Two many saws ?

[Mike Earl]

Hey all,

New member here..finally passed 60 and figured it was time to try and do some woodworking and not just weekend carpentry. I thought the first step was to upgrade my old direct drive Craftsman TS and I went out and got a good deal on a Ridgid2412 that is in good condition only needing a little cleaning and a few accessories....well of course I got carried away and this week came across a Delta 34-441 that came with a Router table extension, the router, various blades and tools, a stacked dado, a mobile stand, so on my truck it went. This seller also had a Jet 6 inch jointer for sale so I picked that up for another 200.00 while I was there. Neither the Delta nor the Jet look much different than brand new. So here is my question...Is their any advantage to keeping BOTH of the saws or should I sell one, and then of course which one would be the best to keep or use as the primary saw. Is the Jet Jointer worth having, I figured at 200.00 I couldnt get burned too badly. I paid 200.00 for the Ridgid TS2412 and 300.00 for the Delta, I did have to drive a few hours to get the Delta and the Jet. Any advice ? I have a 30 x 30 shop but realistically only half of it is available.


79274

Thanks for your advice in advance, I have lurked here for 6 months or so and this forum has been a great help so far.

[Jim Becker]

Welcome to SMC, Mike!

$200 for the Jet jointer was a very good buy. So was the $300 for the Delta saw with all the trimmings. That's the saw I'd keep. I has that nice UniFence and the extra utility of the router setup, etc. While you could dedicate the second saw for crosscutting or something like that, selling it might make sense since with a jointer you're also going to want/need a thickness planer. The money from the sale of the Ridgid saw could help fund that.

[Chase Gregory]

What about keeping a second saw setup with a dado? I know it's lots of 'real estate', but it could have the blade lowered and remain covered w/ a wood top as extra layout space...or could have a router wing off the side (except you've got that on the 'keeper' saw).

This is a question as much for me as for you since I have an old (1977) Craftsman TS (direct drive :() that works fine other than the guard is long gone. But that's moot for dado cuts anyhow...

A 6" Freud dado set can be spun by the smaller powered saws as long as there is enough vertical travel to make 3/4" cuts with the smaller blade diameter - something to verify.

Just a thought for you that I also had for me! :D

I'll soon have plenty of room to keep my spare saw and would only get $50 for it if I could find a buyer...

Chaser

[Chuck Lenz]

Thats a heck of a deal on the Delta. Nice gloat, but we need two more pictures. I have the 34-445X that looks alot like the one you have. I bought it new about 13 years ago for $900. It's been a good saw that I believe still has alot of good miles left on it. If your going to hook it up for dust collection, I have a extra sheet metal dust hood for under the saw that should fit nicely. I also moved the power switch from the cabinet to the fence rail, without cutting wires, and replaceing it with a paddle switch from Woodworkers Supply, I made a mount for it that is pretty rock solid. A Fenner drives link belt and make sure the motor gets enough juice by dedicating a circuit breaker to the saw and you'll be on your way to a pretty smooth running machine. My next purchase for the saw will be a set of PALs. Once again, congradulations on the scores. http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c89/Woodchuck_/SawSwitch.jpg http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c89/Woodchuck_/100_0047.jpg http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c89/Woodchuck_/SawSwitchPigtail.jpg

[Mike Cutler]

Mike

First off. Welcome to Sawmill Creek!:D

I have two tablesaws also. One is set to rip, and one is setup for crosscut. One saw is the outfeed table for the other,and one is an "extension wing". Works for me.
I don't use a dado enough to dedicate one saw to that setup, but it seems like a good idea to me if you use a dado alot.
Great deal on that Jointer.;)

Once again. Welcome to Sawmill Creek.

[scott spencer]

Keep the "like new" Delta with Unifence and router table...

[glenn bradley]

What about keeping a second saw setup with a dado?

I don't make one width of dado cut often enough to dedicate a saw to it. If I did, that would be sweet. Now sonce I have to change the stack anyway, I would just do it on the main saw.

Now, building a nice x-cut sled and leaving it on the spare saw with a nice 80T x-cut blade in it, yeah, that would work for me. Different strokes for different folks. We all work differently.

[keith micinski]

I just upgraded from an old craftsman to a new delta. I put the delta in my garage which is slowly becoming a work shop and I kept the craftsman in my basement. It is kind of nice to have a saw in both places but my garage is also way out back so that makes it even nicer.

[frank shic]

my contractor's saw is currently devoted to panel cutting while my portable dewalt is being used for dadoing and solid wood but i'm trying to track down a ridgid portable to devote to the solid wood processing as well as the first step in panel raising.

[Greg Cole]

Too many saws??? Only if you don't have the room for them... sort of like too much lumber??? No, clearly just a shortage of storage. ;)
I'd keep the Delta too....

Greg