Congrats on the new shop. Your listed projects are all small, that's good, 10 x 20 is a workable size if you manage it well. A giant tablesaw station in the center will pretty much wreck it, maybe not at first but as you add machines etc it will get real tight. My shop is 13 x 18 so it is similar to yours. My TS is slid to the right till it is against the wall. It works fine there. My bench 27" x 63" is in the center so I can work all around it. Everything else is around the walls and I don't have to move anything to use it. (nothing on wheels) It's a bench centered shop.
Thanks Tom! Any chance you could post a few pics? I’d love to get some ideas. I got my Grizzly TS together yesterday and I’m so glad I went that route vs building a huge table saw bench.
I went the route of a cheap craftsman that I sold after 2 weeks of use to a jet 10in proshop hybrid. Great saw for money. Now I am downsized to a small basement shop and going the route of festtool makita tracksaw, Bosch 4100 jobsite saw built into a table system. I also just downsized to a 14 in band saw as well. Big expensive table saws are nice, but not that necessary. Like you, I have many other man hobbies.
Jack, my shop is 12x18 and, like Tom, I have my G0833P slid to right up against the wall. I also have a 6" jointer, planer, 15" bench top drill press, 14" bandsaw, and router table and other benches against the left side and back wall. I'll be making a 48" x 21" workbench soon.I got the wall mounted and mobile Grizzly dust collectors, mini-split A/C, and air filter. I'll take some pictures tomorrow. The set up works well, although a bit crowded at times where I have to move things outside of the shop to get some space.
A friend of mine bought the g0771 primarily because he doesn't have 220v. He's happy with it. He did have some issues with the fence, but Grizzly made it right. I think he put a thin kerf blade on it. The stock one is probably junk anyway.
I'd be somewhat hesitant to building a table around my saw. But my garage also houses the wife's car and a motorcycle, so I often find myself having to empty the garage out first (vehicles) so I can get to work. If you have a third bay that will be completely dedicated to your wood working desires that is great. You can build an out-feed table for your saw, attach it to the wall and hinge it so it will flip up and out of the way. I like keeping my options open and being able to manipulate those options as needed. Let's say you build a nice table/bench around your saw then discover that you need to rip some long material, like 12' long or more, that configuration may put you in a position to where you might not have enough out-feed room? Which is also why I have a set of those good saw-horses, with the metal legs that fold into the saw-horse for easy storage when not being used or needed, I also keep 8' 2x6's and 2 pieces of 7/16 OSB so I can assemble these items easily to be used as a catch for my out-feed. My throw together saw-horse table has held many of projects on it over the years, my flip down table has as well. I was able to keep the flip down table light as the top is a piece of quarter-inch thick aluminum, which makes it durable for most small projects, can double as an out-feed table when needed or can be flipped up and bungied to the wall while providing room.
If I were to put a lot of effort into a bench I'd probably prefer it to be somewhat similar to one of those nice wood working benches, complete with a screw vise and bench dogs.................separate from my table saw.
But everybody has their own ideas and opinions, so just throwing some options at you that might help.
Lastly - I had 2 table-saws before I bought the Grizzly cabinet saw, have had the Grizzly for over 10 years now and I do not know how people go thru life without having one!!
You ask...""My goal is to learn to build furniture and gift type things like coasters, cutting boards, picture frames, music boxes, mirrors, etc...
My specific question, now that you know a bit about me, is this:
Should I get rid of my Ridgid saw and replace it with a more accurate and stationary saw or should I take my existing Ridgid and build a table saw workbench around it? ""
My Opinion...You should have a saw that will give you accurate clean cuts. For what you plan to do, a good contractor table saw is minimal in my humble opinion. A very good cabinet table saw is ideal. The Ridgid is likely a good job site saw so keep it like I did in case you build a cabin or something.
Whatever you do you must have very good saw blades that are sharp and clean
I had a Ridgid contractor saw and upgraded to the Grizzly 1023. It was the single biggest upgrade I have ever made in the shop. My shop is also a third bay in the garage and mobility and size is always a factor when when purchasing tools. I built a workbench on casters that is about 1/8" shorter than the table saw. When ripping long stock it is used as an out-feed table and then an assembly table as the project progresses. Lots of tool storage underneath too. A bench/table is a great project for people new to the hobby.
As I scanned the posts I saw this one pop up and initially went, "Hey, that's not me! I didn't write that post." I then saw the "135" postscript and settled down. I built a rolling router table that acts as an outfeed table for the TS. Works pretty well in that regard. I think you are going to want mobility in your space. Enjoy your new space, TS and welcome aboard.
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