Machinery/ tool dilemma

[Oddbod70]

my big thing i guess is what i'm missing out on if i lose the table saw. crosscutting i can do on the mitre saw, rips i can do on the bandsaw and grooves/rebates i can do on the router table. i cant fit sheets of anything on the table saw and i use a tracksaw and mft for sheet goods.

Yeah, I guess I'm lucky to have the space for a baby panel saw with a decent sliding table. It won't take full sheets but half sheets are OK. I do use quite a lot of sheet material - veneered ply/MDF etc.

I don't have a track saw (maybe that's the problem ) so panels get rough cut with a small circ saw first.

I love being able to then just trim them up on the table saw with repeatable sub mm dimensional accuracy and & reliable right angles. Carcassing is quite boring. Once rough cut I can spit them out in minutes.

 

[craigs]

Yeah, I guess I'm lucky to have the space for a baby panel saw with a decent sliding table. It won't take full sheets but half sheets are OK. I do use quite a lot of sheet material - veneered ply/MDF etc.

I don't have a track saw (maybe that's the problem ) so panels get rough cut with a small circ saw first.

I love being able to then just trim them up on the table saw with repeatable sub mm dimensional accuracy and & reliable right angles. Carcassing is quite boring. Once rough cut I can spit them out in minutes.

oh i wanted a hammer combination, but then quickly realised i don't have space for one. i had a bit of a move around this morning and im kinda leaning towards keeping the small table saw, I think i'll get the planer/thicknesser in and see if i can make it work, then decide if i need to get rid of it.

As things evolve i can re-evaluate

 

[sometimewoodworker]

Here we go, its a bit cramped, and bear in mind i've only have this place (and house) 2 months so its very much a WIP. trying to get the ceiling and insulation finished as winter....is...coming

I knocked together all the stands in an afternoon just to give things mobility...not the best design but at least functional.....for now
View attachment 92709View attachment 92710View attachment 92711View attachment 92712

I would put the thicknesser, table saw router and SCMS on to two revolving tables, not the most convenient arrangement but practical, like this

that is a 12” SCMS so not at all small.

since my workshop is now about 10 x 12 I don’t need to rotate the table any more.

 

[craigs]

I would put the thicknesser, table saw router and SCMS on to two revolving tables, not the most convenient arrangement but practical, like thisView attachment 92718View attachment 92719
that is a 12” SCMS so not at all small.

since my workshop is now about 10 x 12 I don’t need to rotate the table any more.

I wont be keeping the thicknesser, so i dont really have 2 tools i can do that with as the router table is standalone. nice idea though

 

[craigs]

more woes......2-3 months delivery on the itech 260s....any other *new* machines worth considering around £1500 ? the axi has just bumped its price by £200 and is apparently a pain to setup with split tables.

i may not have mentioned im fairly impatient

 

[Just4Fun]

I find it interesting that the decision-making process seems to center around which machine would get the most use rather than which machine would do the least-enjoyable task.

 

[craigs]

I find it interesting that the decision-making process seems to center around which machine would get the most use rather than which machine would do the least-enjoyable task.

some people like baking cakes, and some people like decorating them.

Id rather spend less time turning rough timber into useable project parts and use tools/hand tools for finessing.

 

[Just4Fun]

some people like baking cakes, and some people like decorating them.

Quite. Let's extend the analogy. Say I like decorating cakes, not making them. Should I buy an electric mixer to eliminate what I regard as the drudgery of mixing cake batter? Or should I buy a set of scales to eliminate the guesswork of measuring out the ingredients? The approach in this thread would suggest I buy the mixer because that is the most time-consuming part of the process, ignoring the fact that I really hate guessing weights and getting it wrong. Perhaps buying the scales might have a bigger impact on how I feel about making cakes.

Bringing this back to the topic in hand, I am not saying that a table saw is a better or worse choice than a planer thicknesser. I am saying that some people might prefer to avoid hand sawing whilst others might prefer to avoid hand planing, but nobody seems to factor this preference in to the decision.

 

[TheTiddles]

some people like baking cakes, and some people like decorating them.

Id rather spend less time turning rough timber into useable project parts and use tools/hand tools for finessing.

Weirdos! Baking and decorating are the mandatory precursors to the best bit!

I’m with you on this, get drudge done so you can get to the good bit.

I would also add I think you are rushing into buying stuff a bit, which is fine, you appear to already know this!

Aidan

 

[craigs]

Weirdos! Baking and decorating are the mandatory precursors to the best bit!

I’m with you on this, get drudge done so you can get to the good bit.

I would also add I think you are rushing into buying stuff a bit, which is fine, you appear to already know this!

Aidan

oh god yes, theres also the buy it while i have the cash available....or it will just get soaked up somewhere else.....like an already excessive handbag collection (not mine), not that I object, we all have our vices.

I have spent a good few years thinking about machines that I want, but have never had the space to have any (previous was a 7x7 "composite" shed). Now that I have the space, its just making it all work.

My original question was basically I dont want to overcrowd the small space I have and have nowhere to actually make anything, so would i miss the contractor grade table saw, or do i try and make it hide somewhere.....it now seems Ill keep it until i get a PT and see if i can make it work....which could be a while as 2-3 months delivery from S&S is my new bugbear.

 

[Cabinetman]

https://jmjwood.co.uk/products/planers-thicknessersHi Craig, this is the company I bought all my secondhand equipment from, refurbished, good quality company they have a Sedgwick for £2850 plus VAT or an SCMFS 30 C which is the machine one down from mine for 2975+ VAT, my SCM hasn’t given me any trouble at all in I guess 6/8 years and the finish it gives is superb. Ian

 

[craigs]

Quite. Let's extend the analogy. Say I like decorating cakes, not making them. Should I buy an electric mixer to eliminate what I regard as the drudgery of mixing cake batter? Or should I buy a set of scales to eliminate the guesswork of measuring out the ingredients? The approach in this thread would suggest I buy the mixer because that is the most time-consuming part of the process, ignoring the fact that I really hate guessing weights and getting it wrong. Perhaps buying the scales might have a bigger impact on how I feel about making cakes.

Bringing this back to the topic in hand, I am not saying that a table saw is a better or worse choice than a planer thicknesser. I am saying that some people might prefer to avoid hand sawing whilst others might prefer to avoid hand planing, but nobody seems to factor this preference in to the decision.

The question was really I am buying a PT, what am i missing if i let go of the table saw? I have other tools I can use (including handsaws) for the same tasks.

 

[craigs]

https://jmjwood.co.uk/products/planers-thicknessersHi Craig, this is the company I bought all my secondhand equipment from, refurbished, good quality company they have a Sedgwick for £2850 plus VAT or an SCMFS 30 C which is the machine one down from mine for 2975+ VAT, my SCM hasn’t given me any trouble at all in I guess 6/8 years and the finish it gives is superb. Ian

id love one but thats well outside my budget

 

[spb]

Here we go, its a bit cramped, and bear in mind i've only have this place (and house) 2 months so its very much a WIP. trying to get the ceiling and insulation finished as winter....is...coming

I knocked together all the stands in an afternoon just to give things mobility...not the best design but at least functional.....for now
View attachment 92709

I know what I'd do. Build a nice solid workbench against that wall where the router table is, with a large shelf below. Store the mitre saw and router table on that shelf while they're not being used, and lift them on top when they are. Put a planer/thicknesser on wheels in the corner where the mitre saw and thicknesser are now, wheeling it out into the middle to use it.

 

[Cabinetman]

Sorry Craig, I looked up the Itech machine you wanted and I thought they were over £3000, oh well one day. Ian

 

[spb]

Oh, and you've got a lot of empty wall space - a couple more shelves, say, above the MFT would let you move stuff from the bottom shelf and the floor below your existing set, and then some of your wheeled machinery can tuck away under there quite nicely. If you want both, there'll be a way to make it work.

 

[craigs]

Oh, and you've got a lot of empty wall space - a couple more shelves, say, above the MFT would let you move stuff from the bottom shelf and the floor below your existing set, and then some of your wheeled machinery can tuck away under there quite nicely. If you want both, there'll be a way to make it work.

I fully intend to do exactly what you suggested

 

[craigs]

Sorry Craig, I looked up the Itech machine you wanted and I thought they were over £3000, oh well one day. Ian

yup! i might sell my domino in a few years, that will cover it

 

[sometimewoodworker]

I wont be keeping the thicknesser, so i dont really have 2 tools i can do that with as the router table is standalone. nice idea though

Isn’t there a table saw and a chop saw/SCMS? They would combine into a single unit wouldn’t they?

I just have a work surface on the other side of my SCMS because I needed a work surface. however you can combine any 2 of the 3 machines easily.
Just because the router table is a standalone dose not stop it being inverted.

The choice of which 2 tools to put into a single unit depends on your use case.

there are many versions of this called flip top stands This is just one


or many many more
70+ Best flip top tool stand images | tool stand, woodworking, woodworking projects

 

[Droogs]

my baby basa 1 and lidl bench drill press are mounted in one those flip cabinets. I do have to pull it out in order to flip the tool I want and then put it back against the wall. but is very useful and i have all the different blades for the saw on little pegs inside out the way