This is my first post to this group but I've searched the archives and received quite a bit of useful information so far. I'm going to be purchasing a General International
50-185 table saw but I'm not sure if I should get the LM1 model with a 52" rip fence system or the M1 with the 30" fence system. Like many woodworkers, the space in my garage is less than ideal. I figure that if I can fit the larger saw into my limited space I might as well go for it. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the dimensions for either of the above listed saws. Specifically, what I need is the width of both saws from the edge of the table to the left of the blade to the end of the fence rails to the right for both saws. I'm hoping that any of you who have either saw would measure yours and post the results for me. I have about an 8' space left on one wall where my father's old Craftsman table saw used to reside along with my large router table cabinet. Dad wanted his saw back so now I'm left with a space and the need for a new saw. What I'd really like to do is build a new router table top to put into the space between the fence rails. I like having a fairly large router table and I figure that the longer rails of the 52" saw would give me a space to add one and combine two tools into a smaller space. I've seen that GI makes a router table that fits the 50-185 but it won't allow me to keep my phenolic router insert and probably won't allow me to use the beefy fence that I've built. Unfortunately there are no GI distributers within a few hundred miles of where I live, (Redding, California) so I can't go looking and measuring. Have any of you added in one of these tables to your saw? Some saws are designed in a way that makes it easier to add a table than others. Is this possible without drastic modifications to this saw? My current router table is about 36" wide by 24" deep and 1 3/8" thick. I'd like to be able to make a table to fit the saw that allows me to use the fence I already have and orient the fence so that I can use the cast iron table of the saw as an outfeed table for the router table. Most table saw/router combos that I've seen place the operator at the end of the saw with the router fence parallel to the saw fence instead of parallel to the front of the table saw like I want to do. Again, since I haven't actually seen one of these saws in person I don't know how hard it will be to attach a router table to the saw without heavy modifications to the saw and possibly screwing it up. Any ideas? could I do this with the 30" saw or is the 52" the way to go. As far as pricing goes, I've only found this saw for sale online at a few places and the price seems to be right at about $650US for the 30" and $690US for the 52". Anyone know where I might find this any cheaper? I was considering buying from Tools-Plus online. The nearest distributer is about 2½ hours from me and they don't have any in stock. they want $629US and $729US for the small and the large and wouldn't have it for about a week. I'd have to pay in advance and pay sales tax but I might save a little on shipping even after paying for the gas to get there and back. Sorry this is so long. I'll try to keep my posts shorter in the future. Thanks in advance for any replies.Bruce