OT: Table Saw

Hacks never know what tools to use. ...whatever's handy,

You're quite wrong. It's a *terrible* solution. Get a decent saw, with a decent blade. If you need it smoother than that, scrape or plane it. Sandpaper is to prep for finishing, not to remove material. A scraper is a better solution, here, as well.

Good ones arent cheap, and weigh a ton. Mid-range ones pricewise are pretty orrible. For cutting sheet you'd be better off with a good circular saw plus a sawboard.

I don't see any point in a tracksaw - it does almost as much for more cost.

NT

Maybe you should take a course then.

...whatever's handy,

You sound like a layman.. and one with no experience.

Disc sanders and belt sander are for removal and finish dress of a surface or edge. Always have been. A disc sander in particular is.

Without a jointer, these tools work.

And no, he likely does not have nor is capable of easily using a carpenters plane. The powered tool suggestion merely requires care and a steady hand.

You really should supply a clue as to what you're trying to accomplish?

Some photos. It's also sometimes called a "plunge saw" used for flooring and cutting neat grooves without using a router:

You can make your own track saw. Something like this:

Hint: If you're making long cuts with the grain, use a ripping or thin kerf blade, not a crosscut or general purpose blade.

I don't have a track saw, so I just use a long L shaped extrusion to guide the edge of my worm gear drive saw and several C-clamps to keep it stable. Not the best but good enough for ocassional use.

Nope. That's a panel saw. You don't need or want one:

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The problem with a sawboard is its thickness. If you want to adjust the bevel on the saw (i.e., not a square cut), this thickness shifts the effective location of the cut edge (i.e., in your board) -- as well as buggering the edge of the sawboard.

Agreed. It also imposes length limits on your pieces. Want to make an

8' rip? You need a longer track.

A piece of angle iron, U channel, or even just a strip of thick steel gives you the same effect. And, can also be used as a guide for a router instead of a router table (e.g., cutting a rabbet, dado, edge treatment, etc.) And, as a poorman's guide for a jointer plane used in place of a rabbet, plough or moulding plane (for edgework) -- assuming you don't own a universal plane! :>

sanding is used for both

for the edge of particle board? come on

why not? they're easy to use & inexpensive

All one need do is use a suitable tool in the first place, and use it correctly so the surface doesnt chip. If further edge finishing is required it can be done with sanding, planing, or even routing.

NT

How often are you doing something like this? If you are doing the occasional job get a saw guide and a good circular saw. Buy a small adjustable square and set that from the saw shoe to your blade edge. You can then use that to set the distance from the guide to your cut line. It's easier than trying to measure all the time. I use some angle iron and clamps just because I had them but I keep telling myself I'll go buy a nice guide. Make sure and set your blade depth for the size of the sheet. You will get a better cut if you dont try and cut 15/32 plywood with the blade set for a 2x4.

I have many projects coming up so a table saw is my next big buy. In my option Delta is the best. It has the best stand, fence and such. The Ridgid stand seems very flimsy and unsteady. Porter Cable is not much better. The Delta from Lowes will set you back 600 bucks.

Anyone have any experience with Kreg tools? I saw this DIY kit infomercial on TV.

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Chisolm 
Republic of Texas

+1

Though I found angle iron not as "universally applicable" or other uses. The portion normal to the work surface is usually too high and can get in the way when using it as a guide for, e.g., a router (the "other edge" is typically too thin to form a reliable edge against which to drive the tool).

[A chunk of cold-rolled -- not *hot* -- steel can give you a great "fence". E.g., 1/2" x 1" x X']

My old "side drive" circular saw is on its last leg. I suspect I will replace it with another worm drive saw as I really like having the blade on the *left* (being right-handed) so I can *see* what I'm doing! I also find it easier to push *through* the work (from behind) instead of "from above". And, it's a lot quieter. (unfortunately, a bit heavier)

sounds like you want a panel saw. Triton does a folding table saw that mounts a hand-held circular saw upside down, with a track attachment for cutting oversize material.

etty

plus

Your board can be as thick or thin as you like, 3mm if need be

e edge

Re shifting the cut edge, if you make a board for your angle setting it wor ks just fine. Nothing gets buggered. The whole point of a sawboard over a t racksaw is you can make a board any length, size, angle you want, and alway s get the accuracy & clean edge benefits of zero kerf.

NT

ost.

My table saw scares me. (Especially with big flappy plywood pieces.) I like using my circular saw and clamp down a straight edge onto the piece I'm cutting.

George H.

And scared you *should* be! I overheard them conspiring, last night, to "off" you and your wife while you sleep!! Something about leaving the gas on... BE CAREFUL!!

;-)

+1

But, the straight edge needs to be "tall enough" (thick enough?) so it's a nice solid edge against which the saw's shoe can ride (without risk of it climbing/slipping up/over).

Most saws have an indicator on/in the shoe to define the location of the blade/cut. I just line that up with the pencil marked cut location on the lumber, then bring the straightedge up along the edge of the shoe. Repeat at the other end of the cut. Then, back to the start to reverify (if you are sloppy, the guide may shift as you shuffle it into place on the far end).

Some saws have low power laser indicators to more clearly show the path of the blade.

Using a guide (of any sort) is so much easier than trying to peer over the saw to verify you're still "lined up properly" with your pencil mark. Esp for side-driven circular saws (where the blade tends to be on the "wrong" side of the saw). Your attention should be on *safety*, not following some silly mark!

Sure. But thicker exacerbates the "skew"/offset on bevel cuts.

And, any bevel cut leaves a much more fragile (sharp/thin) edge on that side of the sawboard. The whole point of the sawboard is to have a clean edge that you can simply align with your intended pencil mark on the work. As that gets buggered (because tools tend to get beaten about, over time)...

You can't line the board up with your intended mark as easily. The top edge of the sawboard is now shifted over wrt the desired cut

*at* the lumber you're cutting:

your line of sight | v ________________________ sawboard with desired angle \ \ ===.======================= lumber to be cut | +--- desired place for cut

(direction of cut is *out* of the CRT)

I've never seen a circular saw that allowed the blade (shoe) to be canted *inward*., E.g. so the above could be implemented as: ____________________ / / ===.======================= lumber to be cut | +--- desired place for cut

which would allow the sharp "indicating edge" of the sawboard to be more easily aligned with the pencil line on the board.

It gets buggered when you try to store the sawboard and reuse it again at a later date. The "indicating edge" is now thinner/sharper/more fragile.

And you're going to keep how many of these "on hand" in your shop? Or, will you treat them as disposable: make one for each job and discard it thereafter?

I keep *one* straightedge/guide and let my saw "remember" the angles of interest.

the advantage of a proper track is that it restricts the saw both left and right.

though you could fashion some kind of guide on th saw that hooks onto a piece of angle iron to get the same effect

you can get side drive saws with the blade on either side, I don't think I've ever seen a worm drive saw here

and you need some push from above to keep the saw flat on the work

-Lasse

Whoa, that's awesome, just what I've needed all these years!

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 Thanks, 
    - Win

Of course. Mat cutters operate on the same principle. But, there, the consequences of even a 1/32" screwup/deviation are inherently much more visible ("Crap! Start over. Put this in the trash...")

Here you'll find mostly right hand saws (i.e., motor to the left of the blade). I'm sure you can find left hand saws -- esp if you go hunting at tool vendors (i.e., not big box stores -- though PC makes one so you *might* find that at a big box)

Most (right handed) folks are "safer" using a "blade right" saw as it keeps the blade "behind" the saw in case of kickback. (most homeowners being less experienced at handling power tools -- do they even *own* a pair of genuine safety glasses? *use* the blade guard on their table/circular saw? pushers?? etc.)

The worm drive saws (in addition to being blade-left) tend to be heavier duty, higher torque, longer life -- and heavier. And, it tends to keep you (hiding) *behind* the saw instead of "hovering OVER it". E.g., the saw ends up *out* in front of you most of the time with you "pushing" it from behind.

If you have infinite resources (space, money, time, patience), you'd ideally want a variety of (power) saws. Cut-off/chop saw for making quick work of 2x4's; table saw for ripping larger pieces; panel saw for large sheet lumber; electric miter for compound cuts; scroll saw for fine/delicate work; router table for dados/rabbets/mouldings; etc.

A friend passed away last (?) year. Wife offered his woodworking tools (drool). But, unless you have the space to "warehouse" the stuff, it just ends up competing for space that you could more profitably use for other things! Sure, a wood lathe would be nice to have, *if* you needed it! But, what would you "discard" to make space for it? (he had a 5 car garage so it was relatively easy for him to set aside

2 stalls for this stuff)

It comes up here as, "This video is unavailable, Sorry about that." :-(

Anyone have a different link or an item number? ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142     Skype: skypeanalog  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Is this it...

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142     Skype: skypeanalog  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Den mandag den 9. marts 2015 kl. 19.58.22 UTC+1 skrev Jim Thompson:

it was there yesterday, looked like this :

I don't see it being anywhere near as good as a track

-Lasse