Table saw - advice needed!

[kell]

Hi all,

I'm just starting out in the world of woodworking and am slowly filling my shed with tools. The tool i feel i'm lacking is a table saw. The main wood i work with is oak and i doubt i'll ever need to cut a thickness of more than about 3 inches. There happens to be one in B&Q which is suitable and made by power pro. My limited experience tells me this is not a well respected brand but does anyone know whether this would be suitable for someone starting out or should I spend my money more wisely on another brand? I dont really want to spend more than about £150.

As an add on to this is there such a thing as a table that you can fit a standard hand held circular saw onto to use as a table saw?

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Alf]

Just wanted to welcome you to the forum, Kell. I'll leave the tablesaur advice to the knowledgable normites. Be braced for recommendations that you multiply your budget at least five-fold, btw... :roll: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Kell

My second table saw was the one you mention. (Previous B&Q tablesaw cost £70 and lasted 6 years) It is not a bad starter saw at all. the only issues are the mitre slot was very loose on mine and thus the mitre was inaccurate. I made some mods to it and got it working Ok but the second problem was the killer.

All cheap saws have what are called universal motors (really DC series motors running on AC) and these have ciommutators and brushes which make the motor LOUD.

The noise was the main reason i upgraded to this one

http://www.charnwood.net/ProductDesc.jsp?cat=29&stockref=W615

Which is a better saw for the money but still has an astoundingly bad mitre slot and guage. Note that the quiet induction motor on the Charnwood saw will have less power than the universal motor on the B&Q jobby and so the depth of cut might be a little less (or push the wood through more solwly)

I think your money would be better spent on the nice quiet Charnwood saw

 

[DaveL]

Hi Kell,

Welcome to the forum.

I had a B&Q saw for some years, as Tony says, very LOUD, I gave it away after buy a large cast iron table saw. Used with care and respect the B&Q saw will do loads of things.

Triton make a stand that will hold a circular saw to make it usable as a saw bench, never seen one let alone use one, but some of our members have them, hopefully one will be along with some comments soon.

 

[Scott]

Be braced for recommendations that you multiply your budget at least five-fold, btw... :roll: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

Only FIVE fold?

Welcome to the forum Kell. Sorry I can't help with your question but I'm sure there are plenty around that can

 

[Waka]

Kell

Welcome to the forum, sorry can't help you with the TS

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Kell

Welcome to the forum.

The point that was being made about the cheaper tablesaws being loud is extremely valid.

As a starter why not look at a good circular saw with a straightedge?

Cheers
Neil

 

[kell]

Thanks for the welcome guys,

I'll keep in mind the noise issue especially because i think i'm already annoying my neighbours with my SIP belt sander.

Thanks for all the replies

 

[Alf]

Be braced for recommendations that you multiply your budget at least five-fold, btw... :roll: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

Only FIVE fold?

At least five fold. [-X There's a world of difference. :lol:

 

[Gary H]

Hi Kell and welcome.

The others are right. I bought a cheapie from Machine Mart for about a hundred quid and, sure it's noisy, but i think if you can fit it with a larger table surround from - dare i say it - MDF and make a better fence than the one mine has it shouldnt be too bad. That's what i plan to do with mine anyways

We would all love to be TS/Kity/Supersaw etc. owners :lol: but if thats your budget, as is mine, then work with what you can. As the guys say - treat it with respect and don't expect miracles, and you'll do just fine.

HTH

Gary

 

[Shady]

Kell - my only observation is that I have deliberately stayed with a loud motor - for me, it's a great safety feature. When that thing bellows into life, it really lets me know that I'm messing with a large animal that can bite me badly. Almost all the accidents with these things have an element of 'familiarity breeding contempt' to them, so anything that triggers your safety instincts is a good thing, IMO.

 

[Pete W]

At least five fold. [-X There's a world of difference. :lol:

Well, the basic Kity or Sheppach would be less than a five-fold increase - I'm sure I've seen them with stand for £600. And around £400 if you wanted to build a mobile saw centre (like this one).

Pete (who finally read the instructions on how to do embedded urls :roll: )