Sled For Table Saw

[Norfolk75]

Apologies if this is in the wrong section.

Right I've been debating getting a table saw for a while now and it seems the major problem with these including some expensive ones is the fences are purely not up for the job and many have a very small cutting area. Still ain't built my workshop yet.

Last night I spent a good solid 2hrs watching YouTube videos of people making sleds and sticking them on cheap machines, now I'm no joiner, no furniture maker and have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to anything workshop related so precision is not my number one goal at present just want something that does the job,

So my question is should I buy a £100 table saw and pimp it up?

Thank you.

 

[MattRoberts]

A sled will only help with cross cutting. If you want to rip boards down their length, you'll need a standard fence.

If you're happy with something that just 'does the job', then stir why not.

But don't be surprised if you very quickly start noticing the inaccurate cuts / lack of safety features / lack of dust extraction / lack of cut depth and all the other things that a cheap tablesaw can bring along with it

 

[Lons]

A sled will only help with cross cutting. If you want to rip boards down their length, you'll need a standard fence.

If you're happy with something that just 'does the job', then stir why not.

But don't be surprised if you very quickly start noticing the inaccurate cuts / lack of safety features / lack of dust extraction / lack of cut depth and all the other things that a cheap tablesaw can bring along with it

Seconded =D>

Save a bit more money and buy a decent s/h saw

 

[transatlantic]

The question is, what counts as a decent table saw? In my mind, a decent beginner woodworking saw, would be something next up from a contractors saw, so something like :

Charnwood 619 (£550)
Scheppach Precisa TS82 (£630)
Axminster TS-200-2 (£660)
etc

(Assumung you're buying new)

Which are all pretty much the same thing, but all get mediocre reviews, and are quite the jump up from your average contractor saw (in terms of price)

Next up, you're looking at :

Charnwood W650 (£900)
SIP 01332 (£1200)
Axminster AW12BSB2 (£1300)
etc

I think at this point you break the average hobby user and enter the trade type saws which start at several thousand.

Personally, I don't think you can fettle the cheap contractors saws much, you'd end up replacing the whole lot bar the motor.

 

[Norfolk75]

Thanks for the replies.

We'll that's certainly made my mind up that I won't be buying any cheap table saw. Think my route for a table saw will be saving up for something that works properly.

 

[MattRoberts]

Good call!

 

[Stoatally]

Well I bought a £100 titan table saw. At first sight it doesn't look too bad. Blade seems parallel to the mitre slots. Table's flat and the little extensions are level. The fence, whilst a bit crappy locks in place, doesn't fl x much and is parallel to the blade. We'll see just how rubbish it is as time goes on. I may well rue the day I bought it but at £100 it's was far cheaper than anything remotely decent 2nd hand.

I think I'll be looking to make a sled as one of the first things. I've also seen the YouTube videos and the mitre sleds look like a good idea.

 

[transatlantic]

The table is flat??? .. really? when I put a straight edge on mine, there was about 2 mm gap where the top bowed in, and it was exactly the same on both I tried. It was identical in both cases, so I assumed it was just the way they were constructed as the bow is on the weld that pulls the top to the supports.

I think you may have trouble making a sled for this saw due to the construction of the slots, but hopefully I'm just being pessimistic.