Are site saws, such as the scheppach and Jet ones any good?

[thomaskennedy]

Hi,

These saws seem too good to be true...they claim to be very accurate and cut square, they are small enough to go in my workshop :wink: :roll: and they are a decent price!!

So does anyone have one of these, or any site saw, or had any experience with one?

If so are they as accurate as they claim? I had a look at the jet one at the Tools 2004 show, it looked alright but i couldn't get a proper look at it :roll:

Any advice would be lovely :wink:

Ta

Tom

 

[morrisminordriver]

Hi Thomas - I was asking a similar question a little while back, see here:
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... hlight=jet
Regards, MMD.

 

[thomaskennedy]

ah thanks for that MMD

So basicaly there are many mixed views about the Site Saws :roll:

Did you go for a site saw or what?

Ta

Tom

 

[Midnight]

Tom...

allowing for the rest of your machines, benches etc... how much shop space ya got...???

 

[morrisminordriver]

Hi Tom, I decided to stick with my old 8" Makita t/s (on a mobile base), it works pretty well as long as I use support rollers for outfeed and take care when feeding timber in to cut to ensure it stays staight. Also, my shed is 12' x 12' so its probably not a good idea to go much bigger but I thought th Jet 315 might just fit. The other issue for me is noise - the Makita is a bit noisy - if I ever get to see the Jet directly and its quiet I'll be tempted!.
Regards, MMD

 

[thomaskennedy]

Midnight- Well i used to be confined to one part of our basement...but i cleared the other two rooms out, so i have a lot more space, the room sizes are about;

Width Length
2m x 4.6m
1.5m x 3m
1.8m x 5m

Something like that anyway...

So i was also looking at the SIP Cast Iron one as well....but the trouble is i dunno what the full width of it is :roll:

Ta

Tom

ps. If anyone knows of ANY smallish saw with a sliding carriage and a strong fence PLEASE let me know

Ta

Tom

 

[Jake]

I think you'll struggle to get a sliding carriage in narrowish rooms like that. If the saw is, say, 1m wide, you'll only have another 1m to the left of the sliding carriage. It's going to be a squeeze to get past the carriage, and the length of the cross-cutting will be limited. I suppose you could swivel the saw each time you change between ripping and cross-cutting, but that would get very boring indeed.

Maybe look at a saw which has a pull-saw which allows you to do cross-cutting. My festool cs70 has this (as well as a sliding carriage) and 9 times out of 10 I use that rather than the sliding carriage. The festool is ludicrously priced (but very nice!) but I'm sure that Metabo and Electra Beckum do similar models. You'll still need to turn the saw if you're cross-cutting long pieces, though, but it is a more flexible system than the sliding carriage for shorter cuts (it doesn't make as long cross-cuts, though).

Otherwise, get a mitre saw (which is effectively what the pull saws are, except upside down, and with a table saw thrown in) for cross-cutting and use the tablesaw only for ripping.

Jake

 

[Woodythepecker]

Tom, take a look at the Scheppach TS2000. This saw has a small foot print and more importantly in your case it has a sliding table that can easily be lifted on and off.

Good luck

Woody

 

[Midnight]

yikes..... I thought my shop was narrow at 7 1/2 feet...

ummmmmmm... my first thought was that with long narrow spaces like that, it's crying out for a chop saw station with long in/out feed tables. I know.. not what you're looking for... but...

In your situation Tom, I'd steer away from site saws, and look so something like the TS 2000, build a rolling cabinet to the exact same height to double as an outfeed table. There's little I can think of to prevent a smaller version of the same to serve as an infeed table too. If you were to cut mitre slots into them that exactly matched those in the table, you could augment the rip capacity with a cross cut sled and a large panel cutter. Charlie's review of the saw says that it's available with extra table extensions that fold down when not in use, which would enhance the rip capacity.

Food for thought..???

For what it's worth, when a project demands that I work with sheet material, my first "go to" tool is my circular saw, simply to enable me to cut the stuff into more manageable sizes. From there, I use the table saw and jigs to cut pieces to final size. Illogical it may be, but so far, in spite of the tiny shop, all my projects have been huge... it's a pain, but it needn't prevent you from taking on something big. That said, you do need to think about exactly how you're gonna set about it....

 

[menatnma]

Tom why not come and down and see us at NMA and see the site saws in the showroom and we can fire one up for you to have a look at and a play with.ring us to let us know you are coming so we can be sure someone will be there to show you round, no obligation to buy, just have a look. 01484 400488

Richard one of the menatnma

 

[thomaskennedy]

Thanks for the invatation Richard

I might pop down on saturday and spend my birthday money :wink:

I was looking at the TS2000 but its a little pricey for me...although it may be worth the money....but thinking about it, i could buy the extra peices at another time...

Would the SIP Cast iron one be too big? I know it doesn't have a sliding carriage but just wondering :wink:

Ta

Tom

ps. I had a look at an Electra Bekum PK200 and i imagine that a TS 2000 would be pretty much the same? :?:

 

[gidon]

Tom - I have the TS2000. It's pretty good but a lot of money for what you get and I find it a little underpowered. Nice and neat if you're short of space though. Have you looked at its new not-made-in-Germany cousin:
https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/store/ne...t=0&max=25&search=ts2010&level=2&page=&issue=
A fair bit cheaper and still seems to have accurate adjustments.
Cheers
Gidon

 

[menatnma]

Tom we are not open on Saturdays, sorry

 

[thomaskennedy]

ah ok then....

What time are you open till on fridays?

Ta, Tom

 

[Alf]

Tom, menatnma, this should really be taken to PMs please.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Jake]

And I thought you were going to suggest a bandsaw

 

[Alf]

He's just got one.

Personally I think he'd better off with a SCMS and ripping on the B/S and forget the T/S altogether with such limited space, but I never listened to ancients such as myself when I was 15, so I'll save me breath...

Cheers, Alf

 

[thomaskennedy]

ahem....i am 16 now thank you :lol:

Whats a SCMS :?

Maybe i should just get a hand saw :roll:

No probs about PM's :wink:

Ta

Tom

 

[blurk99]

Hi tom, i've no idea what 'conventional' price is for these SIP cast iron saws but here's a fairly large discount and free delivery too....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 4338087174

but he's also put some measurements on the listing aswell....

Jim

 

[Noel]

SCMS = Sliding Compound Mitre Saw

Noel