Table Saw Project

[DigitalM]

I'm in the final stages of the external build of my workshop and I'm starting to turn my mind to kitting the thing out. For the purpose of building the workshop itself (basically a concrete base, epoxy floor and timber frame & cladding building) I invested in a triton workcentre from this forum's for sale section, as it was mobile enough to store back in the garage before the workshop reached the position where it was reasonably secure and watertight. I plan to upgrade this, but due to limited space in the workshop (7.5m x 3.5m) I'd like to make a mobile tablesaw station that I can move to opposite the workshop doors for larger projects, or even outside if the weather's good enough.

I saw this project built saw station which is built around this saw

This looks ideal for me. I really like the table saw as it has a great, solid-looking top, and what looks to be a very sturdy body and frame.

I looked around for something similar available in the UK couldn't find anything between the far smaller, lightweight contractor saws, that are designed to be far more mobile than my application, and the full blown static saws that clearly aren't designed to be moved once situated. I guess I'm looking for something between the two.

I'd be really interested to see if anyone has built anything similar around a table saw available in the UK.

 

[whostolebenfrog]

Have you seen the axminster TS200 / TS250?

Personally I have a full cabinet saw mounted on a mobile base. I move it all the time and it's quick and easy to do. The saw weights 250kg so it's not exactly a lightweight model My workshop is a very similar size and this works for me. I have a TS200 which I'm about too get rid of - originally I had decided to go your route and build a similar station for it. Ultimately though I decided that rather than invest that time I should upgrade to a saw now that's going to last me the rest of my life. I do think the saw station approach would have been good though. Lots of the fantastic youtubers use that approach and they are far more skilled than I.

 

[DigitalM]

The mobile base idea is very interesting now that I've googled it a bit. I guess with that weight and some good, locking castors, the thing is very stable?

 

[Ttrees]

Im makin a mobile base for my Startrite 275 that weighs 210kg
I am designing it with retractable casters inside the cabinet .
Kinda like Carl Holmgren's on youtube, but made of metal and with a cabinet saw.
And I am making other stuff for it after that ...maybe a overarm guard like Steve Maskery's
That will be attachable to the base ,a cabinet for blades and push sticks, VFD tabernacle,
I might add a tilting/hinged outfeed table too ..
I am about to start the retracting part of the base today.

I would not rule out a cabinet saw, they can be made move on a 6pence
Love to see more designs
Tom

 

[jdeacon]

Just for completeness and out of interest, I made my tablesaw some retractable castors based on this guy's designs, https://youtu.be/7TTnb3TyH5Y . The variety in the video that sits inside the cabinet.

I can't wholeheartedly recommend it as the stability frightens me a little. But it works. And you might do better at getting the castors closer to the corners than I did. And if your table saw has a pyramidal shape rather than the rectangular shape of mine, it'd work better.

 

[Ttrees]

Hello again
I thought I'd do an update on the making of the mobile base for my startrite 275
I dont know if its evident, but I'm posting what I would have done differently if I had to do this again.

As you can see I'm basing my design loosely around Carl Holmgren's tablesaw base.
There is a angled chute for dust to fall inside the tablesaw, I was worrying about the single caster inside the cabinet, hitting into this
when retracted, so I made sure it was scooted towards the middle a bit and not tight to the corners.

What I should have done is weld the caster plates on top of the square bar, not flush
or even welded a spacer in between as the base rises enough to get a runner underneath... not good.
As you might see theirs a allen key propping the caster plate up and it is near vertical .
All I needed was to have the casters retract enough to clear the feet of the base (adjustable feet will be added later on)

I might just cut the mounting plates off yet and weld in a spacer inbetween ...I'll have to go out again and decide
Tom

 

[Ttrees]

More shots

 

[Ttrees]

Decided to re-design (hammer)
I could put my foot under it, all the way in to the laces :shock:
Anyway ...as suspected, the way things were would have meant that the lever arms would be up in the sky ...
I would have to do a Bruce Lee kick to reach it .
Cut and welded a hefty bar stock onto the axles and welded the castor plates onto that.... much better !
and no interference with the cabinet chute ...
On to cleaning and filling the welds tomorrow and then welding the lever arms on.
Then to devise a catch for the lever to stay engaged ...and then figure out where and what to use for the adjustable feet.

Looks at the moment like the hinge outfeed table won't be happening.
Other stuff to do on the saw yet, motor pulley sleeve and key work and making a riving knife also .
Then might think about the overarm guard and mounting the VFD .
Then a cabinet for blades and pushsticks and sleds or jigs.

Might think of some outfeed table design then, but might option for an adjustable table for bandsaw and other tablesaw ...
In due course.

Any more ideas folks ?
Tom

 

[Ttrees]

Thought I'd post an update on this mobile base I'm making ....
Nearly finished, just have to figure out what kind of adjustable feet design I'm going with.
Must have a rummage through the stock pile and see if I have anything suitable.
Doesn't look like the adjustable feet will be inside the frame .

I must clean up those welds a bit.
Will be making some mods to this later on ....I think these will be bolt on kind of things like an upright for a overarm guard .
And then mounting the VFD and making some kind of cabinet for blades too.

I might have to get the saw running first and see how things go before figuring placement for other stuff.

Tom

 

[DigitalM]

Hey Ttrees, watching with interest. I'll have to do this sooner or later so grateful for the tips and thought processes.

 

[wallace]

I attempted to make a mobile base for a planer, I made a sturdy box section and added some cast iron castors. The planer weighed in at about 700 kg and took some shifting, then it started to dig its way through my concrete floor so I abandoned it and bought a pump truck

 

[Ttrees]

Hey folks
I haven't taken more pics since, as I was a bit pushed for time ....
So things got a bit messy.
I have since made the adjustable feet brackets and now have to weld them on.
I decided to use the same 24mm threadbar and similar bracket design, so decided to cut the ones in half on the big bandsaw .
I will weld round stock on top and drill them for the (cross bar?) to adjust the height.

This base needs these feet so it stays around 16mm off the ground, as the lever arms rack together sometimes, otherwise.
This means that you have to press the left lever down first to get the right lever to press down on the left.

Don't know if a bearing would help here, instead of the rounded bar stock on the end of the left arm.

This big plate is not too graceful, but it works.... you need the weight to make it hook under the base.
It does not look as big when the machine is mounted on the base though.
It could possibly be made smaller with some weights welded to it ...you could try clamping stuff on .
It hooks underneath the base and would bottom out if it was much lower, hence the mass behind the hook, instead of underneath it.

Thought I had more pics, but not so...
I have a piccy of the bracket design which I have loosely copied .. slight changes I may make yet......
I have to cut these rods and 8 pieces of bar stock now, drill and weld them afterwards.... #-o
And tidying everything up afterwards.
Thanks for the motivation
Tom

 

[Ttrees]

Good to know Wallace ...
It might take three sets of castors, or more for a hefty planer .
More designs to come up with in the future I suppose (homer)

 

[Ttrees]

Pretty much finished this base, Here's some more piccys
Just need to drill holes in the feet for pins for adjusting the machine plum.
This base is 16mm off the ground and the lever is not jamming into the other...
I could easily drop the base lower and still not encounter this problem as you might guess form the piccys
since the foot lever is not too high.
Gonna paint this soon, now to fix the machine,
Tom

 

[Ttrees]

Hello again
Thought I'd give another update since the saw is assembled and heaver now.
It works ok but if I was to do it again, I would aim for the axle to be a bit closer to the edge if possible.
It has a tendency to swivel the casters towards the middle, thereby making the saw not level sometimes.
This might change if I put the fence extension on, and more so if I put a router table on.
I might do an update again on this if the problem sorts itself out with these additions.

I don't know how much farther from the middle, the axle could have been made though.
Also these wheels are a bit troublesome to roll over things due to the size of them.
It makes it easy to move though and swivel casters are still the way to go.

Now to make a bracket to mount the VFD on, I'm still unsure where the tabernacle will go
Suggestions folks ????

I was thinking of making a bolt-able upright that doubles up for a overarm guard mounting post , but thinking this might be a bit of a hazard for walking past or bumping my back into it....we'll see.
I am kind of thinking about a guard attached to the riving knife ...
Don't think this would offer protection making dados though ???

Still am waiting n buttons to make a Carl holmgren style stop switch bar.
Gonna make a woodruff key and a riving knife first though
Then mount the VFD

I would love to see suggestions on the overarm guard ideas
As it might be a good spot for mounting a VFD and provide more weight to the "lighter end"

Thanks folks
Tom

 

[JWD]

If i may aid to answer your initial question DigitalM (although that base is incredible)

Good compromise saw is an axminster ts200 or 250 depending on budget, they're light and quite good little starters. I've just fettled my 2yr old axi ts200 that rolls around on a plywood base, it's got a big sled square to about 0.002" over 2 feet and the blades that axminster sell cut really well.

I find my record tspp250 saw (which is on castors) will move but i wouldn't want to be doing it daily, or ever for that matter, it just makes sense to have that option.

Id go with axminster any day

joe

 

[Ttrees]

Back again after some more pondering...
It seems now like it would have been a much better idea to have the levers in the other orientation, as
I have possibly encountered some problems...
Along with the weight distribution issue, that makes the saw lean over when the wheels are engaged,
It seems like the upright to attach an overarm guard is going to be more troublesome...
I am planning to mount the VFD on this upright to complicate things further also

I wonder if anyone has a router setup on their table extension and also uses an overarm guard ?
How did you go about this?

It seems to me, like the upright needs to be outside of the saw rails for a few reasons.
And it would be nice to be made out from stainless ,and quickly removable.
I would have liked it to be mounted somewhere around where the foot lever is....
If its too close to the corner, it will be an obstacle to walk around ...
And it makes the VFD mounting more complicated.
If I only did it the other way :roll:
I might have to snake this mounting upright around obstacles ....

Keen to see what people have done with their guards if there utilizing the table extension,
Thanks
Tom

 

[Ttrees]

Hi again
Thought I'd keep ye updated on this
I've decided to mount the post on in the corner of the base...
Looks like I'll get away with mounting the VFD where I wanted too, just about ...
and I've sourced some stuff from old exercise machine parts I had been hoarding
Imagine, I was thinking about throwing this stuff out :shock:

Not sure on the height of the thing yet, but I think I will lop a bit off the u-channel post, so I can get the guard lower.
I probably could cut a bit off the chrome post a too,
The grey part with the bracket slides up and down, and swings out of the way if necessary.
The chrome bar slides up from the U-channel upright for router table use.

Now to make a sliding insert for inside the cross bar, as to have adjustability for the tilting blade.
And then work on the guard design.....
Would love to see some more blade guard/crown guard/blade cover designs
Or hear more discussed on the dust collection part of it.
Is there a shroud that allows the tilt function and the ability to cut narrow stock ?

The Axminster one looks like the best design as it has one side close to the blade
and a wider side for the tilt function
However ....
It does not look like the 90 degree side swings around to the fence so you can rip narrow stock
I think this would be a good idea ?
Correct me If I'm off the ball on this one
Tom