DIY Table saw

[jaro]

Greetings, I'm planning to build a table saw and router worktop with cabinets below using components from my existing cheap 10 inch table saw.
The top would be about 1200 wide and 1000 deep with and additional flap up extension on the outfeed side
My first question is to do with the positioning of the saw blade on the worktop, how much off centre across the 1200 top do I ideally want to place the blade.
On my existing table saw the blade is marginally offset from the centre but do I want to, for example position the blade, mostly to the right hand side, like say 300mm in from the right
giving me 900mm on the left? Or is this a bad idea. The router would be mounted under the top on the left hand side.
And I have a choice when it comes to which router to use, I have an excellent Elu 177e and a couple of other reasonably decent plunger router,
so, do I want to use one of these or the Elu for the fixed table router.
Thanks for any advice you are able to offer

 

[accipiter]

First welcome to the forum.

To try to give some input to your questions I'd be suggesting (if not already done so) you search over on YouTube to get ideas of what others have done when building their own table saw and router table combinations. May not answer all you questions but should hopefully give you some ideas.

 

[Orraloon]

I think it depends what you want to rip so how far to the right (for a right handed worker) of the blade do you want the fence to go for the widest rip you expect to be doing. Also routers usually get mounted right of the saw blade. That allows the miter gauge to run on its track left of the blade.

Thats how my router is set up in an extension wing.
As to what router I would say the most powerful but it will also depend on how you will raise and lower it. If you intend using big wide router bits then speed control is good to have.
Regards
John

 

[Sachakins]

I'd think about which way your saw pivots for angled cuts. You don't want to trap the wood between angle blade and fence.

 

[Sheptonphil]

I would mount the router to the right of the saw blade. Material is fed on the left hand side of the cutter, so if you put the router on the left you are restricting the width available for support of wider boards.

 

[Spectric]

Remember router table feed is right to left along the fence, but you need same space on the outfeed as the infeed and don't want anything blocking it's passage during the cut.

 

[jaro]

Ok thanks for your comments, If I understand this, the router should go on the right hand side of the table - because with the fence between the saw blade and the router cutter, the feed is right to left ie the opposite way for the infeed to the saw blade. As to the position of the saw blade across the table 1200mm width if I went for an off set position like 750mm from the right hand edge and then 500mm to the left top edge, then the fence would normally live between the saw blade and the router cutter position. Incidentally the depth of the proposed top is 800mm not 1000mm but with a lift up table extension taking the overall to, lets say 1200mm. But if the fence runners only go the the end of the RH 1200 top that would mean the max width I could cut against the fence (ignoring it's width) would be around 500mm? PS Yes I looked at every table saw build on YouTube, some are so magnificent with cabinet making quality but with the cost of material well outstripping the cost of a decent cast iron top machine!

 

[Doug71]

Maybe it's my lack of ability to build such a thing but I don't like how the words DIY and Table saw sound together

 

[Jameshow]

Maybe it's my lack of ability to build such a thing but I don't like how the words DIY and Table saw sound together

I agree by all means build the saw box into the table but taking the saw motor assembly and mounting onto the table is asking for trouble imho.

I'd put the saw blade 20" in and the router another 20" across with the remaining 8" the far side of the router.

Cheers James

Cheers James

 

[Orraloon]

I agree with James on this. Building the existing saw into a bench to give a larger table surface is one thing but you really have to know what you are doing to actually build a safe tablesaw. Also as you have mentioned the cost of materials may not be worth it. Having a router on the same platform as the saw however is a great space saver. Most of the wow workshop builds are from the US where timber and ply are cheap as chips thats why you see them happily ripping up sheet after sheet of great looking ply like there is no tomorrow. Usually without a guard on the saw too.
Regards
John

 

[jaro]

Interesting and very useful input thank you all. I thought I'd mention why am I'm planning this. My existing table saw has a very flimsy top made from aluminium extrusions and sheet, overall the thickness is 22mm, it has a distinct bow across the width and the fence is hard to set being of also rather poor construction. The entire motor and tilt assembly are fixed to the underside of the bowed top and so this could mount quite easily to whatever top I construct. I used to have a Bosch GTS 10 but the motor burnt out and the replacement cost were stupid so this cheap saw was bought. I cannot afford a proper cast iron bedded Table Saw, I think the cheapest one I've seen is the Charnwood at about 1000 + delivery to France. Also the upper floor of my old French Barn, where my workshop is, might not like the weight. I certainly am not going to attempt put my big drum sander, spindle moulder up there. Although I very occasionally do some wood work for money I am largely a hobbyist but I am hoping to start selling some specialist toolboxes in modest batch sizes later next year. So that's some background to my question.

 

[Jameshow]

How does it fit to the top?

I guess with bolts into threaded stubs in the alu top?

How about getting a sheet of say 6mm steel and hanging it off that?

Cheers James

 

[keithy1959]

I had an old contractor saw with a damaged ( severely bent) table which I mounted into a plywood top. It sounds like yours. It was extremely difficult to get it safely affixed to the new table. The saw gubbings kept moving about in the table, and what acuracy I got back on a flat table top, I lost with saw blade movement relative to the table over time. I had to constantly check the fence to stop binding and /or kickback in use. That's not to say it can't be done, but I ran out of patience with it.
The saw did me a favour by blowing up, but I dont think that was due to my modification. If I did it again, I'd cut the existing table down, but keep the mounting points and mount that in the new top like the circular saw builds on YT