Table saw - Triton TCA100

[bilbo*baggins]

I need to rip several 27mm x 1800mm x 606mm solid beech block worktops fairly accurately to about 275mm wide, and have been offered the above, new, without saw. I have a 1500W Bosch c/saw and am exploring 'will it fit'?

I'll also need to cross-cut those lengths from 1800mm to about 1730mm, and I have a decent sliding mitre saw that might well do that......

I'm also wondering whether I couldn't save some money by using an long aluminium edge-guide....

What does the experienced team think about a) the ripping task and b) the c/cutting?

[The Medway Handyman]

You could do both extremely accurately with a sawboard & your Bosch saw;

things are absolutely the puppy's parts, dead accurate, easy to use & dirt cheap to make up.

[Mike Dodd]

To answer your question - "will it fit", dunno - can't find a 1500w model - even on Bosch's own website. There's a 1200w, 1600w, 2200w and

1050W (GKS 55, 65, 85, 160 respectively) - maybe an older, discontinued model? I can't find details of the TCA100, but similar saw tables from Titon do support a wide range of circular saws, so it's a reasonable guess that it probably would fit. I maxxed out after 30 minutes of searching the Internet(what else to do early on a Sunday morning).

I think you'll find cutting the worktop laid (possibly with a sacrificial wooden spacer - e.g. 12mm mdf) on the floor and the cutting depth of the circular saw adjusted accordingly, against a straight-edge laid across each dimension and clamped in place a hell of a lot easier than manouvering a worktop on top of a table saw - you're then moving/controlling only the circular saw, not the 30kg (or whatever) of worktop. I guess this is the option you refer to with a "long aluminium edge-guide" - in which case that option gets my vote.

My only concern would be for the quality of the finished cut, if indeed that's important for your application. It's almost certain that a pass over with a router would produce a better (cleaner) finish than that achievable with a circular saw, whether held in a table or not.

(for reference, this last couple of weeks, as weather and light permitted, I've been doing pretty much the same with oak table-tops, and the hand-held circular saw wins hands-down - although I did cross-cut one 1800x60x25 just to rough-finish to size one top simply because I cba removing the circular saw from the table, when I would need it again a few minutes later - a shortcut that I did question mid-cut with the weight of the worktop)

[stuart noble]

Easy to rip 606 to 275 with a circ saw and straightedge, but it needs a bit of planning, especially if you're working alone. Main thing is to make sure the "offcut" piece is supported after the cut. I use small nested plastic storage bins as supports (probably 8 in this case).

But "several" you say? I'd speak nicely to your local timber yard. 1800 is not that long to transport

[dom]

I'm not familiar with the table saw you mention, but my experience of table saws is "the biggest saws make for the easiest jobs"

Small ones are less stable, particularly with large timbers.

Also they're less good at handling wide boards unless they're panel saws, or you have a suitable extended table.

That's not to say the one you mention may not be good for ripping other long timbers, or that you couldn't build suitable infeed and outfeed tables for it.

But just looking at this one task, clamp down an edge to follow, and use your handheld CS.

At a guess, you may be using the cut worktops as shelving? So the cut edges can face the wall? AIUI sometimes cutting *some* solid wood worktops can expose some not so great internal construction.

[bilbo*baggins]

Thanks for the guidance, chasps!

I'll leave the 'table saw' plan for another day, and get myself a suitable guide for my handheld circular saw. The 'sawboard' idea, and its derivatives, seems particularly relevant.

Here's some more detail, FWIW. I've opened up a 'window' through a one- time external wall into a semi-loft space created by the roof of my single storey extension. The resultant opening - 177cm x 80cm x 28cm needs a door frame, then a pair of partly-glazed doors. Now, I've struggled to find a wood supplier who'd prepare the 28cm wide frame, and one made a proper mess of some American oak boards, so I was intrigued to spot - in my nearby IKEA store - a stack of deeply- discounted 180cm x 60cm x 27mm beech-block worktops, and 'ad me four at =A315 each

I plan to use the stuff as door frame boards. If that's successful, I'll have a go at making up the doors from the same material, so I'll want a c/saw guide that can also guide my router ( for a finer finish ). I'm now looking at Axminster Tools' offerings, but I can certainly make up a decent 'sawboard' as suggested during next week and have a ripping time.

[The Medway Handyman]

You will find a sawboard is actually much better & easier to use than many purpose built guides on the market. You can make them for routers as well.

[bilbo*baggins]

Right, Dave. Thanks again.

I'll do that first, and if it works well for me, I'll do it last......

BTW, I've just had a look at your website. I'm impressed! .....If only you had a branch over this way ( West Wilts ), I wouldn't need to be learning a little about a lot of other people's trades.

I quip about standing in the Monday-morning queue at my local Travis Perkins, listening to all the trades-types around me complaining about the lack of work. When I jump up and down, calling "Me, sir! Me, sir...!" 'cos I need some plumbing or Part-P 'lecky stuff done properly, I get wholly ignored while they chunter on about their fourth Spanish golfing holiday this year...... Then there are the guys who come, agree they want to do the job, then say "I can't start until the first week of next month". So you wait, and wait, and wait.....

I'm all for good working relationships with the trade professionals - but it isn't very often reciprocated. Let's hear it for the professionals who behave professionally!