Small workshop table saw recommendations?

[3D20s]

Good evening!

TLDR at the bottom to skip the waffle.

I'm new to the forums and wanted to say hi after lurking and reading posts over the last few months of planning.

I've been toying between having a garden workshop built but realised I could just use my spare room. It's a little smaller than what the workshop might be but potentially saves me thousands of pounds that can be poured into tools and materials to practice on. The downside is that I'll need to be more economic with space and so want a decent table saw that only takes up a small footprint and ideally can be packed away. I was thinking the Rage 5 saw as its fence and top seem to get good reviews but wanted other options to consider as it seems a little... toy like? Budget is not unlimited by any means but after picking up tons of other hobbies (blacksmithing, fishing, 3D modelling/printing, lockpicking etc) I'm acutely aware of the 'buy once, cry once' mantra. I would rather avoid second hand, purely to avoid dealing with second hand buyers, servicing and parts issues. Any advice very gratefully received.

TLDR - limited space, need a reasonable table saw for making small woodwork projects - suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks,

3D20s

 

[3D20s]

Apologies, to add to the issue with the Rage is that even if it's able to collapse down it looks like it still takes up a fair chunk of space, at which point I may as well have something else?

 

[Mrs C]

Are you detached? If not, how noise tolerant are your neighbours?

 

[Trainee neophyte]

To double your budget, I would say the Axminster craft ac216ts is small but perfectly formed. https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-c ... saw-104926

I would also say that I may have made a mistake: it is possible that I should have bought a bandsaw instead of a table saw - if you only have room for one, think about what you will be making and decide what is most important. A bandsaw can do quite a lot of what a table saw can do, but a table saw can not do anywhere near what a bandsaw can do. I am going to rectify my error by having both, but I have a lot more room, by the sound of it.

Finally, if you are inside your house, your very first purchase should not be a table saw, but serious, grown-up dust extraction. Otherwise your entire house is going to take on the smell of a workshop, and that means your house will be full of microscopic dust particles, which can kill you, your family, and your pets. Allegedly.

 

[3D20s]

Good morning and thanks for the responses!

I did look through the smaller axminster saws but their fences look a little flimsy (and reviews that I saw concurred). I will be looking at the https://www.toolstation.com/scheppach-t ... saw/p12890 Scheppach when I get back from holiday. It seems to be a popular choice in the forum but would like to investigate to see if it's possible to get it to collapse the sides of the table down fairly quickly. More reading reviews and guides (which I enjoy anyway!)

Dust extraction and air filtration will be high on the priority list, plus MDF which is the worst offender will be cut outside. Health-wise I won't be cutting corners. Smell-wise I don't think it will be too offensive. Certainly not as bad as my forging . I will consider a bandsaw though!

 

[twodoctors]

I'm in a similar situation as you. I have an old Titan table saw from about 9 years ago... should have brought it back straightaway as it was obviously not very good from the start. Anyway I've decided that I have had enough of it and want to get something else.

I looked at the Rage 5-S, and would have bought it during Black Friday when it was £210 had I not have to buy another bigger purchase for another hobby of mine. I'm also looking at Charnwood W616. I gave up on Scheppach as a brand even though I did (and still do) have some tools made by them. Most if not all their stuff are relabeled tools from China. I don't know who is copying who here. The thing is if you look at the design of some of the saws (and other power tools for that matter), a lot of them (Axminster, Scheppach and Charnwood included) are buying probably from the same manufacturer in China and put their own label on it. Some of them obviously ask for higher specs for certain components (eg budget Axminster bandsaw with cast table vs aluminium pressed table on any other budget bandsaw), some of them appears to just have different colour (eg Scheppach TS82 vs Charnwood W619/W629). It's not easy to find a design unique to a manufacturer unless you pay a bit more.

For your budget you may want to look at the DeWalt 745 which everyone seemed to love...

I think ultimately get the most expensive design you can afford, and the work backwards and see who offers the best specs for your budget. My own budget don't stretch far enough for the TS82. I'm still pondering between the Charnwood W616 and Evolution Rage 5-S. Charnwood is just down the road from me, but I like the sliding table of the Rage 5-S...

Good luck!

A

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Smell-wise I don't think it will be too offensive. Certainly not as bad as my forging

I love the idea of you blacksmithing in your spare bedroom. Brilliant! Do you shoe horses, too?

[youtube]i0yDu_TZYJk[/youtube]

 

[Rorton]

I’ve just bought the Bosch gts10j. Got it from ffx when eBay had a 20 percent off day, so was a real bargain.

I got it specifically because I’m also in a space that i need to be able to pack it up, and the saw can be stored on its side, which I don’t believe the DeWalt can.

 

[AJB Temple]

Alarm bells ring a bit for me. You say you are tight for space in your spare room, hence you think you need a saw you can pack away. A table saw needs a fair amount of room for infeed and outfeed, however small the saw is.

A table saw would be pretty low on my tools priority list if I was starting a small workshop again. I would probably get a track saw (even the cheap ones are pretty good now, with a quality blade).

Tight for space suggests to me much more use of hand tools.

 

[3D20s]

Smell-wise I don't think it will be too offensive. Certainly not as bad as my forging

I love the idea of you blacksmithing in your spare bedroom. Brilliant! Do you shoe horses, too?

[youtube]i0yDu_TZYJk[/youtube]

Ha! Forging is for outdoors only for me. I've forged a few times indoors and it is unbearably dry and hot work. Doing it outside can get a bit iffy if it starts raining but at least I get cool, fresh air by stepping away I've mostly made kitchen knives and fireplace tools.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check out the Bosch reviews and guides as well! Thank you

Space is tight as in not the 16ft x 14ft workshop space that I intended on building in the garden but not so tight that I can't have the main tools that I'm interested in. I also wanted the main tools to be portable as I happily work outside when the weather is good anyway. Inside would mostly be hand tool work but I at least have the option of working inside when the Great British weather won't bend to my will

The spare room is reasonably sized and has contained most of my other hobbies just fine

 

[MusicMan]

I have a Wadkin AGS 10 in the middle of a 12' x 6' shed. I wouldn't be without it. There isn't room to cut up a panel of course (but I don't do that) or crosscut anything over 3', but rip sawing of smaller pieces is what I use it for. So think about your aims. I like the precision and surface finish of a good table saw, and just have a small Inca bandsaw. But it's true that a big bandsaw may suit you better.

The Evolution Rage is a reasonable machine but very noisy. I wouldn't like it in a small room.

The DeWalt 745 gets very good reviews and does fold up quite small. Worth considering.

 

[woodbloke66]

Apologies, to add to the issue with the Rage is that even if it's able to collapse down it looks like it still takes up a fair chunk of space, at which point I may as well have something else?

If space is at a premium, a table saw is the last thing you need and depending on how you intend to work, you don't actually need one in any case. Go for a small bandsaw, get some decent blades and when you learn how to set it up correctly (assuming that you've never owned one) it'll do almost everything (and a lot more besides) that a table saw will do and will take up a fraction of the space. All (or most of) the projects in my sig block below were made without the use of a table saw - Rob

 

[bp122]

Hi there

I concur with a few comments made above:

1. If it's a one-tool-for-now thing, go for the bandsaw - I don't have one but I do own a table saw in my small workshop and with my limited experience I can say a bandsaw would be a better start, has a smaller footprint, safer and versatile. Combine this with a router and a drill press (cordless drill with a DIY drill guide will also do) and you are good to go for a lot of stuff.

2. If you do decide to go with a table saw anyway, and are based in a room rather than a workshop, I would certainly recommend the Axminster table saw AC216TS. I have this. YES, the fence is a bit frustrating - but you can fix it easily yourself. At the very least, you can get super -accurate cuts by clamping a straight timber next to the fence - I even resaw thicker lumber by doing this. And my god is it quite compared to brushless options. It is a solid option. Similar league would be a Charnwood 625 (I think) but it is quite a bit bigger in footprint for not any additional cutting capacity, I hear. Back to the Axi TS, don't get the stand or the sliding table with it, get a good mitre fence (see point #4) Plus the cast table top doubles as a temporary surface table for many low profile projects (for all the people offended by this, I am not saying it is as flat as a surface table, but it is indeed the flattest surface in my workshop!!)

3. Dust extraction budget is something I didn't account for in the beginning - lack of knowledge on its requirement rendered my workshop unusable for a while till I could afford a solution. HEPA filter is very important if you are working MDF, especially indoors, even more so if it is just spare room rather than a garage as the door seals etc aren't going to be great. Also consider good air filtration unit.

4. If you are planning on doing glueups of thin boards etc - invest in quality clamps (not cheap) and good quality and well tuned (get used ones and tune them yourself or buy good ones and do a little tune up) handplanes for truing up edges of timber (I assume you don't want to spend your space and money on a planer / thicknesser) and try and find a good mitre gauge - I have the Incra one (can be used on both Bandsaw / table saw) which has put my mitre saw out of work (a mistake I made buying this for my uses!)

4. If you plan on cutting long sheets, get a track saw or a good long straight edge and a good circular saw (effectively the same combo) - This will be far superior and safer than using a smaller table saw (any of the options mentioned so far)

Another tip: Although I understand your aversion to used tools, but there is a lot of benefits to them. Sure it may take longer to find what you want but it is well worth it. Also, look at Axminster ebay shop as they auction off used demo units and sometimes new units missing menial and non-critical pieces or bits (knobs / handles / screws) - which go for a lot lower than their asking price WITH DELIVERY! I saw a batallion of band saws, drill presses and grinders put on sale two weeks ago.

Enjoy making stuff and plan to keep everything you were born with (homer) (homer) (homer) !

 

[LoveMonkey]

I just put this reply in another thread about the same saw:

For what it's worth, I have the Evolution Rage 5S.

I'm a beginner when it comes to woodworking and don't have any other table saws to compare to, so take my words with pinch of salt.

Pros:
Rip fence is easy to set up and once done so seems solid enough. It hasn't moved on me yet.
Rips through long boards easily
The built in table extensions mean I have been able to cut 1800x600mm OSB sheets into the sizes I need without any additional tables either side.
Folds up and wheels around the workshop easily. It also fit in the back of my small car with the seats down and the parcel shelf out

Cons:
The main problem I have with this saw is that the bulk of it underneath is made from plastic. Due to this I have problems when trying to do anything that requires a degree of accuracy due to the blade not always staying at the angle I set it to. Perhaps this is common with all saws, but I have to reset it to perpendicular with the table pretty much every time I use it and if I'm doing a lot of cuts it might not be straight by the end.

I imagine this saw is good when you need to move about a lot because it is not too heavy, I'd estimate about 30kg, and compact when folded up. Not so good when you are trying to make cuts with a degree of precision. I've got some good use out of this saw, and will continue to do so, but somewhere along the line it is something I will need to replace for what I'm trying to achieve.

Hope that helps.

Thanks