Could a homemade "saber saw table" provide as a temporary alternative for a bandsaw?

[Michael Yadfar]

In my wood shop budget, a band saw was never factored in because I don't see it as part of the most essential tools. I do plan to get one in the future though. Now this may sound a bit sketchy, but I thought up a potential jig for a saber saw table. I couldn't find anything on the internet about it, likely because it's a crazy idea. But I thought I would mount my saber saw underneath a cheap table and use that as a band saw. It's got a setting to lock the trigger down, so I can keep it running.

The reason I would prefer to have it table mounted is so I can easily use a fence and have better vision of a blade. I'm sure though there are probably fences for portable saber saws, as they have them for circular saws, but I feel a table fence would work better. The things I would need it for are mainly rough cutting my raw material that's wider than my jointer. I would also probably attempt to use it to resaw boards and cut curves.

So is this just a bad/overly-crazy idea, or does this idea actually have something to it?

[Larry Browning]

My 1st thought is that the blade would drift something terrible. You would start your cut against the fence and it would very quickly either want to pull the work away from the fence or push into the fence and put it in a bind. Also, I am envisioning the saw being mounted upside down with the blade sticking straight up. Seems like a safety issue. I would think that resawing would be impossible.
I have never tried such a thing, so I have no first hand experience, My initial thought is that it is a bad idea. Maybe others will say otherwise.

[Myk Rian]

It'll work. Kinda.
People have also made table saws out of circular saws mounted under a table.

[Charles Taylor]

I believe that's the basic concept of the Rockwell BladeRunner. I've never seen one or heard from anyone who does, so I can't comment on whether it works very well or not.

[Stan Mitchell]

What you describe sounds a bit like the Rockwell Bladerunner that was marketed aggressively a couple of years back.

I can't imagine that it would do well on anything other than thin, light materials.

[Pat Barry]

My old craftsman saber saw could cut 1/2" thick pretty well. I could see mounting it to a table just as the OP describes and it would work fine. I wouldn't count on any guide though, just draw and follow a line for a rough cut. You'd probably have a good bit of cleanup but nothing worse than you would get from just using the saber saw in its normal method. I'd say go for it.

[Michael Yadfar]

What you describe sounds a bit like the Rockwell Bladerunner that was marketed aggressively a couple of years back.

I can't imagine that it would do well on anything other than thin, light materials.

Wow I can't believe they actually marketed a product with this concept. In my case, doing it myself, I don't think it would be too bad. But I would never buy a product like this that I highly doubt performs that well...

[Doug Garson]

I'm surprised you couldn't find anything on the web. Look at the following link http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_nk...aber+saw+Table . It's essentially identical to a Craftsman table I had since the 80's and sold recently. Lot's of them around. Not sure about using it for resawing but worked ok for thin stock. I 'd say it's worth a try since it's not much of an investment especially if you make it yourself.

[Ed Aumiller]

I have an older powermatic scroll saw that has the ability to mount a saber/jig saw blade in it... since I also have an older walker/turner scroll saw that I use there is normally a saber saw blade in the powermatic...
It works, but never gets used... only way to use it basically is to draw a line and follow it..

[Dennis Ford]

I am sure that you can cut wood with such a rig; I don't see it as a substitute for a band saw. A bow saw could be a substitute for a band saw if you don't mind the manual labor.

[Stan Mitchell]

I am sure that you can cut wood with such a rig; I don't see it as a substitute for a band saw. A bow saw could be a substitute for a band saw if you don't mind the manual labor.

Off topic a bit. But I bought a bow-saw a few years back to trim a tree and find it one of the most useful handsaws that I've ever owned. Very versatile.

[Roger Feeley]

You are not crazy. When I was a kid, my dad had a little table for his Craftsman jigsaw. As far as I know, it worked ok. I know he used it. By the time he passed, I had a bandsaw so I didn't want either the saw or the table.

[Kim Gibbens]

I think Stumpy Nubs did a project like that.

[John McClanahan]

One of our members her on SMC did a review of the Bladerunner and said it did better than expected. The overarm guard is also an upper blade guide.

I looked at them in the store just for grins. My biggest complaint would the overall lightweight construction of the base and top. The jig saw part looked looked decent.

John

[Jim Matthews]

Aren't there some decent hunnert-dolla bandsaws at the Borg?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-2-5...S904/100593258