Hi all, to those of you who have built L-Girder benchwork which saw will be the most useful, a table saw or a compound miter saw?
If you are only going to be doing cross-cutting, you'd be best off with the miiter saw.
Table saw is most practical for ripping operations, especially large panels.
I'm not sure I knew about miter saws in the 1980's. I built my L girder with a table saw. I've gotten a lot of use out of my sears 8' table saw for other things, as well, and I would miss it.
If I was starting over today, I would find a good miter saw with the laser light and shop the estate and yard sales for a table saw.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I would say a compound mitre saw would be used more. A track saw is also excellent for cutting sheets of plywood and they don't take up as much room as a big table saw when not being used.
Modeling an HO gauge freelance version of the Union Pacific Oregon Short Line and the Utah Railway around 1957 in a world where Pirates from the Great Salt Lake founded Ogden, UT.
- Photo album of layout construction -
A track saw is new to me. It looks like a squared off skill saw on a metal track.
https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCS520ST1-165mm-Cordless-Track/dp/B072K4W58Z/ref=sr_1_9?hvadid=77996668216750&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=track+saw&qid=1551137493&s=gateway&sr=8-9&tag=mh0b-20
Do you clamp the track to the plywood?
Unless you are ripping plywood to produce demensional lumber, a compund mitre saw. Or a skill saw.
Dave
I've taken a couple of looks at a track saw, I kinda like'em. I have lots of work to do this coming "work season" at home and at our place in the North woods.
I've always just used a skil, or actually a circular saw, because that's what I'am used to.
But this track thing looks pretty good, of course along with my circular saw, and a decent miter saw.
Not having a track saw, or a table saw, if I was to do this it would be the circular saw. But's thats just me.
Mike.
My You Tube
A good table saw will do every thing a compound miter will. IF you know how.
A $20,000 miter saw won't replace a table saw
AS Mike said a circular saw will build bench work
In fact you could use a hand saw
UNCLEBUTCHA good table saw will do every thing a compound miter will. IF you know how.
I have a table saw. And I see no easy way to cut wood to length with it. Yes, it can be done, but not easily.
It is much easier to hold the wood stationary and bring the blade down to it, than have the blade stationary and move the wood through it.
To be exact a Ryobi combo 18volt. $79 gets you a circular saw, drill, battery and charger. Only other thing you else you need is a framing square, about $5.
A simple 10 inch miter saw is all you will need. You do not need a compound miter saw.
.
A table saw will work for cross-cutting dimensional lumber, but the miter saw is faster and easier to use.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
.why not get a radial arm saw .
While a mitre saw would be nice, there's not much that can't be done with a good Skil Saw.
Wayne
In my work as a carpenter.......
Nothing beats a good compound miter saw for safe and versatile cutting of lots of different stuff.
I used mine to cut out these bridge piers:
It will do whatever you need to do building L girder benchwork.
A good portable table saw, or small one on a stand is great for lots of stuff too.
Battery impact drivers and drills - we did carpentry before we had them, but I really don't remember how......
Track saws - these are just a highly portable way to get at or near precision of a large table saw. I consider my Dewalt portable table saw a much more important tool. I would never invest $500 in a track saw.
BUT, I have a portable table saw, a big shop table saw, a good compound miter saw, circular saws - cord and battery, nearly a dozen battery impact and drill drivers, power planners, biscuit joiner, oscillating saws (we love these things), recipricating saws, jig saws, a number of routers/trimmers, pneumatic nail guns of every size......
And I'm sure I missed something....
I nail down my homasote roadbed with a brad nailer.
I don't use L girder benchwork, as discussed in several other threads, I can build better open grid benchwork with less lumber, especially for the "style" of my layout.
A few shots of the old layout:
New layout starting in the spring if all goes to plan. It will not be double deck like the old layout.
Sheldon
j. c. .why not get a radial arm saw .
Because they are big, heavy, and dangerous - nobody uses them anymore.
https://www.rockler.com/are-radial-arm-saws-a-thing-of-the-past
ATLANTIC CENTRAL j. c. .why not get a radial arm saw . Because they are big, heavy, and dangerous - nobody uses them anymore. https://www.rockler.com/are-radial-arm-saws-a-thing-of-the-past Sheldon
if nobody uses them why do they still sell them , i my self have never had a use for one but know several that use them alot
ATLANTIC CENTRALATLANTIC CENTRAL wrote the following post 2 hours ago: j. c. .why not get a radial arm saw . Because they are big, heavy, and dangerous - nobody uses them anymore.
Sheldon, you are right. Radial arm saws are big, heavy and they can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. However, I have used my radial arm saw for more projects than I can remember. I have built tons of cabinetry, furniture, moldings and more with my RAS and I still have all my fingers. Only once in 30+ years did things get a little precarious when one of the position locks came loose while I was making some door trim.
The bottom line is that you can hurt yourself with any tool, and you can be safe with any tool if you know what you are doing and respect it.
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
j. c. ATLANTIC CENTRAL j. c. .why not get a radial arm saw . Because they are big, heavy, and dangerous - nobody uses them anymore. https://www.rockler.com/are-radial-arm-saws-a-thing-of-the-past Sheldon if nobody uses them why do they still sell them , i my self have never had a use for one but know several that use them alot
Does anybody have new ones for sale? I don't see any in the tool stores where I shop?
There are only a few on the market, and the good ones are very expensive, like $4,000.
If you look up radial arm saw on Home Depot's web site you get sliding compound miter saws.......
I bought the Grizzly track saw 'master pack' 4 years ago when it was on sale for about $200. https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-Track-Saw-Master-Pack/T25552
And I bought the extra 9 ft track for another $50. A track saw is much easier and takes much less space for one person to operate and they make very precise cuts. For one person to operate a table saw to rip 8 ft sheets of plywood you need 8+ ft of space on both sides of the saw and you need a large outflow catcher table. The track saw was the best tool investment I made while building my layout.
Doug
I do not have a table saw, and I built my bench work with a miter saw and a circular saw. I had the lumber yard rip my plywood. Cost me 50 cents for each cut. I have no other use for a table saw and I prefer to die with the 10 fingers that I was born with. And I would never ever buy any kind of used power saw, since there is no idea of how it has been treated over time by the other owner.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
After my step dad gave up using power tools, I couldn't give his RAS away. It was practically new, with extra tables for each side.
I think my sister gave it to a neighbor.
Thanks for all the good information!
I think I’ll go with the Mitre.
Onewolf I bought the Grizzly track saw 'master pack' 4 years ago when it was on sale for about $200. https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-Track-Saw-Master-Pack/T25552 And I bought the extra 9 ft track for another $50. A track saw is much easier and takes much less space for one person to operate and they make very precise cuts. For one person to operate a table saw to rip 8 ft sheets of plywood you need 8+ ft of space on both sides of the saw and you need a large outflow catcher table. The track saw was the best tool investment I made while building my layout. Doug
That is the one feature of the track saw, but as a profesional carpenter I can be just as accurate with a circular saw, 8' level, and two good clamps.
j. c..why not get a radial arm saw .
I just got rid of mine and replaced it with a simple miter saw after this injury, and then reading about how insanely dangerous a radial arm saw can be.
Yes... I had gloves on, no the blade did not get me, this is a compression injury.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL j. c. ATLANTIC CENTRAL j. c. .why not get a radial arm saw . Because they are big, heavy, and dangerous - nobody uses them anymore. https://www.rockler.com/are-radial-arm-saws-a-thing-of-the-past Sheldon if nobody uses them why do they still sell them , i my self have never had a use for one but know several that use them alot Does anybody have new ones for sale? I don't see any in the tool stores where I shop? There are only a few on the market, and the good ones are very expensive, like $4,000. If you look up radial arm saw on Home Depot's web site you get sliding compound miter saws....... Sheldon
Unfortunately, only industrial models from the Original Saw Company seem to be currently available new.
I have had my Craftsman radial arm saw for 40 years now and it's great. I have no need for a table saw as the RAS does just about everything the table saw and miter saw do and more. And it requires less room in the shop.
They are no more dangerous than a table saw. But like a table saw they have to be used correctly.
Sure they're not very portable, but then neither are the hybrid/cabinet table saws. And small table saws have limited capacity.
The main reason RAS went out of favor is that because while they do more, they cost more than a table saw of comparable quality.
So if you all you need are a couple of cheap tools to cut a few boards to length and trim some plywood then buy a small table saw and a simple chop saw.
Paul
ATLANTIC CENTRALI have a portable table saw, a big shop table saw, a good compound miter saw, circular saws - cord and battery, nearly a dozen battery impact and drill drivers, power planners, biscuit joiner, oscillating saws (we love these things), recipricating saws, jig saws, a number of routers/trimmers, pneumatic nail guns of every size...... And I'm sure I missed something....
The router was my Dad's favorite tool for wood joining. I never used it for joints, and I am not good with a router yet... but I am getting practice.
A very useful tool for cutting plywood is an 8-foot aluminum channel (architectural grade, straight, lightweight).
It can be clamped in place to act as a guide for Makita circular saw or Bosch jig saw. Can also be used as guide for router with straight bit to clean up long freehand cuts made with jig saw; a kind of portable jointer. Edges as clean and straight as table saw.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
But tools are only as good as the user. When I moved from one coast to the other I gave up my Delta table saw (it was on steady loan as I had a unused basement). Once on west coast I picked up a Hirsh table saw, never bought a better one even though I could have for cheap, and yes I rebuilt houses as part of my work and at times needed precision work like when I rebuilt furniture.
SeeYou190 The router was my Dad's favorite tool for wood joining. -Kevin
The router was my Dad's favorite tool for wood joining.
I've only heard my British wife refer to carpenter as a "joiner". They never taught us that word back in wood shop jr high and high school.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983