What kind of saw would be most useful?

[Ray Dunakin]

I intend to do a lot of scratchbuilt structures, and it's quickly becoming apparent that the razor saw and x-acto knife that served so well in HO scale just aren't sufficient for heavier large scale stuff. Cutting redwood timbers to length for a tunnel portal by hand with a razor saw was maddeningly slow!

So what type of saw would be best? A small bandsaw? A jigsaw? Or something else?

Both my shop space and my budget are limited, so I need to avoid huge and/or costly equipment.

[markn]

I would suggest a 9"-10" bandsaw-for example a Ryobi at Home Depot for $99-Sears probably carries it as well and you may be able to get $10-15 off on a "storewide" sale etc. Easily handles up to about a 2x2 and with 1/8" blade will "scroll" or jig all but the tightest radii-definitely the power saw I use the most.

[SandyR]

A bench-top bandsaw, definitely! And be sure to get a rip fence with it. Delta makes a good one, available at Home Depot, and probably at other home stores, too. The rip fence will enable you to cut long pieces with the grain. The miter gauge that comes with the saw is for crosscutting. If I could have only one machine, it would be my bandsaw.
SandyR

[ttrigg]

Ray

Band saws are great. But the two saws I use the most are a small table saw, and a scroll saw. Table saw gives me the ability to quickly rip down boards, do a bunch of miter work and such. The scroll saw is great for contours and rail cutting. I much prefer the scroll saw over the dremel tool for cutting rails. Like anything else, what is BEST is what works best for YOU. Pick the saw type you are most familiar with. Each can be purchased for under $100.

[kstrong]

I'll second (third? forth?) the band saw. The wider the clearance, the better. I've got a Craftsman 10" bandsaw, and it's my bread and butter in the workshop. Get one with a variable speed, too. That way, you can cut plastics, wood, and various metals with relative ease.

The table saw is nice, but not at all good for cutting curves and other shapes. I recently bought a used one, and I now use it for most of my utilitarian cutting purposes, but the band saw is still the tried and true detail cutting tool, and my go-to tool for quick cuts.

Later,

K

[FJ and G]

I use a large table saw to cut ties and lots of other wood. Couldn't be without it.

I want to cut some long copper pipes lengthwise for a girder bridge. I couldn't find a metal-cutting blade (13") so I bought a chop saw metal cutting blade that fits in the table saw.

Naturally, I cut outside and wear full-face mask. But man, when you hit a knot, I've seen the wood literally explode.

I've gained lots of respect for a table saw. Always use a poke stick and fence when it gets too close and watch my hands.

Any tips you want to give me appreciated.

[ttrigg]

One more advantage to a table saw that a band saw cannot do: "Lap Siding" with a cutter head. I've done this several times while building doll houses for my daughter, and plan to do so again when I build some houses for the GRR.

Put flat dado cutting tips into the cutter head, tilt the table (or blade on bigger units) to about 15 degrees, bring the cutter head up so that you are cutting just the size of lap siding you want. Set the rip fence for the first pass (on the down hill side) and move the fence 3/16 inch (or so) for each additional pass. Presto! I now have a board that building siding can be cut from, and not having to worry about mounting thin strips onto a "backer board". Want a different type of siding, just get a cutter head that has the shape you want to produce.

Use a one and a half inch dado head, table and blade set at zero degrees, move the rip fence an inch and three quarters on each pass, You now have vertical strip siding.

Want to rough up your ties before putting them in the ground? Rip your tie material slightly over sized. Make your own plywood disk, attach a piece of course metal sand paper (the hard stuff like is used on an air grinder) and pass the strips through (QUICKLY). Put your cutting blade back on and cut ties to length as needed.

A table saw is not going to do well cutting curves, but with the proper attachments (cutting heads, sanding disks, ) you can do so much more. Band saws are designed to do very well cutting curves, and can (when the blade is properly tensioned) rip wood to proper dimensions. A band saw is not going to be able to "shape" the wood.

[markperr]

If you have to make the choice between the two, I'd recommend the band saw strictly because it's a gentler machine to work with. Table saws are great but can be overkill and extremely dangerous to ones digits when attempting to cut small pieces. You also have to pay very close attention to kick back. There been a number of occasions when I've been smacked in the face or chest by a flying board that got caught in the blade and was propelled back my way (at about a hundred thousand MPH!!!) Hurts like the dickens.

If you're not extremely particular about how straight your "straight" cuts are, then the bandsaw is better. Quietier, less intimidating, far less chance of serious injury should you get distracted, and it's darn near impossible to cut a curve with a table saw.

Oh, BTW, low budget table saws tend to be low quality as well.

Mark

[Anonymous]

the cheapest way to go is get a cheap $20.00 handheld jigsaw with assorted blades. it will be an improvement over your razorsaw.

a professional would use a mitersaw, or a compound mitersaw (+- 200 bucks).

if restricted to one saw; i would fall back on the standard "skillsaw" ($150. bucks).


david, think twice , cut once! ask yourself the "what if" questions before you remove some of your bodyparts.

[Anonymous]

If you purchase narrow blades for a band saw it will indeed cut fairly sharp curves.
Blades may be purchased that are as narrow as 1/8 inch.

The down side is they are not quickly changed out. So you would have to sort of schedule your cutting.

[markn]

As usual-lot's of good advice. This is why they so make so many different saws-everyone does something better than another one-I would add this last bid of advice-think about what you will be doing the most and go with the saw for that...the table saw cuts long straight lines but no curves, the band saw cuts short straight lines and average curves, and the jig saw is for tight curves

[ttrigg]

to add to MARKN's comments;

Scroll saw will not cut straight line to save my sole, but cuts real fine curves great.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by markperr

If you have to make the choice between the two, I'd recommend the band saw strictly because it's a gentler machine to work with. Table saws are great but can be overkill and extremely dangerous to ones digits when attempting to cut small pieces. You also have to pay very close attention to kick back. There been a number of occasions when I've been smacked in the face or chest by a flying board that got caught in the blade and was propelled back my way (at about a hundred thousand MPH!!!) Hurts like the dickens.

Amen to that. If you're not experienced or do not have access to proper instruction, avoid a table saw. Kickbacks are generally the result of a misalignment between the blade and the fence, improper stock preparation, size and/or feed. Besides getting smacked, you have an excellent chance of running your hand into the blade because you're feeding a piece of stock that suddenly, isn't there any more.

The band saw avoids this potential because it cuts down, not toward you. I think San Diego has a Woodcraft store. They have a benchtop Rikon band saw on sale now for just over $100. It's all metal, has good dust collection and is otherwise a quality machine which will serve you well for this type of work. Good luck and I hope this helps.