Home made Table saw

[Kurt (Indiana)]

Have any of you "Wood workers" made a table saw using a circular saw??
Any help, advise, or comment appreciated.

I suppose a belt sander could be attached also for a "table sander".

Anyway, let me know.

[3822sean]

yes have done circ saw and jig saw ,,,on a 4x4 3/4 plywood lower the foot all the way see if you have any holes to ues screw it to the plywood turn the saw on and plunge the blade all thr way through and you end up with a zero clearence kirf cut, clamp on a straight edge and you are good to go,,,but do be carefull you dont want any kickbacks you could drive a screw or a nail behind the blade to stop any blade pinching ,,and always stand to the side and take youe time

[Woodbutcher]

If you look at many of those small portable table saws that are around a hundred bucks or so you will see what looks like a circular saw with out a handle.
If you make your own you may have trouble turning the saw on. Many circular saws have a button you must hold down in order to start the saw with the trigger. I don't see it being worth while unless you already own everything. What will you use for an accurate and safe fence?

[halfdome, Danny]

Kurt, There were plans for such a device many years ago but I opted out on it for safety sake and the Mickey Mouse factor. Portable table saws with a dedicated fence are reasonably priced and can be expanded with tables surrounding it. With a little practice a hand held belt sander will do an excellent job. Check out this thread.:D Danny

[azmotoman]

Oh yeah! The Black and Decker or HF vise table/saw horse works really well for such things. I have used it as a table for my router. Opened the jaws, invert the router, clamp it between the plastic jaw inserts and turn out small pieces of trim that I would not otherwise be able to handle.

Nice for turning out trivets, trim or the small legs I made for our set of barrister cases.

It would do the same with a sander or circular saw.

Of course, mine is the HF brand. ( http://www.harborfreight.com/folding-clamping-workbench-with-movable-pegs-47844.html )

[Dale M.]

I would opt for something like this before trying to kludge something together that may get me hurt....

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-inch-15 ... 97896.html

Other manufactures has similar saws...

I have 8.5 inch Makita (older model) and it handles up to 2 inch stock with ease (with carbide tipped blade)...

Dale

[GPW]

My carpenter had a thing , like two 2" X2" X 6' with a rectangle of plywood in between , like rounded handles on both sides ... He'd prop this up on some saw horses and fix his circular saw to the bottom , with some thumbscrews ... a rudimentary fence was just screwed to the ply deck ... he had it marked for a few favorite spots ... The blade looked like it was just sawn through the ply , because there was a narrow blade slot ... Worked great when we were making millwork for the house ... And he also made an on the job router table that we used to route and bead the moulding we cut on the improvised table saw ... Crude , portable , effective, and Cheap... He even had a household circuit box with a switch on one handle to turn it on-off ...

[Kurt (Indiana)]

Oh yeah! The Black and Decker or HF vise table/saw horse works really well for such things. I have used it as a table for my router. Opened the jaws, invert the router, clamp it between the plastic jaw inserts and turn out small pieces of trim that I would not otherwise be able to handle.

Nice for turning out trivets, trim or the small legs I made for our set of barrister cases.

It would do the same with a sander or circular saw.

Of course, mine is the HF brand. ( http://www.harborfreight.com/folding-clamping-workbench-with-movable-pegs-47844.html )

Oh Crap!, I just threw out an old "Craftsman work mate" for the early seventies. I thought I'd never need it again.

Oh Well.

[caseydog]

My belt sander has a flat top surface, so it will sit upside-down on my work bench. I use a clamp with rubber pads to clamp it to my bench. It is great for doing fine shaping on small pieces of wood.

CD

[Hillmann]

At one time before I had nice tools I used a circular saw mounted upside down as a table saw, its use was kind of limited since the fence had to be screwed down and there was no slot for the miter. It worked well enough when I needed it, then I upgraded to a cheapie table top table saw and that was 100 times better and easier to use then the homemade one and then I up graded to a quality craftsman table saw and that is 100 times better than the cheapie saw. So it will work, and if it is all you got it seems to work pretty good, but I would never go back to using one.

[bobhenry]

I had to make several long rips in large flat stock while building Chubby and I found 2 padded "C" clamps and the extruded channel off of one side of an old aluminum storm door made a great straight edge. The lexan I cut for the roof would have been all but impossible to rip without this guide. I simply clamped it in place allowing the 1 1/2" offset of my saw and cut as normal.

However this setup will not allow you to mill 2x4 into 2x2 and such. Then the table saw will shine.

[Larwyn]

I had to make several long rips in large flat stock while building Chubby and I found 2 padded "C" clamps and the extruded channel off of one side of an old aluminum storm door made a great straight edge. The lexan I cut for the roof would have been all but impossible to rip without this guide. I simply clamped it in place allowing the 1 1/2" offset of my saw and cut as normal.

However this setup will not allow you to mill 2x4 into 2x2 and such. Then the table saw will shine.

If I only need to rip a couple of 2x4's into 2x2's I will usually use a skillsaw with a ripping guide. It is quick and easy to set up and probably actually safer than ripping on many table saws with barely adequate fences and guards. all it takes it the saw, the ripping guide, a couple of saw horses and a clamp or two.

If I have several to do, I will take the time to set up the table saw properly with the blade guard, splitter, kickback pawls, feather boards and push sticks and infeed/outfeed supports (see why it is easier just to use the skill saw for a small batch?).....

[atahoekid]

So before you read too far, let me let you know that by profession, I am a safety guy.

I would NEVER use a tool for other than it's intended purpose in the manner it was intended to be used. Nor would I ever recommend the practice to anyone else. I've seen the tragic consequences way too often.

I am probably cheaper than most folks, but I would rather spend a few bucks on an inexpensive but workable table saw than try to piece together a "home made" version. Same with the belt sander.

There are reasons why power tools come with guards and other often difficult to use safety hardware. As difficult as they are to use, they have prevented an amputated finger or severe injury to other body parts.

I beg you to please, please, please consider the safety of what you are contemplating before you do it.

Isn't having all ten digits and avoiding severe injury worth more than the few dollars you'll save? Think about it!

Don't even get me started about using personal protective equipment!

[Ned B]

If you have a circular saw, there are several options out there which will help with what I suspect is the primary need, breaking down plywood. For that purpose, even 'real' woodworkers often use a Guided Rail system such as the EZ Smart for exactly that purpose. Not cheap, but much safer than a backyard kludge.

[Corwin C]

It takes a little longer, but a straight edge clamped to the workpiece and using the circular saw in the conventional manner can be just as accurate and a whole lot safer. If you're working on small pieces or require repeatable accuracy, I think I'd invest in a table saw.

There are ways to do everything that we do safely and relatively inexpensively. A tear can be built 100% without power tools if you're willing to put the effort and time into it. I would definitely sacrifice speed and ease and even accuracy before sacrificing safety.