Good Table Saw's?

[humanfish]

Hi all,
Great website. My brother and myself are doing a furniture making course at the moment and are looking to invest in some good machinery that will hopefully last. We would like to get a sterdy, accurate tablesaw for our bare garage workshop. Is anyone familiar with the SIP cast iron saw, look's quite good. Any advice/recommendation's would be great.
regards
bad_hypertension

 

[johnelliott]

Welcome to the forum, Bad. In order to answer your question we would need to know a bit more about what sort of woodwork you have in mind. Table saws have two main aspects, ripping and crosscutting. Most saws will rip well, but for good crosscutting you might want to consider a saw with a sliding table. I don't know if the SIP has one but if it doesn't you might want to have a look at some others
John

 

[humanfish]

i would hope to be making furniture, cabinets, tables, what ever work i can get. In this sense i guess i will need to be quite open in my search. As i have read in previous posts i guess the qaulity of blade can be just as important as the quality of the table.

 

[johnelliott]

the qaulity of blade can be just as important as the quality of the table.

Absolutely. For crosscutting on say a 10" saw think 80 teeth , for ripping 24 is plenty

 

[Midnight]

Welcome to the mad house Bad... :wink:

if you're looking for some quality cast iron at good prices, try here...

http://www.woodfordwm.co.uk/acatalog/Table_Saws1.html

there's one or two lurking in here that can give a better account of their quality...
I personally wouldn't consider a sliding table unless you see the bulk of your work involving working with sheet goods; you can crosscut perfectly with the construction of a crosscutting sled...

minimum requirements I'd look for in a saw would be....

1/ cast iron and tons of it.... all that mass helps dampen vibration...
2/ a good high powered induction motor; for a 10" saw, 3 horse would be an acceptable minimum
3/ an excellent fence... something that's easy to use, accurate, square and sturdy...
4/ well designed blade changing arrangement...
5/ well thought out dust extraction, both above (through the blade guard) and below the table... make sure the extractor connection is a size compatable with your extraction gear....
6/ smooth, fluid movement in both blade rise and tilt.... in showroom condition there's no excuse for these feeling anything other than perfect..
7/ arbor needs to be 30mm dia to be compatable with the bulk of quality aftermarket blades...
re blades...

no substitute for quality here... a good blade can transform a god awful saw into an acceptable user... bad blade will render a good saw next to useless. Consider designs with built in anti-kick back and chip limiters...

 

[Philly]

Hi Bad,
Mike summed things up pretty well there!
Check out the review of my cast iron beasty!
http://www.philsville.co.uk/new_page_2.htm

As to the sliding table-I have made a couple of jigs that run in the mitre slots for my saw-I definitely don't miss/need one for my saw!
regards
Philly

 

[johnelliott]

I personally wouldn't consider a sliding table unless you see the bulk of your work involving working with sheet goods; you can crosscut perfectly with the construction of a crosscutting sled...

Depending on what level of repeatable accuracy you are looking for... A crosscut sled will give reasonable results, a sliding table will give better results

minimum requirements I'd look for in a saw would be....

1/ cast iron and tons of it.... all that mass helps dampen vibration...

Are we looking to start that argument up again???? I thought that one had been done to death. Just to summarise for Bad's benefit though, cast iron is very heavy which is good to damp vibrations, and very cheap which is good for the manufacturers. It is also inclined to rust and is a nuisance when you want to move the machine

John

 

[Anonymous]

I would agree with Mike (Midnight) except to say that since I got a table saw with a sliding table I have realised that it is worth every penny and if I were to be looking for a table saw for general furniture making a sliding table would be on the top of my list

Home made sleds are OK UNTIL you use a sliding table

 

[kityuser]

just for the record, I`m very please with my kity 419, hard to beat for the price..... and its aluminium :shock:

I guess it all comes down to horses for courses, I needed a compact accurate table saw, ow and for as little money as possible........ wow the kity is just what I neede 8)

ideally with a large workshop and lots of wedge I` d opt for a big cast jobbie, but I`m kind of attached to the kity now :lol:


work safely

steve

 

[Philly]

Incidently,
My last table saw had a sliding table and my new one doesn't. I am happy without!
I can cut sheet material easily using the fence (52 inch rails, don't forget! :twisted: ) and fine cuts are a piece of cake. The Yanks love crosscut sleds for cutting fine joinery-they are not "2nd cousin" to sliding tables........
I guess it depends on how much room you have available though.
hope this helps,
Cast Iron Philly :roll:

 

[Adam]

I would agree with Mike (Midnight) except to say that since I got a table saw with a sliding table I have realised that it is worth every penny and if I were to be looking for a table saw for general furniture making a sliding table would be on the top of my list

Home made sleds are OK UNTIL you use a sliding table

I'd say the same, I love my sliding table - in preference to almost all other features on the saw. I know there are a couple of things you can do on a cross cut sled which you can't do on a sliding table, and vice versa - but overall - the sliding table gets used over 90%+ compared to the rip fence, if not 95%+.

Adam

 

[ike]

bad_hypertension,

Now I know it's not anything to do with your original question, but following subsequent posts, here's my two penneth FWIW:-

Marvellous if rather pricey accessories, those sliding tables. I found mine extremely useful- until later on, I got a sliding compound mitre saw. Now I rarely use the table saw for crosscutting.

I found the problem is the space you have to have to allow a long piece of timber to traverse when using the sliding table. In your average garage workshop, it can be a pain to have to move gear around to get the space you need every time you want to xcut longish stuff. It might be worth thinking about a chop saw as an alternative to a sliding table add-on, as for one thing it'll probably be much easier to move around for cutting the longer stuff.

Ike

 

[Midnight]

John Wrote

Depending on what level of repeatable accuracy you are looking for... A crosscut sled will give reasonable results, a sliding table will give better results

half a mill close enough..?? it gets me close enough to make shooting to final size a breeze...

It is also inclined to rust and is a nuisance when you want to move the machine

a liberal application of paste wax not only keeps the rust away, but lets the wood slide over the table easier. As for moving, making a dolly isn't exactly rocket science...

From a personal view point, I don't have the shop space to consider a sliding table; simply not enough room. That aside, between the crosscut sled, chop saw or dare I say cutting by hand, I've enough alternative means to render them unnecessary. In the absence of any commercial pressure to "get it done" I can take my time and do it properly with the means available to me. I'm not saying that they aren't nice... just that they aren't a "must have" feature...it's far more important to have a saw that covers the basics...

 

[humanfish]

thanks for the input everyone. it's interesting to read different peoples opinions on the range of issues with tables saws. i think i am going to have to seriously way up the work space i have now, the space i might get and and a realistic budget. once again thanks for the input havent used forums much but its good to know theres potentially so much advice.

 

[Alf]

thanks for the input everyone. it's interesting to read different peoples opinions on the range of issues with tables saws.

Did we do the "don't buy a tablesaw at all" argument?

Welcome to the forum, BH. Novel nickname.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Sawhorse]

Apologies for reviving this old thread.
My name is Adam and i was the original poster (bad_hypertension / humanfish). Quite unbelievable that this was well over 10 years ago, shocking! Having finished my 3 years training in furniture making and cabinet making, and subsequently going into business (albeit semi-part-time), the crash that took hold in 2008/2009 made it more difficult to make a go of our ambitions. I subsequently ended up in the book publishing industry (wood, paper, pulp - its still woodwork!?) having applied for a job at the right place and right time. Eight or nine years later i am still in this industry, and, largely enjoying it.

However, having reach my early 30's and working in a job i know very well, i have begun to look for more creative outlets once more. Even if only on the hobbyist level. Luckily, all of the tools i invested in (table saw, band saw, router table, lathe, etc.) are still at my parents having been put to good use by my father and my brother, who continued in the field.

So, whilst sat and work and having creative itches that need scratching, making doodles, and looking on Instagram (that didn't exist all those years ago) for inspriration i thought i would see if my old account at the UKWorkshop was still active. Alas, it was deactivated for quite understandable reasons but many of my posts still exist. So i have created a new account and hope to gradually get reacquainted with the forum layout and community. I invested in a second hand lathe back in 2009/10 and have never really made the full use of it. So my aims are to take up turning throughout 2018 and generally get back into woodwork. Hopefully it is like riding a bike and all the knowledge and techniques i acquired have not been lost!

Regards to all
bad_hypertension / humanfish / Sawhorse / Adam

 

[woodywoodwood]

And welcome back. I joined 2007, and recently came back too.
Sad, but some of the best old characters I learnt from are no longer here ( Roy digit, Niki jig ) and others no longer post ( Philly, wizer) but at least Mr Mike g is back! (hammer)