Upgrade Current TS or Buy a New TS? What would you do?

[Chris Hachet]

I was about in the same boat 5 years ago. I had a 3hp 1972 Uni that I restored. I had the Biesemeyer snap in splitter but wanted a riving. There were a couple of things that bothered me about the Uni that bothered me. I sold the Uni and bought a G1023RL. I think the swap cost me $300 out of pocket. I couldn't be happier. Life is too long to be unhappy. If you want a riving knife and can afford it, go for it. The Grizzly table saws are not a downgrade from a Uni.

Agree completely. And I own a 1973 Uni.

[Chris Hachet]

Sharkguard makes a riving knife retro to fit unisaws. It is called the Delta ARk.

This is good to know, I will check into this.

[Chris Hachet]

I once owned a 1 1/2 horse Unisaw of 1964 vintage. Built my own dust door out of plywood, cut a hole in the back for a dust port and made many projects with it. Rarely had a problem with the horse power number. With your limited space, I would keep the current machine and add a router table extension that replaces one of the wings, add a lift and call it a day. In the future, if and when you get more space, you can always upgrade; or not. The cast iron Bench Dog unit looks real tasty.

With three horse three phase and a VFD, my Uni will cut anything you throw at it.

[Robert Engel]

Ken,

A lot depends on what kind of ww'ing you do. For example, if you're working with slabs or thick lumber, a more powerful TS is a must.

What I'm noticing most is not the machine, but the size of your space. I think that will be a very limiting factor on what you can.

If at all possible, I would focus on expanding the size of your shop. Don't forget to take into account lumber storage which can be a big issue in a small shop.

[Steve Peterson]

My personal preference is to have the router table separate from the tablesaw. Most tablesaws sit way too low to make a comfortable router table.

[Rick Costa]

I think in your shop set up it is perfectly reasonable to want your tool space to be as efficient as possible. With 250 SqFt of space mobility matters but tool density is key too. By putting the router table into a table saw you get greater work surface area, can use the same fence to do multiple jobs, and reduce the overall space requirement for tools. What I did in a past set up was have a cart built under the table saw extension that has storage and the router "cabinet" built into it. I then mounted an insert plate from the top and made some auxiliary fences that could be clamped to the saw fence as needed for specific applications. I build some dust collection into the cabinet at the bottom and from the fence at the top and I was very happy with the overall results. That being said, I have several routers and even more than one table set up now with a shaper so I never used it for every routing job but it did work great for most things. Having it all on wheels also freed me up to move the cabinet saw around when I was operating out of my garage before my full shop was running.

As to whether you should upgrade or not, several have raised great points and ultimately its a decision for you alone based on needs and finances. I will say that if you can get a quality used tool on the market you should consider it but don't look past something like a Sawstop. When I upgraded from my Delta Unisaw to the Sawstop I felt much safer from an operating perspective. I respect my tools and the power they have and I practice good shop safety but it only takes one slip, one moment of lost concentration, for a big problem to take place. Medical costs can be extreme even for relatively minor things so factor that into your decision. Safety is NOT a minor consideration.

[andy bessette]

...was thinking of putting a cast iron wing extension to replace the Beismyer wood extension on the right ride of my cabinet saw. Doing this would run about $400 for the extension and fence. Then probably add another $350 for a lift...

It is great fun to blow a bunch of money unnecessarily.

I added a router table to my Unisaw for under $100 by re-purposing a discarded cast iron table saw top. No need whatsoever for a lift.