For a cab shown in the post above, track saw would easily cut required sheet goods, as far as accuracy measure twice cut once. Yes a table saw will repeat better, and faster to repeat the same part, but just as easy to cut the wrong size.

Lots harder to put a sheet of 3/4 ply through the average home table saw on your own though, different if you have a commercial saw with table surface all around it. We would cut 1 1/2" thick 6061T6 aluminium plate on a commercial saw, I don't think my home saw would like that.

Well... okay. I'm planning to sell a car to make one bay available for woodwork. If I'm looking for a used table saw what attributes should I want or need? There are a number of them available on CL.

e.g. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/tls/d/campbell-table-saw-delta-model-10/7250705269.html

I had a Powermatic cabinet saw that we purchased new in the 1970's They are expensive new but not so bad used. I think I sold mine for around $800. I'd expect that if you bought one in decent shape, you could get all of your money back out of it when you decided to sell it.

Contractor saws are much lighter than cabinet saws. When I'm ripping a sheet of plywood, I want a saw that's going to stay put.

Mine looked about like this one:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1608748971.jpg

Horsepower.

I agree with Zeke's horsepower comment - however, the quality of the fence system on a table saw makes or breaks the quality/straightness of the cut you can make on the saw. If the table saw is an inexpensive peace of Chinese junk with a 5HP motor but a lousy fence design, that power won't help the quality of the cut.

I think that would be understood.

However, I can tune any TS to make great cuts. It seems people who buy the cheap junk have no respect for a TS to begin with. So a Powermatic that is out of whack is no better.

I remember doing some woodworking years back with my then new Delta tablesaw with the newly introduced Unifence. I was cutting maple and needed to trim the width on a piece of lumber and ended up with the waste cut being a 6' long strip about 1/16" thick. It really showed the accuracy of a decent fence. I took that 6' long strip and wrapped it around itself and tied it into a bow. I brought it into work the next day and handed it to one of my coworkers that had a recently purchased Craftsman table saw. He was in awe and asked me how I cut that long strip with such accuracy. With his experience of the Craftsman saw, he couldn't understand how such a cut could be made.

Hey, I have one of those.

Most guys on the job can't ture a saw with a damn, or they just simply don't understand it. I started out with a junk saw, Grizzle contractor saw . I upgraded the belt to "link-belt" to reduce vibration, built my own fence (can't afford a uni-fence or Besemeyer)with a piece of uni-strut and a big 4'x4" alum tube for stability. I can stand a nickle on its edge with a good blade running. Blade and that belt makes all the differences in the world. A out or true blade is going to vibrate like hell. No stabilizer will help. Commercial blade are thicker, but can take heat much better then thin kerf blades. People rip 8/4 oak with a 1 hp contractor saw with a cross cut blade on there are asking for it. I don't blame them for it, because they simply just don't know.

That's a good saw, Henry. Buy it and get a fence and a mobile base for it.

Don't waste your money for a cheap adj base. Buy a HTC with the extension base so the saw extension can be supported. The HTC or Powermatic mobile is heavy duty so the saw doesn't walk on you while cutting large piece of plywood. Its not worth going cheap due to safety. Those adjustable ones are a pos. We have one for our 6" jointer that we take with us to our job site. It has one of those cheap adj (using woo) base. That's only because it has to be shoved to the side somewhere when not in use. I hate that base.

NOOOOO, not the car

Oh, with a mobile base, the mess can be made outside making cleaning up much easier. Water hose or blower will clean things up. So your neighbor has a bunch of Oak saw dust in his pool:D

I agree that is a decent deal. I would, however, completely dissassemble the TS and clean up the rust underneath. Ahd of the ad is true that the saw was used 2wice and put away then it's almost a sure thing that it needs many adjustments.

To the best of my knowledge, that TS was made in Taiwan, not a bad thing. That was my primary saw in my door pre-hang shop and it did struggle to cut oak 1-1/4 sills. I bought a really good blade and had it sharpened once a month. The stock fence worked for me. The same fence came with my Unisaw that I have now.

It is heavy. Especially with cast iron table extensions (desirable).

With any saw, it needs to be trued. For those who don't understand how to do this, there are many videos out there. With that saw, there should be 4 bolts under there that will allow the user to turn the blade carriage slightly. Sq that up with the miter gauge, then sq up the fence to the blade. I like the fence to have a 1/32 to 1/64 wider at the end of the blade to keep the stock from binding the blade.

Cheap older Craftsman saw!
 

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1608839477.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1608840013.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1608840047.jpg

$50 on Craigslist, fence was broken (wanted a more sturdy one anyway), included an extra cast iron table wing. This saw is probably as old as I am! In addition to the Delta fence, upgraded with a contactor safety switch, link belt, and have since added a 2HP 230V motor. Cuts really nice! Still need a new miter guide. Not overly excited about the base as it moves a bit too much, but with the larger wheels (solid fill from Harbor Freight), I can move it around to where I am working (right now it is still in the garage supporting house projects, but I need to move it back to my equipment shed for the winter).

If you’re going to get a track saw, don’t skimp to save a couple hundred bucks, get the Festool, I love that thing and it makes very accurate cuts. Mind you, I wouldn’t give up my tablesaw for it, but it is great for sheet goods.

Oh, by the way, “screw” you guys! We’ll, at least make some threaded dowels...

I needed to make a 3/4” thread for a nut cracker project, so I dug this machine out. It is a Beal wood threader. Uses a pointed router bit and a machined threaded bushing to thread dowels. I think I have the bushings to make 6 sizes.

I leave this setup as getting the bit depth just right is a pain, well, until I need a different size.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1608939532.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1608939561.jpg

That's cool. I'm curious how this threader works as I have never seen one working.