During my early years in the trade, bringing a table saw to work meant dragging around a bulky 225-pound machine with a cast-iron top. And because those big stationary saws were also expensive, there was just one on the site. On big jobs, guys had to haul material across the site and wait in line to use it. On small jobs, we often went without a table saw, especially when we worked alone. All this began to change in 1984, the year Makita introduced its 81/4-inch model 2708 saw. At just 38 pounds, it was the first truly portable table saw, and it sold for about twice the
