Two table saws - how do you use both?

[David Nelson1]

Dave

I have two. They are set up so that the blades are 90 degrees to each other. The cross cut saw is setup as the out feed for the rip saw, and the rip saw acts as a stabilizing surface for cross cuts. On the other side of the cross cut saw is a 3 Hp shaper. All in all, it's about 7 1/2' of cast iron working surface.
My jointer is set up to feed right onto these surfaces, which works out very well.I don't have a lot of room so the machines have to work with each other. The space is 19'x9' and has the two saws, a jointer, two bandsaws, a 15" planer, dedicated miter/ mortise station and a rolling tool box.

Wow, I would love to see a picture of that. I have a small space as well.

[Dave Cav]

I have a 12/14 Delta and a Powermatic 65 set up at right angles to one another. The 12/14 has a large outfeed table approximately the same size as the saw behind it. The Powermatic sits on the right hand side of the big outfeed table, so they share the same outfeed table, only at right angles to one another. The 12/14 saw has an extended Bies fence, extending out in the open space to the right. This space was almost exactly right for a Delta HD shaper so I put one there, between the front and back arms of the 12/14 Bies fence. I also have a router table set up in the right hand side of the PM 65 saw. Shop tour (8).jpg

[Jesse Busenitz]

photo 2.jpgphoto 3.jpg

Underneath all the clutter that's accumulated in just the last 24 hrs is my TS setup, and on the opposite inside corner is where I'm thinking about sticking my dado setup.

[John TenEyck]

Similar to others, I have a right tilt Unisaw bolted side by side to a left tilt C-man, and a router wing on the end of that, all sharing a common Vega Pro fence. The Unisaw generally has a rip blade on it while the C-man has a crosscut blade and is used mostly with my cut off sled. For most other things I use the Unisaw because it's just a much better and easier to adjust saw, especially when making beveled cuts. Having that huge surface of the two saws side by side is very helpful when handling large pieces. I have an 8' work table that serves as the outfeed table for both saws. It sits about 3 feet behind the saws and I use a plywood bridge to span the gap when cutting long stock. Otherwise, the bridge hangs on the side of the outfeed table so I have easy access through the shop. I like the large work surface of the two saws, but could easily get by with just the Unisaw.

John

[Mike Cutler]

Wow, I would love to see a picture of that. I have a small space as well.

It's pretty messy right now.I've been doing a fair bit of car and horse trailer maintenance, so it' a little cluttered.
I keep plywood on top of the saws when not in use, so I can put tools and car parts on top.
I'll get it cleaned up and take a pic or two.

[jack duren]

For the people with two table saws, how do you have them set up? Are they positioned near each other?

I have two Unisaws. One a 5HP, the other a 3HP. The 5HP is the one I'm using and the other was a deal I couldn't resist and was supposed to resell it. Now I'm thinking about keeping both and leaving one set up with a dado set.

I've thought about back to back so I can use one as the outfeed for the other. Could I also share the same 220V power drop? (Obviously not at the same time.) My primary is 20A and the 3HP is 15A, I believe.

Suggestions?

Dave

There really is no need for two saws unless you have employees who might need it. Dado's can easily be done with a router sunken into the saw table using the saw fence. Now if your set on wasting space and money and don't make cabinets everyday where a permanent dado would be needed, then set them up independently so they don't conflict with each other. You shouldn't share a fence.

[Dave Kennedy]

Lots of good ideas and they pretty much cover the full gamut - side by side, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and spread out. I'll have to do some measuring and see how side by side would work in my space. I find that idea quite appealing for some reason. Part has to be that I haven't built a decent outfeed or side table to support stock, so having more contiguous top space would really come in handy.

Thanks for the pictures showing the various arrangements - much easier to see how it works!

Dave

[Rick Potter]

Way back, I had two, back to back, then I sold one and got a slider. It and the Uni were back to back till I moved. The slider is gone now, and I have a SawStop for general use, and the Uni for mostly dado's. The SS has a melamine blade on it for a month now, as I am working on closet and pantry organizers. They are no longer back to back though, they are separate, and at right angles to each other. Still not sure if that is the final setup.

Most crosscuts are with RAS, and I have two of those also, one with dado blades on it.

[Mike Schuch]

I have a 10" Powermatic 65 and a 12" Powermatic 71. The 71 is going up for sale. It uses up way too much floor space! I had a dado set in the 65 and used the 71 for ripping.

[Kyle Foster]

At the cabinet shop where I work, we have 2 set up; one for laminate/ particle board/ plywood and the other for lumber. It is a fairly good system other than them being opposite each other which gets in the way when people go to use the one opposite you. Just my 2 cents worth.

Kyle

[Bill McNiel]

Jack,
Your buddy's set-up is, at a minimum, very impressive. Makes me wonder how I have existed by all these years with a single table saw. Must be the root of why I don't make more money.

[Warren Lake]

There are other valid reasons for having more than one machine. In the past i had one customer where things had to be on time no matter what. I can remember being up at 3:00 am taking the gearbox apart on the General planer more than once. I told myself then that for some machines I will have a back up and if one has issues just shift to the other one. That machine was replaced with a 30 year old SCM and now with 20 years using that its never needed more than to put fresh knives in. I have a back up for it just in case Murphy decides to present himself.

[Garth Almgren]

On youtube, lookup Frank Howarth. He uses two table saws, then again he has a pretty big shop. His are back to back. If I remember correctly one is a Powermatic 66 and the other is a Powermatic 72.

In one of his videos, Frank says that he wishes he hadn't set them up back-to-back - any time he wants to use one saw he has to drop the blade on the other, losing any height setting he may have wanted to save and negating that particular benefit of having two saws.

[Jeff Duncan]

Yup, if you look at the pic Jack posted, (while certainly impressive), you can see that your going to be running back and forth to move fences and lower/raise blades constantly….which is why I never got the concept of back to back? All that back and forth kinda defeats the purpose of having 2 saws to begin with! Side by side and everything is right there for you to use

This isn't a very good pic, but it's my saw setup when I first moved to the new shop. I'll have to remember and get a better pic from the business end.


good luck,
JeffD

[Bill Adamsen]

I have two, a slider and a Unisaw.

The Unisaw is now dedicated to dadoes, rabbet's and finger joints ... primarily the latter. I removed (cutoff) the wider fence (sacre bleu) to minimize the footprint. Works for me. The Unisaw is on a dolly, but typically crammed into an "out of the way" corner as shown on the photo. Amazing how easily it rolls with the table removed.

The slider (part of a combo) is primarily ripping or sheet goods. Both are hooked up to the central dust collection and work reasonable well. The slider is not really optimized for ripping thinner material. When possible I use the 28" bandsaw.