My DIY $100 table saw build

**guerd87** · 25th March 2010, 10:12 PM

Thats right, DIY table saw! (expecting to see alot of people start cringing)

I am planning a build for a CNC router soon and to do this, i really need a table saw to cut out all my MDF parts nice and square. Too buy a high quality saw is in excess of $1000 + and i dont want to spend that much. Ive looked at stuff like Ryobi's, Triton's and some Makita's aswell but not really happy with there size and accuracy according to some reports.

I started out looking for an old desk to re-use as the base, and along came one of them old school desk's with thew world map laminated on the top. Nice find from council cleanup in good nick.

I didnt want to use my good Makita circular saw as I use it alot in its normal form and didnt want to have to unmount it all the time, ran down to bunnings and grapped an Ozito special for $59. Picked up some 16 and 14mm MDF along with some other pieces.

The table top itself is a 1200x900x16mm piece of MDF. The saw is mounted to a circle piece that allow me to swivel the blade and line it up accuratly.

The sides of the desk were covered in to reduce the noise a bit and work quite well. Easily talk over the sound and my neighbors said they didnt even think twice when they heard it the first time which is good. Even got the noise approval form my misses who lives inside. i go in there sometimes.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2997.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2986.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2985.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2988.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2987.jpg

I knew i needed a splitter behind the blade. When this table is not in use I will be storing stuff on it, so it needs to be removable. Here is just a piece of scrap 3mm MDF i mounted in the top. It looks crappy, but it actually works quite well, i may not have to replace it with alloy (my first idea)

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2989.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2997.jpg

The first cuts i done were some scrap just to test the use. Quite happy with it. My first rip fence was a piece of 900x400x14 MDF that i had and knew was square. I clamped it down and cut out 2 x 900x100x14mm lengths, screwed and glued them together and have my new rip fence.

this is after i put a slight chamfer on the timber, so it looks a bees dick shorter, but trust me, its accurate

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2998.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2991.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2992.jpg

The distance is just measured from that tape line i have that is perfectly inline with the blade cut. I may redo this and add a scall to either side, but lets not get too fancy. Its not hard to move around and allot me to do other things with the bench when not in use

These drawers may come in use some day for different blades if i need them, currently they just hold the cords when not in use and circular saw allen key

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2995.jpg

Maximum rip cabability is around 440mm safely and that is quite a bit more then the cheaper (yet still dearer then mine) table saws

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2994.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2993.jpg

Since the saw needs to be tricked into thinking the switch is pressed, i rigged up this power point to use for the switch. I plan on adding a knee operated stop switch next weekend

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2996.jpg

all stored away ready for next use

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_2999.jpg

This old vacuum got given to me by the MIL to fix, but the roller drive shaft is snapped on not worth repairing. It now sits in my sheds and is used for vacuuming the drill press etc after use. It will be sued for an under-the-blade and over-the-bl;ade dust extraction.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_3000.jpg

This is a few hours worth of work so far, and is in a good working from. It is accurate to around .05 mm when measured form the tape line on the bench with a steel rule. As a rule of thumb i just measure everything in complete mm to avoid human error.

Tomorrow I am going to cut out the saw guard that has the built in dust extractor, will be mounted to the rip fence side of the tables base and will be adjustable height. Also need to make the triangle supports for the rip fence to swaure it up a bit for larger stock.

Next weekend I will get some extension hose got the vacuum and mount it directly to the saw so i dont need to get underneath everytime to hook it up. I dont think the cavuum has that much suck, so im going to build a little wooden funnel to catch the dust from underneath and then suck it up through a Y piece to the vacuum.

Curently height is adjustable by the circular saw adjustment tool, but its super dodgy and i really CBF'd getting under there just to change the height, so im going to make a similar setup to the router lift here:

Router lift

It will still use the circular saws stock pivot point, but remove the stock height guage and lock and use this in its place. turn handle will be mounted through the side with some markings on it.

In short - Its works and its accurate. Currently not safe with no guard, but thats coming tomorrow. Its fairly quiet, but i wouldnt use it late at night just out of respect for my neighbours.

It doesnt allow for angle cuts yet, but if i really need these i can use my guided circular saw or even make a new circular plate out of 3-4mm alloy which will allow the saw to tilt

Once the whole thing is complete I am going to give it a quick sand and clear coat the lot just to protect the MDf from moisture, humidity, scratching etc for, hopefully, the life of the saw

It could be made for around $50 if you had to buy materials but had your own circular saw

Cheers
John

**Sam** · 26th March 2010, 02:37 PM

'from my misses who lives inside' PMSL !!!!!!!!!!!!

**munruben** · 26th March 2010, 04:05 PM

Good work John. A great cheap way of entering the TS market.

**dazzler** · 26th March 2010, 05:00 PM

GOOD JOB!. Do you plan on fitting anti kickback pawls to stop this happening though?

[ame=http://www.metacafe.com/watch/910584/table_saw_kickback_demonstration/]Table Saw Kickback Demonstration - Video[/ame]

**guerd87** · 26th March 2010, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by dazzler

GOOD JOB!. Do you plan on fitting anti kickback pawls to stop this happening though?

Table Saw Kickback Demonstration - Video

I was going to try and add some sort of device for this, but im unsure what to use. Do most normal hobby grade table saws come with these installed, or are the a user option? You be able to point me in the right direction as to what to do?

I added soem more stuff to the saw today and its nearly finished and ready to start the CNC project now.

Added the blade guard and vacuum adapter on. The vacuum isnt as good as id like but it does help. Before i use to get covered in dust from using the saw, now there is just a little bit of dust left on the table top after use.

Also added a crosscut sled as can be seen in the pics. There is a square in the 3rd pic to reference the sled vs the rip fence, spot on

Notice the vacuum in the pics. it also plugs into the table power board for the on/off switch. It doesnt get in the way at all and even though it looks dodgy, its very secure.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_3010.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_3012.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_3014.jpg

One other random shot showing the Mitre Saw I picked up off ebay today, come in quite handy when building the guard as I didnt want to get too close to the blade before the sled was built

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_3013.jpg

Ive been getting a bit of curry in another thread of mine from a few months back now about how unsafe and un stable this thing 'must' be. I have stated it in there, and wil here too. The table saws only use is to build my router, I have had no need to use a table saw in the past 3 years and may only need it to trim some stock thats to big for the router in the future. Its not going to be used all the time so spending $500+ on a table saw was not an option. Tritons and smaller Ryobi's were not going to cut it accuracy wise and did not give me enough room to the rip fence.

I do understand were alot of people are coming from about not being rigid enough to handle the laod and the circ saw may die after some time. The circular saw i can live with as its only a cheapy that i bought for this one project. This thing is plenty rigid, it requires 2 people to move it around the shop unless you just want to skull drag it across the floor. Theres just over 1 full 2400 x 1200 sheet of 16MDF + the weight of the table itself. Not a single bit of wobble, racking etc in this design.

Back on topic, any comments welcome and would be interested about anti kickback options

Cheers
John

**orraloon** · 29th March 2010, 02:07 PM

Most woodworkers will give you heaps about the lack of safety with home made table saws and with good cause. Saw injuries are usually nasty. Those injuries happen on well made machines also. Mostly down to operator error, lack of attention and downright stupidity. There will be a few on here that have had a home made TS some time in the past and while not encouraging everyone and their dog make one will understand that sometimes needs must. I got plans out of a woodworking book when I made mine so there was a time when this was an ok thing to do.The main thing is be aware of the risks and dont try a cut if the work is aquard to control. You have a splitter so have covered one of the main causes of kick back. The other thing you will have to watch is keeping the fence parralell to the blade. Double check before you cut.
One modification I would urge is to have the switch located where you can turn off the saw while still being in control of the work piece. A foot switch for instance would be ideal.
Care and common sense are the watch words.
Regards
John

Thread: My DIY $100 table saw build

Thread Tools

Search Thread

My DIY $100 table saw build

Similar Threads

$25 + 3 hours router table build...

Another router table build.

New router table build (nearly finished)

Want to build a table for router and cms

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions