Latest tool addition - portable table saw
Skillsaw table saw front within custom wooden stand
Skillsaw table saw back with the dust collection hose attached within custom wooden stand
After 5 years, a table saw has seen it's way back into the shop.
Portable Contractor Table Saw
Well the idea of adding a table saw in the shop has been in the works for a little while. Various model, brands and a whole bunch of criteria were looked at and one of them that kind of won over the other was the space factor.
I have a one car garage and although I did have a bigger saw in the past in the same space, I did not have the same tool combination as I did back then. So basically price and space came as a deciding factor and I know it comes with some compromise but was willing to work with these compromise
back in the past
about 5 years about, I made the choice to buy a band saw (long time wanting this tool) and decided to get rid of the table saw in favour the combo of a track saw and the band saw which I already wanted to buy anyway.
The bet was that I could get buy with these 2 tools to do most of the tasks that I needed and with the use of some hand planes, I were to be alright. Maybe not the quickest way of doing things but could work out. Well it did for a while, somewhat. For the finish purpose, the rips were not too bad and worked out pretty good with the hand planes after the bandsaw and sometimes with the track saw.
The main complaint was efficiency for sure but also getting an easy way to be able to rip easily to a consistant width boards of various width. Larger boards was not too bad with the tack/tracksaw but the smaller width was a problem and this is another factor that made me look at getting a table saw to be added to the shop.
Selection
skillsaw tablesaw blade insert
skill saw tablesaw riving knife attachment and height adjustment
skill saw tablesaw riving knife attachment and height adjustment
So the choice to go with the contractor table saw was for a space perspective and price but more on the space side of things. Different model were looked at and the Bosch, Dewalt and SkillSaw were in the top selection and not necessarily in that order.
Finally decided to go with the Skillsaw worm drive saw. Not there latest and greatest that they announce on there web site but will do for what I will do. Mainly, it was for the ripping capabilities of the work drive that convinced me and people had good reviews. Granted that I don't expect it to behave like a 3HP in a cabinet saw and really am aware of this, but for what I will do for the scale of work, this should do plenty for now.
Access to the controls are easy access and the adjustments were really easy to do and only minor tweaks were required to the saw I received. Dado insert from the manufacturer and special nut must be bought if dado sets are to be used.
I did not get them yet, but this might be additions later on. As for the stand, I built it based on the following Video from Happy Wife, Happy Life table saw stand. It was adapted to my table saw. Very good job on the build. Did not want to buy the official stand from the manufacturer as it lacked the potential of storage below the saw. Go visit the following SkilSaw Workdrive Table saw site for more details on the saw itself