Which tool next - band or table saw (again)?

[S S]

I see from a few searches this has been discussed a fair bit already, but most of the time it's from the point of view from having only either one of these. Currently in my little garage I've got a circular saw, a sliding mitre saw, a router table and a planer/thicknesser.
I've mostly been making smallish bits of furniture out of pine whilst I get my skills up but I'm really struggling to make accurate rip cuts, especially in thin pieces of stock.
Considering I have a mitre saw for most of my cross cuts and a circular saw for bigish panels would I be better off with a table or band saw for these long cuts, or just try to make some form of jig to use with my circular saw?
If the cut isn't that flat I can probably clean it up with the P/T, but space is really becoming an issue at the moment.
The fact that a bandsaw is also a bit safer than a table saw also sounds nice, also I imagine I could get a better bandsaw than table saw for under £400.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[woodbloke66]

I see from a few searches this has been discussed a fair bit already, but most of the time it's from the point of view from having only either one of these. Currently in my little garage I've got a circular saw, a sliding mitre saw, a router table and a planer/thicknesser.
I've mostly been making smallish bits of furniture out of pine whilst I get my skills up but I'm really struggling to make accurate rip cuts, especially in thin pieces of stock.
Considering I have a mitre saw for most of my cross cuts and a circular saw for bigish panels would I be better off with a table or band saw for these long cuts, or just try to make some form of jig to use with my circular saw?
If the cut isn't that flat I can probably clean it up with the P/T, but space is really becoming an issue at the moment.
The fact that a bandsaw is also a bit safer than a table saw also sounds nice, also I imagine I could get a better bandsaw than table saw for under £400.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I've had a couple of table saws and have given them up in favour of a band saw (I have two). In a small 'shop where space is at a premium, a table saw occupies a lot of it, especially if you start to fit extension tables. I also use a Bosch hand held circular saw for rough cutting planks and boards to approximate size, but it's quite possible to make a really accurate cross cut jig for it as well. For long cuts, just clamp a straight edge to the board and run the saw down it; dead easy - Rob

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I miss a bench saw for rebates, but other than that the bandsaw is far more generally useful, especially for small scale work.

 

[Lazurus]

I had just a bandsaw for 20 years and until last year when I treated myself to a table saw, I did everything on the bandsaw and the P/T. Just ensure it is set up accurately and they are a wonderful bit of kit

 

[MikeJhn]

Agree with everything posted so far about a bandsaw being a very useful piece of kit, but nothing beats a table saw for long rip cuts.

 

[Cordy]

+1 for what MJ wrote

My t/s is the ubiquitous Dewalt 745;
Bandsaw; Metabo 317

Both excellent and a pleasure to use

 

[sunnybob]

Under 400 is unlikely to get you a satisfactory machine whichever one you choose.
trust me, I HAVE been there and DONE that.

I have just (finally) bought a dewalt 745 site saw because just like you I am very limited on space. That dewalt might be small (ish) but it is a VERY VERY good saw and I am really enjoying finally making long straight cuts. Its saving me hours in cleaning up cut edges

But I have a 350 (wheel diameter, its how bandsaws are classed) bandsaw, and if a gun was put to my head and I had to choose one over the other, it would be the bandsaw I would keep.

 

[MikeJhn]

SunnyBob

Which would you choose to cut long rips on as per the OP's first post that is the question?

 

[sunnybob]

The question, was which one?

Considering I have a mitre saw for most of my cross cuts and a circular saw for bigish panels would I be better off with a table or band saw for these long cuts, or just try to make some form of jig to use with my circular saw?

My first answer, is both.
My second answer is if I did not have room or could not afford both, I would have the bandsaw.

 

[MikeG.]

You've got a hand-held circular saw. All you need now for accurate rip cuts is a long straight-edge and a couple of clamps, and a pair of saw horses.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

OP - you don't say whether you have or intend to get a lathe. If so, the bandsaw wins hands down.

 

[MikeJhn]

And then setting up over and over again for repeat cuts, if cutting long repeat rips you can't beat the ease a table saw will give you.

 

[MikeJhn]

OP - you don't say whether you have or intend to get a lathe. If so, the bandsaw wins hands down.

And if you get an airplane you will need a hanger and an airstrip, and later in life if you get a wife that will involve a mother in law, so a gun would come in handy as well.

 

[MikeG.]

And then setting up over and over again for repeat cuts, if cutting long repeat rips you can't beat the ease a table saw will give you.

If space isn't an issue, you're right. But it is:

........in my little garage.........

 

[woodbloke66]

You've got a hand-held circular saw. All you need now for accurate rip cuts is a long straight-edge and a couple of clamps, and a pair of saw horses.

Agreed Mike...beat you to it! (See what I writ ) - Rob

 

[Phil Pascoe]

OP - you don't say whether you have or intend to get a lathe. If so, the bandsaw wins hands down.

And if you get an airplane you will need a hanger and an airstrip, and later in life if you get a wife that will involve a mother in law, so a gun would come in handy as well.

:roll: It is a perfectly sensible observation - why the puerile comment?

 

[sunnybob]

I dont have a lathe, but if I could perform long straight cuts in wood with it I might be tempted. :roll:

 

[MikeJhn]

Irony is lost.

 

[Trevanion]

I dont have a lathe, but if I could perform long straight cuts in wood with it I might be tempted. :roll:

Who says you can't?

Put the bandsaw attachment on it and you have both in one machine!

 

[basssound]

For a small amount over your £400 budget you'll get the DW745 site saw and honestly it's such a superb little machine.
I wouldn't be without one now, I've looked and thought about bandsaws but I don't see the need for one, most of my work is furniture from sheet material.
Any small cuts that a band saw would be used for I do with a jig saw...
Another way to go would be a second hand festool TS55 and a makita or festool 2.8mtr rail.

The TS55 I've just bought is genuinely the best quality tool I've ever used, I'll never be without one now.