Any table saw-less shops out there?

[James Carmichael]

I'd like to hear from anyone who is building cabinets or furniture without a table saw. What do tools and techniques do you use in lieu of the TS?

Due to space constraints, I'm toying with the idea of selling contractor saw and 14" bandsaw, and upgrading to a bigger bandsaw and guided saw system.

[Niels J. Larsen]

I tried doing it - but found out that ripping was troublesome.
So I've just bought a table saw for just that.

Haven't tried it yet, but I'm hoping that it will be pure bliss instead of the never ending messing with guide rails to get it accurate enough.

You could try to contact John Lucas who's also a member here - he has a site covering extensive use of a well known guided saw system.

Perhaps I'm just doing it wrong, but I have limited sparetime, so I want fast and simple - not slow and tedious :-D

[Ben Davis]

Don't forget the bow-saw route. There are some great threads on the neander sub-forum regarding making your own. Tedious? Maybe. More enjoyable? Maybe. It's your perspective in that capacity. I bet you'll have a much easier time with thin stock and a bow saw compared to thin stock and a table saw.

Mistakes happen slower too!

[John Schreiber]

Great things can be done with the quality rail guided saw systems. Some people have even gotten rid of their table saws. They also seem to me to be a significant improvement in safety over a table saw. I'm partial to the EurekaZone System. They have a forum of their own (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forumdisplay.php?f=26)here on the Creek. Festool also makes a quality system.

[Bill White]

My shop was centered around a RAS since 1978. Bought a TS from a former Creeker 2+ yrs ago, and really enjoy the advantages. Still have, and use, the RAS for wide cut-offs and long miters. The TS has sped up the processes.
Bill ;)

[James Carmichael]

Dang, was hoping to hear how great some folks get by with a BS for ripping.

[Kevin Morton]

James: I hardly ever rip anything on the tsaw. I don't use sheet goods, however. If i'm ripping parts less than 9" wide, I'll rip to rough width on the bandsaw, then finish up in the planer (I can get up to 9" wide stock in the planer). Usually, I'm edge planing stock of 2-5" in width. I get precise widths and no concerns about kickback or an edge that's slightly skewed. Of course, for really thin stock, this isn't possible or advisable. But for most operations, it's what I do. It's quick, safe and very accurate.

Still crosscut everything on the tsaw.

[Frank Drew]

For me, a shop can be built around a table saw, jointer and planer, with the first tool to get being a good table saw. It just makes life easier than the alternatives, although the alternatives certainly can get the job done.

But a sliding table saw, now we're talkin', and once you have one you'd never want to go back; one tool to do all your ripping and crosscutting, including sheet goods, and both very accurately.

[Michael Prisbylla]

I don't have a table saw (no room for one). I use a 1960's era DeWalt radial arm saw and find it perfectly adequate to my purposes once it's correctly aligned, which is a bit of a process. Sorry I can't be of much help on the BS, I just picked up my first one, a little ancient Craftsman 10"er. Obviously there'll be no resawing going on.

[Richard McComas]

I'd like to hear from anyone who is building cabinets or furniture without a table saw. What do tools and techniques do you use in lieu of the TS?

Due to space constraints, I'm toying with the idea of selling contractor saw and 14" bandsaw, and upgrading to a bigger bandsaw and guided saw system.
There are a number of people building cabinets using festools. John Lucas is one of them. Read John's post in the following thread.

http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=1ad2f237ee3f45fc8ab6b8e5726758 d5&topic=6867.0

[Stephen Edwards]

Personally, I think that you would miss your TS if you were to sell it. That would be especially true if you're working with sheet goods. Some others will disagree but that's my opinion.

Good Luck with your decision!

[David Gendron]

I think it depend on what kind of stuff you are mainly building! I do every thing with hand tools, zero power tools involve, but I also work only with real wood and no sheet goods... That said, it is a bit slower I'm sure but so much more anjoyable!

If I would go the power tool rout, I beleave that I would buy a Good large band saw and one of the track saw like the Festool or Makita...

Just my $0.02

[george wilson]

I advise keeping the table saw. If you are making straight cuts in cabinet work,cutting dadoes and rabbets,it is the best machine. As soon as I got my first real job,I bought my first tablesaw,a Dewalt. It runs much better than any unisaw ever did,and the fence is simple,but locks down without moving. It is still the only table saw I have ever owned. Too bad it never could compete with the advertising and years of establishment that Delta had built up.You hardly ever see one. I think I've only ever seen 3 in the years since 1964.

It is a bit of a pain that they put a 3/4" arbor in it. Blades used to come with knockouts for 3/4",not now. Fortunately,I have the means to bore (not drill) out the arbor holes in new blades. Boring is more accurate,and is done with a single point boring tool. Besides the steel blade is too hard to drill without carbide,anyway.

[jim carter]

i built an entertainment center without a table saw. i used a 9" band saw, a skil saw, a drill, a 10" chop saw and a router. i had home depot rip my oak plywood on their panel saw to width, tape the cuts i made with the skil to stop chip out. used 1x2 oak face frame . no table saw. BUT, i would rather have a tablesaw like i do now.

[Kev Godwin]

I knew a chair maker in the past that had no need for a table saw since he cut all of his pieces on his band saw and used his jointer to true the edge if he needed. However, he works only with boards and hardwoods.

That wouldn't work for me. I cut sheet goods of various materials I sure wouldn't want to run on my jointer because of damage to the blades.

Like others said, it really depends on what you work on. For me - table saw and band saw, etc.
Kev

[Paul B. Cresti]

Dang, was hoping to hear how great some folks get by with a BS for ripping.

Well I have a table-sawless shop....As I do not consider my format slider as a table saw ;) . I do rip quite regluarly on by bandsaw though but all final sizing is done on my planer but in between steps do require jointer clean up

[Jason White]

Have been without one in the past and would never do it again.

And, yes, I have a Festool track-guided saw.

Jason


I'd like to hear from anyone who is building cabinets or furniture without a table saw. What do tools and techniques do you use in lieu of the TS?

Due to space constraints, I'm toying with the idea of selling contractor saw and 14" bandsaw, and upgrading to a bigger bandsaw and guided saw system.

[Joel Earl]

Curious why you feel so strongly Jason? I am interested in your take.

I bought a lot of my tools from a guy who is all Festool or hand tools today. The guy builds for a living, from houses to cabinets to whatever.

He says the only time he even thinks of the cabinet saw is when he is doing many reps and then only for awhile at that. I "think" I'd maybe miss a saw but watching him do Victorian restorations and the likes I can see I could get by easily without. If I move I might sell off all and try it.

[Burt Waddell]

I'd like to hear from anyone who is building cabinets or furniture without a table saw. What do tools and techniques do you use in lieu of the TS?

Due to space constraints, I'm toying with the idea of selling contractor saw and 14" bandsaw, and upgrading to a bigger bandsaw and guided saw system.


James,

Over the past couple of years, I have sold all three of my uinsaws and now rely on the EZ tools for all of the functions normaly done on the table saw. In many ways the transition was just natural. As I developed confidence in the EZ rails and PBB, I found myself using them more and using the table saw less. Eliminating the table saw was not a goal at all. When I found the table saw was being used strictly as a junk collector, I decided I could use the space more productively and moved the table saw out.

Overall, the EZ system is faster than the Table saw. Some things may take a little longer and other things are much quicker. When I initially bought the EZ system it was for use strictly with plywood. Now that I have used the EZ for a while I also find that it handles small cuts more efficienctly and much safer than the table saw.

Those who liike myself have used a table saw for years will not make an instant switch to the rails. It takes time to get to where you think "EZ". In other words, it takes a while to get to where you go to the rail system for that cut that you really aren't sure how to make on either tool.

Using the EZ takes a lot less strength than using the table saw.

Here is a link to a video that Dino did on the Makita 5007 MGA and a 2 x 4. This gives a pretty good idea of how easy somethings are with the EZ. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiJJQp1EPKI&feature=channel_page


Burt

[Jason White]

You can certainly get by without a tablesaw. But why would you want to?

I can see it if you just don't have room for a tablesaw in your shop or you don't want to carry one around from jobsite to jobsite (though there are lots of nice, lightweight portable tablesaws out there so I don't really buy that argument).

In my workshop, it comes down to convenience. A guided circular saw can't replace a tablesaw for quick rip cuts and some types of joinery, but it's my go-to tool for cutting sheets of plywood.

For just about everything else, I use the tablesaw because it's faster and easier.

Jason




Curious why you feel so strongly Jason? I am interested in your take.

I bought a lot of my tools from a guy who is all Festool or hand tools today. The guy builds for a living, from houses to cabinets to whatever.

He says the only time he even thinks of the cabinet saw is when he is doing many reps and then only for awhile at that. I "think" I'd maybe miss a saw but watching him do Victorian restorations and the likes I can see I could get by easily without. If I move I might sell off all and try it.

[Loren Hedahl]

I was strongly considering building a larger shop when I just happened to see a Festool guided circular saw demo'd at a lumber yard store. I bought it mostly for its great dust control, but soon found I was just using my table saw as a table. So I gave the table saw to my son-in-law.

Then with the reduced space requirements, I really didn't need the added space. However, there were times when I really wished for a table saw, especially making narrow rips. So I ended up with a small DeWalt 745 that normally resides under the bench but is small and lightweight enough to set up in just a minute or two. It works great for those few cuts, then gets stashed in its place under the bench.

I tried the bandsaw route and it works also, but the added steps of jointing and planing seemed inconvenient to me. With a quality blade installed and the adjustments set, I can't say I was getting noticeably better cuts with my heavy contractor's saw. The price of the DeWalt certainly wasn't a bank breaker as it was a significantly marked down display model from Lowe's.

Lots of good, thoughtful comments on the issue here. Please keep us up-to-date as to what you finally decide. I always enjoy visiting other folks shops just to see how they do things. I've learned a lot in the process and a forum like this opens this up to wherever the internet is available. What a wonderful age in which to live!

[Ben West]

Check out this post from a couple years ago.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=56074

I have a small shop and have thus done without a table saw, using the bandsaw, jointer, and planer in combination the way described in this post. I also have a Festool saw and rails that I also use.

This setup works well for me, although it does have limitations. I will expand my shop at some point, and I will then purchase a cabinet saw. Until then, I can do most of what I'd like with this setup.