TS and Jointer Positioning

[Paul McIntyre]

I have a narrow rectangular basement shop. I recently upgraded the TS from Craftsman to Powermatic. Previously I had the Jointer to the left of the TS and I have dust collection piped in for both. In order to make the height work I had the Craftsman table saw raised up about an 1.5" In order to do this with the new Powermatic TS I would have to raise it 4". Its really not feasible to put the jointer somewhere else.

Does this sound like a good idea?

Thanks

[Sam Force]

In my opinion I would have the TS at a comfortable height to work with. My TS and BS are both raised around 4 inches. My PM lathe is raised 7.5 inches. These heights work for me, none are mobile which is a downfall

[Thomas Wilson]

Is the motivation to raise the table saw so that a workpiece on the table saw will pass over the jointer fence? If so, the choices are to raise the table saw or lower the jointer. For me (5’8”), raising the table saw 4 inches would be a lot but I could probably live with it. Definitely would be awkward.

If raising 4 inches is too awkward or unsafe, maybe building a 4 inch platform to stand on at the table saw would solve the problem.

[Jim Becker]

Raising a table saw surface 4" is a pretty big number, even for a very tall woodworker. While you didn't say what Powermatic machine you have, if the surface is too high you may be reaching too much which can increase your risk for either injury or buggering a workpiece in some situations. IMHO, the table saw, regardless of type, is a machine where the operator has to always be in a comfortable position to maintain safety and quality, so I'd place a priority on that. So perhaps you really do need to carefully examine how you can potentially rearrange your shop to permit the workflow to work without causing other issues. Example, if you reverse the direction of the table saw and put the jointer to the other end, does it solve the issue for most projects? Can you use a mobile base with the jointer to slide it to a different position, even if only temporarily, while you fully utilize your saw? Etc.

[Bob Riefer]

If it's the same jointer as before, then this height has not changed... You once before raised the top surface of the table saw to be above that jointer... and now you're raising a new table saw top surface to be above the same jointer... if I understand correctly, then the number of inches you are raising it really doesn't matter does it? You've already proven that the height of your old table saw was comfortable, and now you would have the same height again.

[Paul McIntyre]

I am trying to get the TS high enough so that a workpiece would clear the Jointer Fence. I am 6'-3" tall and never found the height of the old TS to be a problem. I guess this would be about the same height. The old saw must have had a higher surface which is why it was raised less.

Thanks everyone.

[Malcolm McLeod]

I am trying to get the TS high enough so that a workpiece would clear the Jointer Fence. I am 6'-3" tall and never found the height of the old TS to be a problem. I guess this would be about the same height. The old saw must have had a higher surface which is why it was raised less.

Thanks everyone.

Perhaps you've already considered and dismissed this, but just in case ... Can you easily remove the jointer fence? Does that give you enough clearance for TS work to clear the jointer bed? Could you modify the jointer fence to make it easily removable? (This fence mod being perhaps simpler than the elevation dance discussed so far.)

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I have a J/P combo; the fence is removable for conversion to planer mode; takes 5s. to pull the fence.

[glenn bradley]

My Saw Stop got raised about 3" to match all my other ~36" nearby surfaces. I just made a plywood box with leveling feet, set the saw on it and added some cleats (belt and suspenders guy) with a dab of glue and some brad nails. You can just see it peeking out in this pic.

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[Bob Riefer]

I did exactly the same as Glenn and it's worked great.

I had considered the "remove the jointer fence when needed" route but felt that a key value of having stationary tools setup in a workflow is minimizing such setup between steps... that is, I preferred to set the jointer fence accurately initially and now I very infrequently need to mess with it.

Lastly, I'm 6'2" and have found that a slightly taller TS surface not only matches other nearby surfaces (primary benefit for me is that this minimizes obstructions during cuts) but my back is much happier when I avoid stooping over a lot.

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[Patrick Kane]

I cant say ive ever seen the jointer to the left of the table saw like that. Do you guys like it positioned like that? Looks like it would be in my way everytime i went to collect ripped pieces from the outfeed of the saw. Its the equivalent of my sliding table on my one table saw. Its kind of a pain to walk around it to get to the rear of the saw.

Unsolicited advice coming your way, so feel free to ignore it, but ever since i nested my jointer and planer, i would never go back. They fit adjacent to one another nicely, the infeed/outfeed is shared, and its the logical step from processing rough lumber to S4S. I used to have my jointer parallel to my table saw on the extension table side of the saw, and it is so much nicer next to the planer.

[Jim Becker]

Patrick, I agree that particular position would be discomforting in certain situations, but some folks are really space constrained so it's a means to an end. If I needed these machine next to each other, I'd prefer the jointer to be at the other end of the saw, personally.

[Tom M King]

I like the outfeed of the jointer handy so I can lay the pieces on the right table of the tablesaw as they come off without steps, or as few as possible.

[Bob Riefer]

Hmmm, I love the jointer to the left, but maybe I'm just used to it. My jointer is only 8" wide top, and partially nests, so I only need an extra 1/2 step to easily move past it, so it never bothers me at all.

In my workflow, the miter saw is along the right hand wall, TS next, jointer to the left, planer further to the left. And it's all very efficient in my 20x20 space where a key goal is to minimize how often I need to transport piles of wood for the next task.

I use the miter saw for rough stock break down... often setting materials on the TS as I go.

TS and jointer are used for initial steps of material prep then... Jointer allows me to edge pieces that are too wide for face jointing so that I can rip (on TS) to appropriate width... so really nice to have them next to each other. And, I use the TS as a reference surface as I determine which side of each board should be face jointed, and then materials stack nicely on the TS while I do that activity.

I then move to the planer, and as all pieces reach finished thickness, I'm right back at my TS/Jointer area for final-squaring edges and trimming to final width.

I'm honestly not sure I would really change much if I had the same equipment in an enormous shop... it all flows very nicely like a 'work triangle' in a nicely appointed kitchen.