Chicken or the egg...

[exigetastic]

First off I'd like to say hi to everyone. I've done a few searches, but the wealth of info on here I can't really see the wood for the trees (excuse pun)

Having lived in a Bovis box for the last decade I have finally taken the plunge and bought a proper house. Unfortunately proper house means proper jobs to do.

I have a "workshop" of sorts, a 15mx5m old chicken shed. Now here's the conundrum. The thing leaks like a seive, is rotten as a pear, and has an asbestos roof. So the first job is going to be rebuilding my workshop.

I'd like to kit it out with the sort of equipment to do exactly this sort of job, ie garden furniture, not cabinet making.

Currently I have an 12" Mcallister slide compound saw, a rubbish Titan bench saw, and a B+Q PerformancePro router. I also have a Ryobi Cordless Circular saw. + The assortment of cordless drivers / orbital sanders / power planers.

Up until now I have been fine ripping skirting, putting up stud work, that sort of stuff, but I'm now starting to find big lumps of wood I need to cut/rip that are physically too big for my machinery. In the past I'd have resorted to hand tools, but the volume I'm facing now means that's not really viable.


My current pressing need is being able to rip more than the 40mm my current bench saw will do!

After all that rambling :lol: , what would be people's recommendations as to the essential bits of kit I should get?

Thanks in advance

Si

 

[ByronBlack]

for large ripping, a bandsaw would be handy, or a 3HP beast of a table-saw. All depends on your budget.

 

[Andy Pullen]

Don't discount a good hand held circular saw as this is what most chippies would use on site for all ripping work and board material and as long as your wood is reasonably substantial it is probably easier than trying to man handle heavy planks through a machine. cheaper for a HHCC than a good sawbench or bandsaw too. Downside is noise and accuracy.

 

[exigetastic]

for large ripping, a bandsaw would be handy, or a 3HP beast of a table-saw. All depends on your budget.

I'd love a beast of a table saw :twisted: I just wouldn't want to put it in my shed where it would quickly turn into a pile of rust.

I suppose what I'm after is something that is either portable enough to store in the house, or cheap enough I can consider it a consumable / disposable for building my workshop.

One item I had considered is the Ryobi ETS 1525SC. I went to look at one today, compared to my excuse for a table saw it was streets ahead.

Unfortunately my father has a proper old school cast iron table saw, which he's had for at least 20 years, so I sort of know what I'd be missing out on, although he's never let me use it

Si

 

[Scrit]

Hi Si

I'll make more of a joinery type suggestion - go for something like a flip-over saw. I have a DW742 (10in blade) which has proven extremely useful over the years as it serves both as a chop saw (essential for fencing, stud walling, cladding, etc) and a rip saw for ripping down stock. The only down sides are the limited depth of rip (and they now do a 12in model) and the weight - it's portable but weighs a ton! For site work they can't be beaten - one reason you still see lots of them around - and they're pretty reliable to boot. Take the legs off and it will transport in the boot of an Escort saloon (just).

It might be worth hiring one for a weekend to see if it's suitable - they're also popular with hire shops because they're robust.

Scrit

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Si

Welcome to the forum.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[DomValente]

Not that Scrit needs seconding, but I wholeheartedly agree, perhaps you could add a couple of sturdy temporary infeed outfeed tables for longer boards.

Dom

 

[JFC]

Third here for a flip over , it's all i use in my workshop .

 

[ike]

I have one of these before these came on the market. Note the JET folds for transport - very useful indeed.

They are very powerful and cost effective plus they don't rust easily.

cheers,

ike

 

[engineer one]

back to the old argument, but i still feel that it is better to get a decent hand held circular saw with a track system. it is properly portable, accurate and does not need as much collateral space to use.

i try to avoid using my table saw these days because it needs so much room around it.

the other suggestions are very good and from guys who make their livings doing this, whilst i am only an amateur. therefore i have less space so look for the space saving solutions.

look for mafell, festo or the ez system.

paul :wink:

 

[Andy Pullen]

The only place a HHCC struggles is with very small or narrow workpieces, other than that it takes care of all straight work albeit rather coarsely and noisily.

 

[Vormulac]

Hello Si,

I would be another to suggest a circular saw and guide system instead of a table saw. It takes up less space and if the workshop is in as bad condition as it sounds, you can take it into the house with you when you're done to stop it rusting up! I have a table saw and the EZ guide rail system and I use the guide rail all the time.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Vormulac.

 

[exigetastic]

The only place a HHCC struggles is with very small or narrow workpieces, other than that it takes care of all straight work albeit rather coarsely and noisily.

So would a decent circ saw be ok for ripping say 8ft (or even 16ft) lengths of 8"x 2"s into 4"(ish)x2"s ?

I looked at the flip saws, and maybe I'm missing the point, but I could get a cast iron SIP table saw for similar money*. As I do have a saw which will cross cut 4"x4" posts already, the only added benefit I can see is portability. But once I've rebuilt the shed I'll not be needing to transport it anywhere, so it seems like a big chunk of ££ to lay down on something I'd upgrade.




*Price comparisons
Sip

Flip over

 

[Andy Pullen]

With a rip fence it could be 16metres if you want. If you want to rip a lot of heavy timber you really want a 9 1/4" saw. For general work a 7 1/4 is better because it is lighter and less fatigueing. I personally think a normal type of saw would be more versatile than a Festo type for general work and the investment is markedly lower meaning you can still get your table saw later if you want to.

 

[Scrit]

I looked at the flip saws, and maybe I'm missing the point, but I could get a cast iron SIP table saw for similar money*. As I do have a saw which will cross cut 4"x4" posts already, the only added benefit I can see is portability.

That's the point - the saw is portable and for site work that is a big bonus. I know several joiners with small shops who use flip-overs as either their permanent chop saw or in two instances (at least) where the flip-over is their only saw

I think it really boils down to the mx of work you'r doing

Scrit

 

[Andy Pullen]

I have found the flip over saws to be very much a compromise and like most 'multi' machines wanting in many ways. They generally can't cope with very wide rips due to table size and in mitre saw mode only have the capacities of a very basic mitre saw, dust extraction is a nightmare too. It is also most interesting watching people trying to rip with the unsuitable combination blade that is provided as the saws continually stall. They aren't very suited to jigs and suchlike either due to the absence of mitre slots in the tables. Maybe things have changed since i gave up on them and of course YMMV.

 

[Shultzy]

exigetastic, I've used a SMCS saw to build my workshop (here). I bought all the wood as 4x2 so didn't need to rip it. I only used a circular saw with a batten to cut ply as its only 3/4", so doesn't need anything beefy.

 

[DomValente]

Si, one of the reasons we suggested the flipover is that it is portable and if as you say your workshop is a rust storage depot, you can store it indoors until your workshop is ready and then sell it and by a stationary table/rip/bench saw.
There is the added bonus that if you are ripping 16 ft. boards the only place you're going to find 32' clearance is outside, unless you keep that much space empty in your workshop.

Dom

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Scrit and Dom, I always had you two down as pipe and slippers men but if you can lump the old DW742 around, you both must still be pretty robust :lol: The biggest problem I have with mine is even after you have brushed it down, when you pick it up theres always a pile of rough chippings hidden somewhere just waiting to drop into me underpants, leads to a very itchy ride back to the workshop, lots of chaffing :shock:

 

[DomValente]

Senior wrote:

Hey Scrit and Dom, I always had you two down as pipe and slippers men but if you can lump the old DW742 around, you both must still be pretty robust

WHAT ! Come over this way I'll show you how *$?"?%$ robust I am