Table saw recommendations

[The Medway Handyman]

Tooled - Up do have a showroom - I've been there. It isn't huge like Axminsters at Bobbing so they may not have the saw you want on display. I'd check before going.

[Guy King]

The message from John Rumm contains these words:

I needed some skirting board the other day. Cut it off a 12' length of

6x2 planed which cost around a tenner. Could have got 84' of skirting if I'd needed to, but actually only did 36' and welded up some legs for the remains to make a balance beam for the kids to play on.

[The Medway Handyman]

> As Andy said it makes a huge difference having a decent fence.

You have to drill the edge of the table and bolt two brackets to it. This has to be done fairly accurately although there is a little adjustment. One reason I chose the Charnwood was the cast ally table.

BTW Charnwoods after sales service really is good. I wouldn't hesitate to buy other stuff from them.

The fence rail is fitted to the brackets. Once on, the fence is then adjsutable to get it perfectly square.

The clamp is very good indeed, no wander at the back end at all. Transformed my table saw.

[Roger Mills]

Anyone know of any decent showrooms in the midlands? I live in Warwick - so it's quite a trek either to London area or to the south west.

[Andy Hall]

I think that that would be a good idea. Their categorisations of hobby, light trade, trade,... sem to be very even handed - i.e. they don't try to pretend that something is heavier duty than it is or to sell up the customer to something beyond his needs.

I guess that the contractor saws are heavier because of the motor.

I am slightly concerned about the galvanised steel plate as the table surface on these. It saves weight, obviously, but I worry about stability.

The aluminium cast/extruded tops should at least be stiff which is the main point.

Going the next step really involves cast iron tables. There's no question about rigidity, but there is a definite step of price and weight (says he wheeling a tonne of combination machine across the workshop).

[Guy King]

The message from Andy Hall contains these words:

I love watching him - just to see if he's going to pick up a hand-tool at any time during this episode. So far I've seen him using a block plane and once a chisel!

[Andy Hall]

That makes a lot of sense.

They've been around for a while. What's good is that they have figured out that there is a market for taking products which have the potential for after market upgrade and adding this as a service for a fair price.

That's interesting. It means that you can take the £120 saw, add this and make a difference for reasonable cost.

It's a shame that the saw manufacturers are doing mimsy mitre channels in Europe. If they did 3/4 x 1/2" it would open up a huge number of enhancement options.

[Andy Hall]

Unless there is a sliding carriage on the left of the blade. In this case, the sheet is clamped to the slider and is run through the blade with no restriction on the right - just a table to support the piece cut off.

e.g.

the principle applies to any table saw with slider)

.. or don't rip cut.

Yes, it is unwise. Apart from the inaccuracy there is the potential for material to impale the operator at high speed/energy necessitating a visit to A&E. That can waste an entire Saturday.....

[Roger Mills]

Good thinking! There's a W6 exhibition coming up at the NEC in early October. Is that the right sort of thing?

[It's supposed to be trade only - but I've just invented a company, and registered on-line, so what the hell!]

[Andy Hall]

Is this a UK-produced show?

The master of TV woodworking, Norm Abram, (I'm not commenting on his skills) has had a catch phrase at the start of each program for the last 15 years to distance himself from the ambulance chasers and reptiles aka attornies. He claims that guards are removed to help with visibility and photography. The reality is that there are certain cuts that can't be made with guards in place. While some would say that Norm fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the trip down, there are no missing fingers.

I have no idea who Bob Grose is, but a quick Google suggests that he has been clearing gutters at Longleat. The web site of builditwithbob.com suggests that "the boy done well"

The TV shows get away with a lot.

One of the others of this ilk showed Ben somebody-or-other refurbishing a cobb barn. There was a placement of a major brand U.S. wood glue called Titebond. Somebody had carefully removed a vowel from the label.

[Andy Hall]

That's worth knowing. Is Bobbing somewhere in your part of the world?

[Andy Hall]

There's some woodworking shows coming up in the Midlands in Sept/Oct.

[The Medway Handyman]

Yes, Bobbing is near Sittingbourne in Kent. Just off the A249 which connects to the M2 & M20. About 25 mins from me.

[Stuart Noble]

I don't know anyone who uses a blade guard. Handy if they have a fitting for a vacuum cleaner maybe but, for everyday work, they are a PITA. I fail to see what type of accident they prevent assuming the operator to be adult and of normal intelligence. Freehand cutting is genuinely dangerous, and what's the point anyway when you've effectively removed any control or accuracy?

[Guy King]

The message from Stuart Noble contains these words:

Mine's on whenever I use the riving knife - and off when the riving knife would be in the way.

The guard that goes straight in the bin is that stupid telecsopic thing on the drill press.

[Stuart Noble]

A riving knife is something else I've never felt the need of. Mine went in a drawer 20 odd years ago and hasn't seen the light of day since. I've never had kerfs closing up on me but then I don't cut wet or rough timber on it.

[Andy Hall]

That's something to be careful about. If the rip fence toes in at all (i.e. points fractionally to the left) it can cause binding of the blade in the work. The riving knife reduces that. Normally a fence is set with a very small toe out on a large workshop saw but on a portable saw this is not likely to be repeatable, so there is a risk from not having the knife.

[Stuart Noble]

I think I'd rather make sure the fence is set accurately. If there's no way of securing the far end of the fence with a clamp, I'd lengthen it to make that possible. Quite aside from safety issues, you have no accuracy otherwise

[Andy Hall]

Understood. I was really commenting on the safety issue with riving knives. Normally on a large table saw with rigid fence, the fence is set to toe out a few thou at the back of the blade relative to the front. This avoids the blade pinching, burning of material and kick back. Some people adjust for zero, but it is important that there is no toe in - i.e. gap from fence to blade narrower at the back.

On a portable saw, with a clamping arrangement at the back, unless the measurements are carefully made, ideally with a dial gauge for each cut, there is no real way to be certain that the blade and fence are at least parallel or there is toe out. Realistically, that trouble is not going to be taken.

Given the risk that there can be toe in, regardless of how little, the riving knife will tend to prevent kick back. If you haven't had a piece of wood kicked back in the absence of a riving knife, you have been lucky for a long time. On a large piece of material, it can be spectacular.

[robgraham]

Are you sure that they are universal motors ? I will admit to not having investigated but it is inadvisable for a circular saw blade to exceed a certain tip speed and universal motors aren't limited in how fast they go whereas induction motors are. In terms of noise and control of blade speed I would encourage the use of an induction motor ok the cutting noise will exceed the motor noise but it's surprising how much time the blade runs for effectively unused. And actually on that theme, get yourself a decent pair of ear-muffs.

There is the other factor to take into account and that is that universal motors use brushes which have a finite life.

Rob