Used Table Saw - Advice

[Dino]

I have been offered a Clarke 10" table saw (CTS10D model number I believe) for £70, used. I am new to wood working (more of a hobbyist) and need it for simply cutting planks to size, mitre-ing and cutting dado slots.

My price range isn't very high, I've seen this board recommend the TS200 but that is too expensive for me right now (only looking to spend about £100 max as I would like to buy other tools too).

Any advice would be most welcome. Sorry if this is a repeat post.

 

[kinsella]

it looks like its £180 new so £70 doesnt sound that bad. It depends on the size of material you are working with i think. Its a bench top version so if your cutting boards it will very difficult. But if its small lengths and widths you can get away with this type.

 

[paultnl]

You might want to look at something like this as a comparison http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ryobi-table-s ... 27e27dcc93

 

[marcros]

I doubt it will cut mitres accurately enough for gluing, but you could always use a hand plane and shooting board. It definitely won't take a dado stack. I wouldn't worry too much about that feature.

 

[Dino]

I've never used a table saw before, the dado cutting feature was quite important to be as I'd love to try to add some different wood as lining for aesthetics.

The planks I am working with are quite small (width maybe 5 inches maximum with length less than 3 feet) so the size shouldn't worry me too much but cutting mitre's is quite important to the projects I have in mind.

 

[pcb1962]

I just go an email from Rutlands about this:
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/pp+woodworking-workshop-equipment-machinery+d02000?promo=DK2102
May be of interest

 

[rspsteve]

I just go an email from Rutlands about this:
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/pp+woodworking-workshop-equipment-machinery+d02000?promo=DK2102
May be of interest

Looks rubbish to me but I know nothing....one question if its "new" how could it be £149.95 before ?

Steve

 

[Rhossydd]

I'd guess Dino you've been reading a lot of American web sites and books.
Dado cutting isn't regarded as very safe here in Europe, so to a significant amount has been legislated away by making most powered saws incapable of using dado blades. Which is probably a good thing. If you want to cut slots to add stringing, use a router instead.
Mitre sawing is going to be poor and unreliable on a dirt cheap budget table saw too. The guides tend to be poorly made, difficult to adjust accurately and have too much play in the mitre slots. You can end up wasting a lot of wood when mitre cutting is unreliable.
When your budget is low you need to spend your cash very wisely. Buying something too cheap that fails to deliver expected performance not only disappoints, but also costs you even more money in wasted materials.

For your requirements you'd probably find a dedicated sliding mitre saw a better option, in company with a decent little router.

 

[Dino]

Ah! I had no idea it was legislated against here in Europe. Not a problem. I saw a decently priced router and table.

I have access to a mitre saw right now so being able to cut mitres shouldn't be an issue but what I really need right now is something to let me saw timber down the length.

Would a sliding mitre saw allow me to do that (I've no experience with them)? The regular one I have right now is just...a bit too small. It doesn't mitre the entire length of wood I have been using for some projects leaving me to finish it by hand, and that one wasn't too cheap either (I think £130).

My budget per tool is around £100-£200. I have about £400 - £600 to spend. I won't be able to get all the tools I want straight away, I know that. My main wonder is if I should actually just save a bit more and buy more expensive, better quality tools or make do with the cheaper alternatives. I don't know if I could justify spending so much money on a relatively new hobby.

Thanks for all the informative replies so far. Really helpful.

 

[Rhossydd]

Would a sliding mitre saw allow me to do that

No, they're really just for cross cuts.

My main wonder is if I should actually just save a bit more and buy more expensive, better quality tools or make do with the cheaper alternatives. I don't know if I could justify spending so much money on a relatively new hobby.

I think most of us would recommend buying good kit, even if secondhand, rather than budget tools if at all possible. They also retain their value better if you ever need to sell them on.

For ripping, have you considered a bandsaw ? With a good blade* these are remarkably versatile machines that open up an amazing range of opportunities. Decent ones come up fairly steadily on eBay or here.

*A decent blade transforms any saw. For band saws you'll find lots of recommendations for Tuff Saw blades and when correctly fitted really do deliver the sort of performance people here rave about. Good band saw blades are also comparatively cheap too.

 

[Dino]

I've considered a bandsaw. I think that perhaps a bandsaw and a router would fit me better now considering that I can't really use a table saw for cutting dado's. I think I liked the idea of being able to utilise sleds but a bandsaw would allow me an easier time cutting things to shape...doing things by hand now is a bit time consuming especially when I use rasps for so long.

A bandsaw and a router are probably the what I will end up getting. Any tips regarding purchases of either?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROCKWORTH...Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item337e8e4588 is the router and table I was looking at.

 

[Rhossydd]

Any tips regarding purchases of either?

Try back reading or searching through the forum. This topic comes up almost every couple of months.

With respect to a decent little router, you do much worse than the Elu96 in the for sale section at the moment. It's looks so good I'm amazed it's still for sale, elu-mof96-router-accessories-t79535.html

 

[Dino]

I spotted that while browsing but the price is a little high for me I think.

 

[pcb1962]

I spotted that while browsing but the price is a little high for me I think.

IMO your enjoyment of the hobby is directly related to the quality of your tools. It's worth spending the money to buy tools that are a pleasure to use. The difference between the Elu and the ebay thing you linked to will be like night and day.

 

[Dino]

My only issue is that I don't see myself using the router too often yet, only one of the things I have in mind would need it. I wood carve and wood burn right now which is what has made me want to start tinkering about with other parts wood working. The router would really only be used to cut slots into finished pyrography pieces to make the frames a little safer, and maybe add an aesthetic band around the work. I don't see it being used that often which is what makes me a bit reluctant to spend so much money on it at the moment. I'd much rather budget the money into buying a better lathe, for example.