2 table saws in the shop-how do you have them arranged?

[Jim O'Dell]

The title says (asks?) it all. For those of you with two table saws, how do you have them arranged? Trying to plan for possibilities, how the DC ducting will will have to change, and if the band saw needs to be moved or not. I have already determined that the RAS has to move, and there aren't many places for it to go. Could create a problem with where to park a nice jointer later, but that will be a problem to deal witn later.
TIA for any insights you can give. Oh, and pictures would really help! Jim.

[Rick Potter]

Hey Jim,

At my old house I had the two saws back to back, serving as outfeed tables for each other. They were about two feet apart.

At my current house, I have them at right angles to each other, and about three feet apart, so I can walk between them.

For dust collection at the old house, I built a mount for the short DC hoses coming off the two saws, and the jointer which was next to them. They were all hooked up to it, and there were three separate fittings sticking up. I had one drop, with a short hose, and a quick connect. I could change between the three machines in about two seconds.

The new house has two drops, one for each machine, and I still haven't been satisfied with any location for the jointer.

Rick Potter

[Jim Kountz]

I worked in a shop about 15 years ago and they were back to back serving as the others outfeed table. Sounds good in theory but in reality you could really only use one at a time unless you were cutting small items. We left one setup with a dado cutter all the time.

[Jim O'Dell]

Thanks Rick. I don't have the space to build in a walk through between them. That would be nice, though.
Jim, that's what I'm thinking of doing with my current contractor saw, leave a dado blade on it.
Look at the floorplan attached, and see if this is what you two are thinking of. ProShop3.JPG The donut looking thing at the top right of the lower table saw is the spot for the ducting for the cyclone. I'll have to make the blast gates work remotely, but that shouldn't be a problem. (Might have to build in a little more slop so they move easily)
I hadn't thought much about back to back, but I suppose that is possible, but it would limit how long of a piece of stock that I could run a dado in, and from that perspective, this would work better. Thanks! Jim.

[Sonny Edmonds]

I put a 52" Biesemeyer fence on my old Craftsman 100 TS to replace the O-riginal POS fence.
Before a got aroundtoit side table made for it, and the umpteenth time I got poked in the guts trying to round the corner of one of those rails, I was standing there rubbing my belly and finally a thought occurred.
Off came my ever present 16' tape and I measured between the rails, 27".
I walked over to a decrepit Delta TS I had been given and measured acrossed its table, 27".
So I dragged the poor abused Delta into the shop and began fitting it up to the rails.
The right wing of the 100 fitted right up to the Delta, BTW.
Here is the end result of two table saws married to one fence system:

[Jim O'Dell]

That is cool, Sonny! But I don't have the room to do it that way...wish I did. My main shop in the diagram is 20 wide by 24 deep. The side room is 14 X 12. I'm trying to keep it for an assembly/finishing room.
Thanks for the pictures. Jim.

[James Reichman]

I have them back to back. My slider being feed from the door and my rip/dado saw in back a 12" table between attaches the two of them I made it from melamine so it take wax well.good luck

[Rick Potter]

Jim,

As Jim K., says, back to back will not work for a commercial shop where more than one saw may be needed. As I remember, you are alone in your workshop, so it wouldn't matter. It worked well for me.

One of my saws is a Felder slider, and it slid right past the Unisaw when they were back to back. Since moving I have cut down the Unisaw fence to 30", since I don't need anything larger. I imagine that one of your saws could be shortened also. I keep a rip blade in the Unisaw, and use it for dado's also. Most crosscuts are done on the RAS, and sheet goods on the slider.

I have had three different sliders on the Unisaw, and use them for dadoing cabinet sides. My current one is the Jessem, and it will dado a standard 24" wide lower cabinet side. (Thinking of putting the Excalibur back on though)

In the 30" table on the Unisaw is an old router with a 1/4" roundover bit in it, which I use fairly often.

Long winded, I know, but I hope it is of some help. I would suggest you try back to back.

Rick Potter

[Sonny Edmonds]

Back to back never occurred to me. But it sounds like a good idea for some shops.
Of course when you are standing there half doubled over because your long fence rails just poked you in the belly again , the focus was on filling the hole.
The 100 remained the rip saw and long stock saw. The Delta handled the cross cuts and even split a bunch of used brick for facing on the slab foundation between the house and the driveway. (I used a dry type diamond blade for that.)
It never quite recovered from sawing bricks.