Tablesawless shop?

[Tony Bilello]

You candle your joints off the table saw and see NO light?

Is this that surprising to you?
I have an 8" joiner that is rarely ever used.

[Jim Becker]

You might be able to get away without a table saw, using a band saw for many cutting operations and complimenting that with a track-saw, such as the Festool system, for when you need to do precision cuts in sheet goods. But that drum sander is NOT going to replace your J/P in any way, shape or form. Unless you plan on also working a lot with hand planes, you'll want to have that J/P to clean up, joint flat and thickness any solid stock you cut with the bandsaw. Even with a very nice carbide blade, the surface you get with the bandsaw isn't "glue line" smooth. A small jointer isn't going to get you parallel surfaces, so you'd also need a small planer, too. Personally, I wouldn't give up my J/P combo unless I was forced to consolidate space for some tragic reason. I also wouldn't like to lose my table saw (happens to be a slider) but can imagine making do with my MM bandsaw, J/P and my Festool setup if I had to.

[Rick Fisher]

I often work with both the Bandsaw and jointer running at the same time.. Rip on the bandsaw, and immediately joint the edge.. Much of it is due to a shortage of space.. Eliminates a pile to be jointed..

I have cut drawer bottoms of baltic birch on my bandsaw, rather than use the table saw.. Where the table saw comes in handy is dado's .. I can do them other ways, but a table saw and dado blade is a tough combination to beat for dado's ..

[jim mills]

Sooner or later, you'll need a table saw. Why not sell the SS, get the MMxx, and look for a nice used artisan saw. Use it as a table, tool stand, catch all, whatever....sooner or later, you'll find a use for it.

[John Coloccia]

Is this that surprising to you?
I have an 8" joiner that is rarely ever used.

Yes, it surprises me. I see things come off the table saw ready for glue up, depending on your tolerance for gaps and clamping pressure. I don't usually see them come off perfect.

[Bill Huber]

Yes, it surprises me. I see things come off the table saw ready for glue up, depending on your tolerance for gaps and clamping pressure. I don't usually see them come off perfect.

I can see if you are ripping boards for a panel and you don't turn the boards I can see that they may not be perfect. But I think if you turn the boards over I would say they are just as perfect as a jointer can do. I can not believe how smooth my glue line blade can cut a board.

I see no difference then with a planner, if the fence is not exactly 90° and you do not turn the board face to the fence the joint will not be perfect.

I have done jointing with the router table, my little jointer and the table saw and I can not see any difference in them at all. the table saw is so much faster, you cut the board to size and that's it.

[Brian Kincaid]

Sooner or later, you'll need a table saw. Why not sell the SS, get the MMxx, and look for a nice used artisan saw. Use it as a table, tool stand, catch all, whatever....sooner or later, you'll find a use for it.

I respectfully disagree. I have made large pieces of furniture (beds, etc) in a tablesaw-less shop for years now. I use a bandsaw, tracksaw, jointer, planer, router, and hand tools. I don't miss the table saw at all. Haven't seen a table saw cut yet that couldn't be made with a bandsaw, tracksaw, or trackrouter. Have MADE many cuts that would have been unsafe or impossible on a table saw.

I see lots of jigs to make table saws do interesting things (tenon jig, sliding tables, auxiliary fences, etc) but if a bandsaw or tracksaw is not perfectly suited out of the box many folks pipe in 'you need a table saw!'

John, I don't build instruments, but you are a hand-tool user. Go for it!

-Brian

[Peter Quinn]

Sure you can get by without a TS, especially if you buy THIS BS......http://www.lagunatools.com/bandsaws/bandsaw-swing

[Ben West]

A great read from an old post about this very issue....

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...rt-of-the-shop.

[Karl Card]

I dont know, a shop without a table saw is almost like having a wife without sex organs... But I do understand about room. I just had to redo my whole layout because I added a RAS. I think the others had a good thought, kind of like try without before you sell....lol

[Kirk Poore]

I use my TS for ripping about 90% of the time, and a bandsaw would work for much of those cuts. The rest of the time I use it to make tenons using a tenoning jig. I get good, consistent results with the jig, which I have never been able to get with a fence and stops on a bandsaw.

Kirk

[Brian Tymchak]

I'm seriously considering selling my SawStop and replacing it with Mini Max MM16. Anyone do this?
......
Someone talk me out of this.

John, get some counseling quick! Or sit down and watch a full weekend marathon of NYW reruns.. Pretty soon, we'll be seeing your posts over in the Neander forum..

[Greg Portland]

I'm seriously considering selling my SawStop and replacing it with Mini Max MM16. Anyone do this?

For those who have a world class bandsaw, can it replace a planer? For anything I need to have absolutely perfect, it goes through my Jet drum sander anyhow, but just how good a cut quality can you get off the MM16 or similar. Can you just resaw your way through life or do you really need to have the planer?

So I guess I'm seriously considering dumping my SS AND my Jointer/Planer and replacing that with a MM16 and much smaller jointer just for edge jointing.

I do very little work with sheet goods...I occasionally make shelves and the like. I don't make any large furniture. I'm trying to think out of the box to get rid of equipment I don't really think I need and replace it with something much smaller and more versatile for my uses.

Someone talk me out of this.

You will need something to thickness the boards as they come off the bandsaw... they are not going to be perfect. A good wide belt or drum sander -can- do this work but your problem is going to happen when you need to take off 1/16" of wood. This is a big cut on a drum sander and a pain to do on a bandsaw (much slower than a planer). IMO you're going to need to keep the planer. If space is a problem then consider selling the drum sander and planer and get a Woodmaster 4-in-1 (planer/sander/moulder/ripsaw).

I worked for a few months without a table saw during a move. I used a 18" bandsaw, Festool TS55 and a chopsaw and was able to maintain the same quality (made a large built-in bookshelf with trim). Some things to remember:

- Cutting speed between the bandsaw and table saw are about the same
- Bandsaw blades are typically not resharpened so blade costs will be more expensive (definitely go carbide for longevity)
- Cut quality will be better on the table saw ("glue ready" edges, etc.).
- The TS55 will give you glue-ready cuts but it's not ideal for ripping narrow boards. You can fix this by putting a similar thickness board under the rail for support (still not as optimal as a TS or bandsaw).

If you are dealing with small workpieces then some quick plane or sanding work to smooth out any rough surfaces is not a big deal. Depending on your projects, I think your idea is feasible.

Do you own a small bandsaw or know someone locally who does? I would recommend that you try a project with just the tools you're considering to really see the problems that might come up.

[Greg Portland]

OK, I see you already are working with the handtools and BS. Do a few projects and see if it works for you.

You could always get this bandsaw with the sliding table : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaTTGP0nqVc

[Nick Cook]

You should totally get rid of that crappy Sawstop. How much you want for it