Table Saw Question

[Rob Calkins]

New to this forum. Just getting into woodworking. I live in Colorado and enjoy the mountains.

I am in the market for a new table saw. The problem is that I have a one car garage and don't have a lot of room. I don't want to get a small portable one as it seems too small. I have narrowed it down to a General 50-185 or Powermatic 1791227 model 64. I think I am going to get the General as I like the 2hp motor and the adjustment wheels seem nicer.

Anyway the question is in order to make more room in my garage, I was thinking of taking the motor off when I am not using it in order to save 1' of space. It would be 3x5 instead of 4x5. will this work? can I hurt it by taking it off and on. I might be able to use it once a month. I just would like to buy a saw once and not have to upgrade again when I get a bigger space.

Thanks
Rob

[Brandon Shew]

I'm in a tight 1 car garage too. I have a contractor's type saw and it would be easy to do on that saw, but I wouldn't even consider removing th motor to gain 1' of space. With the rails. etc attached you won't really be able to get that space back to use it for anything anyway and you'll quickly find that it's not worth the time & effort to do so.

Do get a saw that has a base on wheels so you can move it out of the way when you need the space though.

[Roy Wall]

Rob -

Welcome to SMC!! You'll get good info here!

Have you thought about one of those "hybrid saws"....these are somewhat like cabinet saws but the motor is enclosed in the cabinet. They run on 120v- have 1.5 or 2hp motors.....and the footprint would be similar to the 3x5.

Dewalt has made a popular model for several years now... $7-900 is my guess on the price...maybe that's too much?

I think removing/attaching the motor would grow old.......part of enjoying wwing is the satisfaction of the tools you have and not having to "set up" for an extended period of time before you can work.

[scott spencer]

Hi Rob - Contractor saws were originally designed for the motor to be removed for transport, so it shouldn't be too difficult. However, I'll second Roy's suggestion to look into a hybrid. With the rise in popularity of the portable jobsite saw at worksite's, contractor saws don't typically get moved much anymore and instead are used as a stationary saw meaning there's no need for the quick access to the motor...hence the evolution of hybrids. They run the gammut from ~ $400-$1500, with many choices in the price range of the GI 50-185. The GI 50-220 is one such machine. Grizzly has a new one out, Jet has a revised model, Craftsman offers 3, Delta has 3, Sunhill, Hitachi has a 1/2 cabinet version of one. Many of these have full enclosures and Biesemeyer type fences.

Good luck with your decision.

[Ken Shoemaker]

Rob,

First of all I wanna' welcome you to the Creek!!!

Secondly, I know other will give a more educated answer to your question that I. I do agree that taking the motor on and off might not be the best use of time because you won't save that much space. That beng said, the"wheels" are a must in a small space. I work in a 14 X 16 basement workshop and couldn't live without them.

Best of luck on whatever saw you chose... Personaly, I love my Delta Contractor....

Ken

[skip gleichman]

I have a General International 50-220 and I would guess that the footprint is much smaller depth wise. For not much more, you get a very nice table saw the enclosed cabinet.

[Frank Pellow]

Rob, welcome to Sawmill Creek.

I used to remove/instal the motor quite frequently on my contractor table saw because I moved it offsite quite a lot and becuase I had a very small shop. This was easy to do and I had the saw for over 30 years, so I guess that the approach works.

That's all behind me now because I have a cabinet saw in a larger shop and because I now use a guided circular saw offsite (and, often, onsite as well). Have your considered a Guided Circular Saw instead of a table saw? If I was in your postion and I decided that I still wanted a table saw, then I would buy a hybrid saw and put it on a good mobile base.

[Tom Pritchard]

Welcome to the Creek Rob, you're going to love it here!

Where in Colorado do you live? It's a beautiful state, and my wife and I considered moving there many years ago. We just couldn't figure out how to bring our families with us .

I agree with Scott's interpretation of the hybrid choice for you. I have a Sears 22124, and I'm totally satisfied with it. I have it on a Shop Fox mobile base that I got on sale at Woodcraft, and I couldn't be more pleased with the amount of capability I have for the amount of $$$ I laid out. Good luck with decision, and enjoy the hunt, it's almost as much fun as getting the saw!

[Mike Cutler]

Rob.

Welcome to Sawmill Creek, pleased to meet ya'.
I have a General 50-220 "Hybrid saw", like some other folks, and a Jet Contractor saw that is essentially the same as the two saws that you mentioned.
The Hybrid takes up much less space. 32" of depth versus 44" for the Jet. You can take the motor off of a contractor saw and save about 5" but you need to take the motor mounting plate off if you need more space saved. Even with the plate removed the Hybrid is still 1" less.
One more reason to talk you out of the Contractor saw is dust collection. If you are going to use the saw only once a month or so. You will probably have a portable dust collector hooked up to it.
Contractor saws have horrible dust collection capabilities. The dust port is located on the bottom of the saw. This means that you have to get down on your hands and knees to hook up the DC when you need to use it, and it still won't be very effective when you do use it. You have to block off the back of the saw to get any dust collection going. This causes a problem if you need to tilt the blade. The entire motor, and trunnion swings with the tilt mechanism, meaning that you need to make something different to close off the back of the saw. It's a real pain in the keester, believe me. Raising the blade height changes the angle of the belt guard on the motor, which additionally interferes with whatever mechanism you used to block off the back of the saw. It gets real old fast dealing with these limitations.
The hybrid, or a cabinet saw is a much better choice in my experience.
A little more weight. The dust collection port is easier to access. The cabinet will usually have built in levelers at the corners on the base.
Having both types, Jet Contractor, and General Hybrid. If I could only have one, it would be the General without thought.

One more thought, Mobil bases. Get one with four wheels. the type that have two wheels and a single swiveling caster are kind of unstable if you have to move the machine around alot. HTC, Shop Fox, General, and Delta have some nice ones in the 600lb load rating.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but as someone that has had to face the same restrictions as you are. I just thought I'd relate my experiences.

Once again pleased to meet ya', and welcome to Sawmill Creek.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Rob........Welcome to the Creek!

As you should be finding out by now....You're getting some good information and some interesting opinions!

PS.....I lived in Craig when I was a kid..........Steamboat was a one horse cow town with a population of about 1200 people in those days............

[Jim Davenport]

I,m spatially challenged in my one car "Magic Garage". I have a Jet contractors saw on a HTC mobile base. It has worked pretty well for me. Not an ideal situation, but workable. I just rotate the saw, whether I ripping, or cross cutting. I have a couple of adjustable roller stands, I use for outfeed support.