Two Table saws in one shop????

[NICK BARBOZA]

what are your thoughts on having two table saws in your shop? Currently i have an OLD craftsman contractor saw. I set it up with a Biesemeyer fence and i have it dialed in pretty well but my skills are outgrowing it... I am planning on getting a PM 66 with the next few months. I am also moving my shop into the basement of my recently purchased house. this will offer a rougly 450sf shop vs the 288sf shop i had been in previously. Thus, much more space to work in.

i am thinking of placing the craftsman saw on the far right of the PM (52" rip) but on the back side to act as an outfeed as well. The craftsman would run perpendicular to the PM and both share a laminate topped outfeed. this would ultimately create a HUGE work surface. my thought is to keep a dado blade in the craftsman most of the time to save me from switching them very often. it would also allow me to have two precise setups going at once.

am i too attached to this ancient saw?

thanks!

[Lee Koepke]

i will watch this thread for the opinions as well.

my 60s Rockwell had some issues that resulted in me buying my new Grizzly, at some point I plan on fixing the Rockwell and maybe setting it up as a dedicated dado saw ???

I like my old iron ... I cant part with it either.

[Von Bickley]

There have been many times that I wished I had a 2 TS set-up.

If you have the room and the saws, go for it.....

[Mike Cutler]

No, you're not too attached. If the Craftsman saw still serves a purpose, keep it.

I have two table saws also. I have a General 50-220 that feeds onto my old Jet contractor saw. It works okay for me. Right now I have them back to back, but that hasn't worked out exactly the best for me. I'm thinking of changing the arrangement to one like you mentioned. I very rarely use a dado, so I want to set one up for rip,and one for crosscut
If nothing else the Jet will still continue to act as an out feed table. I can't buy or build one that would be better, for what I could sell the Jet for.

[Lance Norris]

I have seen it done for exactly the reason you give. One saw for dados and one for general purpose. If you have the room, there is no reason not to do this. Only you can decide if the sacrifice of floor space is worth it.

[Norm Roberts]

Nick,
I once owned a Delta Unisaw and in a quirk of fate I ran accross a Powermatic 66 for $800. It was only a couple of years old, but the owner was retiring and moving out west and was selling everything in his shop. I couldn't pass it up and came home with it. Wife said, "Tell me you're going to sell one of them." I responded, "Think of it like the guy who has two Corvettes in the garage; just because you can only drive one at a time doesn't mean you sell one of them."

I kept this set up for several years. Ripped and crosscut on one and did all of my dado work (as well as other things) on the second. Ulitmately, I sold them both to buy a Mini Max slider. I miss my dado capacity and second saw so much, I am saving up to buy a second smaller saw again.

Just one persons opinion. Shure was convenient having both saws. I did a lot of dado work making cabinets, bookcases, etc.

Also consider what you can sell your used saw for and how much to replace it if you change your mind later. Give both a try, if you find the second saw is a waste, you can always sell it down the road.

[Robert Waddell]

I've got two saws as well. I've got a sled and a crosscut blade on the old contractor saw and keep a general purpose blade on the Unisaw. I did build a box/cabinet under the contractor saw for improved dust collection. Go for it. It'll make your shop so much more efficent.
Rob

[David G Baker]

In my opinion a person can have as many table saws as they want, afford or need. In the past I have had two table saws, one I kept set up for dado blades and molding cutters, the other I did my sheet cutting plus any other standard cutting. I still have the second saw boxed up from my move from California to Michigan. It is there if I need it.

[Peter Quinn]

Worked in a shop w/ 2 table saws...1 for rip. 1 for crosscut..big workspace was great for ripping panels, never had to change blades, could hold 2 setups throughout a work process. Nice idea if space allows. But be careful, I had an old catfish in a small tank once, bought a golden Koy to keep it company, Koy ate the catfish the first day! PM may just eat the Craftsman.

[Dwayne Watt]

Nearly 60% more floor space in your new shop area will seem like utopia at first, but 450 sf isn't oversized by any means. If you feel you can afford using the floor space for a 2nd saw then do it by all means. After all, it is your workshop. You can always get rid of one later. This isn't a permanent decison.

[Norman Pyles]

Would have two, if I had the space. Just for the cool factor.

[Ben Grunow]

I have a Sawstop and an old Robland combination machine with TS and a small slider and it means no more crosscut sled which is a blessing. I would go for that setup in a second.

I saw a pic of someone's shop with two TS's next to eachother a long time ago and I cant remember who it was (they were wing to wing with common fence rails and two fences)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I have my old Contractor's saw and have considered pairing it to my slider as a secondary op saw. I have also considered using it as a two blade tenon cutter. The arbor is long enough I can get two blades on it with a spacer.

[David Duke]

I'm gonna go against the flow a little bit on this one. I did exactly the same thing about 7 years ago. I got a great deal on a Delta cabinet saw and decided to join it with my Craftsman making a huge work surface for both saws, I haven't used the Craftsman to speak of since I did this. The main reason I don't however is because I am still using the cruddy fence that came with it and the Unifence has me spoiled. However since your saw has been upgraded to the Beis fencethis may not be an issue.

I'm thinking about removing the Craftsman and building in its place another router table, I find that I have more issues in changing router setups than TS setups plus I have inherited my dad's router lift, 7518 router and Incra fence so most of the cost is taken care of.

[Joe Chritz]

It isn't unusual especially if you do a lot of dados or other time consuming set up tasks.

My shop is a bit bigger than 450 sf (690) and I couldn't fit another saw in there to save my life. Unless you are into production of something that requires two I wouldn't keep it unless you know it will get used a lot.

Joe