I am currently in the planning stages for creating a home woodshop when I return home from school in a few weeks. Last summer I purchsed a 10 craftsman table saw, a 10 delta compound miter and sundry cordless and corded tools. I have a space probably about 20' x20'ish to use and a great shelving/counter unit coming from the main part of the house to use as a bench and chop saw deck.
I would appreciate general advice about shop design and especially dust collection, which will be a major issue as the future shop area is adjacent to my brothers' bedrooms.
Specifically, I am interested in building a new rip fence for the Craftsman table saw I bought last summer. For the past two years I have been working in the scene shop at my college, where we have an older cast iron Delta cabinet saw mounted to the floor with a table extension and a great steel rip fence that is either aftermarket or an example of they don't build them like they used to. In comparison, the fence on my craftsman saw at home is a flimsy aluminum thing that doesn't have rails and doesn't seem to hold true when it's clamped down.
I took a quick look at aftermarket rip fences and saw figures upwards of $300 and, as I'd rather not spend the money, figured I'd try it myself. Any advice or horror stories or personal success stories would be appreciated. Methods, materials, etc. Thanks!
fine woodworking has some books out with shop built saw tables and fences
I found this after a little more searching around and I'm going to use it a guide to do my own fence:
http://benchnotes.com/Fence/fence.html
I will post back with progress when I return home in two weeks. My only worry about the project is that it requires welding, which I've never done before and have no equipment to do. Are there any simple alternatives to welding the pieces together for the fence, as he does in the tutorial? Is there some kind of epoxy I could use instead, or would just using three machine screws to attach the fence to the guide work?
I appreciate any and all advice, thanks!
The fence that you linked to looks like it could work well but as a diy project is crossing over into another discipline.
There is no way to do this with anything other than welding.
In addition to welding the T you have to turn a piece of flat bar and pipe into a cam to be able to lock the fence into position.
If you are not equipped for metal working, buying a fence or even replacing the saw may be a better option.
Now you too have learned after buying, what to look for when buying a table saw... We all do it. We buy something in the middle of the road then we find out the pro's and con's. My wife is Korean, and her rule of thumb is buy the best, buy it once, especially if it makes your life/work just a little bit easier. Now when you shop for a table saw you'll do what we all do....work the fence and see if the tail stock moves when you lock it down. Never buy a direct drive. The larger the arbor the better. Work the tilt crank and see how easy it rotates. .......and a cast iron table. Powermatic, and I believe Tannerwitz, makes a nice table saw for a shop. If your moving to job sights the Delta 10 Contractor is the one I see the most. BUT,.... the fence is 1/2 the saw. Unifence is one you'll see out there often, but they are'nt cheap like anything good....they cost$$$$
Originally Posted by mango man
fine woodworking has some books out with shop built saw tables and fences
Hi mango,
can u give the names of these books?
Originally Posted by elschaefer
I am currently in the planning stages for creating a home woodshop when I return home from school in a few weeks.
...
..
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Hi elschaefer,
did u do it, and how?
thanks.
Probably so, but it was 3 years ago. Mango is still around. Click on his name and send him a PM and refer to this post.
... and here I was getting all excited about the fence improvements on my dinosaur Craftsman only to find out that it's just another resurected ancient history post. There has to be a way to flag this stuff.
I was also going to ask Vassar or Marist.
its been a few years since Ive looked but I beleive this one would have it
http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore...zy-070832.html
or this one
http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore...ey-070497.html
if you look they have a few tablesaw books
http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore...og/Power-Tools
check your local library , ours has a good selection
Originally Posted by cwbuff
... and here I was getting all excited about the fence improvements on my dinosaur Craftsman only to find out that it's just another resurected ancient history post. There has to be a way to flag this stuff.
I was also going to ask Vassar or Marist.
I don't see a problem the info is still relevant and those searching will benefit
the OP is irrelevant at this point
Why won't the old Craftsman table saws break??? I would like to buy a new one, but can't justify it until this dinosaur bites the dust. The Beisemeyer fence cost twice what the saw did, but oooooh how smooth.
Like chandler said--my old Craftsman ( pur 1969 ) just keeps running. It came w/ 2 steel rods ( they screw into right side of table ) a rip guide extension that slides locks on the rods.
( I had to scratch my head --this assembly was not shown in
owners manual ) Some years it gets a little rust on top-hit w/ steel wool looks new ( steel 1/2-3/4 thick ) One of the hand wheels finally fell apart--was still able to get steel wheel
replacement from sears--still a great unit............
Tags: fence, craftsman, table, http store, http store taunton, http store taunton onlinestore, Originally Posted, return home, store taunton, store taunton onlinestore, taunton onlinestore, when return
