table saw question

[stan shields]

Interested to hear from members on your experience/preference/opinions regarding table space on the left side of the blade vs the right?
I'm closing-in on buying the SS Contractors saw with the 36 inch rails.
Was watching a Jon Peters video and noticed he has almost no space to the left of the blade and it got me thinking. I'm building a new shop with limited space around the TS and my inclination would be to put the blade in the center of the space but maybe there is another/better approach?
Stan

[Tim M Tuttle]

I have that same saw and honestly never really gave any thought to where the blade was in relation to my shop rather than just the saw itself. I think that most have generally the same ratio of left/right space in relation to the blade but I am not sure. I would say that most of the time I am more worried about the space on the right side of the blade than the left.

[Bill Dufour]

I think this would depend on being right or left handed. That said my cuttoff sled rides to the right of the blade because there is more table on the right to support it. That method does keep my right hand more away from the blade so maybe a bit safer that way. Not really safer but but at least my dominate hand is safer?
Bill

[Mike Henderson]

Seems to me that the only time you'd need a lot of room on the left side of the blade is when you're cutting some big stuff, such as plywood (sheet goods). I gave up trying to handle sheet goods on my table saw some time back and bought a track saw to cut that stuff. So now, I need very little room on the left side of the blade, probably less than I have.

Mike

[Let me clarify, that when you say "left" you mean the opposite side of the blade from the side that faces the fence.]

[Yonak Hawkins]

I believe it's typical to have as much space to the fence side of the blade as possible. For instance, if you will be cutting 4X8 sheets, it would be good to be able to have at least 48" between blade and fence.

[Charles Wiggins]

I placed the right side of my saw about 3/4" from the wall which gives me about 32" of usable space to the right of the blade with the fence. If I take the fence off I have just over 36" of clearance. The left is wide open to the wall but I do have mobile support stands I can set up if something is hanging off too far to control. This rarely happens anymore because I have a track saw I use for breaking sheet goods down to manageable sizes and a SCMS for chopping dimensional lumber down to length.

374036

[stan shields]

yeah, the side opposite from the side the fence is typically on.

[glenn bradley]

First the usual disclaimer that we all do things differently . . . The right side of my saw is no-man's-land occupied by DC, ducting and electrical panel. I do have 52" rails but, would consider anything to the right beyond what my fence could service to be wasted space. Anything you are cutting that is beyond the capacity of your fence is not using the fence and you can therefore reverse your approach and put the long portion on the left side of the blade. If you are thinking of maximum capacity to both sides of the blade I think you are thinking about a CMS and not about a tablesaw. If you are crosscutting long stock regularly, there is a better way to do that.

[William Fretwell]

Aside from sheet goods I rarely need lots of space either side of the blade. The far right side collects offcuts. For sheet goods I often need the same space on each side which ends up very awkward on the left with rollers on wheels. Those cuts sometimes don't go well!

I would allow the same space either side because it WILL happen.

[Cary Falk]

In the world of right tilt saws I guess you could justify some space to the left of the blade if you did a lot of bevel rips. In the world of left tilt saws I want as much of the space to the right as I can get for ripping.

[Robert Engel]

Not sure exactly why, but extension fence rails are universally to the right. However, an accessory table to the if very beneficial to support sheet stock. In most cases the 30" ext table to the right will cover the vast majority of cuts. From a space viewpoint, you can locate the right side of the saw closest to (or even up against) a wall but I would still recommend mobility.

On what Cary ^ said, as with many other things, machine station setups depend on what type of ww'ing you do. It doesn't really matter what one person has do what works for you. Off topic but the left vs. right tilt decision may be something you will need to give thought to if a cabinet saw is in your future. I am of the opinion left tilt is much safer.

[stan shields]

So sheet goods seems to be the big driver of space to the left of the blade. Track saws have changed the game I guess. My thinking was solidified before there were track saws, in the past I always wrestled 5x5 and 4x8 sheets through the TS. I just bought a Kreg accu-cut so maybe I need to use it to resize sheet goods and take the pressure off the TS placement.
SS has introduced a router table extension which would work well for me on the left side...no pricing yet though.

[stan shields]

Is safety the reason for left-tilt?

[Prashun Patel]

Unless you routinely rip plywood on the TS, the right side does not need to be large. In fact, I use the right side so little, I cut my rails from 36" to 24" on the right.

I prefer open space on the left side of the blade for cross cutting.

I always use my saw with the right side against the wall.

[Jim Becker]

Is safety the reason for left-tilt?

Yes. On a cabinet saw/contractors' style saw with a left-tilting blade, you can safely bevel cut a board or panel with the material between the rip fence and the blade. To do that on a right-tilting arbor, you really need the material to the right of the blade and only sliding table saws are equipped to do that well.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Yes. On a cabinet saw/contractors' style saw with a left-tilting blade, you can safely bevel cut a board or panel with the material between the rip fence and the blade. To do that on a right-tilting arbor, you really need the material to the right of the blade and only sliding table saws are equipped to do that well.


Right-tilt saws normally have the fence to the left of the blade and, with the material between the fence and the blade, the set-up is the same, and as safe, as left-tilt, just reverse.

[Charles Lent]

I have a right tilt Unisaw that came with the 54" Unifence fence rail and extension table on the right side but with a cast iron extension on the left side. Most of my cutting is on the right side of the blade with my Unifence on the right of the blade, but whenever that will be a problem, I move the Unifence to the left side of the blade, switch the fence extrusion to the right side of the Unifence main casting, and make the cut with the blade angled away from the fence. It doesn't matter which way your saw tilts, as long as you can move the fence to both sides of the blade and you can remember to change sides when the cut will pinch the board between the blade and fence. Make the change to keep this from happening and use the saw.

My last saw was left tilt and the longer table and fence was left of the saw blade, but I would switch the fence to the right side if the cut would cause the same problem. You just have to learn your saw's capabilities and the kinds of cuts to be avoided, no matter which way the blade tilts. If you like the blade tilting one way over the other, then buy a saw to suit you, just figure out which cuts need to be done on the less common side of the blade. It really doesn't matter left or right otherwise.

Charley

[Jim Becker]

Right-tilt saws normally have the fence to the left of the blade and, with the material between the fence and the blade, the set-up is the same, and as safe, as left-tilt, just reverse.
I think you'll find that it's very uncomfortable to move the fence to the left of the blade. It's not common for someone to do this unless they are going to do a narrow rip with a bevel. This is why left-tilt saws have become much more common and desirable in the past couple of decades...you get bevels and the table space to apply them to panels.

[Yonak Hawkins]

I believe left-tilt saws are more comfortable for woodworkers who like to push the work through using their rignt hand (right handed people) and right-tilt for lefties. The fact that there are so many more right handed people accounts for the larger number of left-tilt saws over right.

[stan shields]

Yeah, really good point, I have moved the fence to the left of the blade to do some bevels in the past, another reason to have some table available on the left. If the rails are long enough the fence can be mounted to accommodate this, my current unisaw setup has the blade almost in the center which suited the work i was doing with it.
I have a right tilt Unisaw that came with the 54" Unifence fence rail and extension table on the right side but with a cast iron extension on the left side. Most of my cutting is on the right side of the blade with my Unifence on the right of the blade, but whenever that will be a problem, I move the Unifence to the left side of the blade, switch the fence extrusion to the right side of the Unifence main casting, and make the cut with the blade angled away from the fence. It doesn't matter which way your saw tilts, as long as you can move the fence to both sides of the blade and you can remember to change sides when the cut will pinch the board between the blade and fence. Make the change to keep this from happening and use the saw.

My last saw was left tilt and the longer table and fence was left of the saw blade, but I would switch the fence to the right side if the cut would cause the same problem. You just have to learn your saw's capabilities and the kinds of cuts to be avoided, no matter which way the blade tilts. If you like the blade tilting one way over the other, then buy a saw to suit you, just figure out which cuts need to be done on the less common side of the blade. It really doesn't matter left or right otherwise.

Charley

[lowell holmes]

My saw sits in the middle of the shop with saw table space on both sides and I also made an out feed table for it.
I would not do without any of the tables. The table on the right side of the saw came with the saw and has a router station in it.
The rip guide is handy to it as well. I have a 2000 vintage Delta Contractor's saw with a Unifence
You may remember the Unifence saw table is extended on the right. I have a 10" Tenyru carbide blade in it.
The saw is 17 years old and just does not have any issues.

I have a router mounted in the right side saw table, the rip fence will go all the way to the end of the table.
I jumpered the motor to run on 220V. I can rip 4x8 plywood or anything else I need to.