Sell the table saw????!!!

[Bob Jones]

So, I sold my electric jointer a few months ago and I have not regretted it for a second. I have more space and I can do just as well by hand. Next candidate - the table saw. It takes up a ton of space in my small shop and it is the most dangerous tool in my shop.

I don't use it much. I do most ripping/resawing with my 18" bandsaw. I use a circular saw and a 2x4 table for cutting plywood and larger boards anyway. I am cutting joints with my bandsaw/handsaws. The biggest loss I can image is sawing dados/grooves/rabbets.

2 questions - Am i forgetting anything?
What are some good options for cutting grooves/dados?

Thanks!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Router, router table and/or a straight edge for a guide and shop built jigs can be used for dados and rabbets.

[Tri Hoang]

So, I sold my electric jointer a few months ago and I have not regretted it for a second. I have more space and I can do just as well by hand. Next candidate - the table saw. It takes up a ton of space in my small shop and it is the most dangerous tool in my shop.

I don't use it much. I do most ripping/resawing with my 18" bandsaw. I use a circular saw and a 2x4 table for cutting plywood and larger boards anyway. I am cutting joints with my bandsaw/handsaws. The biggest loss I can image is sawing dados/grooves/rabbets.

2 questions - Am i forgetting anything?
What are some good options for cutting grooves/dados?

Thanks!

I did exactly what you are planing to do a while back. It was a liberating experience & I don't miss it at all. You'll get your space back plus the space for storing various jigs. Best of all, you won't be tempted by all the ads for the gazillion of jigs. I use a router on dados/rabbets/groves in plywood & hand tools for real wood. For sheet goods, I use a track saw.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Personally I wouldn't be without a table saw but I realize other folks have a right to their own methods.

[john davey]

Space is tight for me as well but I find I need to keep the table saw (I have gotten rid of some and always go back). I just keep an old Craftsman 8 incher (picking one up today to replace the one I moved to my brothers house). It really does not take a lot of space and it still is there when I need it. If I had the space a unisaw with 50" fenca and side and outfeed table would be there as I do think the table saw is key but in this forum that would most likely not be the norm :)

[tico vogt]

For the uses you've mentioned, an accurately set up table saw is without peer. What is the virtue in doing without something you already own, assuming it is in adequate condition? Legions of tremendous craftsmen skilled with hand tools also use the tablesaw. Even if it's only for the occasional operation, as, in my case, using my LN chisel plane, I'd keep it.

[Don C Peterson]

I agree with several others about the benefit of a table saw. I don't think I would go without one, I enjoy hand tools for finish work and joinery, but there are some tasks that power tools eliminate large amounts of what I consider drugery.

[David Weaver]

I would sell my TS tomorrow if someone came to the door offering a reasonable amount for it. Same goes with my jointer and thickness planer.

When I first started, I didn't think I'd be able to do without it - always considered people who said they'd throw out a TS before a BS to be crazy, but I'd have to be room temperature to let go of my BS now. It serves as my rough cutting machine and thicknesser when more than a little bit of thicknessing needs to be done. The TS makes a cut about once every two or three weeks when it's most convenient (jigs, etc), but I'd gladly get rid of it and do those cuts some other way.

Never did enjoy using it, either, but recognize that what it does, it does well, and it does it cheaply, too, after you pay for the initial cost.

[Prashun Patel]

Unplug it, remove the blade and guard, cover it with plywood, and convert it to a bench. Wait for a year and see if you ever need it. If not, sell it. Tsaws hold their value fairly well, so selling a used one now vs 1 year from now won't make much of a difference.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Unplug it, remove the blade and guard, cover it with plywood, and convert it to a bench. Wait for a year and see if you ever need it. If not, sell it. Tsaws hold their value fairly well, so selling a used one now vs 1 year from now won't make much of a difference.

Sounds like the best suggestion yet!

[steven c newman]

I've found for my TS: Those two grooves just happen to be square to the edges, layout aid. The fence acts as a third hand from time to time, as in glue-ups for small tables. That nice, hard cast iron top makes cinching over small nails a breeze, as in nailing web frames together. If I need some room on the bench, the TS serves as a "ready-rack" for tools I'm using. Use a tool, lay in down on the TS, pick up the next tool, and carry on. I can lay some paper down on the top, and use the top for clamps to sit on for glue-ups. When done, paper can go into the wood-burner. I can un-plug the power-switch from the motor, and then plug in another tool. The switch still works, just controls whatever motor is plugged into it. Ah, yes, Multi-tasking!:D

[David Weaver]

Unplug it, remove the blade and guard, cover it with plywood, and convert it to a bench. Wait for a year and see if you ever need it. If not, sell it. Tsaws hold their value fairly well, so selling a used one now vs 1 year from now won't make much of a difference.

That's generally what it's doing right now. It's a layout table, standby table for tools in use and most times, a place to use the miter box. I've cut some moulding plane wedges on a jig, and a piece of MDF, but that's it.

I could do the wedges any of a number of ways (that would be admittedly slower than the TS), and I could do without the MDF, I think.

The TS definitely speeds up production of things, especially if you're making cabinets out of ply or other such things. Dados are fast on it, too, but that kind of thing just isn't satisfying anymore. I'd rather do with less space and focus on the kind of woodworking things that I want to do.

I think my wife would rather see me use the TS more, though, and make the stuff she wants.

[Jim Koepke]

Let it be known that I do not have a table saw. I do have a circular saw that sees little use.

Prashun makes a good point. Of course I could get rich off of a lot of my tools that go a year or more between needing them. Then again, none of them take up room like a table saw.

Cutting dados by hand can take a little time, but so does setting up a table saw to get them right.

Cutting stopped dados may be easier by hand.

I know for some of the pieces I have done for shelves that are 6 feet tall, it is likely safer.

jim

[William M Johnson]

I say sell it or use it as a bench. I make a lot of cabinets and a track saw beats the table saw in every catagory. I have the EZ Smart System. It can also be used for dados.

I have a PM66 with an Excalibur slider. The slider is off sitting in a corner waiting for someone to buy it. I use the table saw for ripping boards and that is about all. I wind up jointing the boards by hand anyway so I don't know why a band saw could not be used.

Having said all of that the PM66 is still in the shop with a power feeder on it. When the Safari Helicopter kit shows up I will have to make some tough decisions.

Bill

[Chris Padilla]

So what are you going to use as a bench, finishing station, glue-up table, etc. if you sell your table saw? :p

Everyone is different and does things their own way...only YOU can decide if you need this tool. I think I'd be lost without mine...I'd need to build another bench to pile stuff on! :eek:

[William Hovis]

I make guitars, which I learned to do in an environment where most operations were done with power tools. Several years ago I had the opportunity to examine a couple guitars made in the in the early 1900s by legendary Spanish makers who worked in very small shops with only a limited assortment of hand tools. This was an unexpected turning point for me, as these guitars had a very different beauty and vibe than the contemoprary guitars I was used to seeing, and it became my goal to make something like those old guitars.

Since I'm using mostly hand tools now, I would sell my table saw, as well as planer, jointer and one of my drill presses if I weren't too lazy to put the effort into advertising the stuff, but I think I would feel a twinge of panic (hopefully brief) as it went out the door. I'm not quite ready to wean myself off of the bandsaw and router, but that may come.

[Steve Branam]

I have a Shopsmith with all the trimmings. Jointer, bandsaw, and strip sander attachments, speed increaser, speed reducer, pin-routing setup, hyperspace modulator, plus a Shopsmith Powerstand. The only thing I've used since October is the bandsaw on the Powerstand, to slice up sections of green applewood logs. Since I bought a Jet mini-lathe a few years ago, I don't use the Shopsmith as a lathe, either, though it does offer larger turning dimensions (to be replaced sometime by a treadle lathe). I also have a Craftsman radial arm saw holding up some boxes in the non-shop side of the basement. Except for the bandsaw and Powerstand, it could all go.

Breaking up is hard to do, but at this point I've found I can do everything with hand tools just about as quickly, and get far more enjoyment out of it. There's always that nagging feeling that if I got rid of it, I might want it for something. Naaah, I don't think I'd miss it. Most of it's just taking up space now.

Dadoes, rabbets, and grooves can all be done by hand pretty easily with backsaw, chisels, router plane, rabbet plane, plow plane, and shoulder plane (or some combination thereof). I also find they're a lot of fun! There's nothing more satisfying than rolling up the waste out of a dado with a chisel, then smoothing it down. You can't get any closer to the wood than that. You can get a precision fit in about the same time it would take you to get the same fit with a table saw. No fiddling with a dado stack and taking test cuts to get the size right. You just do it.

[Shawn Albe]

I'm kind of in the same boat -- enjoying hand tools more, using the table saw less, especially with solid stock.

The one thing you are forgetting, thought, is that I find I can make more mistakes, much faster with my table saw than my hand saws.

[Van Huskey]

Are you CRAZY??? Oops wrong forum, makes perfect sense! Lemme get back to where the tools have tails... :D

[James Owen]

So, I sold my electric jointer a few months ago and I have not regretted it for a second. I have more space and I can do just as well by hand. Next candidate - the table saw. It takes up a ton of space in my small shop and it is the most dangerous tool in my shop.

I don't use it much. I do most ripping/resawing with my 18" bandsaw. I use a circular saw and a 2x4 table for cutting plywood and larger boards anyway. I am cutting joints with my bandsaw/handsaws. The biggest loss I can image is sawing dados/grooves/rabbets.

2 questions - Am i forgetting anything?
What are some good options for cutting grooves/dados?

Thanks!

Find it a new home....

I sold my table saw years ago and don't miss it at all. A pair of good hand saws, one filed rip and one filed cross-cut, will take care of almost all of your straight-cut cutting needs (and more quickly than you might believe).

Rebates can be cut with an Azebiki, a saw guide, and a rebate plane or just with the plane.
Dados can be cut with a dado plane, or with an Azebiki, a saw guide, a chisel, and a router plane.
Grooves can be cut with a plow plane, or with an Azebiki, a saw guide, a chisel, and a router plane.
Sliding dovetails can be cut with an Azebiki, a saw guide, a chisel, and a router plane.

There is not much that you can't do in solid wood with hand tools that you can do with power tools, and can frequently do it faster, safer, and with fewer or no jigs.....

[Bob Jones]

Thanks for the discussion, I figured this would get a range of responses. I like the wait idea. That is kinda what I am doing now. I will wait a while and then test the selling waters with people I know. I am not interested in listing on craigslist just yet.

Thanks for the tips, at least now I think I know what selling means ----purchasing a plough plane and a router plane -- nice!

[Tony Shea]

A plough plane and router plane seems a must especially considering getting rid of the TS. And like has been stated, the BS is an absolute beast when it comes to ripping. Add to that a #7 or #8 and your in business. But this is just me imagining what it would be like as I use my table saw plenty to justify its' existance, but I could do without it if I had to.

[Jacob Mac]

I just dumped my TS 3 weeks ago. And, honestly, I am kind of regretting it. Mostly because I am uncomfortable making G&G style proud finger joints for drawers without a TS. I have always used a TS for this task, and I am dreading trying to do it with hand tools. It is silly because it is relatively straight forward, but it is still making my uncomfortable.

But I am deadset on being full neander for a year. After that, who knows, maybe I will get another TS. But I will never know unless I give this experiment a shot.

[Steve Branam]

If those G&G finger joints are your main concern, rip yourself down a bunch of practice pieces, and start making a bunch of them. Then cut them off and do 'em again. Don't worry about how ugly the first ones look. Think about how pretty the 20th ones will look. You WILL see improvement.

Ironically, the Arts&Crafts style was meant to use production techniques to make quality furniture available to the masses, so the use of finger joints was as much pragmatic as it was decorative. It's an easy joint to mechanize.

[Bob Jones]

As an FYI - I decided to just move my table saw and drill press out of my small (15ft x15ft) shop and into my garage. What a difference it makes! My shop seems huge now! See attached pics. I figure that if I don't use it in 1 year I can sell it. Time will tell. Time to get more handsaws now....

The pics attached were taken in opposite corners of the shop. How do you like the floor mats? What do you expect for less than $1/sq ft.

[Phillip Ngan]

I'm in a position where I have to leave my TS behind (moving to another country with a different voltage). And I've talked to 2 woodworkers around here that use the following set of tools:

Bandsaw, thicknesser, jointer, plunge saw (for ripping), and the rest are handtools. Do you think this is a practical set up? Cost isn't really the issue, but space is.

[Willard Foster]

You are forgetting one thing.

When can I come and take that bandsaw off your hands?:D

Bill