Question about table saw in a garage shop

[Marshall Harrison]

Hopefully ordering my table saw next week or the wee after. But I am curious how you guys orient the table saw when its in a garage. My plan is to set it up near the garage door and parallel to the door.

Do you orient the TS so that the wood feeds into the garage or feed out of the garage? I'll pick up some roller stands to use for out feed or if I feed into the garage I can back it up with my workbench.

Or is there a better way of doing this?

Thanks.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Lot of 8' or longer boards out there, orient it so it'll take the longest you'll use. 8' takes at least that on each side. I like the saw as an island layout, diagonal in the middle of the floor, but I do run longer stuff.

[Lisa Starr]

Mine is oriented with 12' of clearance on the operator's side, and 8'6" on the outfeed side. It is directly in line with my double doors, so if I need more room on the outfeed, just open the doors. If I have something longer than 12', I'll cut it into "rough OAL" prior to my table saw operations.

[Doug Hepler]

Marshall,

What size garage? When I had a 2-car garage, I used mobile bases so that I could orient stationary tools as each operation required. Usually, the TS was in the center with the front (feed) side away from the overhead door. Also, my shop-made folding outfeed table avoided the need for outfeed rollers. In my present one-car setup I do not have room for a TS.

Doug,Panorama.JPG

[Marshall Harrison]

Thanks. My Xterra will not handle lengths in excess of 8 feet unless I put the wood on top which I don't like doing. Also it will only take a couple of boards at 8 feet as the ends have to lay on the front dash. Again something I don't like doing for safety.

I'm leaning towards putting the table saw about 3 feet inside the garage and then feeding into the garage. This would allow me to use my workbench (placed maybe 3 feet from the saw) as an outfeed table. I really want to keep the workbench and saw pretty much stationary. I have the SCMS on a mobile stand and I can roll it out into the driveway for crosscutting long stuff.

[Marshall Harrison]

Marshall,

What size garage? When I had a 2-car garage, I used mobile bases so that I could orient stationary tools as each operation required. Usually, the TS was in the center with the front (feed) side away from the overhead door. Also, my shop-made folding outfeed table avoided the need for outfeed rollers. In my present one-car setup I do not have room for a TS.

Doug,Panorama.JPG

Thanks for replying Doug. It reminded me that I need to get back to reading your book.

[Matthew Hills]

We normally park one car in our 2-car garage. My tool layout is intended to allow access to my most common operations as-is, and to be flexible when needed.

When cutting, my outfeed is towards the garage door.
I like this location and orientation as it maximizes the usable space in the center of the shop and means that I'm operating the saw from the center, rather than walking around the tool to use it. This arrangement allows about 4' of outfeed before I need to open the garage door. I use a rigid flip stand for support of long rips, and open the garage door when necessary. The saw is on an HTC mobile base, and I will move it away from the wall if I need much more rip capacity (plywood), but my most common rips and crosscuts are done in place.

I will note that the garage door is a bit awkward -- it blocks overhead lighting when open and also makes bringing in any over-arm dust collection more awkward.

Matt

[glenn bradley]

I feed into the shop with the large door at my back. My saw is positioned so that I can just barely feed a 60" panel of BB ply with the door closed, I work with sheet goods infrequently so this has proved very workable for me. I generally have more than enough room to move about in the operator's position which is great for putting sleds and jigs on and off the saw.

TS drawers (35).jpg

My outfeed is also an assembly table which is movable. This means when I move it away from the saw it moves into the main open area of my workflow which is he hub of my machine and workbench 'circle'.

TS-Outfeed (37).jpg

[Rick Moyer]

Two stall garage. Since I pretty much only woodwork inside (wintertime, too busy in summer) I need to maximize interior space. My TS is positioned so that I have over 8' to the blade from the inside of the one garage doors, positioned so that the blade aligns with the walk-in door at the opposite side (outfeed). I have at least (interior) eight feet on both the infeed and outfeed, but if I need to rip something longer than that I still have that option if I open the walk-in and the garage door.

[Bob Bouis]

A lot of people these days seem to be putting the table saw off to the side a bit. I hate opening the overhead door so mine has about 6' of infeed and outfeed. It can be moved for longer rips (which you don't do that often).

[Ray Newman]

Whenever possible, I now oriented my power tools so the workflow feeds out of the garage. That way, I will see a anyone who approaches the opened door.

I was once surprised as I operated the router table and wearing ear muffs -- my wife's friend approached me and tapped me on the shoulder. Scared the begeezus out of me and I almost lost control of the work.

[andy bessette]

I would never orient my table saw so my back was to the door.

[Brian Nguyen]

You have to calculate the probabilities of your neighbors surprising you with your back to the garage door to your wife's sudden appearance with your back to the garage entrance into the house, and choose accordingly.

I've had an instance in which I'm at the table saw with ear protection on and totally focused on a rip cut, and my wife came home and decided that it was the best of time to give a loving hug. I was not happy, scream of terrors were made, and had to explain to her why it wasn't a good idea to surprise someone with power tools running.

I would never orient my table saw so my back was to the door.

[Derek Cohen]

I don't get this need to rip 8' boards. How often is this a need for a home shop?

I may have 8' boards in my shop (I do), but these get crosscut to rough length before jointing. Jointing long lengths is an inefficient way of preparing stock.

What am I missing?

I, too, have a double garage, and a space must be left for one car (mine!).

My tablesaw is positioned where it fits with workflow. This is closest to my work bench. The jointer-planer and bandsaw are further away and close to one another, as they often work as a team.



Regards from Perth

Derek

[andy bessette]

I don't get this need to rip 8' boards...

I usually rip 8' and 10' boards before moving on to secondary operations.