Jointer and Tablesaw questions

[Justin Peters]

OK y'all...I have a bit of a dilemma I would like your advice on. Several years ago, my wife an I bought a house without knowing we would begin to enjoy woodworking. Unfortunately, the layout of our driveway and garage necessitates both of our vehicles being parked in the garage, which is only a two car garage. We have an area off to one side where I have some shelves and such, but the area is a step higher than the actual garage floor, so I cannot use that space to place tools with mobile bases on.

I have a few "floor" tools already: a drill press, a 14" bandsaw, and a 1442 lathe. I would like to finally get the tablesaw. (I know...I should have gotten that first.) I also bought a planer last week at the houston WW show. I think that by rearranging a few things and possibly getting a small shed for the lawnmower and such, I can find space for a tablesaw. I don't, however think I will be successful in finding enough space for even a 6" jointer. I was contemplating getting one of the benchtop models to handle jointing tasks until my wife and I are in a financial situation that will allow us to upgrade our housing situation. I'd try to sell it when we do move and recoup some of the money. In the meantime, I can probably go over to a friend's house to joint anything longer (he has a 6" floor jointer). Is this worth it, or should I just ask to come over ANYTIME I need to joint something.

Right now my detached garage is severely underpowered. I basically have one 110V outlet. Of course, my main electric panel is all the way on the other side of the house, so getting better power to the garage is going to be a challenge. And, my main panel is already maxed out (including slimline breakers) anyways, so I would need to get an electrician out to also replace my main panel. (If anyone can recommend an electrician in the North Houston area, I'd be curious to see how much it would cost to do this...I can wire the garage myself if I can get someone to run electric for a subpanel to it!) I'm not sure if this is a waste of money though...I don't know that folks looking for a new house would see the "value" of a subpanel in the garage.

With all of this in mind, what should I look for in a tablesaw? Ultimately, I would love to get a nice cabinet saw, but I don't think they will run on 110. Also, what's the difference between a hybrid/supersaw/contractor saw, and would one of these be sufficient (read: accurate and powerful enough) to last me for a good while? I'm pretty novice, but I hate buying things more than once. (I know the jointer is an exception). I'd probably want to put a router table extension in the saw eventually also, unless there's a reason not to.

Thanks in advance!
-Justin-

[glenn bradley]

I and many others here have hybrid table saws. Some of us got them for the price, some had electrical issues where 220v was not reasonable. Any of them would probably be better than a contractor saw where raw mass, dust collection, etc. are involved. JMHO.

[Mike Heidrick]

One option for you is to get by with an edge jointing jig used on teh tablesaw It is a straight board with clamps that clamp to the rough edge of the wood. You cut the opposite side parallel to the jig's staight edge. Then you remove the jig and cut the rough edge parallel to the board's newly cut straight edge.

For a saw I would get a hybrid saw that has the trunnions mounted to the cabinet and that has a Bies like 30" fence. My choices would be one of two:

Sears Craftsman model 22124 or the
Steel City hybrid with industrial fence

[Dan Boschen]

Don't let the step stop you from storing tools on it. I've got the same setup in my garage and I use a 24 x 24 x 1/4 inch steel plate that I use as a ramp to push the tools up onto the step. I push my Unisaw, 6 inch jointer, lathe and Craftsman (Parks) planer up onto the step with no issues (all tools with mobile base). Make a prop that is the height of the step in which you lay the plate onto and roll the tool up onto the step. Works great.

Dan Boschen
Amarillo, TX

[scott spencer]

Looks like a 3hp cabinet saw is out of the picture for now, but there's been nothing I haven't been able to cut with my 22124 hybrid. Good alignment and good blade selection should give great results on any decent full size contractor saw or hybrid.

A contractor saw has an outboard motor with a longer drive belt, and usually an open leg stand....the motor poses some obtacles and dust collection needs some help because of the design. The newer hybrids have the same size table surface area, and similar hp and duty ratings as a contractor saw, but have an inboard motor with a shorter drive belt. The hybrids have several advantages over a traditional contractor saw... many are the same advantages that a full 3hp cab saw has but with less hp and lower industrial duty rating ...perfect for home shops. By design, they take up less space, have better DC, and more efficient power transfer than a contractor saw....those with cabinet mounted trunnions are really easy to align. A "Supersaw" is a Jet hybrid model...just their tradename for it. Most hybrids or contractor saws will run on either 110 or 220v and should offer plenty of power and accuracy. You may decide you'll never need that 3hp cab saw, or you may upgrade some day if the right deal comes along.

If you've got space for a floor standing jointer, but hesitate to spend the money on one, something like the Harbor Freight 6" jointer in the $200 range might fit the bill better than a benchtop. Several wwers report acceptable performance from them. Used is always a viable option too.

Good luck!

HTH,
Scott

[Jim Becker]

Rather than a benchtop jointer...buy a #7 or #8 jointer hand plane or use your router table to edge joint boards. (For the latter, you need a split fence that you can shim the outfeed side out the depth of the cut)