Can One Live Without a Table Saw?

[Rick]

My shop space is very small only 12x16.  My concern is not breaking down large sheet stock.  Most places like HomeDepot and Lowes will do that for you these days for free.  My concern is making good looking face frames and such.  I love Shaker style furniture and while my skills are at novice level now someday I may want to tackle more.  Any suggestions or ideas.???    

[Zachary]

Get him a riving knife and he should have no trouble with a table saw. A sled can be extremely helpful and makes things very safe.

[Brian Rogers]

I started out with a jobsite table saw on a mobile stand to save space.

[Ken Darga]

I've had a table saw for many years, and 

then wanted to add a portable job-site saw, (for portability). 

I find the portable job-site saw very handy for many tasks.

It's convenient to have a dado blade in one of the machines.

On ocassions, I have both set-up for performing multiple operations.

I've made cross-cut sleds for both---

and a miter sled for one of them---

very valuable assets to table saws.

[Thomas Ellis]

What if you mounted your circular saw on a piece of plywood. Then lowered the blade and cut through the plywood. Then turn it upside down. Take a good straight board use it for a fence. Lay it on a pair of saw horses. When your finished store your home made table saw out of the way. I've seen it done. 

[Derek Gould]

Thomas, just out of curiosity, how many fingers do you have (left)?  :-)

On a serious note, this sounds like it would present lots of safety issues. The need to keep the saw lever depressed so that it will turn on, no ability to stop cutting quickly, etc.

Apart from the safety concerns, I doubt whether you'd get the accuracy you'd be looking for. When I was a kid my dad had a bench that he bought somewhere, that allowed you to clamp a circular saw upside down, had a bar switch across the front, etc. It seemed like ti would be a good idea, but every time I tried to use it it jammed, a lot of chipout on cuts, and it was never very accurate. With sales you can find entry-level bench saws pretty cheap.

Like many others on here, I've made a saw guide for a circular saw out of some hardboard and a good straight-edge screwed together; clamp this to the piece you want to cut, with some foam or sacrificial boards beneath it, and you can get pretty good results; I still use this approach for breaking down large sheet goods into manageable sizes.

Thomas Ellis said:

What if you mounted your circular saw on a piece of plywood. Then lowered the blade and cut through the plywood. Then turn it upside down.

[Thomas Ellis]

Wow:

[Ken Darga]

If one is on a limited budget, and need a table saw, Ryobi offers one for $200.

It's not a precision machine, but it cuts wood.

It'll suffice for ripping---don't expect precision.

I'd suggest making a cross-cut sled for it---

the miter gauge is almost useless.

.

[Rick]

Well I went ahead and purchased a D745 and have it set up on a stand in my little shop.  At the moment I am setting up my plunge router with a guide and acrylic sled to function with the Rockler straight edge system.  I purchased an extra guide to mount on my Circular saw for larger rips my small D745 wont handle well.  

[Mark Barber]

This is what I use. I also use a straight edge clamp for cross cutting plywood. 

[rich b.]

Ken is right, I also have both a cabinet saw and a 745 ,and I have had both of them set up at the same time,very handy.I have recently added the festool ts 55 for ripping sheet goods.well worth it,cuts are clean ,accurate and finish/ glue ready.