Axminster AC216TS saw

bp122 · 1 Jul 2020

I have had this fence for nearly 9 months now (haven't stepped into the workshop in the last 4 due to my first off-spring being born

)

I have never been happy with the fence, I must say. It doesn't wobble or anything but it doesn't stay true. After every cut I need to measure if it is parallel to the blade. Instead of giving me a solid feedback upon locking the fence, the locking handle has a mushy feel - The kind I am used to getting from chocolate steel parts in cheap mowers or tools.

The welded sheet metal extensions on the side is half responsible for this, as the spot welds are really bad and it has a bow, so the fence rail doesn't sit properly, as a result it affects how well the fence sits once locked.

As a result, I have decided to make my own rip fence by:
1. Taking out both the rear and the side painted sheet metal extensions out
2. Removing the fence
3. Build an fence out of stable birch ply, running on INCRA tracks (actually just a couple of quid more than the cheap china stock on fleebay) on front and back - into wooden extension tables which also houses my router (currently don't have a router table) - This way same reliable fence can be used for both the table saw and the router table, whilst being able to use the right hand side mitre slot on the table saw top for mitre fence for the router table as well.
4. Increase the rip capacity from just over 400mm to 550mm (I don't use it to break down large sheets, got a track saw for that. But I have found that most of my projects tend to require round about 500mm rip capacity.

This is a wish list at the moment, but as soon as I get the weekly 2 hour pass in the workshop from SWMBO and the little pocket square, I will crack on with it.

A few items on the list I suspect might change, but not the agenda. Because I CANNOT LIVE WITH THAT FENCE!

The mistake I made is that I didn't use the saw for almost a month and a half after I bought it as we had just moved in and other bits were prioritized. When I did run it, I knew too little about saws and their intended performance to approach AXI about the issues.

Otherwise, I'd pick this table saw over any in similar price bracket, especially the brushless shouters.

One silly inexperienced man's opinion of course!

phillsky · 8 Jul 2020

I am thinking of getting this table saw. Have anyone fitted a router to the right side extension on this saw?

It looks like it's going to be a little bit of work. In my case i would have to extend/replace the extension. I need about
500 to 600 mm to fit my Triton router to the saw. Doing so it would be nice to extend/change the rip fence rail to gain
a bit of rip capacity, and be able to use the table saw fence for the router, with a router fence attachment. I don't know
if it's possible to modify the existing rip fence rail, or if it's possible to replace it with another one. I have found a
universal rip fence at charnwood, looks like it could work. But i don't know how thick the cast iron top is on the AC216TS.
According to the install instructions for the fence, the holes needs to be 20 mm from the top.

Steliz · 8 Jul 2020

I think the extension would be too flimsy for that. You would have to build a supporting structure for the router so you might as well just remove the extension.

bp122 · 8 Jul 2020

phillsky":155gn6go said:
I am thinking of getting this table saw. Have anyone fitted a router to the right side extension on this saw?

It looks like it's going to be a little bit of work. In my case i would have to extend/replace the extension. I need about
500 to 600 mm to fit my Triton router to the saw. Doing so it would be nice to extend/change the rip fence rail to gain
a bit of rip capacity, and be able to use the table saw fence for the router, with a router fence attachment. I don't know
if it's possible to modify the existing rip fence rail, or if it's possible to replace it with another one. I have found a
universal rip fence at charnwood, looks like it could work. But i don't know how thick the cast iron top is on the AC216TS.
According to the install instructions for the fence, the holes needs to be 20 mm from the top.

If you want to build an extension to the left of the saw blade (to your left as you stand in front of the machine to operate it, there are some threaded holes on the body of the saw as well as some threaded holes on the cast iron top. SO you can build an extension with some support utilizing these holes. *(This way your extension will be supported off the saw body and no pillars need to meet the ground - but not a lot of room to mess around with your router on the underside)

However, if you want to build an extension to the right of the saw blade, you definitely need to remove the sheet metal extension as it is just made of chocolate and won't take the weight of anything more than the fence! And the holes are ONLY on the cast iron top and NOT on the saw body. SO it is better to extend off the holes on the cast iron top and have two pillars coming vertically down to meet the ground (this way you will have more room to mess around with your router and no supports getting in the way, also you can use the right hand side mitre slot as your router mitre fence)

Bodgers · 8 Jul 2020

phillsky":27m1cbf5 said:
I am thinking of getting this table saw. Have anyone fitted a router to the right side extension on this saw?

It looks like it's going to be a little bit of work. In my case i would have to extend/replace the extension. I need about
500 to 600 mm to fit my Triton router to the saw. Doing so it would be nice to extend/change the rip fence rail to gain
a bit of rip capacity, and be able to use the table saw fence for the router, with a router fence attachment. I don't know
if it's possible to modify the existing rip fence rail, or if it's possible to replace it with another one. I have found a
universal rip fence at charnwood, looks like it could work. But i don't know how thick the cast iron top is on the AC216TS.
According to the install instructions for the fence, the holes needs to be 20 mm from the top.

I have done exactly this with the Triton. I discarded the pressed extension steel table and constructed an extension table made out of laminations of MDF. I milled a groove into the underside of the new extension, and put threaded inserts into those grooves so that the existing screw cut outs in the rails can be used to attach it. To reenforce the middle I created a U-shaped angled bracket that screws into the side of the saw body to support the extension in the middle.

You aren’t going to get much more rip capacity though as there are limits to the support you can have with the rails. A table saw is for ripping primarily, so if you want to cross cut big sections a large panel saw might be better- but that’s going to take up a lot of room. This thing is supposed to be a small ‘proper’ cabinet saw.

Not the best of pictures here but you can see the basics...