36" or 52" Rails - Decision factors

[David Weaver]

I had a 30" saw, that then became 52" and then made its way out my door.

I'm space challenged, I figured I would probably need the extra rip width at some point, and I had a mobile base under the saw (not the fence).

The larger fence made me despise moving my saw, and ultimately I sold it.

If it's just going to be sitting stationary somewhere, then it's not such a big deal, but I've seen a LOT more people putting stuff on the right side of their fence and using the extra 2 feet as defacto storage than actually using that extra size to cut large pieces.

Full width sheets of plywood are a pain on a TS by yourself, anyway, especially if you don't have a lot of clearance around all sides of the saw.

good riddance big saw.

[Rusty Eads]

Now if one could just come up with a flip down rail that was accurate and rigid when flipped up, it would alleviate the cons of having longer rails

[Cary Falk]

Well here is my story.
I have a 3 car garage. My wife's cars have to stay in at night so I store my tool on my one car side and move all the cars out when I want to play.

I started out with a contractor saw with 32(?) rail. It was always too short.

I moved up to a RT cabinet saw. I got a 52" rail and split it so I had 24" on the left for bevel cuts and 42" on the right. I never used the 24" on the left and more than once wanted to cut 48" on the left. I ended up moving the rail back to 52" on the right. I loved the table space on the left. Most of the time I ended up cluttering up the table. When I needed to make a cut ti took me longer to get it cleaned off. The space under the table was not all that big because the motor was on that space. I ended upnever getting around to building a cabinet.

I then sold that saw and got a LT cabinet saw with a 26" fence. I shifted the fence to the right to get about 33" and put a JessEm Mast-R-Slide on the left. I got around to building a cabinet under the right. I am extremely happy with this combination.

Soooo for me.
Pros:
large table to the right to pile crap.
able to cut panels (tops, sides,and bottoms for stuff like 4' hope chests)
Bragging rights(my fence is bigger than yours). JK
Storage under the table had I chose to use it.


Cons:
The the whole thing was a beast and getting out of control. It was actually getting hard to move around in my increasingly shrinking space.
All the crap stored on the table took longer to clean off.
Took up space where my new shaper now sits.

Bottom line. If I didn't have the JessEm I would have the 52" fence.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Lots of responses here, with what appears to be an even split.

You say you don't work with sheet goods all that much, and when you do you're fine with just breaking them down with a handheld saw. You also say you're space challenged... You didn't mention whether you plan to move your saw around or whether it will be stationary, but if you plan to move it around, that's clearly another consideration.

All said, I think you have your answer! It comes down to how you work and how big your workspace is.

Now, here's my perspective... I have 52" rip capacity. I definitely have used it a few times. I recently installed an Excalibur sliding table and now my table saw is humongous... like almost 10' from end to end. Now, I'm thinking I might cut the rails down.

My thought is this: the only situations I can think of where I might use the extra capacity is when I'm ripping only a small amount off a 48" wide panel (i.e., ripping it down to 43"), or when I'm cross-cutting a panel.

I almost never rip a panel like this. I actually can't think of a time when I did.

I do crosscut panels this way. Sometimes I want a board that is 48" long (the original width of the panel) by let's say 48" wide. But now I can use the sliding table to do that crosscut... and it will actually be square. Using the rip fence for this crosscut can result in an out-of-square panel if the original factory edges on the sheet aren't square (happens all the time to me).

I guess what I'm getting at is that my ideal situation is a slider with 36" rip capacity. Use the slider for big cross cuts, use the rip fence for wider rips (for which you will almost never need more than 36", and when you do you can just use your circular saw).

So. You say you want to buy a top tier table saw. Sawstop ICS, Powermatic, General International, Delta Unisaw... those all come to mind. Have you considered a Hammer sliding table saw? The price is roughly in the ballpark with the top tier saws, and they don't take up any more floor space than a North American saw with a 36" rip fence.

I have a Sawstop PCS that I'm very happy with, but I'm starting to come around to the idea of the Euro table saw configuration. I won't be getting rid of the Sawstop anytime soon, but part of me does wish that I had considered a Euro slider.

[Norman Hitt]

This question is truly a personal use/preference decision, and "my" reasoning will certainly "NOT" be helpful to you, but..........

Besides the Pros already mentioned, my MAIN reason for a 52" fence is because for over half of my woodworking life, I had to use work-arounds to accomplish all types of shopwork and especially to make wider cuts in my own shop spaces because of saws with NO wings, wings only but no extensions, lack of shop space, etc., so I finally decided, "ENOUGH"!!!!!!!

I purchased a cabinet saw (PM66) w/52" Biese fence, crammed it into the (then garage) shop and SWORE to myself that if I didn't make even ONE cut a year that needed the wide fence setup, I would NEVER be without that capability again, as long as I'm able to wobble into the shop and safely push a piece of wood thru a saw, no matter how much of the shop space it takes up. There are a ton of times when a work-around for a particular operation is necessary, and most of them, I don't mind, and some are even FUN, but not enough fence capacity for "me", became a very SORE subject.

(After 20 years with this setup, my opinion on this has not changed one iota.)

Soooo......, don't make your decision on a whim, OR on what someone else's opinion is, (including mine), but truly what makes you happy, and then do it and stick with it.

good luck

[Mike De Luca]

I went with the longer rails and mounted the router in the extension. That and a 4' x 5' outfeed makes the table saw my main work counter, repair station, father/daughter lets have a talk area (we call them "saw table talks"), and motorcycle parts staging area.

It sure is nice when you want to lay down a panel or cross cut a longer length.

I special ordered my Beismeyer with 66" rails for a reason I can no longer remember.

My saw/woodworking area was 1/2 of our old largish two car garage.

I'm setting up a basement shop in our new house. My truck can finally be inside... course it now looks like crap... but I've cut a lot of wood on that saw and enjoyed every minute of it...!

[Joseph Tarantino]

your first TS and it's a 3hp cabinet saw? nothing like jumping in with both feet!

go "big"....you can always cut smaller if needed, but with a smaller setup, you can't cut "big". the 36" rails on my lowly ridgid 2412 are good, but i often wish i had more capacity. i scored a delta t2 with 32" rails for a song from a woodnetter and won't use it until i find a way to get longer front and rear mounting angle irons and longer rail tube.

if you're still not sure about what to get, just get a rail stretcher and use it whenever you need grater capacity.

[Chris Brault]

I am space "challenged", but could go with 52" rails. I won't even consider it. 36" is it for me, I break big sheet goods down with a circular saw. But, I don't work with plywood that often. A friend of mine has a 1600 square foot shop (mine is 600), and yes he has 52" rails, builds cabinets with sheet goods all the time, and they are nice in that situation. If I had 1600 square feet , I would go 52", even though I don't use sheet goods as much as him.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I say get the bigger rails, and if you haven't used that capacity after a year, then cut them down. Then you can shorten them to whatever length you really need. I think 36" is too short because I have times where I want to rip a 3 foot wide piece of ply, but I rarely go to 4 feet, so I've been thinking of shortening my rails to 42".

[Tom Cornish]

I have the 52" rails. My space is about 21' X 30', so not a huge shop. I pushed the saw up against the wall. This precludes me from using the extra space for a router table, but the saw really doesn't take up as much space as I originally thought it would when I was planning to have it in the middle of the room.

This also worked out well for dust collection - the duct runs along the wall rather than dropping from the ceiling in the middle of the room.

Count me on the "get the big ones" side.

[Jim O'Dell]

My first saw was (is? I still have it) the Ridgid 3612. I quickly moved the rails to the right. When Lowe's was blowing out the Biese 36" fence and rails, I got one and immediately moved it all the way to the right. I think I get about 49" with that set up. When I got the new Grizzly G0691 last January, I started out with the 50" fence in the standard set up. This summer, I moved the rails to the right. I have about 69" capacity now and I love it! My shop is 20 X 24, so 480 sq ft. My saw is set with the width on the 20' wall. I have a good 28" around the saw with a BS and RT on one wall to the right of the saw, and a 24" deep counter on the left side of the saw. Works fine. Jim.

[Steve Griffin]

This is easy.

Since you are a hobbiest and have limited floorspace, don't think twice about the smaller 36" rail. It's plenty. You have far more important things to do with your space and money.

-Steve

[Karl Brogger]

This is easy.

Since you are a hobbiest and have limited floorspace, don't think twice about the smaller 36" rail. It's plenty. You have far more important things to do with your space and money.

-Steve

I've got the exact opposite notion. It doesn't take up that much more space, and the versatility of it is priceless.

I made the mistake of putting 30" rails on my dado saw. What a flippin' pain that turned out to be, and I spent another $200+ putting a set of 52" rails and a new side table on it.

Free set of 30" Biesmeyer rails for anyone who wants to pick them up. I move em' one more time they're going in the dumpster.

[Steve Griffin]

I've got the exact opposite notion. It doesn't take up that much more space, and the versatility of it is priceless.

I made the mistake of putting 30" rails on my dado saw. What a flippin' pain that turned out to be, and I spent another $200+ putting a set of 52" rails and a new side table on it.

Free set of 30" Biesmeyer rails for anyone who wants to pick them up. I move em' one more time they're going in the dumpster.

Keep in mind we're not giving advice to "ourselves"

I couldn't imagine not having my big rip capacity, and any pro would be fool to save money this way.

But a hobby guy in a small shop can do just fine with 36". The 3 times of year you need more, you just rip the waste side off.

-Steve

[Norman Hitt]

Friends,

Buying my first tablesaw. It will be a top tier 3 hp cabinet saw.

Question is --> Should I go big on the tablesaw, or save the floorspace?

REASONS FOR 36" Rails:
- I'm strictly hobby here and don't do much with large panels.
- I really can't imagine many times that I would need the cutting capacity.
- My basement shop is small enough that the 16" difference is significant in everyday "aisle space".
- I can and have brought 4x8 sheet goods into the shop, but generally break them down before bringing in doors.
- I have adequate counter top, benchtop and outfeed/work table surface.

REASONS FOR 54" Rails:
- Bigger is Better mentality
- Capacity for larger panels and 48" stock.
- More room for the built in router table and under-table storage.

I'm leaning toward 36" rails to keep the floorspace. I'm asking for specific reasons or experiences why you would opt for the 54" rails so I don't regret going small.

Thanks, Bill

What size IS your shop???????