Table Saw location in shop

[Jon Snider]

Fellow Creekers,


I'd greatly appreciate some late advice on locating my sliding table saw w/ 10' table. Late b/c I'm putting together cyclone and will start on ductwork soon. Early on I was thinking about a central shop location. Lately I've leaned more to placing it along the west wall of the shop. Shop size is 40 x 28' so plenty of room each direction.


Central location pros:
1. I'm able to put other tools along the west wall and maybe can fit in a jointer b/w west wall & saw.
2. Lots of other options for tools along west and south walls.


Cons:
1. Gets crowded b/w outrigger and east wall cabinets and chop saw station. Unless I move the jointer to somewhere else.
2. Limits length of boards I can crosscut with slider, although maybe not a huge issue w/ chop saw.
3. With a boat in the shop, the gunwales are higher than the slider wagon, so to fully retract the table, I'll have to move the boat out of the way, which is a pain. This is by far the biggest issue, but a boat will not always be in the shop.
4. DC hole and electrical pedestal in central shop floor.


Next to wall pros:
1. Still room on both infeed and outfeed sides next to walls for other things such as maybe router table.
2. Slider wagon will not hit boat.
3. Options for now or later to add tools in center or in a row toward south wall (#'s 1,2,3,4)
4. Or room for an assembly table in middle.


Cons:
1. Huge space with nothing in it in center of shop.
2. Limits good choices for other tools that need longer infeed/outfeed areas, such as band saws. I currently have 3, Delta 14, Laguna 18, and Yates Y30 (although one may not survive the cut ). I could put any of them or jointer at positions #2 or 3 with 28' of wall to wall distance.
3. Saw is fairly close to wood stove.


Drawings are attached. Jointer is a DJ20. Also have a router table, Jordan wood lathe (maybe basement), Delta drill press, Max spindle sander, and 19" Supermax sander. Dust collector is in basement. Regarding planer in the northeast corner,- I want it there since I'd rather roll it outside and scoop up the shavings rather than put it on the DC circuit. This may all change in future if I upgrade to a larger J/P combo.

Thanks for all help!
jon

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[Jack Frederick]

Boats are wonderful on the water, but a pitn when not. I have a 15' Adirondack Guide Boat that is problematic that way. It being a new space I think your lay-out and needs will change in unanticipated ways so I'd try to keep the table saw more to the wall side. If you shade the DC/power floor penetrations to the left side of the saw you can also move the TS out the width of the machine and still have easy connection.

[Jim Becker]

I have mine with the "right side table" against what is effectively a wall. I'd do that again if my shop was larger, too. For me, I find more of a need for space to the left for my slider. That said, I also like my J/P to the left of my slider because I tend to bounce between them.

[James Biddle]

The best way to decide is to visualize the path of the wood from when it arrives until the finished piece leaves. Try to keep all the paths as short as practical by placing the right machines along the path. Our shop was set up with the slider in the center, nearer the door because we processed both rough lumber and sheet goods on it. Then we bought a CNC and the plan went to hell. Lesson: try not to block yourself in from moving them around in the future.

In your case, I'd put the slider against the wall (in Jim's configuration) because of the space you'll need to work on your projects from all sides (cabinets are easier as you're almost always working from the front).

[Jon Snider]

Thx Jack and James. And thanks once again Jim for all the frequent great advice.

[Tom Bain]

I think it’s hard to give layout advice to others not really knowing how they use the shop/machinery compared to how I use the shop. So, my only comment about having the slider next to the wall is to think about how long stock will be crosscut. For example if you want cut an 8’ board (or sheet of plywood) in half you still need 4’ to the right of the blade. Certainly there are workarounds and might be as simple as pulling the slider out a bit from the wall. Just food for thought.

-Tom

[Jon Snider]

Thanks Tom. Blade is 5.5 feet from wall where it sits right now so I’m plenty good, if I keep it there, for sheet goods. If I need to cut a 12’ board in half I’ll just use my chop saw.

[Jim Becker]

I've very, very rarely wanted to cross cut a very long board on my slider, Jon, so that's likely a good plan. I typically break rough lumber down with the miter saw and then flatten and thickness at least partially before I even think about moving to the slider. At that point, I straight line on the slider wagon to establish an edge FOR THAT BOARD that makes sense for grain direction before ripping anything to width. I treat the J/P and Slider as a "complimentary system" in that respect. Hence, the arrangement I mentioned which has this feel:

[Matthew Hills]

I like my table saw near the wall.
I tend to put my assembly table or a cart for material in the center of the shop.

(my layout is more compact -- my bandsaw backs onto my table saw, with the bandsaw outfeed coming back over the far right-edge of my table saw. I rarely need full rip capacity, but my table saw is mobile, if needed. I suppose a mobile bandsaw would be another option.)

Matt

[Jim Andrew]

I have my slider just ahead of my plywood rack, and against the wall on the right. I use a cart built to slide a sheet of plywood out and onto the cart, then roll the cart up to the rear of the saw and onto the sliding table.