Your thoughts on This Idea , Not New

[Jack Dickey]

Canning the tablesaw and gettting a top tier bandsaw , for both jobs .. Only obvious drawback would be the table size , which could be corrected with a little work ..
IMO bandsaw is more efficient and safer to operate ..

[Jim Becker]

I personally couldn't do with out both, but there are many shops that have the BS as the cutting center-piece. A big BS combined with a guided saw system for larger panels could work nicely...but it's purely up to how YOU like to work.

[Dan Oliphant]

Jack, there are some here that feel a bandsaw is their primary saw of choice, so there must be something to it. I for one, like the options that having both allows. As Jim mentioned, it also has a lot to do with the types of projects you focus on.

[Ken Garlock]

Safer to operate? Either one can do serious permanent damage before you can say ouch.

I find that I go first to my Bridgewood 10LTS for just about all cutting. The band saw, and excellent tool - MM16, I use for curve cuts or where the table saw blade could not make a nice perpendicular cut.
The table saw is much easier to set-up, IMO. Just set the blade depth, and the fence position, and you are done, no blade tensioning, no adjusting the guides with every size blade.

If you decide on a band saw only configuration, get a BAS, say in the area of 30" throat. I think you will need the depth to replace rip cuts you would make on the table saw.

As always, my opinions are worth what you paid.;)

[glenn bradley]

Depends on what you make most. I lean towards Arts n Crafts and Mission style stuff which has a lot of straight lines so the TS is my primary. The esteemed Gary Rogowski, among others, who make more curves and bowed pieces state the BS as their primary saw. These folks use a BS that weighs about as much as my Honda Civic though not one like my wimpy 12".

Think about what you usually make; if machine-like precision is your primary, go TS. I provincial or another beautiful style is you main, BS. I'm a rookie and I need both just to turn out something decent. ;-)

[Mark Pruitt]

Dados, grooves, box joints, cove cutting, crosscuts longer than your bandsaw's throat capacity...those are a few jobs I can think of that your bandsaw cannot do but your TS can. Plus, the blade on a TS seems to go much further on a single sharpening than the life of an average bandsaw blade.

[Erik C. Hammarlund]

the thing I always like about a BS is the safety issue. TSs always make me nervous. A BS won't suddenly shoot the wood towards/away from you, which I like. A lot. Though as noted there are a few things they dont really do well, and you'll still wish you had a TS on occasoin.

Funny you should mention it though; I jut bought a 3" stellite blade for my BS with the thought I won't be using my TS much any more.

[Jerry Olexa]

I like both for their respective strengths BUT for accuracy on straight cuts, I go to the TS!!

[David Rose]

I've never had a decent table saw, so I can only guess and read what uses there are for one. Using only a bandsaw, I end up with an added step on almost all finished edges. A table saw user probably could come right off the saw for many of these. I don't really find this a problem, though it does cost in time. I will run most narrow cuts through the planer so that they are smooth and parallel. Rails and stiles and pieces like this I stack together and run through on edge. Sometimes, I will use a jointer, though I am not as confident of getting a uniform depth of cut as with some tools. I sometimes use a straight edge and router. Very often a hand plane will do the finishing. I really don't want a table saw, though I do not often get into jobs that need to be done quickly unless they are small.

I run a carbide blade, so the cut cleanup is minimal though always there. I do wish for a deeper throat frequently. 14" minus my fence, is sort of narrow. I will end up with a circular saw guide before long. Until then, I usually rough cut with a CS then go to the bandsaw. I do have a shop built saw guide, but do not get the best results with it. Probably lack of experience as it is a last resort.

David

[Nancy Laird]

. A BS won't suddenly shoot the wood towards/away from you, which I like.

Oh yes it will. LOML was resawing some curly maple when it came back and hit him square in the front teeth! No blood, but he had two loose front teeth for a few weeks. He has NEVER had a kickback on his Unisaw, in 13 years of owning it.

Nancy

[David Rose]

Nancy, what happened? Do you know?

I had an "event" once when a piece I was cutting was not fully supported between the table and the cut. That didn't kick back but ruined an inexpensive blade and wrecked havoc with saw guides. Fortunately, in the "mess", the band jumped the wheels.

David

[Nick Roper]

I have to agree that a case can possibly be made for a bandsaw being safer, but more efficient, no way, unless you are meaning a thinner blade wastes less wood.
I built my second shop around my bandsaw after selling off all my tools and moving 1500 miles. I have to admit I learned things about a band saw I never would have, but, the thing that stood out the most was, no matter how good you become with it. You will never get used to the additional time you have to spend setting it up, tearing it down, changing blades, switching jigs, adjusting guides, etc. Never mind the fact that no matter how good you get, you can never get the smooth glass like cut that a table saw can provide, so there is always a little extra sanding to do.
Within a year I really regretted my decision and within two years I corrected it.

[Nancy Laird]

Nancy, what happened? Do you know?

I had an "event" once when a piece I was cutting was not fully supported between the table and the cut. That didn't kick back but ruined an inexpensive blade and wrecked havoc with saw guides. Fortunately, in the "mess", the band jumped the wheels.

David

I really don't know exactly; I wasn't in the shop when it happened--only heard the aftermath--which was NOT pretty and not meant for women's and children's ears. From what he told me, he wasn't holding the piece exactly right and it jumped right off the blade and into his mouth. He was running our big Hitachi with the 3"-wide blade and some BIG teeth. I'm not sure any of us will ever know, but a band saw WILL kick back.

Nancy

[Jack Dickey]

Well I got lots of good information here that I should have sorted out beforehand .. Is why I asked , A multitude of opinions and experiences are better than one only .. Appreciate all inputs ..
Well yeah by more efficient , I mean less waste of material ..
I dont think I could do without the TS , with what I do .. Surely not something I was fixing to run out and do blindly ..
Thanks

[Al Willits]

I'm learning with both, and it seems each have their own strong points.
Having both means you get to pick with one will do the best for whatever your doing.
Works well for me...fwiw.

Seems as I talk to woodworkers, kick back and TS just kinda go together, some have one or two, some have many.

I'm figuring it kinda depends on your learning curve, I had one about 3 days after I got my TS, and as I rubbed the sore spot on my leg, I remembered the words of my wood shop teacher..." you may find that the saw will kickback if you feed it incorrectly, not standing behind the saw blade will mean you just need to go pick up the piece of wood, standing behind the blade means you don't have to walk so far, but its gonna hurt a lot more"

I now stand to the side when I cut....:)

Al

[Mike Goetzke]

Jack - I have both and use my TS 90% of the time, but, you could take it a step further. I remember seeing a web site a couple of years ago where this group of woodworkers didn't use either a TS or BS. They only used hand saws. But the collection of hand saws easily ran past the price of a decent TS & BS.

[Bart Leetch]

Oh Jack


You could be the guy on the bottom end of a pit saw. Now that would be the pits.:D

Of course you may not feel to much pain because its my understanding these saws were quite often run on alcohol.:eek: :D

[Jim Becker]

I dont think I could do without the TS , with what I do ...

Now that is truly the bottom line!

[David Rose]

I suppose if the cut end was improperly supported (thinking of a rip cut), then when that end slammed against the table, it could throw the other end back up at you. I hadn't really thought of that. Yes, I can also imagine the "foul air battle" afterward. :D I'll bet that was a total surprise. :o

It just goes to show ya that our big boy/girl toys are not to be taken lightly. The more we work with them, the more we think we know what will happen and can get complacent. Not that the LOYL was such, but surprises can occur with any tool.

David


I really don't know exactly; I wasn't in the shop when it happened--only heard the aftermath--which was NOT pretty and not meant for women's and children's ears. From what he told me, he wasn't holding the piece exactly right and it jumped right off the blade and into his mouth. He was running our big Hitachi with the 3"-wide blade and some BIG teeth. I'm not sure any of us will ever know, but a band saw WILL kick back.

Nancy

[Nancy Laird]

I suppose if the cut end was improperly supported (thinking of a rip cut), then when that end slammed against the table, it could throw the other end back up at you. I hadn't really thought of that. Yes, I can also imagine the "foul air battle" afterward. :D I'll bet that was a total surprise. :o

It just goes to show ya that our big boy/girl toys are not to be taken lightly. The more we work with them, the more we think we know what will happen and can get complacent. Not that the LOYL was such, but surprises can occur with any tool.

David

Hubby and I were talking about this earlier today, after our meeting with Vaughn, and he acknowledged that his body and his head weren't in the same place when his accident happened. That's what causes accidents in a shop--the mind isn't focused on what the body is trying to do, but thinking about other things. That's one of the things I like about woodworking--it's such a de-stresser because I can leave all the other stuff at the workshop door and concentrate on what I'm doing in the moment.

Nancy

[Jack Dickey]

Mike yeah that would be nice to have the talent to use all handsaws and planes etc.. And yeah they can get pricey too .. I have seen some hand made planes than run well over $2000 each ..
If any of you get Popular Woodworking , you know of Adam Cherubini , who does everything with handtools , and has a good insight into what it was like before electricity .. Now we talk about the woodworking being good therapy , all handtools would be it ..
But he does say one thing that I find interesting , and that is that you may need three or four tools to do what would be a one tool task with power equipment , but , he says that the handtools if used properly complement each other , where power doesnt , I cant say it exactly the way he does , and in a way I follow him , and in a way I dont ..
OK this is my thread , and I'm hijacking it somewhat , but comments on THAT comment ..