Why do I need a table saw?

Messages
5,069
Location
Santa Claus, In
Just like the title says, why does one really need a table saw? I can cut dados with a router. I can break down sheet goods with a track saw. What can a TS do that something else can't?

The only thing I can't figure out right now is tenons. Other than that, I can't think of anything.

I am really thinking of selling mine to make more room.
 
Repeatability of cut for ripping things to a certain width?
Working accurately and safely with small pieces on a sled?
Bevel cuts?
Nice big flat piece of iron for setting things on?

You'll still need room to setup a table for your track saw...
 
Where else are you gonna put your stuff'?? If you have a miter saw, you might do without the table saw, but it really depends on the kind of work you do. I used to use it for ripping long, narrow stock for making custom moldings. Now I use my much safer band saw for most ripping. It works for tenons too. Table saw makes custom cove moldings that would be difficult otherwise. I break down sheet goods with the track saw but still use the table saw with a sled on smaller pieces like drawer parts or small box parts or, if you are a turner, segments for bowls. I also use a miter sled for small box sides and another sled for cutting splines in box corners. I'm not ready to part with mine yet, but it's value really depends on what you build.
 
Last edited:
I have routers and shapers and track saws and miter saws and a radial arm saw and skill saws and jig saws... well you get the picture.
And I would be lost without my table saw. I find it far easier to size sheet goods than the track saw, far more accurate for dados than a router jig especially for case work. I do all my cross cutting and cut my stiles and rails for my doors and face frames on the ts. I very very rarely use my miter saw in the shop.
Think of the time it takes to set up each cut with a track saw or a router dado jig? then look how fast you can just measure out the fence and depth of cut and cut all your pieces accordingly.

The TS is the backbone of my shop. I couldnt do without it
 
One option might be downsizing your saw if.

I don't know what you have right now, but you could always swap it out for one of the jobsite type saws that you could easily roll out of the way and roll it back when you want to use it.
 
I'd miss doing the cool pop can ring patterns on top of mine. ;)

The track saw could possibly do the same job, but overall I think ripping would be easier with the TS. I've done a lot of shelving and cabinet work with just a skill saw, router, and jig saw, but the quality was nothing like when using a TS.
 
Ya don't So you just go ahead and put i in your truck and drive it on out to my house. I wont charge ya a thing for getting rid of it for ya.:thumb::thumb::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
Really i did the same thing a few years back had a junk delta that you couldn't even begin to true up. So it went and I replaced it with the track saw. I have a job site saw for work that has only left my shop once scenes the big saw went.:doh: And now I am looking at getting a new cabinet saw (prolly a saw stop)so the job site saw can go back in the trailer.:thumb:
 
chuck he has a stone table that is not right!!!!! and his only alternative is to get a new iron one or get a saw with a correct table.. i couldnt belive it till i saw it in action the groves arent parrell at all.. the miter guage wont even run threw them the same if i was him i would sell it to some poor soul and get a good one never would i be without one steve
 
Yes Larry has seen the saw. Ridgid 4511. I liked it for a couple of days.

Basically I just need room. I can't build on, to much other stuff needs done. I am going to play around with location and see what I can do.
 
Although my tablesaw doesn't get a lot of use, I'd have a hard time getting along without it. I can easily do rip cuts that are ready for glue-up without the need for planing or sanding. It's also more accurate for crosscuts than anything else in my shop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
chuck he has a stone table that is not right!!!!! and his only alternative is to get a new iron one or get a saw with a correct table.. i couldnt belive it till i saw it in action the groves arent parrell at all.. the miter guage wont even run threw them the same if i was him i would sell it to some poor soul and get a good one never would i be without one steve

Well that being the case he can still load it up and bring it out. we'll give it a proper burial. :thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:
 
I'd get rid of the track saw before I got rid of the table saw!!!!! I wasn't too impressed with the festtool track saw. To much vibration, too cheap feeling for the money and when you put two tracks together to make a longer one the pieces would never come out straight.

Do what Larry say's and get one with a cast iron top and you'll never look back.
 
Many shops do without a tablesaw. If you are not doing work that requires precision straight and angled cuts there is no requirement for one. A bandsaw or circ-saw will cut generally straight and you can do final fitting with hand tools. A lot of period furniture (and a lot of modern too for that matter) use sweeping curves, swan's necks and arches; none of these require highly accurate straight cuts; just highly accurate joinery or fairing.

Gary Rogowski (Northwest Woodworking Studio, OR and FWW mag contributor) listed the tablesaw last on his list of "required" machines for a well equipped shop. I myself would be lost without one but, that's because of the types of styles I prefer right now. I have a CMS that was acquired long ago. Everything I read led me to believe I could not live without one. I used it a few months ago to trim out LOML's bedrooms after a makeover. That was the first time the thing had seen power in a couple years; I would never miss it. In fact it has been in her garage ever since. If you find the tablesaw used seldom, I would be tempted to pull the fence, grease the top, throw a protective cover over it and put it out of the way for 6 months. If there are no ill effectes, I would say you could send it down the highway.
 
Last edited:
Where else are you gonna put your 'stuff'?? If you have a miter saw, you might do without the table saw, but it really depends on the kind of work you do. I used to use it for ripping long, narrow stock for making custom moldings. Now I use my much safer band saw for most ripping. It works for tenons too. Table saw makes custom cove moldings that would be difficult otherwise. I break down sheet goods with the track saw but still use the table saw with a sled on smaller pieces like drawer parts or small box parts or, if you are a turner, segments for bowls. I also use a miter sled for small box sides and another sled for cutting splines in box corners. I'm not ready to part with mine yet, but it's value really depends on what you build.

Mine is mostly a nice convenient table in the middle of the shop to catch things... when it works (It don't right now) I'll use it for ripping board for glue up for my pepper mills and things where I need a repeated width.... I can do most of that on the band saw, but since I don't have a proper fence on the BS, I don't get as consistent cuts as the TS... I have a miter saw and the new Rockler saw (forget the exact name... essentially a sabre saw turned upside down and attached to a table with a fence and circle jig) work pretty good for small pieces. I have a sled for the TS for doing cuts for segmented bowls, but haven't actually done one yet... I have to work on the TS and get it going again... it's a Small Delta that works fine, but the switch is inside the housing of the motor and blade and fills with sawdust, so I have to dismantle it ever so often and clean the switch... plus I think my reset switch needs to be replaced... as well as the blade.

But for right now it's a convenient place to put blanks and such when I cut them on the band saw.
 
I had to break down 4x8 sheets of plywood and mdf today.
Its a bit akward to do this in my small garage, but thats life.
The track saw broke down the sheets to managable size for me to handle.
Then I ran the smaller sheets through the table saw to cut down all the sizes I needed. Then over to the mitre to cut lengths.

For me, the 3 saws work as a team.

I do tons of ripping of hardwoods, I dont know how else Id be able to do it in a reasonable time and comfortably.

Keep the tablesaw, dump something else.

(you live in a rural area? why not get a shed and store your less used machines in there on wheels and have easy access to them whenever you need them. open up tons of space on your shop floor.)
 
Some folks say we make the table saw the heart of our shop out of unthinking habit. There's them as say the bandsaw should be the most important, the first thing bought and where resources are best invested. And that was *before* track saws were widely available.

It makes some sense when you think about it. :dunno:

Thanks,

Bill
 
Being a machinist all my life, a bandsaw was the main machine used for cutting up material. There are no tablesaws in machine shops. So when I took up building large wooden telescopes naturally the parts were cut up on the bandsaw, and then the parts glued and screwed together- including the one in the photo below.

When a friend heard that the really big scope was being built, he stopped over to have a look. He looked around the shop for a bit, screwed up his face, and finally asked where my tablesaw was. I started explaining how the parts for my scopes are cut up on the bandsaw, then assembled. He interrupted me and asked how long it took to build a scope. I answered about 40 hours. "Want to reduce that to about 8 hours?" he asked. Then he added that it was about time I learned something about woodworking…

That got my attention. I even went out and joined a woodworking club, as the idea sounded like fun. Before long the first tablesaw found its way into the shop, and I have never looked back. If you aren't in a hurry, a tablesaw is not necessary. But a couple of hundred scopes later (and a few dozen shop cabinets also) you have to wonder how you ever got along without it.

I'll even go one step farther and wonder why anyone would have a tablesaw without a sliding table on it also. Together they make working sheet goods a piece of cake. Sure, some people don't use any power tools and do marvelous work, but I'm sure not one of them…

Just one more opinion
 

Attachments

  • 1.jpg
    1.jpg
    58.1 KB · Views: 44
What did they do before table saws were invented?

Since I don't have a "real" table saw in my shop, (I have a Shopsmith... separate tool guys can stop laughing now) I don't think it has become the focal point in my shop. Yes, I use the table saw, but I've found a balance with both the bandsaw and hand saws. With a little practice, a lot of crosscutting and smaller work can be done with the appropriate hand saw...even tenons.
 
Top