Thread: table saw vs panel saw

Originally Posted by dvdhack

Can someone tell me the advantage of a panel saw over a table saw and vice versa?

How do I choose a saw?

I currently have a Triton which has been moved several times and now I'm missing many bits so I'm in the market for a new saw.

I have two needs:

1. My woodworking projects eg tables, cabinets etc in solid wood
2. To build some cupboards, vanity units etc for our new house (owner builders)

Ralf

the question of which is better — a table saw or a panel saw with sliding table — can become very opinionated.
If you glance through US magazines like Fine WoodWorking or Popular Woodworking you will see lots of projects and how-tos involving table saws
But if you look through an English mag like Furniture and Cabinetmaking you will predominately see panel saws, which often incorpoertae a spindle molder and and absence of complicated how-tos for simple tasks like squaring the end of a piece of timber or cutting tennons on a saw.


If you want to seriously save your pennies, contact Triton and order the parts you're missing.

If you have the space and can afford the cost get yourself a small panel saw with spindle moulder. Something like the Hammer B3 (price $7,000 to $27,000 depending on the options)


To my mind, for work in solid timber a small panel saw is just as usefull as a table saw with the advantage that the blade guards and dust collection are a whole lot better than those commonly found on a table saw.
The sliding table obviates much of the need to use cross cut or mitre sleds and is a boon when it comes to squaring glued up panels.
The disadvantage is that they cost a whole lot more than a table saw

To cut tennons you use the spindle molder and sliding table



as to cutting sheets of ply, chipboard or MDF the Festo guide system is very good,
but if your need is limited to kitchen cupboards, bathroom vanities and the like for the new house it's probably MUCH cheaper overall to contact one of the people who sell flat pack kitchens and have them dimension all the pieces for you so all you have to do is attach the solid timber edging of your choice.



ian

This is where we get into a difference in terminology. What Ian refers to as a 'small panel saw' I would either call a sliding tablesaw (some American books refer to them as a European saw - eg. Kelly Mahler) or - when it has a spindle moulder and/or thicknesser - a combination machine. A panel saw, as far as I'm concerned, is a large saw with a sliding table designed specifically for working with sheet materials.

eg.

Sliding table saw: http://www.majorwoodworking.com.au/c...roducts_id=506

Cabinet saw: http://www.majorwoodworking.com.au/c...roducts_id=492

Panel saw: http://www.majorwoodworking.com.au/c...roducts_id=493

Combination machine: http://feldernsw.felder-gruppe.at/?p...b4fc21a72521c3

Terminology not withstanding, it's definitely worth considering the sliding table saws and the combo machines as well as the basic cabinet table saws as Ian says.

Another option are the vertical panel saws such as those from Holz-Her. You've probably seen them in Bunnings.

They are not cheap either but they are very space efficient and easy to load. They are also available with scoring units.

Having used both. If I had the coin, and space, I would go for a panelsaw with moulder anyday over a cabinet saw. If your furniture making involves lots of tables and cabinets (in solid wood & board) the panel saw wins for me

Thanks so much everyone - this is really great information. Lots for me to think about.

As Ian says, if you have a Triton 2000, I'd recommend getting the missing parts & try to pick up a 2nd hand Maxi sliding table. You can then drag it out for all those jobs that the table saw can't handle.

There was a thread here a couple of years ago (that long?) about adapting the Triton Maxi to a cabinet saw - TSc10HB I think.

G'Day

I use the festool CMS (compact module system) setup that has a small sliding table. The beauty of this setup is that it uses a plunge saw that can be removed and used for cutting large sheets of material using the sliding rails.

Cheaper than a full panel saw setup with the advantage of a sliding table, which is why I like using panel saws.

Have a look here for a link to the setup. There is also a forum on this site for festool products.

Cheers
rODNEY

Thouht I'd throw in my two bob's worth here!

About 20 years ago a Triton. About 10 years ago a Woodman table saw. Last December a Felder K500 sliding table saw with 2.5m table.

Now hindsight is a wonderful thin, and if I knew 20 years ago what I know today I reckon I would have a 20 year old Felder!

Y'know I did some fair work with the triton and the tablesaw, but an awful lot of time was spent being a machine tweaker, particularly with the Triton. Those days, it would appear are gone.

Put simply this Felder is just a good thing. It will handle anything you put to it, sheets, harwood, softwood, plywood fiddly bits. It cuts dead straight and square. You can pull the slider off put it back, and it is right on zero. Same applies for the rip fence.

Cut mitres, any angle. Made up a little box the other day with mitred corners just to see how it would go. I reckon it would be the first time I have got mitres right on the money first time with no further tweaking needed.

So dvd, if you have the space and can afford it, to me it is a no brainer - Panel saw. As for the cost - well it will only hurt once.

What Colin said.

I have both and spend 99% of the time on the panel saw. I easily do more work in solid wood than panels. Panel saw if you have the space and money.

Only thing the Unisaw does better than the Panel saw is cut dados, but Felder has that sussed now too so I can't think of too many positives for the cabinet saw in this comparison.

That said, I think Groggy has the right idea with the cabinet saw and Festo guide rail circular saw combination. You can do almost anything with that.

Can I once again clarify what you guys are talking about when you say 'panel saw'? Are you talking about a panel saw as used in a large joinery, or are you talking about a sliding table saw (which is what the Felder machines are)?

I only ask because dvdhack may have been thinking about the latter when he said panel saw, which makes a lot of the advice given redundant. Is he really asking the difference between a European-style sliding table saw and a US-style standard cabinet saw?

When I said "you don't want a panel saw" I was referring to a panel saw, not a sliding table saw, but people seem to be using the term panel saw for something else now, which makes it a bit confusing.

I must admit Silent, I don't see a real difference between the sliding table and the panel saw.

I've looked at the links you posted and those two saws appear to do the same thing.

What really differentiates them.

A panel saw takes full size sheets of at least 2.4 x 1.2 but often up to 3.6 x 1.8.

A sliding panel saw is a smaller verstion that usually can't rip a 2.4 long sheet though some saws can crosscut a sheet.

I must admit Silent, I don't see a real difference between the sliding table and the panel saw.

I've looked at the links you posted and those two saws appear to do the same thing.

What really differentiates them.

Size, price, intended market.

Yes they do the same thing but on a smaller scale. Obviously the idea of a panel saw can be applied to any saw that has a sliding table, but by that logic, a Triton with a sliding extension is a panel saw. Sorry but it's not

I'm just trying to clarify what I'm talking about when I say panel saw. If people are going to start talking about the small European-style machines as panel saws too, then we just need to be clear, that's all.

Like a lot of machinery, there's not a lot of consistency in terminology used by manufacturers. Felder seem to use the terms 'sliding table saw' and 'panel saw' interchangeably. Perhaps this is where the idea is coming from. There are some machines on their site that I would definitely call a panel saw, and others labelled as such that I would not. I think that there is a trend to put a sliding table on a cabinet saw now and call it a panel saw, which is fine, but it's not what I think of when someone says panel saw.

Personally, I don't care what people call them, I just want to be clear on what I mean when I say panel saw, and make sure it's understood when other people use the term what they are talking about, so that we all understand each other.

Thanks, Bob and Silent ...

... so basically what you guys are saying it that any saw with a sliding table could be called a "sliding table" saw, but if it is big enough to take full size sheets, then it could also be called a panel saw.

I think I got it now.