A shop-made tablesaw – Am I crazy?
I’ve been thinking of replacing the old Skil tablesaw I’ve been using, it’s a regular 8.25 inch bench model, not real happy with the fence and the controls are kinda dicey. I was going to buy a DeWalt or PC saw but I’ve been talking to some really good furniture builder/boatbuilder/top end finish guys who’ve made their own tablesaws with their circular saws. I thought no way I’d do it, too dangerous. Than I was reading a boatbuilding book with plans for making a tablesaw out of a circular saw(plywood top, dadoed grooves for fences, etc). The guy had enclosed pictures of some spectactular stuff he made with it, and these guys all had great looking jigs and sliding crosscut tables they’d made for their saws. One of the guys I was talking with even had a dado blade that Black & Decker made for their circular saws in the 60s, he’d been using it for 10 years with great success he told me. I love making my own toolboxes, jigs, etc…this idea is beginning to appeal to me and I’m considering using a oak veneer plywood sheet I have in the shop to make a top for my Bosch circular saw, should I not do this? Anyone here done it before and can offer any advice? It’ll see light use..mostly a few rips, couple bevelled edges. Any input appreciated.
-Ray
Replies
Consider a better and cheaper option, if your time counts anything.
Around here (PNW) , Craftsman 10" table saws with cast iron tables go for $40 to $100 with motor (passed up a 1 HP version with cable drive even for $40 last weekend as I've already got 3 and DW is on my case after father died and left 14 tons of hardware to 'dispose' of ...) ..
The skil saw bit is chump change comparatively. Get a 10' seup and build a 4X8 table to go with it after truing the arbor in your metal lathe (get one of those, means good tool deals afterwares every day) , then ya got something you can use. .
I was thinking of building a table for my circ saw. I have two good staight edge jigs( big and small) for the circ saw that I use for 50% of all cuts I need to make. The other 49% I use my chop saw or a router. For the other 1% I could use a table saw - but the room it would take up is a factor.
If I were to build one it would be small, table top size, built from melamine and with a good solid fence. Most of the low end table saws have crappy fences that don't look solid or square. I would fix in place two rulers at both ends of the table to ensure the fence is square.
I would like to hear about peoples plans.
Years ago I made a 'shop' saw out of an old (back when they had a quality product) B & D industrial grade circular saw. I took all the blade guard hardware off the saw and inverted it beneath a table of plywood. I used aluminum plate for the top. It was a heavy beast with 4 x 4 legs and was about 40" x 24". The downside was trying to get enough bevel swing to match the original saw's range and of course the fence. If you're not wanting to buy a table saw this is a viable way to go as long as you have a place to store it.
By the way, aluminum works easily with most woodworking equipment like routers etc but you make a lot of mess and need to take more time for the milling process.
My fence was a right angle glue up of plywood with another piece of aluminum plate mounted to the face with countersunk screws. I drilled holes just beyond the edges of the table on the flat of the fence and made notched wood blocks that had a t-nut which would allow me to sandwich the table top between the fence and the block. It was slow setting up for precise cuts but it could be done.
If you do it, pay particular attention to aligning the blade to the table itself and cut the miter fence slot after you have the saw mounted. I also hardwired the power cord to a switch and made a removable cord with a twist lock style male and female hook up for safety reasons. Whenever I shut everything down, I'd take the cord off the saw and hide it to keep anyone from getting hurt.
Just take your time and try to be as precise as possible during the process of building it and you'll have a decent saw. But in all fairness, I wouldn't do it again after having a Dewalt portable which gave me great results and has the best fence on the market for portable table saws. Have fun and be safe.
I used to have a setup for the old B&D circ saw I had (that's now in Puerto Rico). It wasn't fancy -- had a wooden fence you had to adjust manually to be parallel, and no miter gauge -- but it had an extra-wide top and, with a veneer blade, did some real nice work on plywood. The compact POS I have now can't cut half as cleanly, but it's easier to set up and doesn't take as much room in the garage.
(I'd love it if I had enough room for a real shop.)
sears used to sell a table that a specific model of a sears 'skill' style saw fit to turn it into a table saw - - dad had one and still has the table, tho the saw gave up quite a while ago -
anyway, certainly you can do it, and with care do a good job, but given the availibility of 'decent' table saws for modest prices, I see no compelling reason to make one - - unless you 'want' to - which is always enough reason for me....
I considered the same thing more than 10 years ago, but bought one instead. The tablesaw you describe will be under-powered,unable to cut bevels with any consistancy or ease, and as your use of it grows, you'll recognize it's limitations, after all the time spent building it.
DeWalt and Bosch make decent tabletop saws, worth looking at.
One thing to consider is the ability on a "real " table saw to lower the blade. This will really ad to saftey if there is no guard. Mike
I had one for years - just a plywood box, with a B&D Sawcat. Worked well for rippin' cabinet fillers and jamb extensions. None of the guys I worked with back then would go anywhere near the thing - I think that was a good thing. ;0}
I started out with a skillsaw mounted upside down in a black & decker work -mate. the whole thing folded up quite nicely and I never had to worry about any one stealing it.
Many tools later my portable contractors saw is'nt much better. I have to eyeball the fence to line it up with the ribs on the table top. I firmly believe its not the quality of the saw that matters as much as the talent of the guy running it.
My first jobsite (actually, any site) tablesaw was a skillsaw screwed to the under side of a sheet of 1/2" ply with a level clamped on top as a fence. Then I graduated to a Hirsch table, which was essentialy the same thing, except it had a big bar-like safety switch. No problem raising or lowering the blade, but the depth of cut was way limited.
That arrangement is basically what most portable tablesaws are, anyway.
A buddy of mine made a tablesaw in a machining class he had in college...cast trunions and top, amazing fence. Now there was a homemade saw<G> Don't worry, we can fix that later!
I guess it could be done nicely if you're a fanatic... really make a project out of it. But how are you going to adjust blade height and tilt? Reach under the table and adjust the skilsaw? I can barely adjust mine precisely and it's not mounted under a table at all! It just seems too complicated to me. Five hundred bucks will get you the Dewalt 10" portable table saw, which I have and use daily (have for several years). I'd spend the money and save your time for something else.
Thanks to all for the responses, after spending the day, while at home sick..stupid flu, thinking about it I've decided it's a worthwhile project. Addressing some questions that were posed:
Adjustment Difficulty: I rarely use a tablesaw now, I rip sheetgoods with edge guides and a circular saw and crosscut with the chopsaw. The tablesaw is mostly for ripping moldings and bevelling edges on something, adjustments will be on the order of once or twice a day so it won't be a big deal.
Time: Sometimes it's nice to spend shoptime on something for yourself rather than a customer or for the house, kind of burned out on the wife's home improvement projects at the moment and the customers get plenty of time as is.
Main thing I'm worried about now is ensuring I have completely accurate grooves for the sliding table I'll build. Noticed McFeeley's had some inserts for the grooves on router tables, maybe they'd work for the one's I'll be dadoing in.
-Ray
I personally wouldn't do it but hell who cares what I would do.
The one thing that I have read here that I would try to solve would be the problem with the tilt. I understand why those that have built the saw have had difficulty with tilting but if you mount the saw like you would a router in a router table you maybe able to eliminate the problem.
I would think that you could use the plate of the saw as the top of the table, insert it into a plywood top, where the plate is flush with the top. That way the saw would still tilt the full 45 deg.
Doug
That's exactly what I was thinking of doing actually, I won't complete the project unless I can get it to tilt. The boatbuilding book I'm reading that has plans for a tablesaw in it has it setup like that, you do a plunge cut(or cut out on another tablesaw) to make the opening for your saw. The book is called "Boat Joinery & Cabinetmaking Simplified" by Fred Bingham. Tons of great jigs and tool plans in it, only bad thing is the whole book goes over making a beatiful wooden yacht and than the set of plans for a sailboat are for a stitched together fiberglass one, bah.
-Ray
Why not buy a good table saw, and make extension, infeed, and outfeed tables for it? That way you have both a project to do yourself, and you end up with a quality setup. Once you have that, you'll find lots of projects to use it on.
-- J.S.
Actually, when I had mine I found I could do depth adjustments without much difficulty. Tilt was a bit more of a problem -- could only do maybe 20 degrees.
FWIW, I wired a 2x4 handibox on mine with a cord and switch/outlet, and plugged the saw into that. Held the trigger "on" with a screw-type hose clamp. The switch wasn't motor rated but was a real "click" switch and so was good for the duty. (Unfortunately, it's hard to find such switches anymore.)
ARE YOU TOTALLY INSANE?
why would you waste your time to make a table saw?!?!?!
what's next......make your own router table? absurd I tell you!!
sorry, just a little pent up frustration.
It is nearly unbelievable to me that the people in this forum are trying to discourage you from building your own tool. I once proposed the opposite (would you buy a router table from a manufacturer?) and was also shot down by this forum. So I am lead to believe that FHB readers only approve of store bought tablesaws and shop made router tables....the opposite is considered a waste of time or money.
Personally Ray, I believe that to each his own and I give the most respect to anyone who can build a respectable tool; could be Ray Browne or could be Porter Cable really doesn't matter.
I say build yourself a table saw. Make it functional, and accurate, and great looking. Put enough time into it to make it a machine that you want to use and may even make your friends drool and want to make a table saw of their own.
Maybe I'm just nostalgic
or
maybe I'm insane too.
gk
Love your attitude;=) I'm just starting over getting a tool collection together and have been buying with the idea of maximum potential with each tool as the basis of my choices thus far. Bosch saber saw & 18 v drill, Porter Cable router kit (got the promotional guide in the mail) with plunge base and a dozen bits to date, Skilsaw wormdrive and a new addition yesterday, a little PC random orbital sander. I finished out a chisel collection and have a few other hand tools in this early stage. But so far I've built a portable bench I wheel under a shade tree within drop cord range of the house and literally become a shade tree carpenter. I made a new mail box post out of 6 x 6 cedar that nobody seems to want to run into anymore and am building gingerbread details (for mom) for an upcoming deck project. I'm deck building here in Georgia this summer and the boss has lots of scrap I'm bringing home. I'll forego the process of building a tablesaw now but the router is another matter. I'll be getting into a scms soon and a table saw soon after depending on how the deals present themselves. With those additions, it'll be time to get into air tools and fill in the gaps with belt sander, biscuit joiner, planer, you get the idea... Anyway, the gist of it is with a few of the right resources and the initiative, much can be done with relatively little. A positive attitude is one of the best resources one can have. Maintaining it is as important as maintaining the progress on a house. Once again, love your attitude!
I'm thinking a coupla nice shoot boards would be a better invention ...
Jeff
Buck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry