Best table saw to build into units

[alphabeta279]

Hi all,

Just starting out building my first workshop, so I'm naturally needing a table saw.

Keen to get as much as possible for my money so am thinking about getting a table saw and building it into a self built table and adding fences etc myself.

What's the general thoughts on what's a decent saw? I'm not sure if I get something for £250 vs £500 vs £750 what the key differences are?

Any advice on some good starter table saws would be much appreciated!

 

[marcros]

An interesting little project. It will depend on what you plan to use it for and the space you have. Plenty of space, don't bother get something old and heavy like a startrite, wadkin, similar.

If you are cutting a lot of sheet material, you may prefer the larger American type of table saw with a massive table and so wish to make it. Otherwise, Ideally, I would look for something that the top is ok (otherwise the depth of cut will be reduced), with a 10" blade, a separate mechanism for rise and fall, mitre slots, and some way of attaching the fence rails. I have just bought a kity 618 to do as you describe. It has the advantage of being able to cut 95mm with the right blade, and runs off a standard 13a plug. I paid 250 plus a bit of shipping, which is far less than anything new of equivalent spec. It didn't have the sliding carriage although I didn't want that.

What it doesn't have is a cast iron top (sadly) or "standard sized" mitre slots (does have mitre slots though). If it did it would have been perfect. In my opinion, the kity machines take some beating.

The alternative could be a track saw and building an mft table. Not really looked into it, but from what I have seen, they look handy.

 

[alphabeta279]

Cool, some great feedback there (and yes I believe a TS55 is an essential part of any workshop! So definitely have on plan).

I guess the gap the table saw will fill is for things like repetitive cuts where I need bang on identical cuts. This is where a table saw with fence would be very handy.

Have a full double garage sized space so should be room. Sheet material I think I'd use the track saw most of the time so no biggie here.

Kity looks great, however appears they've gone bust! Any other alternatives?

 

[alphabeta279]

What's the thoughts on the ts200?

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ho ... -table-saw

 

[marcros]

I dont dislike the ts200. I had the kity equivalent, but to be honest, I outgrew it and wanted a bit more depth of cut. For me, cutting wide long things were a pain, because without the side extensions on it was too narrow to cut anything, and with them it took up a lot of space. I think that the ts200, and most things are rather expensive new- the ts200 with everything is just short of £500. Maybe that is the going rate...

There are various kity spares still available, and some are interchangable with other cloned models. I dont know whether that is the case with the 618 though- no doubt one of these days I will have to find out, or change a motor!

You have twice the space that I do, but probably not really enough for good old cast iron! If you are making the fence system, you dont need to be too fussy about what the base is. Trawl through the posts, and there are very very few people saying "help my table saw has broken down", most of those few are suggesting replacing a capacitor.

 

[Eric The Viking]

There's one interesting thing about the TS200, which I'm hoping to exploit, but it comes with a "don't try this at home" TV-style caveat:

It looks from the construction that you can laterally swap the tilt wheel from the right-hand to left-hand sides of the machine. Unlike the Kity 419, the tilt is done on a leadscrew that runs across the front of the machine's frame. One end has a grease bearing and the other a collar: the actuating wheel is fixed to the shaft that pokes through the collar. The side covers are not swappable as they are - you'd have to make a suitable big hole in the left hand one (and plug up the RHS one), but you could turn the leadscrew end-over-end.

Why do this? Apart from the tilt wheel, there's no reason to need access to the right side of the saw. I'm intending an asymmetric stand/storage unit, with drawers or cupboards under the actual table, and with a rail on the LHS I can't use that side realistically, and anyway I want easy access to the sliding carriage.

It's a major strip-down to do it, and you have to re-align everything afterwards.

If that's too extreme, the Kity has nothing on the RHS to get in the way. Note that I haven't done this yet, and there may be obstructions from the sliding carriage to prevent it working.

Both saws are well suited to building into a storage unit. I'll have to check, but I'm fairly certain they both have threaded bushes on the bottom of the frame to take M6 or M5 bolts, meaning levelling feet are easy to do. Both have slotted "sled" rails too, so you can bolt them down easily.

E.

PS: this is the OLD TS200 model - mine is very secondhand too, so mucking about with it doesn't matter!

 

[alphabeta279]

Interesting thoughts - what's the general feeling for dewalt 745
http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dw745- ... 240v/83053

I really want to build whatever saw into a table and if necessary sort out my own fence, so don't necessarily care about the stands etc.

Can't seem to work out what's happened with Kity, looks like they went bust but some of their models are now being produced by other manufacturers or something?

 

[Eric The Viking]

I think they were absorbed into Sheppach, but I may be wrong. There still seem to be quite a few places that have the Kity branded stuff available, but that, presumably, is old stock.

 

[onlinename]

Interesting thoughts - what's the general feeling for dewalt 745
http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dw745- ... 240v/83053

I really want to build whatever saw into a table and if necessary sort out my own fence, so don't necessarily care about the stands etc.

Can't seem to work out what's happened with Kity, looks like they went bust but some of their models are now being produced by other manufacturers or something?

I have the Dewalt,
Great saw! I don't have much experience with table saws however I can tell you it's well built & compact.

I got it from these guys, they were great, the saw came in the original dewalt box very quick delivery and for some reason they are so much cheaper than anywhere else. especially compared to screwfix!

http://www.buyaparcel.com/pageview.php? ... Table+Saws

 

[marcros]

I think they were absorbed into Sheppach, but I may be wrong. There still seem to be quite a few places that have the Kity branded stuff available, but that, presumably, is old stock.

I believe that this was the case. A lot of the kity stockists seem to have the schepach equivalents. One even says under the kity picture that you will get the scheppach instead.

 

[Eric The Viking]

This seems to be the equivalent new machine:


There are obvious similarities (the side panels aren't part of the Kity frame - they bolt on). The micro-adjuster on the fence seems like a good idea, but the feet are in the wrong places - on the panels, not the saw frame.

 

[RogerP]

If you are as adverse as me to horrible scream of brush motors you might like to make sure only induction motored machines are on your list.

 

[No skills]

If you are as adverse as me to horrible scream of brush motors you might like to make sure only induction motored machines are on your list.

+ 1

 

[alphabeta279]

Great tip re the dewalt price, is this too good to be true?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-DEWALT-DW ... 5d4350d6fa

What am I missing? Why is it so cheap??

Also what's thoughts on Charnwood?
http://www.charnwood.net/shop/product/8 ... -table-saw

Seems to be a reasonable spec with induction motor etc?

 

[Eric The Viking]

Great tip re the dewalt price, is this too good to be true?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-DEWALT-DW ... 5d4350d6fa

What am I missing? Why is it so cheap??

Because it's 110V in the USA?

Also what's thoughts on Charnwood?
http://www.charnwood.net/shop/product/8 ... -table-saw
Seems to be a reasonable spec with induction motor etc?

Same factory as TS200 and the old Kity 419 by the look of things. Same saw but with a boxed-in stand. The extrusion used for the front rail and fence is the same as the one on the sliding carriage, which is the same as the one on ALL those sliding carriages. The blade guard looks identical (even the same colour), and the controls look like the TS200. I *think* the side panels are the same as Axy's new TS200.

If the price includes the table extension and base, it's pretty good. IIRC the 419 was about 200 more when I last saw it.