Want to set-up Workshop

[john40131]

Later this year I want to start with a Bench Saw and a Band Saw etc etc in my garage so I can try my hand at woodwork after I retire.

Problem is I have looked at a few Bench Saws but some reviews are good and some are bad so not sure the best one to get I would like to spend about £300-£400 on a saw and have looked at :-

Makita MLT100
Ryobi ETS 1525SCHG
Charnwood W619 (like but only 8" Blade )

Would also like to use a Dado Blade with saw even if I have to make a spacer etc to fit.
Also would like a 10 " Blade where Charnwood is only 8"
I want a saw thats got plenty of area on top as well.

Would appreciate any help on choice.

Regards John

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Until you know what you are going to be making, you might be better off looking for a half decent bandsaw and forgetting the bench saw for a while. The bandsaw is far more versatile. If you are just "trying your hand at woodwork" I would forget dado blades.

 

[marcros]

I would drop the idea of a dado blade. Almost every saw that you look at won't be able to accommodate them, certainly if you are looking at new models.

 

[john40131]

Thanks for reply, I appreciate that Dado Blades are outlawed in EU because of safety reasons.

I want to set up a workshop in my garage I have been a DIY'er all my adult life and I can put my hand to most things and the woodworking side is basic tools at the moment, I also watch quite a few video programs about woodwork projects so would like to progress to something that will give me better results, so a saw and a home made routing table would be my first project although the 1/2" collet router I have at the moment is no good for mounting as the body incl side Handles. I will have to get a Palm router.

So my first buy would be a Saw.

Regards john

 

[KevM]

Hi John, and welcome aboard!

There are plenty of people on here that can give you sound advice on your requirements, most of them will come back with a question along the lines of "what are you planning to make?" because this obviously sets the requirements for the capabilities of any equipment you need.
If you're working in a garage don't neglect the space required around equipment for in-feed and out-feed when you're planning your layout, this can be addressed to an extent by mounting kit on mobile bases so that you can wheel it out when you need it and tuck it away when you don't.
For my money, and this may sound a bit a cock-eyed, my first priority would be good dust extraction/collection followed by a bandsaw to create the dust in the first place; it's amazing how my enthusiasm for working wood is improved when I can actually see across the room and don't end the day by coughing up jellyfish! I like the bandsaw because of its versatility, relatively small footprint, safety and simplicity of set-up and operation. For work where I might traditionally have used a table saw I use a track saw which allows me to break down sheet goods quickly, easily and safely.

Cheers, Kev

 

[marcros]

They are not outlawed but very few saws have an arbour that is able to take the dado set.

A saw is not a bad starting point and a router table a decent first project. If you have a router you probably don't need the dado set anyway- there are many ways to skin a cat.

The axminster ts200 and 250 are worth a look- not sure of current prices though. I wouldn't worry too much about 8" or 10"

 

[john40131]

Hi KevM

I know what you mean about dust extraction, I used to work at a company and we made circuit boards and used a second hand Wadkin Saw with a diamond blade and a sliding table not sure the make it was over 30 years ago and the fibre glass dust was all over the place even though we made a room out of Polythene to stop dust getting outside the area and that had a large dust extractor on it but got everywhere.

John

 

[woodbrains]

Thanks for reply, I appreciate that Dado Blades are outlawed in EU because of safety reasons.

I want to set up a workshop in my garage I have been a DIY'er all my adult life and I can put my hand to most things and the woodworking side is basic tools at the moment, I also watch quite a few video programs about woodwork projects so would like to progress to something that will give me better results, so a saw and a home made routing table would be my first project although the 1/2" collet router I have at the moment is no good for mounting as the body incl side Handles. I will have to get a Palm router.

So my first buy would be a Saw.

Regards john

Hello,

If I'm reading this right, you don't think your 1/2" collet router is good for a router table, but you think a palm router is. I think a 1/2" router is ideal for a router table and a palm router will generally be under powered and less suitable.

You have to decide what your main areas of work will be. As said above, if you are doing lots of stuff with sheet material a track saw is great in a small space. A TS capable of this sort of work will be massive, expensive and space hungry. However, if you work a lot of solid wood, a track saw is of limited use. Table saws are great for lots of things, man made boards, solid wood, accurate dimensioning to width, length, to some degree thickness, have good repeatability and are often the 'centre' of the workshop. BUT they require the materials they use to be reasonably well dimensioned in the first place. In other words, need reference faces at least, to be able to operate. If you do not have a planer/thicknesser, then they are fairly useless, unless you are planning to buy PAR to work with (limiting and expensive in the long run) and 8 by 4 sheets need breaking down to manageable pieces, with straight edges. A bandsaw will be most useful for solid stock and will not be limited to PAR, so opens up options there. Could be argued that they are safer to rip with too, but not a lot of use for sheet goods. TBH if you are going to make a lot of solid edged veneered board stuff, get a tracksaw and bandsaw. If you are planning more solid wood structures get a Bandsaw and then tablesaw. If you definitely want a Tablesaw for making stuff which includes solid wood, then you will need some sort of planer/thicknesser. Personally, if i were starting with one machine and keen to do handwork, I would limit myself to mainly solid wood and start with a Bandsaw, a good bench and be prepared to do some hand planing.

To be frank, and possibly upset a few here, new tablesaws in the price point you indicate, are rubbish! Look for second hand, and get a professional machine, if at all possible. Otherwise, new, lower priced bandsaws in your price range, are better value than a TS for the same money.

Mike.

 

[Fatboy]

I agree with what others here say but would also add that I bought the Makita MLT100 with stand after trying a few others; for DIY or low level woodworking it will do you just fine; it needed a little fettling to get the fence square like most tools but it performs ok for what I need; I ripped down some 3x2 white oak last week and it left a clean accurate cut but it is mostly used for sheet material. As others say, it is secondary to a bandsaw.

It definitely won't take a dado blade but you won't need it to if you have a decent router.

 

[Stooby]

I have been looking at table saws for cutting strait edges, to make small boxes and to cut wood to accurate lengths to make things like small cabinets, nothing professional. I have very limited space and was looking at a table saw which would be very portable. Would the table saw be good for my needs or would a band saw be better?

 

[john40131]

Hi Woodbrains
Very grateful for your comments, the router I have at the moment is one I got from B&Q a few years ago when I did my kitchen worktops and its a bit heavy has a 1/2" collet but with 2 side handles with the switch next to the handle, I have a metal table that I got so I could mount but I would like to build a table that I have seen on various u-tube and video's but they seem to use the palm type but the ones I've seen are the Bosch and seem to be 1/4 " collet and can be clamped, and with the right type of table design wind-up or tilt etc.
Projects would I suppose be varied from Jigs etc and furniture that I do for my family etc, also I have seen a good workbench that will be my first project so I can get rid of the length of worktop on a few bits of 3 * 2 frame which I knocked up about 30 years ago.

I appreciate the cost of tools I have looked at saws ranging from a £100 in B&Q (crap) to some in the thousands bit out of my league so may look at second hand, lots of time yet so will carry on looking and save the pennies.

Most grateful for all comments

Regards John

 

[giantbeat]

from personal experience i can't recommend the MLT100 as a good saw, i bought one for my home (cellar) workshop to help with the house renovation and do some of my day job at home when i was having to spend a bit of time at home taking deliveries etc... its a bloody loud horrid thing that starts with a "bang" its so flimsy and fragile, within no tame the plastic parts on mine were suffering & only a a month after the 12 month guarantee it started smoking & went up one day before i had even put it under any load.

makita issued me with another after i sent it to them for inspection, this one was no better and it also burned out one day whilst under no load.

i replaced it with the much more expenisve (still paying it off on the plastic fantastic) Bosch GTS10 XC which has been amazing, its sturdy, quiet can handle very hard wood & was dead on cutting accurate straight out of the box.

 

[deema]

Have you considered a Wadkin Radial arm saw? It can rip, cross cut and can be fitted with trenching cutters / dado cutters (I use a spindle moulder cutter block with reducers). An all in one saw as their advertising states. For ripping the saw has anti kickback fingers and a riving knife. I had to wait a while until a riving knife popped up on eBay as mine came without it. For a small single person work shop it's IMO an ideal, compact bit of kit

I believe that ripping with such a saw is not frowned upon, however I am not sure why. I have ripped with mine, and by dropping the blade into the table, felt that it offered for me much more protection and safety than my table saw.