Woodworking table saw recommendation

[TryingToLetThemBee]

I am planning to buy a table saw for making hives and for other woodwork. Any recommendations or "avoids" out there? I'm looking at the likes of DeWalt

amazon.co.uk/Dewalt-DW745-Heavy-Lightweight-Table/dp/B000Y8TZV8

or Makita

amazon.co.uk/MAKITA-MLT100-260mm-Table-240v/dp/B002TQWP56

but would really love to hear from someone who makes their own hives. Thanks in advance. wp.

 

[Winker]

I am planning to buy a table saw for making hives and for other woodwork. Any recommendations or "avoids" out there? I'm looking at the likes of DeWalt

amazon.co.uk/Dewalt-DW745-Heavy-Lightweight-Table/dp/B000Y8TZV8

or Makita

amazon.co.uk/MAKITA-MLT100-260mm-Table-240v/dp/B002TQWP56

but would really love to hear from someone who makes their own hives. Thanks in advance. wp.

Do you have any wood working Skills? I would not advise anyone to use a table saw if they had not had any training to use them. They are easiest way you can loose finger and hands, I've seen it happen to experienced machinists never mind the inexperienced

 

[oliver90owner]

Avoid non-TCT blades.

Get one with a good fence.

If you are only getting one woodworking tool consider a router (will cut, thickness and joint among other things).

Mine was a real cheapy, but with a blade change is adequate. But I do have other equipment - planer/thicknesser, radial saw, chop saw and routers, etc., so I don't rely on accurate rip cuts (or cross cuts, for that matter)

You are a beginner? Seems like or you wouln't be asking... above all, be safe. They are not a toy...

RAB

 

[BeeBus]

Bought a Erbauer EBS2504SE Table Saw 250mm last year, about £200 from screw fix, a decent mid range machine. A router table is also a must for hive making

 

[user 6228]

Do you have any wood working Skills? I would not advise anyone to use a table saw if they had not had any training to use them. They are easiest way you can loose finger and hands, I've seen it happen to experienced machinists never mind the inexperienced

I think that advice is a little extreme as then you never do anything without a tool specific training course. We are in a risk assessment paper work culture which by default always specifies a tool specific training course culture. A training course will never prevent stupidity and lapses of concentration. Paperwork will not stop a cutting blade.

A bigger table is best and is safer. I started with a £20 200mm dia one I bought at an auction. This one was usable but very awkward with fullsize sheets as the table was too small and had to be mounted on some thing. Thats why I then went for this http://www.metabo.co.uk/Product-cat...nd-stationary-tools.23957+M56aa344bad8.0.html with the optional side table.

 

[clv101]

We are in a risk assessment paper work culture which...

isn't necessarily a bad thing. The UK has one of the lowest rates of industrial deaths/serious injuries in the world.

 

[Gyp]

I bought a Charnwood last week the saw/motor is good but the rip fence is a bit off. I got it second hand for less than £200 but I wouldn't be happy if I had paid full price.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Any recommendations

Startrite or Wadkin.

 

[Winker]

I think that advice is a little extreme as then you never do anything without a tool specific training course. We are in a risk assessment paper work culture which by default always specifies a tool specific training course culture. A training course will never prevent stupidity and lapses of concentration. Paperwork will not stop a cutting blade.

A bigger table is best and is safer. I started with a £20 200mm dia one I bought at an auction. This one was usable but very awkward with fullsize sheets as the table was too small and had to be mounted on some thing. Thats why I then went for this http://www.metabo.co.uk/Product-cat...nd-stationary-tools.23957+M56aa344bad8.0.html with the optional side table.

I am a chipy to trade and worked with table saws for many, many years. I have had on many occasion the piece of wood I was cutting ripped out my hands and either the wood thrown back at me at great speeds or my hands drawn towards the blade.

I have a very good friend whom I worked with for over 10 years. He was a very experienced Machinist, but he still managed to cut off 3 of his fingers on a table saw that just grabbed the wood and drew his hand into the blade.

Once you have seen a man loose 3 fingers and all the blood that come with it, you may change your mind on how dangerous wood cutting tools can be.

I don't not think my advice is extreme, only the outcome of an inexperienced operator can be extreme.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Thanks everyone for the v useful tips so far and I am sorry, admins, for the original miscategorization.

In response to the "are you a beginner?" concern, I did woodwork at school (but teachers ran the bandsaw) and know enough that I know 1) I could never hand-cut well enough and 2) I do not want to die from a kicked-back 2×4.

The router idea is really interesting and I'll look into that. I pretty well only have room for one major tool on my workbench.

 

[blackcavebees]

Do you have any wood working Skills? I would not advise anyone to use a table saw if they had not had any training to use them. They are easiest way you can loose finger and hands, I've seen it happen to experienced machinists never mind the inexperienced

I know lots of guys with a finger tip or two missing or worse. Local guy here started beekeeping, decided to make his own kit, next thing he turns up to association last year missing a finger. Very sobering sight. Don't get me wrong as i have 3 table saws and multiple other machines that would do you real harm in a brief second of distraction. I make a lot of my own kit. I have been using them for over 30 years and it is important to think safety first.
Contractor type hobby tables are ok for occasional builds if you have a jointer or thicknesser. Before you make anything else, make a few push sticks to feed wood and keep fingers away from danger zones. Safe uncluttered working area. Don't forget eye and ear protection (i have lost 35% hearing as over the years never bothered with ear protection until about 5 years ago - silly but when you are younger you think you're indestructable). Can be great fun making kit: i cheat a bit now, i make floors, roofs, crown boards, stands, nucs, mating nucs and mini frames. Everything else I buy in the sales as seconds and fix before assembly. Have fun and keep your fingers for manipulating the bees.

 

[pargyle]

Startrite or Wadkin.

Brilliant tools ... I have 30 year old Startrite Inca Planer thicknesser ... Built to last forever, a Kity Bandsaw, Elektra Beckum Table saw, Dewalt Radial Arm Saw and a Ferm Scroll saw - all pretty old. I use all of them regularly but if I just had to choose one it would probably be the RAS. It's a scary beast unless you know what you are doing but it's so versatile and cuts straight and true every time, wouldn't be without it.

I picked all of them up second (or even fifth !) hand ... whole lot of them over a period of about 6 months ... total cost less than £200. I had to do a bit of work on some of them but it was mainly stripping, setting up and cleaning/adjusting/sharpening. People often don't know what they have got under all that muck and you can pick good tools up for not a lot of money !! If you are electrically competent three phase machines are even cheaper and can be converted to domestic with a bit of fiddling.

The one thing I'm missing which I would really like is a table router and/or spindle moulder ... not desperately essential but just would like to do some twiddly bits at times.

I also have a Myford ML8 Woodturning lathe - 1963 vintage and still going strong - lots of fun. I have two pillar drills and these are incredibly useful.

So ... my advice would be look at older but well kept tools, go for the biggest heaviest you can fit in your workshop and the best you can afford. Cheap, new tools are rarely anywhere near as well built as older heavily built ones and rarely cut as accurately and consistently as the old stuff. Lack of accurate cuitting will drive you mad after a while ...

 

[Little John]

The one thing I'm missing which I would really like is a table router

I've found that one of the problems of knowing about, and working with Quality tools is a reluctance to delve into the world of (what I call) 'field engineering' - where Quick 'n' Dirty/ as cheap as you like/ "doesn't matter if it breaks or wears-out as long as this one job gets done ok" etc. is the order of the day.

I needed a table router to cut the rebates for my 'Alpine Hive' boxes. I heard people say that they can be cut with a Stanley Knife/ chisel etc., to which I say "Sod off, I haven't got that much life left in me".

But a few dozen rebates doesn't justify hundreds of pounds for a table router. So I made one instead.

I bought 2 s/h B&Q own brand 1/4" plunge routers for £15 at a boot sale. One was missing it's fence and one of the knobs. Ideal for knocking-up a QD table router.

And so I simply epoxied it underneath a sheet of 3/4" plywood, and was in business the very next day. The only mods I've made to the basic lash-up have been to fabricate a precision adjustment mechanism, and to fit a deflector disk above the router's ventilation holes to keep the sawdust away from it's internals, as it's now living and working upside-down.

It's probably set me back £10 overall, if we say £5 for the router, and the rest for bits & pieces. I'd condemned the plywood as being unusable, as it had been laminated on both sides with a weird plastic 'wood-grain finish' covering - came off a 60's houseboat. Great to have found a use for it at last.

Sorry about the Fred Drift.

LJ

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I am planning to buy a table saw for making hives and for other woodwork. Any recommendations or "avoids" out there? I'm looking at the likes of DeWalt

amazon.co.uk/Dewalt-DW745-Heavy-Lightweight-Table/dp/B000Y8TZV8

or Makita

amazon.co.uk/MAKITA-MLT100-260mm-Table-240v/dp/B002TQWP56

but would really love to hear from someone who makes their own hives. Thanks in advance. wp.

I have an ELU turn over top table /chop saw on its own removable legs. It offers use as a standard circular saw or with the top flipped over it becomes a chop saw.
Been worth its weight in gold!

 

[Finman]

I Makita

amazon.co.uk/MAKITA-MLT100-260mm-Table-240v/dp/B002TQWP56
.

This table is wide. It is very good. It depends, how many hives you do.


Depends, what you do but £ 100 saw is very good too. With that 450 you get 3 valid tablesaw.

.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Thanks, everyone, top advice and all noted, esp on the safety aspect from a professional chippie. (Equally, I've often worked around professional mixers, presses, shredders and who knows what and the basic safety principles are the same, broadly along the lines of "GET YOUR BL**DY HAND OUT!")

Really valuable all round, thanks. I am definitely going to look at a router, see what I can do with it and maybe add the saw later.

All the best
wp

 

[clv101]

Is it possible to get a table saw / router combined? I'm thinking a good solid table saw from which the saw can be swung away and a router can also be bolted to? It just seems a waste of space to have two table based tools in the workshop.

 

[user 6228]

can one mention dust extraction?

 

[pargyle]

Is it possible to get a table saw / router combined? I'm thinking a good solid table saw from which the saw can be swung away and a router can also be bolted to? It just seems a waste of space to have two table based tools in the workshop.

Yes, there are a number of combination machines ... they go from fairly cheap pressed metal ones that are near useless up to some pretty solid and very expensive machines.

A good one middle range one, if you can find one at a reasonably s/h price, is this one:

http://www.kityuk.net/bestcombi2600.html

 

[Drew]

I am a little confused....

I've found that one of the problems of knowing about, and working with Quality tools is a reluctance to delve into the world of (what I call) 'field engineering' - where Quick 'n' Dirty/ as cheap as you like/ "doesn't matter if it breaks or wears-out as long as this one job gets done ok" etc. is the order of the day.

Sounds to me like you are advocating getting quality specialist tools.....

I needed a table router to cut the rebates for my 'Alpine Hive' boxes.

Right - time to think about a high quality specialist tool then.......

But a few dozen rebates doesn't justify hundreds of pounds for a table router.

Oh OK

So I made one instead.

Oh!! A high quality specialist one?

I bought 2 s/h B&Q own brand 1/4" plunge routers for £15 at a boot sale. One was missing it's fence and one of the knobs. Ideal for knocking-up a QD table router.

And so I simply epoxied it underneath a sheet of 3/4" plywood, and was in business the very next day. The only mods I've made to the basic lash-up have been to fabricate a precision adjustment mechanism, and to fit a deflector disk above the router's ventilation holes to keep the sawdust away from it's internals, as it's now living and working upside-down.

It's probably set me back £10 overall, if we say £5 for the router, and the rest for bits & pieces. I'd condemned the plywood as being unusable, as it had been laminated on both sides with a weird plastic 'wood-grain finish' covering - came off a 60's houseboat. Great to have found a use for it at last.

Sorry about the Fred Drift.

LJ

What!!!
A Cut&Shut Heath Robinson contraption - if ever I heard of one!!

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Only joshing you mate.
</Disclaimer>