Shrinking the shop / Letting go of my table saw?

[Michael Rector]

I'm at a cross roads in my garage shop right now.

My shop currently has the following tools: Laguna 14BX bandsaw, Hammer A3-31 Jointer/Planer, Bosch GCM12SD miter saw, Festool tracksaw w/MFT and a Bosch 4100 jobsite table saw.

The table saw lives on a cabinet that is half table saw cabinet/half router table. I still use it from time to time but lately just have been hating the performance of it. These days I've been milling most of my lumber with the track saw/miter saw (straight line rip/cutting to length/etc) and have only been doing finishing cuts with the table saw because I don't trust it for anything very large. I've been saving pennies for a table saw upgrade either a Hammer K3 or a SawStop (not going to debate that here), but this morning I had a completely different idea.

What if I ditch the table saw all together and upgrade the bandsaw? I would still mill lumber with the miter saw/track saw. I could do rips on the bandsaw and finish in the jointer/planer. Repeatable cross cuts/miter cuts would happen at the miter station. I usually use a router for anything dado related. And I'd get rid of one of the larger pieces of machinery in my shop.

I'm just a hobbyist and not going to do large production anything. When it comes to large sheet goods/cabinet making, well I made the tablesaw/router cabinet using my track saw and router so I'm not worried about losing anything there.

I'd really appreciate thoughts on this!

[Jacques Gagnon]

Hello Michael,

I have a feeling that your post will generate a "diverse" debate! If you have not already done so, you may wish to read the following thread https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....id-of-the-SCMS which deals on this topic, but the starting point is actually the reverse: get rid of the mitre saw and keep the table saw.

I do not think there is a right or wrong answer to your question. It boils down to personal preferences. Personally, I would not want to be without a table saw. I do not have a mitre saw, but have a radial arm saw (that I am not using that much, but that's another topic). I am happy with my table saw but if I decided / had to change I would be tempted to go towards a slider (blame Jim Becker and Rod Sheridan for having planted this seed in my brain ). This is not a comment aimed at putting down the SawStop product; it is more a reflection of a different approach for working in the shop.

Hope this helps!

J.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Michael, I think you're on the correct track with the K3, and would further recommend the B3 so you can have a shaper.

You could get rid of the table saw, however I went the other way and avoided the track saw, router table, compound mitre saw.

The bandsaw and sliding table saw get a lot of use in my shop (primarily solid wood), however the sliding saw is so easy, capable and competent that I couldn't see going without it. Coupled with a scoring saw for veneered/sheet goods and the 4" depth of cut with a 4HP motor it leaves the other tools in the dust, unless you need job site portability.

That said if you want to get rid of the table saw, try it out. After a year you'll either decide you need a K3/B3 or you'll be fine.........Rod.

[John Sayen]

Making square narrow rips and crosscuts on a tracksaw is challenging (for me anyway) even with the festool tracksaw and MFT. The problem is the wood doesn't extend to the left of the track, which makes it challenging to ensure it's pressed firmly against the crosscut fence. You could accommodate this with a stop-block, or by trying to rip the off-cuts to size but then you're always subtracting the width of the blade.

I do have the seneca parallel guides with narrow stock adapters for longer narrow rips, but if you're ripping something like a cutting board it becomes challenging as the track is much larger than the wood.

Aside from all of that, I much prefer the tracksaw and MFT.

[andy bessette]

...Bosch 4100 jobsite table saw...hating the performance of it...

Who wouldn't? Get a better table saw.

[Ted Derryberry]

I can't imagine a shop without a table saw. I'd give up my miter saw AND my band saw first. Maybe that's just from growing up in a time and place where you never saw a band saw and miter saws were "ten inch chop boxes". The radial arm saw was used for cross cuts, but only rough work that could be done with a circular saw. The table saw was king.

[Frankie Hunt]

I'm at a cross roads in my garage shop right now.
What if I ditch the table saw all together and upgrade the bandsaw?

Like has been said, "there is no right or wrong answer to your question" Only you can decide on how you want to work wood.

I don't think you would gain much at all by upgrading the band saw, the one you have is good enough. Just move the Bosch table saw into storage and do with out it for a while and see how you fair out. No money spent, easy trial run. If it works out wonderfully, then sell that saw at that time and use the funds for what you see fit.

Having said that; once you use a good cabinet saw, its pretty difficult for "most" people to go without. I sure wouldn't want to. A good cabinet saw would be a big improvement over your current setup. A new band saw would not, unless you do a lot of re-sawing...

[Ben Rivel]

Seems to me the only way to know for sure if you can live without a table saw is to first try living/working with a good cabinet saw. I realize thats an expensive way to figure that out, but having worked with only two table saws in my life (a cheap Hitachi jobsite saw, and a Sawstop PCS 3HP cabinet saw) I can tell you that a jobsite saw doesnt even feel like the same tool as a cabinet saw. If you owned and worked with a nice cabinet saw for say a year or so you'd know for sure whether or not you could have a shop without a table saw.

[Michael Rector]

I'm trying to brainstorm possible limitations and the feedback is great so far.

I'm trying to think through my work flows to see where I'd get hung up.

For milling lumber: Use the track saw to put on a straight edge (I suppose this would limit the thickness of lumber the TS 75 which will do 8/4 but a 12" table saw would be better), use the track saw/MFT or miter saw for cutting to length, jointer/planer for squaring and then I was thinking a larger bandsaw for rip width more than resaw/power.

Finishing work: Use the bandsaw for ripping and the jointer/planer for finishing the edges, use the miter saw or track saw/MFT for repeatable cross cuts.

Sheet goods: I only have room for a 36" Sawstop or a 48"x48" K3 in the garage anyway so I wouldn't use it for breaking down sheet goods, that would all happen with the track saw

For any kind of narrow rip or repetitive rips I'd use the bandsaw and clean with the jointer/planer.

Miter cuts would either happen at the miter saw or at the tracksaw/mft.

I'd probably be giving up maximum thickness of wood I could mill limited at about 8/4, not that I do much beyond that anyway but still. And I'd probably lose a level of precision on miter cuts.

I think the advice is good, store the table saw and change my workflow and see how it works. I can figure out where the pain points are and if a K3/SawStop would fix the pain point then I know where I should make my next investment.

[John Sayen]

I'm trying to brainstorm possible limitations and the feedback is great so far.

I'm trying to think through my work flows to see where I'd get hung up.

For milling lumber: Use the track saw to put on a straight edge (I suppose this would limit the thickness of lumber the TS 75 which will do 8/4 but a 12" table saw would be better), use the track saw/MFT or miter saw for cutting to length, jointer/planer for squaring and then I was thinking a larger bandsaw for rip width more than resaw/power.

Finishing work: Use the bandsaw for ripping and the jointer/planer for finishing the edges, use the miter saw or track saw/MFT for repeatable cross cuts.

Sheet goods: I only have room for a 36" Sawstop or a 48"x48" K3 in the garage anyway so I wouldn't use it for breaking down sheet goods, that would all happen with the track saw

For any kind of narrow rip or repetitive rips I'd use the bandsaw and clean with the jointer/planer.

Miter cuts would either happen at the miter saw or at the tracksaw/mft.

I'd probably be giving up maximum thickness of wood I could mill limited at about 8/4, not that I do much beyond that anyway but still. And I'd probably lose a level of precision on miter cuts.

I think the advice is good, store the table saw and change my workflow and see how it works. I can figure out where the pain points are and if a K3/SawStop would fix the pain point then I know where I should make my next investment.

I am not trying to dissuade you but for me, doing narrow rips on the bandsaw and cleaning them on the j/p would be challenging for reliable repeatability. Like, if you needed to rip 10 narrow pieces to the same size. Cleaning them would be a pain to get them all to the same widths. Even with a gauge.

[Scott Buehler]

Table saw is and always has been the most important tool in my shop, I can't imagine trying to work without one. If I were you, I would just get a new improved one.

[julian abram]

Guess I'm old school, table saw is heart of the shop. I have a nice bandsaw and tracksaw but the tablesaw is the last power tool I would dispose of.

[Jerry Olexa]

Its a personal decision but I feel a TABLESAW is the heart/main tool/center of any WWing shop....I still think it is THE ESSENTIAL tool needed for most projects..I prefer its ccontrol and accuracy vs a Bandsaw....Just IMHO..

[Michael Rector]

I am not trying to dissuade you but for me, doing narrow rips on the bandsaw and cleaning them on the j/p would be challenging for reliable repeatability. Like, if you needed to rip 10 narrow pieces to the same size. Cleaning them would be a pain to get them all to the same widths. Even with a gauge.

I actually do this already due to struggling with my table saw.

For instance if I need a bunch of 1" whatevers, I'll cut to 1-1/8" or just under on the table saw and run them through the planer for a consistent 1" piece. It's also a sure guarantee for a perfect edge as good or better than a glueline rip blade on a table saw.

[Michael Rector]

Guess I'm old school, table saw is heart of the shop. I have a nice bandsaw and tracksaw but the tablesaw is the last power tool I would dispose of.

Its a personal decision but I feel a TABLESAW is the heart/main tool/center of any WWing shop....I still think it is THE ESSENTIAL tool needed for most projects..I prefer its ccontrol and accuracy vs a Bandsaw....Just IMHO..

Let me be the first to agree with both of you. Contemplating this is really odd because I completely agree, the table saw is the heart of a wood shop, but I'm wondering if it doesn't have to be