Table Saw Tips for Newbies

[bdosborn]

I can't believe how timely this thread is. My biggest frustration building my trailer has been the cheap contractors saw that I have.

<rant mode on>
My saw sucks. The fence sucks, its *never* parallel to the blade. Everything about my saw sucks. I have yet to cut a straight line with it. I can't tell you how many boards I've ruined a with that stupid saw.
<rant mode off>

The next tool I buy will be a good table saw. And a really good blade. Any suggestions?
Bruce

[ALAN GEDDES]

I have my Dads old belt drive craftsman saw that I used when I was a young teen. in the 60's. Still going strong 40 years later.

[doug hodder]

I've got a Craftsman 10". Bought it new in 1975. Still the same motor, and switch and I've used it plenty. Over the years, I upgraded to a larger table, Delta Unifence, and a V notch belt, balanced pulleys, and stabilizers make it a great saw. The craftsman fences weren't known for being user friendly. It's dead on accurate now, and I don't have to fight the fence. Good Info Dave.........Doug Hodder

[Guest]

I agree the table saw is the most useful tool in my shop, (next to my double bevel sliding compound miter saw.) However I knew I wanted more than just a table saw. I bought the Shopsmith. At the start the tool does 5 tasks; table saw, lathe, sander, vertical drill press and horizontal drill press. At one time or another, I've used all of these functions and several of the add on tools, like the band saw and jointer. Don’t know about you but space was a big consideration when I went and bought tools. The Shopsmith takes up about as much room as a bicycle (providing your kid didn’t just leave it laying on the floor.). Because you can add on tools, it has a variable speed motor. This has come in handy for cutting things like Plexiglas.

However, even though I may be a prophet for Shopsmith, I will say there are a few draw backs.
1) It ain't cheap. The basic unit with tax, tag, title, and shipping comes in around $3,000 new. Every once in a while e-bay will have them though. If you were to buy even three of the tools here you'd have to pay close to this anyway. On top of this they'd take up more room in your shop than this one tool.
2) No long miters. Example if you're cutting base boards, and you've got that one 6' piece, there's just no way to make that cut safely. Remember the table tips and lowers, not the blade
3) I’m sure this is true of all small table saws, but there just never seems to be enough of an out-feed table. I solved this with a 5 roller stand. Roller stands are essential for one worker shops.

I know there are a lot of critics of the Shopsmith out there saying that they don’t do any task well. When I first started using the tool I would agree. However I’ve been using mine for about 3 years now and people are amazed at the quality of the stuff I turn out. I was the weakest link.

Before you buy anything, always research with various sources. Because it’s your money, you earned it, and spending it wisely is the best use you can do with it.

Wow, didn’t know I was that long winded!

[madjack]

...I have an oooooold Homecraft(now known as Delta) that is nearing 70, my dad bought it off a contractor after he used it in building a local hospital....it just keeps on goin' and goin' after building several more houses

The next tool I buy will be a good table saw. And a really good blade. Any suggestions?
Bruce

...buy the best you can get, in our shop we now have one of the best 10" Delta contractor series saws that they make...it is worth every penny paid. Remember that you want to get one with a STEEL table, as large as is available and one that is relatively easy to add onto, ours presently has a 6' table and we are planning to add 3 more feet to it. Find one with an excellent fence set-up..the Delta unifence is an excellent example of what to look for. I would also HIGHLY recommend a 10" blade
madjack

[TWO-CANS]

Bruce, AKA BDOSBORN, Table saws are as good as the man or woman behind them. The trick is figuring out the saw itself. When I first started working on side jobs I owned a small Makita table saw, it was a skill saw mounted in a plastic base with a table saw top no more than 18 x 24 inches. It had a stock rip fence and I used a chop saw for cross cutting material. All my other tools were carried in a hand held tool box. That little saw got me through rebuilding 10' tall front doors on Boston Brownstones, building cabinetry, stairs, bookcases and more. I did cabinets having raised panel doors made on that little saw. The trick set the fence front and back with a rule or tape and take your time. Looking at some of the portable saws on the market these days has me wishing I had a need for a portable table saw.
My suggestion to anyone looking to equip a shop is buy a small portable table saw, a chop saw, you don't need a combo unit unless you plan on doing major trim work, a random orbit sander and some basic but decent hand tools. If you want to stepup some I saw a compressor hose and finish nail gun that any one could carry in one hand. One of the most used tools in my shop is a screw gun/drill. Anyone with these tools and some skill could build a house top to bottom, doors, windows, stairs, cabinets and all. As for the drill in the saw used to elevate the blade, well it does work but it is NOT a safe way of doing things. I can see a Newbie buying a table saw doing some customizing because he wanted a motorized elevation setup and if he used a 1/2 drill as seen in the photos go spinning around the shop or worse yet break an arm the first time he pulled the trigger being unaware of the power of the drill when the blade reach full elevation. Sorry my opion is thats too dangerous. For the basic tear I have seen being made by most folks hand held power tools will do fine. Jim

[TWO-CANS]

Your complaining about the saw you have? I just saw your galley looks pretty good for a table saw you didn't like. I forgot to mention I work alone and talk to my machines keeps them happy, they're all named after the women in my life and all have the same temperment as the woman they're named after. Opps left myself open on this one with my luck I'll hear something on this but on the brighter side I still have a couple of machines needing names maybe they'll end up having one!
Still haven't name the thickness planer she's speaks the loudest, whines and spits out sawdust! Nice cabinets my compliments to the builder and his saw!

[JunkMan]

I upgraded to a Delta Unifence,

Where do you get a fence? I have a 20 year old craftsman, and the fence is my major complaint. I didn't know you could buy just a fence assembly.

[madjack]

...junkman, how about this http://www.deltawoodworking.com/ I highly recommend the unifence(a bit pricey) well worth the money if you use your saw alot
madjack

[Guest]

I've always used rubbing alcohol to remove wood resin build up from my saw blades.
When I got into boat building, I discovered something that forever replaced the use of feather boards for me.
They are called Yellow Board Buddies. They are spring loaded wheels that mount on the rip fence near each end of the saw blade or on each side of a shaper blade. They not only hold your stock tight up against the fence... They also hold the stock down tight against the table. The wheels travel only in one direction, adding an anti kick back feature.
Here's a picture of them... (Near the bottom of the page)
http://www.ttrackusa.com/sawextension.html

A feature I really enjoy about these little guy's is.. you don't have to reposition them when doing repetitive work like you do with feather boards. You set them up and go to town...

[John Foote]

Looking at some of the portable saws on the market these days has me wishing I had a need for a portable table saw.

I have a Bosch 4000 on their new wheeled `gravityrise' stand, and it's really slick.
http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/bshts4000rvu.html
The package weighs about 100 lbs, and wheels around and sets up without any effort at all. The soft start universal motor with electronic speed control keeps things reasonably quiet, with enough power to swing a 3/4" X 8" stacked dado. The cab has a decent fence, outfeed and leftside supports, pretty good dust collection, full adjustability for squaring things up, thoughtful storage for most requisite accessories, accurate, easy to read scales, and an honest to pete serviceable blade guard/riving knife. The only real weaknees of the saw is it's size, most notably on the infeed side of things. But then, that's the inherent price of the portable deal.

To cover that singular deficiency, I also bought a Eurekazone circular saw edge guide, with zero clearance inserts, primarily to break down large sheet-goods.
http://www.eurekazone.org/products/ezsmartguide.html
This system works great, too. Nice straight cuts, exactly on the cut line with almost no tear-out. I put a Porter Cable Mag 327 circular saw on it, and tied it's dust port into autostart Fein shop vac. It catches 85% of the dust with almost no hassle at all. They also sell a router base for the edge guide that works great for dados.

Admittedly, this is a rather spendy package altogether, but it works very well, very compactly. You can fit the whole works into a closet, and quickly set it up to do just about anything, clean and accurate. I'm very impressed with both of these products, and wish I had bought them years ago.

[doug hodder]

Hey Junkman........I bought mine at Schlosser tool and equipment in Denver when I was living there. I would think that just about any Delta dealer has them. I just checked Woodworkers supply. www.woodworker.com they have Delta, and Biesemeyer fence systems. Unfortunately they run about 60% the price of the original saw, but after fighting mine for years, I thought about a new saw. The guy at Schlosser said that the old Craftsmans were really good and I would be better off upgrading the fence. Mine is dead on, never have to fight getting it square to the blade like the original craftsman. It bolted right up to the existing deck. You get additional legs to support the additional width. I only got the 30" Doug Hodder

[JunkMan]

Thanks for the info Madjack and Doug. I'll have to check around an see if anyone local carries them. Otherwise, I'll look next time I'm in Denver (we get there a few times a year).

[ALAN GEDDES]

Woodworkers Supply is one of my favorite places. I want more tools. Never enough tools.

[doug hodder]

Alan.... this might be off track but do you know why tools are better than a woman? They are always willing to work when you want them to. You can turn them on and off with a switch. They don't spend your money. When you get tired of the noise you can shut them off, and my favorite, a cut finger heals a lot quicker than a broken heart. Just my exerience..... You probably can't guess why I'm single Huh??? I didn't mean to offend anyone, just a joke. Doug Hodder