It took me a while to realise it, but if the fence isn't exactly parallel to the blade, you still get a cut that is exactly parallel to the edge of the wood that's against the fence. The cut is just a bit wider than it should be.
The fences are not great on most cheaper benches, but at least if it stretches to the back end you can clamp it for accuracy. Not a problem on a Wadkin I imagine :-)
I bought a faily cheap Charnwood table saw a few years ago cos it had an induction motor. Replaced the fence with one of these
Only in as much as a Wadkin auto-clamps on the back rail when you clamp the front.
Actually the Wadkin, like most other fences running on a round rail, suffers from wear here and the fence perpendicular adjustment is often all over the place. The fence holder is a casting with an open-sided circular slot through it and the clamp is only a narrow lug in the middle. They will rock from side to side quite easily, after only a few decades of wear. The fix it to drill and tap for a few gib screws.
A few decades? You must have a later model then :-)
It's younger than I am, by a couple of months. (Round corners, obviously)
Sorry for the late replies.
The good point about the B&Q one: it is half the price of all the others (it is 89.99 IIRC) and it includes a stand, whereas stands have to be bought separately for another fifty pounds with some other makes.
Having compared it to table saws in the machine mart and screwfix catalogues, the b&q saw seemed very similar in spec to these.
B&Q don't appear to list any of their PP own-brand on their web site so you have to go to a store to have a look. I found that some of my local stores did not stock table saws, so phone first to save a wasted journey.
The biggest problem I have faced so far is that although there are "wings" on either side to extend the table, the fence will only attach to the central table part. The dilemma I now face is whether to pay much more for a table saw that allows the fence to be attached anywhere along the front, out-of-the-box, or whether to keep the cheaper model and use some of the money I have saved by doing so to buy some MDF to make a table extension and clamp a fence to that. I'm leaning towards paying more for one out of the box as it is more convenient.
HTH
Sorry for the late replies.
Thanks, I am thinking that upgrading is the best way forward. I know I could make some MDF tables as another poster suggested but why go to the hassle if I can have a saw that does what I want out-of-the-box? Hopefully I will find some time next week to visit a few shops and chose a better model. Perhaps I should wait until machine mart do a vat-free Sunday but I think they are not until the autumn!
I noticed that 22.5 is on my circular saw too.
On the subject of angles, I think the B&Q mitre fence does not have many angles marked on, which is another bad point. OTOH I suppose most cuts are at certain, common angles such as 45 degrees which is marked, but it just gives it a "cheap" feel.
[about rebates]I don't think I will ever do rebates but I saw the chapter so thought I would ask! I was just curious if expensive saws had a more precise, measured, height adjustment, which it seems they don't. [about not buying 80T blades]
So it's not about number of teeth, just about getting a blade from a good manufacturer. I read here that I should throw away the blade it comes with and buy a better one.
Thanks again.
Sorry for the late replies.
It was this saw:
Sorry for the late replies.
I did buy the book but I confess I have not read every page yet but for that reason I have not used the saw in anger either, I thought I would ask first before doing anything silly. I think it is better that people here laugh at me, rather than the doctors in casualty ;)
Sorry if the answer becomes clear when I have read the book thoroughly, but I can't see why there should be a 6" limit.
On these saws:
I realise there are two ways cut wood: instead of cutting one inch off a twenty inch piece of wood, you could turn it and cut nineteen inches as a daft example. But if the blade is angled, then this approach is not possible because the blade will only tilt to one side.
What am I misunderstanding?
The sawbench is mainly used for *ripping* e.g. reducing an 8 foot run of
6" x 1" to 5.5" x 1". This is the job that is virtually impossible to do in any other way. *Cross cutting* is relatively easy by hand or with a circular or chop saw. It's not something I would use a sawbench for.The problem with reducing, say, a 20" x 6" piece to 19" x 6" is that it's difficult to keep the 6" edge squarely against the fence unless the rest of the workpiece is gliding smoothly across the bed of the saw (which it never is, hence the use of sliding tables on ball bearings). Easier with 20" x 12" because a larger proportion is against the fence, and a doddle with 20" x 20". Of course the best of both worlds is the flipover saw.
Are you doing carpentry or cabinetry? I use my sawbench for a lot of cross-cutting, but it's shorter materials for furniture making, and I'm doing it with a sliding crosscut box. For timber framing, it's a handheld circular while the timber sits on trestles.
The one thing I don't use much is a chop saw. There's not much that's too long to go on the table saw, but light enough that I can carry it to the chop saw.
These days I only have the flipover saw I mentioned (no room for more than one machine in my loft). Alas no grooves in the base for a crosscut setup of any kind, but I can chop a 7" width , so it doesn't affect me unduly. I use the extension bars for long stuff.
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