Could a homemade "saber saw table" provide as a temporary alternative for a bandsaw?

[Michael Yadfar]

In my wood shop budget, a band saw was never factored in because I don't see it as part of the most essential tools. I do plan to get one in the future though. Now this may sound a bit sketchy, but I thought up a potential jig for a saber saw table. I couldn't find anything on the internet about it, likely because it's a crazy idea. But I thought I would mount my saber saw underneath a cheap table and use that as a band saw. It's got a setting to lock the trigger down, so I can keep it running.

The reason I would prefer to have it table mounted is so I can easily use a fence and have better vision of a blade. I'm sure though there are probably fences for portable saber saws, as they have them for circular saws, but I feel a table fence would work better. The things I would need it for are mainly rough cutting my raw material that's wider than my jointer. I would also probably attempt to use it to resaw boards and cut curves.

So is this just a bad/overly-crazy idea, or does this idea actually have something to it?

[Larry Browning]

My 1st thought is that the blade would drift something terrible. You would start your cut against the fence and it would very quickly either want to pull the work away from the fence or push into the fence and put it in a bind. Also, I am envisioning the saw being mounted upside down with the blade sticking straight up. Seems like a safety issue. I would think that resawing would be impossible.
I have never tried such a thing, so I have no first hand experience, My initial thought is that it is a bad idea. Maybe others will say otherwise.

[Myk Rian]

It'll work. Kinda.
People have also made table saws out of circular saws mounted under a table.

[Charles Taylor]

I believe that's the basic concept of the Rockwell BladeRunner. I've never seen one or heard from anyone who does, so I can't comment on whether it works very well or not.

[Stan Mitchell]

What you describe sounds a bit like the Rockwell Bladerunner that was marketed aggressively a couple of years back.

I can't imagine that it would do well on anything other than thin, light materials.


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=283252&d=1393284844&thumb=1&stc=1

[Pat Barry]

My old craftsman saber saw could cut 1/2" thick pretty well. I could see mounting it to a table just as the OP describes and it would work fine. I wouldn't count on any guide though, just draw and follow a line for a rough cut. You'd probably have a good bit of cleanup but nothing worse than you would get from just using the saber saw in its normal method. I'd say go for it.

[Michael Yadfar]

What you describe sounds a bit like the Rockwell Bladerunner that was marketed aggressively a couple of years back.

I can't imagine that it would do well on anything other than thin, light materials.


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=283252&d=1393284844&thumb=1&stc=1

Wow I can't believe they actually marketed a product with this concept. In my case, doing it myself, I don't think it would be too bad. But I would never buy a product like this that I highly doubt performs that well...

[Doug Garson]

I'm surprised you couldn't find anything on the web. Look at the following link http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_nkw=Craftsman+Router+Saber+saw+Table . It's essentially identical to a Craftsman table I had since the 80's and sold recently. Lot's of them around. Not sure about using it for resawing but worked ok for thin stock. I 'd say it's worth a try since it's not much of an investment especially if you make it yourself.

[Ed Aumiller]

I have an older powermatic scroll saw that has the ability to mount a saber/jig saw blade in it... since I also have an older walker/turner scroll saw that I use there is normally a saber saw blade in the powermatic...
It works, but never gets used... only way to use it basically is to draw a line and follow it..

[Dennis Ford]

I am sure that you can cut wood with such a rig; I don't see it as a substitute for a band saw. A bow saw could be a substitute for a band saw if you don't mind the manual labor.

[Stan Mitchell]

I am sure that you can cut wood with such a rig; I don't see it as a substitute for a band saw. A bow saw could be a substitute for a band saw if you don't mind the manual labor.

Off topic a bit. But I bought a bow-saw a few years back to trim a tree and find it one of the most useful handsaws that I've ever owned. Very versatile.

[Roger Feeley]

You are not crazy. When I was a kid, my dad had a little table for his Craftsman jigsaw. As far as I know, it worked ok. I know he used it. By the time he passed, I had a bandsaw so I didn't want either the saw or the table.

[Kim Gibbens]

I think Stumpy Nubs did a project like that.

[John McClanahan]

One of our members her on SMC did a review of the Bladerunner and said it did better than expected. The overarm guard is also an upper blade guide.

I looked at them in the store just for grins. My biggest complaint would the overall lightweight construction of the base and top. The jig saw part looked looked decent.

John

[Jim Matthews]

Aren't there some decent hunnert-dolla bandsaws at the Borg?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-2-5-Amp-Band-Saw-BS904/100593258

[Peter Quinn]

A scroll saw as a substitute for a bandsaw? Is your carbon monoxide detector beeping presently? Thats like substituting an old rusty Toyota pick up with a couple of half 55 gal drums duck taped to improvised lumber racks for an Abrams M-1 tank. Its not hardly the same thing. You might get a little scrolling work done with that sort of set up, though frankly a decent scroll saw is a much better choice for scrolling. Even a very good jig saw is a pretty crude tool with limited capacity and a very strong potential for blade drift. Even a 12" or 14" bandsaw is a serious wood cutting tool capable of ripping, curves in thick material, fairly high feed rates without much deflection, resaw. If you told me you had an ambitious plan to build three birdhouses from 1/2" cedar this year, I'd say go for it...jig away. If your ambitions stretch much beyond that....the bandsaw could be the only cutting tool you own rather than the only one you don't. So in summary, yes that is a crazy plan, a little more info about what you would like to do would help guide you to the best tool for the work.....but the jig saw is almost definitely IME not it. And I say this having a soft spot for jig saws, it was the first power tool I ever owned and purchased with my own money as a child, around 9? Man I loved that little orange WEN. I think I may actually have clamped it upside down once or twice to build balsa wood planes....

[Michael Yadfar]

Aren't there some decent hunnert-dolla bandsaws at the Borg?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-2-5-Amp-Band-Saw-BS904/100593258

Yea I mean I guess that wouldn't be bad for starts. Pretty much all my tools will have to be upgraded eventually once I get into more advanced stuff, have a bigger budget, and have a bigger/better shop.

[Michael Yadfar]

a little more info about what you would like to do would help guide you to the best tool for the work.....

I plan to buy rough stock and start out with projects like cutting boards and cabinets, eventually moving into bigger stuff. I've done this kind of stuff before in my school shop, so I do have the experience, but in that shop I had the best of the best equipment. My jointer now is a 6", people suggested bigger, but eh, I got a good deal. I've never bought rough stock on my own, but the stuff we had in school was usually wider than 6 inches. So pretty much I need band saw capability to rough cut stock to <6" so I can run it through the jointer. I would also like to resaw thicker stock so I don't have to wear out my planer blades and waste material when bringing it down to size. I don't have any plans in mind for curved cuts but I probably will find a need. Like some guy suggested already, a cheap bandsaw may be a better alternative to my idea

[Dick Brown]

Never tried the jig saw but I did about the same thing with a Milwaukee Sawsall. Wanted to build a Pence cyclone out of 18 gauge steel. Mounted the Sawsall upside down under a plywood table top with the blade sticking up through a slot and a slight angle forward to help keep the steel pulled tight to the table. Drew out all the parts out on the steel, fed it through the saw just following the lines and it worked great.

[Rick Potter]

I posted this before, but here it is again. Search this forum for ......'Check out these cuts, then guess'..........

It is possible to get good straight cuts this way, but it is certainly not the best way. I use it for interior cuts, which are difficult to make other ways. Just used it the other nite on Baltic birch.

Sears used to sell a stamped steel benchtop setup for saber saws, looked like their little router table.

Like other things, it's the blade. Good Bosch blades (Switzerland) make all the difference.

Rick Potter

[Bob Faris]

Not a new idea. I have a portable Skil X-Bench, which has a removable plate on the left side of the table. Accessory insert plates were available for a jig saw, belt sander, router, drill press, and sanding table. Mouse over the small images in the second link to see these accessory plates.

http://www.amazon.com/Skil-3100-12-X-Bench-Workstation/dp/B0010ODQ1U/ref=rsl_mainw_dpl?ie=UTF8&m=A3GD36Z3R2PT2N

http://www.toolbarn.com/skil-xbenchkit.html

[Steve Gojevic]

Years ago, when people used to make many of their own tools, I remember an article in Popular Mechanics (1960's) where you built a saber saw table. The difference was that you didn't use a hand-held saber saw. You used an old horizontal-shaft gas engine from a reel-type lawn mower or snowblower. The head was removed to expose the piston. You made a bracket that attached to the top of the piston to hold the blade. An electric motor drove the crankshaft via a belt and pulleys. Attach a table to the top of the engine and you have a stationary saber saw!

A few years ago I bought a 4-volume set of "Popular Mechanics Encyclopedia" at a rummage sale. It's incredible what people used to build themselves. We buy so much stuff now that it's becoming a lost art. The old Popular mechanics magazines were incredible, nothing like now. You had instructions on how to build hovercraft (using snowmobile engines), popup campers, pools, etc. As a kid I used to make some of the simpler stuff and I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do.

Steve

[Rich Engelhardt]

Back in the early 1970's I had a McGraw-Edison sabre-lathe.
Same idea. A saber saw blade w.no guard or anything poked up through a metal table.

Neither the small lath or the saw ever worked.
Drift was uncontrollable.


A small benchtop 9 or 10" bandsaw would be better. Even the horrid piece of garbage Delta Shop-whatever benchtop I have is better & that's not saying a whole lot...

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I think I may actually have clamped it upside down once or twice to build balsa wood planes....

Yep, same here but mine was a Black and Decker.

I used it when I was a kid as my main tool. My "specialty" was toy guns. Taught myself how to draw to scale from a photo, and could copy practically anything to kid specs. It was fun, and I remember turning the saw over on a table a time or two for specific things.

The big issue that I see, the blades aren't that long. You really won't get much capacity. Take the table you are mounting the saw to, and the blade probably won't correctly saw a 1 1/2" thick board. Why not just use a circular saw? A cheap circular, with a decent blade can work very well for straight cuts.

[Larry Browning]

Do you have a circular saw? Much better choice for rip cuts. Plus, didn't I see where you already had a table saw? That would be a much better choice to rip rough cut lumber. There are lots of simple ways to get a nice straight edge on rough cut lumber, including having it done at the lumber yard. The place where I buy most of my hardwoods will do that for free if I ask.

[Michael Yadfar]

Do you have a circular saw? Much better choice for rip cuts. Plus, didn't I see where you already had a table saw? That would be a much better choice to rip rough cut lumber. There are lots of simple ways to get a nice straight edge on rough cut lumber, including having it done at the lumber yard. The place where I buy most of my hardwoods will do that for free if I ask.

Yes I do have a table saw, but what I would be concerned about is getting a kickback from not having a flat surface on the bottom of the board. In my school shop the rule was you have to have a flat edge and bottom on the board to safely cut it on the table saw. The only reason I would need to rough cut is because the boards from my local supplier range randomly from 5.5"-8". My jointer is a 6"

[Prashun Patel]

For stock < 1-2", perhaps.

Which way are the teeth slanted on a saber saw? Your jig will need to take that into account so that the cutting does not want to lift the piece off the table. That will be messy to control and potentially dangerous.

For the time and effort you put into doing this, have you considered finding a used jigsaw on CL? There are very good blades that can make this solution a passable alternative to bandsaw.

[Larry Browning]

Yes I do have a table saw, but what I would be concerned about is getting a kickback from not having a flat surface on the bottom of the board. In my school shop the rule was you have to have a flat edge and bottom on the board to safely cut it on the table saw. The only reason I would need to rough cut is because the boards from my local supplier range randomly from 5.5"-8". My jointer is a 6"

I would say you absolutely need a flat edge, not so sure about the bottom I would think it would need to be relatively flat, but most rough cut lumber is. There are many ways to safely obtain a flat edge on the table saw. For instance you can make a sled to securely attach the rough board to and run it through on that.

Here is a link to one idea, there are many others.
http://www.newwoodworker.com/tsjointjig.html

[Curt Harms]

You can also face joint boards wider than your jointer. I've done it. It wasn't optimum and one of the reasons I bought a 12" jointer/planer combo but it can be done and it works. There are also planer sleds of various designs used to flatten boards.

[CPeter James]

How about a used band saw? I used to think I had to buy "new" until I got into buying older used tools and found that they are better than a lot of the new stuff on the market. I don't know where you are located, but her In NH I know where there are used 14" band saws for sale for less than $200. Also some premium blades for under $20. Look around on CL in your area. The most expensive tools are often the cheapest because they don't do the job and short lived. If you decide to try your plan, Get a Bosch jig saw. After two or three "junk, cheap" jig saws I got a Bosch. I learned that there are two kinds of jig saws, Bosch and all the rest. Just my humble opinion.

CPeter

[ray hampton]

the plans on "how to build a sabre saw are easy to find, I got a book about milling projects with a blueprint for this type of saw that mount on a lathe chuck which power the saw

[Peter Quinn]

You sound like a man who needs a used 14" BS. Its a game changer. Not sure how the little cheap BS's perform one way of the other, but the 14" is a serious tool that can often be had sub $400 used with some regularity.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

You sound like a man who needs a used 14" BS. Its a game changer. Not sure how the little cheap BS's perform one way of the other, but the 14" is a serious tool that can often be had sub $400 used with some regularity.

I paid all of $125 for my little Delta. They are not expensive.

[Howard Acheson]

The problem with using a sabre saw as a bandsaw is that there is no support at the top of the blade. Therefore, the blade will sort of wiggle back and forth and not cut exactly 90 degrees to the bottom of the cut.

I bought a Craftsman sabre saw table years ago thinking it would substitute for a band saw. It only worked for very thin material.

[Larry Browning]

The problem with using a sabre saw as a bandsaw is that there is no support at the top of the blade. Therefore, the blade will sort of wiggle back and forth and not cut exactly 90 degrees to the bottom of the cut.

I bought a Craftsman sabre saw table years ago thinking it would substitute for a band saw. It only worked for very thin material.
Howard,
Did you ever try that table with a fence or even a miter guage to cut a straight line? I would think that would be problematic.

[Michael Yadfar]

At this point I think I will just get a bandsaw. Looking on craigslist there's a pretty big selection, especially compared to other woodworking tools, and prices aren't that bad. I think I can easily find one around $200. The good thing about a band saw is that I feel like it's a very simple tool with little to go wrong. You don't have to really worry about crooked tables, rusty tables, fences, etc. I feel like as long as you have a blade that spins it's a suitable tool. I guess 12+ inches is a suitable size? For my purpose I'll say it again; rough cutting stock and resawing material, along with curved cuts.

[Larry Browning]

Michael,
I will say it again as I feel it is worth repeating in this context.
I believe the table saw is a much more appropriate tool for putting a straight edge on rough stock than a bandsaw. A nice shop made rip sled is safe, fast and very effective for getting a straight edge on a board. If you feel the need to flatten one face of a too wide for your joiner board before ripping, you can make a 2nd pass with the board on the sled. It is just a better way of doing it.
Now for curvy cuts and resawing, the bandsaw is the proper tool. As you shop for a bandsaw, be aware of the resaw capacity, most 14" saws have about an 12" capacity.

[Michael Yadfar]

Oh yea I remember you saying that... I will definitely do the research on a table saw rip sled. Still though, if I see a band saw I'll take it, it seems like it's a handy tool. The only tool I really want now that I'm going to hold off on is a lathe; I really liked using the lathe at school, but I feel like there's just not enough purpose for the cost.

But thanks for the advice, I will definitely look into a rip sled

[Larry Browning]

You might want to look a used ShopSmith on CL too. Sometimes you can find a really good deal on them. They are not for everybody, but I think for your situation it might really get you a lot of bang for your buck. You could get a drill press, lathe, sander, even a bandsaw all in one neat compact package. The table saw feature is pretty useless though. I have seen pretty nice ones go for $400. Just another option for you to look at.

[Peter Quinn]

I use the BS to straight line rough stock all the time. It has a much faster feed rate than a TS and doesn't kick back. You could use the same type of sled front the TS on a BS should that be of interest to you by adding a few saw horses or roller stands. Usually I'll just make a line from a reference edge like an 8' drop of plywood, or I'll use a chalk line for significant bow, then freehand to the line, one or two light passes over the jointer....voila! Straight boards. Well, one edge straight. Then I'll rip them to rough width, 3/8" over +- if I can read the grain, more if I'm unsure. Another nice feature of ripping on a BS is you can "fix" the grain direction which in rough lumber is often not parallel with the boards straightest edge. I like the 14" size as an entry level for resaw and ripping. I wouldn't hesitate to rip 16/4 rough lumber (such as farm houses leg blanks) on an entry level 14 BS, I would prefer not to do the same on even a massive TS, its painful and dangerous, been there.

[Michael Yadfar]

You might want to look a used ShopSmith on CL too

Yea I will definitely keep an eye out for one if I can get it at the right price. I know these multi-machine in one jigs are often considered junk, but for functions like sanding, band saw, and lathe, I don't really see where you can go wrong. The only machines I personally feel you can go wrong with are a table saw, jointer, planer, and compound miter saw. I already have those though and mine are relatively good quality products.

[Michael Yadfar]

Personally my experience in rough cutting stock has been on a band saw. I draw a straight line, and follow that best I could. Now it isn't perfect, but I easily correct that edge on a jointer. Now Mr. Larry Browning, I did look up ripping sleds for the table saw and they do look safe and look like a good idea. If my band saw has a really small table, that probably will be the idea I would go with