Keep tablesaw???

[Maurice Ungaro]

I'm selling nothing !!!

I'm with George!

[Chris Hachet]

For me the table saw is a go-to tool. I would miss it significantly. I use it too rip boards for edge glue ups (right off the saw), accurate cross-cuts, dadoing in both directions, making cove cuts (door panels), and the occasional tenon or 45 degree cut (lenghtwise or for picture frames). Are there other methods to accomplish these tasks? Of course. If yo love doing the grunt work then by all means sell your table saw and spend the money on better planes and chisels

I am with Pat....there are times it just comes in handy!

However, I am thinking of upgrading to a better band saw for some of my ripping work.

[Chris Hachet]

I'm selling nothing !!!

To rephrase Colonal Clink from hogans heroes, "We sell Nothing, We sell Nothing...."

[Maurice Ungaro]

That was Sgt. Shultz!

[Daniel Rode]

I few years back I sold most of my power tools. Bandsaw, jointer, planer, etc. all sold. despite it's size and value, The table saw remained.

I use the table saw on just about every project. It's fast, accurate and versatile. I love working quietly with hand tools, but I have no love of making 20 identical cross cuts by hand or ripping 8/4" oak.

[David Weaver]

I am with Pat....there are times it just comes in handy!

However, I am thinking of upgrading to a better band saw for some of my ripping work.

If you get a good band saw, the only thing you'll really miss is the crosscut sled on the table saw. That can be made up for pretty easily by learning to mark a board square and plane the end grain to the mark.

Right now, I have a portable TS, but I don't envision having it too long. The BS rips as accurately (it just requires a couple of extra plane passes to remove the saw marks, but it can take some extra passes to remove saw marks from a TS, too, sometimes).

[Will Boulware]

I love my table saw. It makes an excellent flat assembly surface!

I'm with Daniel on the crosscut issue. They're pretty good for that, so mine stays.

[Mike Allen1010]

I had a table saw for years and couldn't imagine doing without it until I moved into a shop without enough space. I've been without a table saw for 10 years now and I don't miss it at all. I have a cheesy 14 inch Taiwanese bandsaw that I use for ripping when I have a number of rips I need to do, however truth be told I enjoy dimensioning with handsaw's. I appreciate the exercise and I get results every bit as accurate as the table saw without the noise and the lost shop space. You have to commit to keeping your saw sharp, but once you have that under your belt I find handsaw's really liberating. I even have one I use for plywood – gasp!

I never was very good at setting up the table saw to be accurate so maybe that's just me.

Mike

[Ryan Baker]

When did 16-18 X 20-22 become small? That's almost twice the size of my shop (which is a lot bigger than anything I had before). I have a full array of machines along with the hand tools, and despite being tight for space I wouldn't get rid of the table saw. Table saw, jointer, planer, band saw grouping make quick work of stock prep,even when most of my other work is increasingly by hand. I have prepped stock by hand before, but I simply don't have the shop time to waste doing that prep by hand.

I agree with the earlier advice. Keep the saw for now. If you go a year or more without using it, and only tripping over it, then you can think about selling it. You are more likely to regret getting rid of it if you do it now. And at least table saws make good work tables in the mean time.

[Mike Holbrook]

I have a General Contractors table saw with table extension and nice fence. For the last few years the metal surface has served as a place to level things with 3M sticky paper. I am considering letting it go, if I could find someone who would give me something for it and pick it up.

Like Jim above, I find a track saw a more serviceable tool. I cut many piles of sheet goods with an Eurekazone fence and circular saw before I bought a Festool saw. The Festool saw is much faster and safer. Faster because the fence does not require clamping. Safer because of the many enhancements to the Festool saw, table and vacuum systems. The Festool saw also makes a much neater cut.

With my Festool saw and table, for my purposes, I can replace: a jointer, table saw and chop saw. In many ways my Festool saw does a better and or faster job than the three tools it replaces. The Festool table, with it's clamps and jigs is a very helpful table/bench for many hand tool jobs. The Festool saw with it's: splinter guard, riving knife and auto retracting blade is, most importantly to me, a much safer tool. The cut my saw makes is cleaner/straighter with less splintering than any cutting tool I have. A bandsaw may be a better tool for long thick rips but not for the majority of small to medium cuts. I use my Festool saw and table more than any other tools in the shop and they are the last power tools I would part with. If I had bought the Festool saw and table before buying the table saw I never would have bought the table saw.

I find the process of using Festool tools on a Festool table to be much more like the hand tool process. One brings the tool to the work instead of taking the work to the stationary machine. The Festool vacuum system is excellent at keeping the air, floor and work surface clear of sawdust. The Festool saw plugs into the vacuum and both machines turn on at the same time when the trigger on the saw is pulled. This is another similarity with the hand tool process, the air is cleaner. The vacuum system actually improves on hand tools in that almost all of the sawdust is sucked into the vacuum before it gets into the shop.

[Randy Linton]

Many thanks for your great input and advice. As mentioned by many, I will likely take a "wait and see" approach after moving into my new space. This will give me a chance to see if I can "survive" without the table saw. Thanks again!!

[john davey]

I think you answered your question when you said i know longer use plywood. I can rip close enough on the bandsaw and then hit it with my #8. But I am currently building a bunch of cabinets for the shop. Plywood ones and the tablesaw is my friend for that. I do not have a track saw so I cannot compare to that....John

[glenn bradley]

If you have a solid, reliable bandsaw you can do without a tablesaw for a lot of furniture building. Personally, I'm in no hurry; the people waiting for their stuff sometimes see things differently so, I prefer not to do without one as I can do so many things so much quicker and more accurately with one. ;-)

[Christopher Charles]

I also have a shop of similar size and have been eyeing my TS. Don't plan to eliminate anytime soon for all the reasons stated previously and also recommend putting a blanket on it and calling it an assembly table for a year. If a project comes along that really needs it, you'll want it.

Cheers,
C