Thread: saw bench

dzcook

I have been thinking along the same lines.

I am currently setting up a small workshop so the tools that I want should be small and have dust extraction outlets.

I have been thinking about inverting my 71/4 saw, mounted in a triton frame and bolting it to a wooden top but then it would not have a dust extraction outlet.

I have had a look in the Carba-Tech and Timbercon brochures but have not seen anything as yet. Bunning are selling the GMC for $100 but not happy with this product so maybe if I set the budget to $200 I might be able to find something suitable. I only plan to cut 19mm pine.

Daniel

Hi Gents,
What you probably should be thinking about is safety. Using a portable saw upside down introduces a high risk to the digits. The blade is exposed and you are pushing unclamped material towards it. Take it from me even a well set up commercial saw gives the operator an surprise or two occassionally. The commercial table saws have blade covers, spreaders and anti kick back devices to greatly reduce the risk to the operator. If you want a table saw along the lines you are suggesting then get the GMC and look at extenting the table top inserting it into a larger bench. I haven't seen the GMC so I am assuming that it is supplied with the appropriate guards. I would suggest that you try to source a second hand Triton also. There are very experienced woodworkers on this forum that can give good advice (as well as a fair bit of stick) so don't be afriad to keep asking questions. Just so the experienced woodworkers don't get big headed by definition experienced means that they have already made most of the mistakes.
Enjoy your woodworking and please think safety before you embark on cheap solutions.

cheers,
Rod

I also would not advise building one. Having seen and used many home made ones (up to 36" firewood ones) the home made path is just not viable today unless you have an engineering workshop and then only for the fun of making it.

My suggestions for an inexpensive solution would be pretty much as suggested above
(1) If you have a builders saw - buy a secondhand Triton - even a Mark 1.
(2) Buy one of the cheap saw benches (GMC, Ryobi etc) and mount it in a large sheet of MDF to give a you a decent size table.
(3) Find a secondhand bench - they do come on the market occasionally

Cheers

If you are talking about those really really cheap GMC table saws that are about $100, then i wouldnt recommend them. The fence looks very flimsy to me and there would be increased risk of kickback. I'd up the ante and stretch the budget a little more for either the better GMC or Ryobi saw benchs you can find at bunnings or maybe the model Timbecon sells at around the $379 mark (not including shipping).

thks all that replied

hadnt really thougt about the safty side much did think of gaurds etc but not that far along .

also didnt realise i had psoted this in nothing to do with woodwork section lol


still learning how this site works

thks again

The new GMC sells for $199 at Bunnings and is pretty fair value but be prepared to do a few modifications.
The fence is very poor because it only attaches at one end. The other end floats free and doesn't even reach the other side of the table. The mitre gauge is also useless if you use it to hold a piece of timber that has any weight to it.
I knew that these problems existed when I bought mine but I am going to build a table to house it and get a decent fence for it