Two RAS one bench

[William Chain]

Can you be more specific? What blade is on there? You have a 1" arbor there, so you will need to be mindful of that when ordering a blade. The dewalt forum guys are going to direct you to an FAQ there on blades, but the general advice is seek a Forrest Woodworker I with the TCG, the so-called 'Mr. Sawdust' blade. Be prepared, it ain't cheap. You won't have to order another one unless you plan on rip operations, but you've already indicated you want to do crosscuts and at 90 degrees. Contrary to most perceptions out there, you do not necessarily need a negative hook angle blade - the Mr. Sawdust blade in fact is a positive hook angle. There is a host of advice on blade selection on the dewalt forum - check the FAQ and look at your budget. There are Freud offerings as well that folks like and recommend.

[Dan Chouinard]

With the Original Saw Company RAS being returned, the "bridge to a future sliding table saw" may have become much shorter. Michael and I are beginning to think we should build one bench for one RAS and continue crosscutting plywood with the track saw for the time being and move sooner than later on the purchase of a slider.
Who can point me towards the best sliding stop measuring system design for one saw on one bench. I had cobbled together a homemade jig in my dads shop on a t track with sticky back tape measure that worked just fine but open to better deign ideas if anyone cares to share.
Thanks

[William Chain]

There are several options for what you want - Incra and Kreg are probably the easiest to obtain and assemble. Reasonably priced, and you can configure the tape to your desires - both left to right and right to left are available, and you can go with built into the fence, or integrated into a T-track fitted into the table.

[Dan Chouinard]

Good morning,
The blade on saw has no indication as to its maker. It was my understanding that a negative hook blade was the best option for RAS. Nice to know thats not necessarily the case.
I viewed the video of Incra stop and was turned off by the wonky double knob tightening method they use. Kreg looks more appealing for my taste.
We decided to make three 30"base cabinets for the RAS bench. One will sit to the far left of 16' bench. Then there will be an open space for drop bin. The other two cabinets will be spaced enough for saw to sit between them with an open space under saw for scrap bin. To the right of saw blade we have about 8' 5" to side wall. For now we will just cleat wall to support bench top leaving the option for an addition base cabinet at a later time. I will have just under 8' to left of blade for a sliding stop but there is addition length for long stock as there is a sliding door adjacent to left of bench.
The bench top will be double layer birch plywood. The bottom layer 3/4" continuous and bolted to saw base. The top layer of 1/2" will be in three sections with the center section at saw replaceable to keep zero clearance back up for material being cut.
Any critiques or suggestions for improvement are welcome and appreciated.
Thank you

[William Chain]

Sounds like you have a solid plan. I use the Kreg system myself, I like it. There are two kinds of stops - a 'production' stop, which is fixed, and a flip-stop. I found that the flip-stop wiggled every so slightly so I returned that in favor of a second production stop. The double layer surface is good. I'd add a 1/4-in sacrificial layer on top of that, either hardboard or mdf. That way that surface is replaceable without major surface surgery, its cheaper than replacing 1/2-in ply, and its easy on the blades and slippy for stuff to slide across. The surface directly under the saw will wear a lot, you'll want the ability to replace that more often than not, and without having to redo all your leveling.

See how well your blade cuts. The blade is key, and can make your experience really smooth or really miserable. A lot of guys found that even an underpowered motor performs just fine with the right blade on there. If you can swing it, the WWI Mr. Sawdust blade (TCG) will be the last blade you ever buy for this saw. Slivers Mill has the goods and the know what they're selling, call them up and talk blades.

[Dan Chouinard]

Thanks for all your suggestions William. I have a sacrificial 1/4 hardboard topper on my torsion box assembly table. I like your idea for using it on RAS bench.
Speaking of assembly tables...on my wish list is a scissor lift to get it height adjustable. Getting on the knees for hardware install and door/drawer front fitting is not my idea of fun. We 95% of the time use full inset with tight tolerance so it would be wonderful doing that fitting standing up.
After all, if this was not fun I would get a real job!
Time to make some saw dust

[William Chain]

Its a fancy-pants addition, but I also wrap the whole surface with some kind of hardwood trim just to hide all the layers and make it pretty. Totally unnecessary, but it looks the part.

[Dan Chouinard]

Yes we will go fancy pants there. Michael Graf has done a remarkable job renovating the building ,it is gorgeous. It can be viewed on his Instagram page.

[Dan Chouinard]

Good morning,
We are ready to wire my Dewalt GP. I have been unable to register at the Delphi DeWalt forum. Was looking to determine how many amps does the 12" 2hp 220v GP draw. I have lost contact info of previous owner but he believed it to be made in 1939 and has serial # 31800.
Thank you

[William Chain]

Should be 11 amps on 220.

[Dan Chouinard]

Thank you William. Someone over at OWWM agrees with you.

[William Chain]

The right answer is the right answer.

Thank you William. Someone over at OWWM agrees with you.

[Dan Chouinard]

You know I appreciate you William but next time leave out the disclaimer "should" when sure of your response. Electrical is definitely not my forte and it is reassuring to get the same answer from two sources. The cabinets I made for the RAS bench have been installed and the machine is in place. Mike will wire it soon and when I get back from Michigan where my son is getting married on Saturday I can complete the bench top and cut a hole in the wall behind blade for the plenum. The dust collectors (looks like we are going to use two) will be located behind the wall where the RAS is located.
Thanks,
Dan

[Roy Turbett]

I am looking at the same issue of multiple saws in the same bench but am approaching it a little differently. Each table will get it's own primary top but the two saws will share a common sacrificial top. This will allow me to fine tune each saw individually. To get both saws coplanar, I'll either put levelers on the legs or use the method I used to mount my current saw. I put steel gussets in the corners of the base and drilled and tapped them for levelers that I adjusted match the cabinets on either side of the saw.

26F4E9D3-800F-4369-8584-15AE93C10AA1.jpg

[William Chain]

I can't leave out the disclaimer "should". My answer (and the owwm answer) makes the following assumptions - I assume you've correctly identified the saw as a GP. I haven't seen the photo of the column tag, but you've posted the model and a serial number. The previous owner says 1939. Indeed, GP's were manufactured from 1939 to 1948, but your serial number puts you square in the middle of 1944. During that time, GP's came in 1.5hp, 2hp, and 3hp flavors, and the 3hp in single and three phase (but the 3hp models and three phase of this particular saw come up much less often than the 2hp single phase). The motor plate will have all that information and the amp draw too, but you've asked the question so I'm assuming there is no plate, or its covered in too much paint to decipher what is there. This also all assumes you have the same motor that left the factory on that arm, or if it was ever replaced in its 80 years, it was replaced in kind. In any case, the draw of the single phase 2hp motors of the era is 11 amps on 220V service.

You know I appreciate you William but next time leave out the disclaimer "should" when sure of your response. Electrical is definitely not my forte and it is reassuring to get the same answer from two sources. The cabinets I made for the RAS bench have been installed and the machine is in place. Mike will wire it soon and when I get back from Michigan where my son is getting married on Saturday I can complete the bench top and cut a hole in the wall behind blade for the plenum. The dust collectors (looks like we are going to use two) will be located behind the wall where the RAS is located.
Thanks,
Dan