Harbor Freight has come out with a new Hercules portable table saw, with claims that it competes with the Dewalt DWE7480 table saw.
The new Harbor Freight Hercules table saw features a 24″ rip capacity, telescoping rip fence rail system, smooth aluminum table surface, and 2-1/2″ dust port.
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Harbor Freight boasts the following about their new Hercules table saw:
- Can handle tough and demanding jobsite conditions
- Cuts precisely
- Powers through the most demanding wood-cutting applications
- Swift and accurate fence adjustments
- Extra-smooth tabletop
- Lightweight and portable
- Delivers jobsite performance
Harbor Freight also says that their new Hercules table saw has a powerful motor for effortless rip cutting.
- 15A motor
- 4800 RPM*
- 24″ rip capacity
- 3-1/8″ max depth of cut (at 90°)
- 0-45° bevel angles
- Metal roll cage
- Weighs 54 lbs
*The sales flyer says 4800 RPM, the product page says 4500 RPM.
The saw comes with a transparent blade guard, riving knife, anti-kickback pawls, a miter gauge, push stick, and blade wrench. It’s bundled with a 10″ professional carbide-toothed saw blade.
Price: $250
Compare(Dewalt DWE7480 via Amazon)
More Info(via Harbor Freight)
First Thoughts
Here’s the Dewalt DWE7480 that Harbor Freight seeks to compete against.
The Hercules table saw looks to lack Dewalt’s fence adjustment knob. With the Dewalt fence, you can dial it in via the rack and pinion mechanism. But with the Harbor Freight Hercules table saw, you unlock the fence, move it, then lock it down.
From what I can tell, the Harbor Freight Hercules table saw also lacks the flip-down function of the fence.
To extend the Hercules table saw’s extension table, you unlock it via a lever, slide the extension table to the desired position, and the lock it back into position.
Looking at the Harbor Freight Hercules user manual, I wish they had more in there. In their multi-part safety information, they say that you should align the fence to be parallel with the saw blade, but they don’t actually tell you how to do this. Later on, they say that the rip fence must be perfectly parallel to the blade.
With a portable table saw, you might have to align the blade, fence, riving knife, or adjust the bevel square system. There are a couple of other adjustments that escape my attention at the moment. Dewalt and other brands show you how to do all this in their manuals. Harbor Freight’s Hercules manual does not.
There are no “gotchas,” at least none that I can see through a computer screen. Generally, I’ll take Dewalt’s rack and pinion fence adjustments over how other portable table saws do things.
The Hercules table saw is cheaper than Dewalt’s. That doesn’t necessary mean it’s bad. So far, the customer reviews are very positive.
Personally, I’d feel more comfortable going with Dewalt, Bosch, Hitachi, or Ridgid, and some of these brands occasionally have models that are go on sale for below $300.
If you ask me, I don’t find the design (mainly the fence adjustment mechanism) appealing. although keep in mind I have NOT tried it firsthand (yet?). I also think that a $250 portable table saw should have better detailed alignment, squaring, and calibration processes. After looking through the online manual a couple of times, it looks like users are left guessing about how to align and calibrate the saw. Luckily, this is an area that can be improved upon, assuming there are no glaring issues with the adjustment processes themselves.
Although not for me, I think that Harbor Freight is really starting to disrupt the market with their Hercules power tools. I wouldn’t quite see them as alternatives to Dewalt and other pro-grade tool brands, but potentially as a step-up from entry-level tools. Perhaps not. With Harbor Freight, every tool needs to be considered on an individual basis.
What’s your take on the new Harbor Freight Hercules table saw?
Are there any new or potential Hercules power tools that might hold your attention?
Chris says
I’ve heard harbor freight is in a price war with Dewalt, they’ve both been dropping their prices on the table saws and I’ve seen quite a few tool deal emails from Dewalt.
Stuart says
Harbor Freight is at a price war with everyone, but I don’t see brands like Dewalt reciprocating.
Dewalt promotional trends do change over time, but so far I have seen nothing to indicate that Dewalt sees Harbor Freight as a serious competitor.
Mike (the other one) says
I have a strong feeling that anyone who buys this from HF will end up re-buying one from DeWalt (or one of the real competitors).
ktash says
Rumor started by HF, probably. Just more sneaky PR to get their products talked about and confuse the public.
I talked to someone recently who swore that HF had many different brands and that they were just as good as the higher end brands. Someone who grew up using tools, mostly HF. Someone who would not be disuaded.
Todd says
Where in Samhain did you here that. Maybe Ryobi is in a price war but at this point I don’t think any of “pro” tool manufacturers are to concerned about a fruitless war with Harbor freight.
Jared says
Looks good. Aesthetically I mean. I just couldn’t see myself spending almost as much as a Dewalt or Bosch for it. Brand is a shortcut to evaluate quality. I realize there’s coupons and sales at HF, so maybe that would make it more appetizing.
DC says
Pass, I love my DeWalts and won’t hesitate to buy more.
NewtonsApple says
Harbor Freight has been rolling out higher end tools with higher prices. The strategy seems to be to ride the wave of thinking that they have the cheapest tools and to see how far they can push that.
The price gap between many of the high end tools and the name brands they are chasing is often small to non exist. I don’t see the point in buying these items from them, but it must be working.
Kenneth Stephens says
It’s crazy. I saw their “Doyle” brand pliers a few weeks ago for the first time. (I don’t visit hf too much) and you can get USA made channellocks for just a hair more. Sometimes the same price. Some of their stuff is still great like their tool chests but I’m not gonna pay USA made prices for Taiwan or Chinese stuff. Even f the Taiwan stuff is getting competitive in terms of quality
Mike (the other one) says
Right. Doyle (isn’t he in The Misfits?) pliers might be good, but for nearly the same price, I’d buy Channellocks or Klein and KNOW I’m getting high quality.
Jay k. says
You should look at the YouTube video on Doyle pliers vs. older MAC pliers… It surprised me…
Matt says
Show me one company that makes anything 100% in the USA. Doesn’t happen! Even if its assembled I’m the USA its still made with “Global Parts”. Do you think we are a fully self sufficient nation? No way! Take steel for example. When we sold off most our steel manufacturing companies overseas, we almost did away with that industry for our nation. The cost of opening back up a steel plant is way morr than it costs to import it and then cut it up into whatever we want. So thats what we do. If we even do that. Most steel comes already made to whatever its use is for and its just ” Assembled in the USA”.
Stuart says
https://www.reallyrightstuff.com/
There are some exceptions (such as their tripod bags), but their products are fabricated here, their fasteners are sourced from USA suppliers, and even their hex keys come from domestic makers.
There are some wholly-USA-made products out there, but in specific industries, or at the highest quality levels.
When I asked a USA hand tool brand why they sourced a new product lines from overseas, they told me that they wanted to offer that category of tools to their customers, but it would be cost-prohibitive to contract with a domestic supplier or set up their own manufacturing. Years later, they did shift to a domestic supplier for a new line of USA-made tools.
It’s a very complicated issue, with pros and cons on both sides when it comes to USA-made vs. imported.
teicher says
Exactly. Over the holidays I was in the market for an ultra quiet air compressor and the Kobalt branded versions had better specs and a lower price than the HF ones. Of course I went with a name brand.
With these new higher quality tools, HF put themselves into a weird market position. The brand is known for cheap tools, but the prices on the “good” products doesn’t line up with customer expectations. Only way I would consider this saw is if the price was much lower than the Dewalt. (and even then I would pause, a saw is a dangerous thing and I’m not inclined to take on personal risk just to save tens of dollars)
Something like a tool chest or hand tools, maybe.
Wallace Grommet says
Can’t someone make a ten inch saw with an honest 3.5 inch depth of cut at 90 degrees???For any carpenter or renovator, the ability to rip 4 by material in one pass is a must. So far, only my Ryobi saws can do it.
db11 says
The Skilsaw SPT70WT table saw has a 3 1/2″ depth-of-cut and their SPT99 has a 3 5/8″ d-o-c.
Along with the high torque worm drive = perfect for ripping 4x material.
Steve says
Maybe AVE (BOTLR) from YouTube will do a tear down. Would be surprised if components (circuitry in particular) would compete with prosumer brands.
Warren says
Dewalt and other brands of jobsite tablesaws have the 3/8″ x 3/4″ miter gauge slots just like the tablesaws with cast iron tops. Hercules looks like a great saw but my need for precision extends to jobsites.
Chris says
It “competes with” the Dewalt DWE7480?
Dude those two are identical products, I’d bring my life on it.
David says
Or BET even
Chris says
Damn autocorrect and lack of attention to detail!
Tim D. says
No one will hold it against you now that you’re going to be dead due to a poor bet!
So tired of hearing people say things like “they’re made in the same factory” when trying to justify purchasing HF tools. There is no need to justify them, if you want them, buy them.
Like most folks, I have some HF tools. However, I simply do not understand the thought process behind purchasing the higher end items from HF when they’re 70-80% of the cost of a name brand, come with a 90 day warranty and have no track record to gauge life expectancy from. I need at least a proven track record OR a warranty. Wither neither, I need a substantial price delta (60% or greater).
Chris says
At this point, most of these hercules tools could pass the visual test if they just had a yellow coat of paint. The problem with SB&D is that all their tools look similar (Dewalt, porter cable, craftsman, etc.). It would not surprise me at all to find out that the tool case moldings are all based in the same plant. Gamers Nexus (youtube) does an interesting series of videos on factory tours for PC components and I was surprised to see how many different brands have their products done under the same roof and even on the same line as their “competitors”. The hercules casing just makes me think the tools look like their last gen molds or only slightly modified to avoid lawsuits. But there is no doubt that (barring some fine details) you could fool the majority of consumers in a blind “taste test”.
Diplomatic Immunity says
Wouldn’t doubt it. All these Chinese manufacturers keep their factory’s lines running after they get done with a brand if they get an order from someone else. Would be like buying counterfeit Nikes. Probably made in the same factories using the same molds as the real ones but they make them off hours when they’re not making the real ones.
Reminds me of back in the day when I worked in a bakery that makes store bought bread for the entire Northeast. It’s all basically on the same lines just with different wrappers unless a company has specific requirements.
Nathan says
few things I spot.
fense adjustment – how is it done. where is the fense lock for other positions on the table. I don’t see how you would do that – does the plastic on the end pull out for flip up to unlock.
Dewalt lets me put my fense square to the rails anywhere and gives me alignment screws for special locations. and the dewalt fense is squared with metal on metal at the rails on both sides.
motor is probably close enough to the same – probably same vendor.
I prefer my dewalt push stick holder on the fense body – nifty.
Does the riving knife – guard support come out of the saw?
Throat plate – does it happen to take the dewalt shape.
Does it hold a dado stack (I know, I know.).
If HF made a scissor stand for this – that held the dewalt. I’d buy a cheap 745 on sale all day every day over this – and run to HF to get their stand. Maybe if it was made well.
Mike says
Hercules! lol. Can you get spare parts for it when it breaks? Or is it just another expensive HF disposable?
John says
The fact that there are no instructions on how to adjust the alignment should be a red flag for anyone considering this saw. That tells me the people who developed this tool either don’t understand how tools such as this are work, or don’t recognize the potential hazards and poor cut results that may arise from mis-aligned components. Portable table saws get banged around a LOT and can easily get out of alignment. The only thing I can think of that might be happening here is maybe HF wrote one product manual and uses it for multiple model numbers.
Nathan says
a number of people that shop HF won’t know that.
or you have the other shopper that knows alot but goes there for the costs – doesn’t care.
I mean there is something to be said for going there to buy stuff you are purposely going to abuse.
Matt J says
Agreed with Nathan. HF for me is good for occasional use tools, and great deals on storage and non-daily use stuff. Stuff where I’m not relying on HF or their anonymous vendors’ know-how on electrical engineering and componentry.
I think the best example I can think of for how HF does this stuff was in an AVE video where he broke down the Hercules drill driver and compared it to a DeWalt. The Hercules had only 2 brushes. The DeWalt had 4. HF’s business model is based around low prices and planned obsolescence. That drill will stop running in half the time of the DeWalt, and due to the low price and short warranty, people will just buy a new one rather than trying to get it fixed. This is stuff that you will not notice on a spec sheet or when you buy the tool, but that will bite you in the ass when you use the tool on a halfway regular basis.
That’s why, for me, HF is good for occasional use tools and/or tools that will not see a heavy load. I have not bought their angle grinder, but that’s something I would consider from there, because all I really do with it is sharpen my lawnmower blade once a year. Even with the inferior circuitry and motor quality, it’ll be fine for me because I’m never going to wear the thing out.
Drills, sawzalls, circular saws, miter saws, table saws — Sorry, I’m taking my business elsewhere, especially when the prices on these “pro-grade” tools are nearly the same as on actual pro-grade tools. I’ll revisit this in 5 years if there are a bunch of testimonials from regular users of the Hercules line noting that they don’t blow out early. My guess is that will not be the case.
Steve says
But it’s got a 90 day warranty, how could you go wrong?
Frank D says
Considering this being a serious tool and the cost, I will stick with name brand, thank you very much.
At least then I can be more confident in the build quality & quality control and have a chance at a small repair or part if / when needed.
Compared to the 90 day HF warranty, plus spending on HF insurance plans and then who knows what happens when I actually need a part, have an issue of some kind.
Matt J says
No need for a flip over fence piece like the DeWalt because the right side of the table appears to be able to extend with the fence on it per photos on the HF website.
That said, no locking positions for the fence makes this a no-go for me. I tend to think that rack and pinion is a bit overhyped, while the real star of the show on DeWalt fences is the square fence locking positions on the front and back rails. A T-square saw can work on a large cabinet saw, but I haven’t seen one on a jobsite saw that can be tuned well enough to hold square over time.
The HF design overall seems more similar to the Ryobi RTS22 (the $250 model with stand), rather than the DeWalt saws. Like the Ryobi, the Hercules does not have locking fence positions but does have a right table extension. The saw body design is a bit more like the DeWalt, in that its a fully enclosed plastic body on a sturdier metal frame. But it lacks an included stand. The website says the stand is sold separately, but I couldn’t find one on the site.
For my money, I’d quickly go with a Delta Shopmaster, Ryobi, or DeWalt over this thing.
Mike says
Bought Dewalt DW745S for $299 with a 15% Lowes store credit rebate – net price just over $250
Same price as Hercules + included the stand + better fence system. Why would I buy the Hercules?
RCWARD says
So true
RCWARD says
HF needs to make good quality products and stop making cheap copy cat Dewalt “ stuff” that isn’t quite as good , that is how I look at them as cheap imitations of “ good” tools
Mike says
I wouldn’t be shocked if SBD makes Hercules tools for Harbor Freight, if you at their cordless drills and impact driver even the battery looks the same they put a little tab on the battery so you can’t use it with Dewalt tools 5 bucks you remove that tab and it fits Dewalt tools
Evadman says
It will physically fit via the slide ‘rails’ on the tool if you remove the tabs on the battery, but the latch on the battery doesn’t engage the notch on the dewalt tool because it is off a few millimeters. The dewalt tool also won’t turn on even though it is electrically connected.
I don’t know what is stopping the tool from recognizing the battery (or maybe the other way around), it’s on my list to mess with some more this summer.
Stuart says
They don’t. I asked about the drills and impact driver, to move me from 99% to 100% certainty.
FRANK says
Looks good, but pros will just laugh at this. Diyers maybe, but for$55 more , you got a amazon dewalt which most folks would jump on. And HF coupons are no goes on their (premium brands).
Russell C says
If 20% coupon could be applied, it would sell for occasional diy’s. I’d call $180 a price to move this from HF shelves. Otherwise for $250 it will collect dust on the store’s floor.
Unless we don’t know what their growth numbers are compared to Ryobi, if Hercules is getting popular and diy’s don’t mind what to choose between Ryobi and HF tools, then I can see such a pricing on their tools . They do compare to big guys, but in reality they are aiming for amateurs, to get their attention. Will see.
The What? says
I wouldn’t be surprised if all tool brands that are made in China come from the same sweatshop. It’s pretty obvious due to the fact that they’re all based on the same design and nobody has been sued for copyright. The only thing that separates them are internal parts & color. I’m not surprised that hf hasn’t been sued by Dewalt, makita, and everyone else that they base the look of their tools off of. Aside from color, this is the ryobi table saw. I bought the ryobi ( a POS which I returned the next day) and this is identical except that it’s blue. It’s bad enough that they compare their crap to the prosumer brands. They all look the same no matter what brand it is.
Matt J says
Adding on to the stuff I don’t love/don’t understand about this generic branded likely garbage saw. Freaking non-standard T-style miter slots, why oh why oh why do you exist.
Dear crappy table saw manufacturers: Please stop doing this. It is nonsensical and serves no purpose.
Robert says
If it had a rack and pinion fence, and the push stick on the fence, it might be convincing.
But since every single fence I’ve ever used on a budget grade tool has been absolute garbage, and the price on this is way too high, I think this is another stay away from tool.
Either drop the price to $150 or add the rack and pinion fence.
Cesar says
However buddy Dewalt prices are so expensive and I think HF has some good tools, which means I will be having fun working with
John Springer says
Have you found a way to completely remove the riving knife from the Hercules table saw? Thanks
Lewis M Burmeister says
At $250 I was planning on getting it. Now {June 2019} $379
They just priced themselves out of a sale.
Drew says
So, you are “reviewing” a product that you have never even used. We are supposed to take you seriously? Right.
“There is a sucker born every minute!”
PT Barnum.
You, Sir, are a clown.
Chris says
This isn’t a review…Can you read?
It’s clearly an opinion/talking piece meant to drive conversation.
You seem a day late and a dollar short…
Stuart says
Thanks! Don’t worry, I don’t take comments like that seriously. Happens every now and then.