most of the other brands available today.

Update

After thoroughly testing the Jet 708492K JPS table saw and its fence system for several months, I installed my INCRA micro adjust table saw fence system. I've used this system for years and have fallen in love with its capabilities. The installation went quick and without incident, and I am happy to say the combination of the two tools gives me the capabilities that I need. If you would like to learn more about the INCRA micro adjust table saw system that I am using search for my review here on This Old Workshop.