No space for a cabinet saw…

[SLM]

The topic of buying a site/contractor’s saw, because of a lack of space or money to buy a cabinet saw, is one that has been visited many times here, and no doubt elsewhere. The topic of how to build a base for such a saw, how to incorporate it into some 3d modelled bench/router table/extraction system/kitchen sink, often follow… and then comes discussion of overcoming the shortcomings.

I stumbled across this short video, which makes an interesting comparison between a site saw and a Wadkin AGS 10. Anyone deliberating buying a site saw v cabinet saw should watch it!



When looking at his costs for his Wadkin, note that I picked up a 240v Startrite TA 175 for £30, a few years ago. I upgraded to a TA 275 DS, requiring no restoration, for the princely sum of £275, with 4 good blades and all the bits and pieces.

 

[msparker]

The restoration he did and the dust extraction he added looked excellent! I'd love a saw like that but don't have the confidence that I could pull it off alone. It would have been an awesome thing to do with my Grandad who was an engineer and very mechanically capable but sadly that opportunity is no more.

 

[Orraloon]

I had a ryobi site saw many years ago and actually did a lot of work with it. I very soon got tired of having to lug it out and set it on some surface to do some work so got a base for it. Having a smallish table surface I usually had to rig up an outfeed surface and at times side support. Thats when it dawned on me to work with it it is taking up as much space as a regular table saw. My current saw has a big footprint but the space is also my router table in one wing and when not sawing or routing its my assembly surface.
Regards
John

 

[clogs]

Orraloon,
show us your saw....
did you convert it.....?
might help others with idea's............

 

[Orraloon]

No conversion other than sticking a router in the wing that was already there.
Point I was making is that with a small site saw you still need enough space to be able to work on it. Infeed, outfeed and side support space.
This full size saw is not really taking up more space to work the the old ryobi site saw did.
Regards
John

 

[BucksDad]

Not really a fair comparison though is it - if you are going to put a site saw in a fixed position then of course it’s akin to a cabinet saw.

But you can put a site saw on its side under a bench if you want or you can easily take it outside to handle sizes you can’t in a workshop.

Comes down to planned use and all that

 

[Orraloon]

Not really a fair comparison though is it - if you are going to put a site saw in a fixed position then of course it’s akin to a cabinet saw.

But you can put a site saw on its side under a bench if you want or you can easily take it outside to handle sizes you can’t in a workshop.

Comes down to planned use and all that

As you say and I did in the early days stash it away under the bench and used it outside at times. Portability is the big plus with a site saw but having a saw set up and ready to go makes life easier. One thing not mentioned is cost and back then a site saw was what I could afford and I made do with it for over 10 years. The last few of those 10 years however was with an eye out for a good deal on something better. We all have to make decisions re space cost and how we work.
Regards
John