I am not a wood worker at all ..... notta... ziltch! But I would like to build some Coates 5 frame nucs and some Robo castles. I am thinking I will need a table saw for the Rabbet jointsa on the castles. I am sure there is a way around it but as i said zero skills :-D
I am thinking the best route is a cheap table saw. It will get no other use other than bee box projects. Any suggestions or am i headed in the wrong direction?
Once you get a table saw those few boxes will not be your last project..........trust me.
Instead of buying a cheap saw, look around on craigs list for a good used saw for the same money as a cheap new saw. I can find old craftsman cast iron tables with extensions for around $100. Just be sure the fence and miter gauge is with it.
But to buy a saw and never use it again, I would ask a friend who has a saw (ask in your bee club), or a local cabinet shop to help you out.
What G3Farms said. Find a decent quality used saw at or less than the price of a cheap new saw. I got a 1950s era Delta Milwaukee tilty table and Delta Rockwell 6" jointer combo for $100 on Kijiji. I now dream up projects to do just so I can use them. I have a cheap/medium priced Delta saw that is essentially brand new after about five years because it something in the vicinity of misery to work with.
The only thing a cheap saw will ensure is that you will never want to try building anything again. Get a good saw and, well, let's just say everyone will quickly learn to check your shop first when they are looking for you.
Well guess I was kinda harsh with never use. Hope to may start building some boxes with the look of current prices if I can find a cheaper lumber source. I just don't like home imporvement honey doos and I aint got the talent for it anyway.
The craigslist idea sound great and I do know a now retired woodworker in his 80's. May part with a saw/ Have a friend with a cabinet shop but i imagine with his work load lately he would probablt throw the saw at me :-D Guess that is a good thing ofr him though.
http://greenville.craigslist.org/for/4382409835.html (http://greenville.craigslist.org/for/4382409835.html)
I recommend that instead of buying a table saw, that you buy a band saw. I like the old Craftsman with the large table. They are a whole lot safer than a table saw if you adjust the Guards right. Don't leave any more blade exposed than you need for the thickness of the wood. Bandsaws are a lot more versatile than table saws.
Jim
You could get away with just a circular saw and a router. It is reasonably straight forward to make decent rabbets with a router and with the addition of a few homemade jigs for the saw and router, you can do a lot more. If you recycle a couple of pallets into a cutting table, you can cut down big sheets of ply single handed and accurately with a power saw. This might work out cheaper than buying a table saw, not to mention a bit easier to store. Like everyone else has suggested, don't buy cheap and nasty tools, they will let you down and generally burn out at the most inopportune time (refuse to cut straight, make a lot of noise, fall apart....). I have a Makita router that takes 1/2" bits that I bought second hand years ago and it is up to what ever I can throw at it. There are a few good brands around that the builders seem to like - Dewalt, Porter Cable, Makita, Bosch maybe.
If you go the power saw (circular saw) route, and then feel the need for a tablesaw, there are some systems around that you can mount your power saw in and use like a table saw (Scheppach, Triton Work Centre). Certainly no substitute for a good table saw with a cast iron table, but serviceable for most work and you can pack them away when not needed. A good setup if you have limited space. With a few scraps of timber and some small machine screws, you could even make yourself a simple "work centre" for a power saw.
You would have trouble making rabbet joints with a band saw, especially if you have limited experience, but you could do it with two cuts on a power saw work centre (or table saw). You can also do reasonable rabbets with a sliding mitre saw (as long as it has depth of cut adjustment) and they are great for cross cutting boards. Just a few more ideas to throw in the mix.
Simon
Thanks Simon
I use the Port Cable 10 inch 15 amp table saw.
I have a jig that will mount right to the table saw top to cut box joints, I can cut box joints in 8 boards at a time.
I also use it to cut the rabbet joints when I use them.
About the only thing I use my router table for now is cutting a rabbet joint when making inner covers.
I wouldn't take a Purdy for mine.
Aw, after you get whatever, and decide it not hard. You will bee getting all the above mentioned items as well as nailers and staplers. I had a few wood working tools when I started Beek, now I have a couple of nailers, staplers, a router, table saw, a new jig saw, a new circular saw, and a couple of band saws, and other stuff. Good luck and bee carefull
Joe
I would buy 2 Craftsman table saws (used). Cast Iron tops and wings. You can find them for $100-$150 on Craigs List. Set one up for dado cuts. Rips and cross cuts on the other. Saves a lot of setup time. Be careful any saw is unforgiving. Ask me how I know. :-D
steve might be a little hard fo you takes a lot to punch a button and then jug a piece o wood into the saw which is that little half moon piec o metal spinning. just go doit sucker and quit trying to con someone into making yo boxes on the serious note buddie sho wish you could male it
Quote from: bud1 on April 03, 2014, 08:14:13 PM
steve might be a little hard fo you takes a lot to punch a button and then jug a piece o wood into the saw which is that little half moon piec o metal spinning. just go doit sucker and quit trying to con someone into making yo boxes on the serious note buddie sho wish you could male it
Let me get an interpreter ..... you know not :-D
:lau:
I got real tired of making those rabbit joints. The only rabbit I make anymore is for the frames to sit in. Other than that the last few boxes have been butt joints using Titebond 3 waterproof glue and 1 1/2" staples. 2 coats of paint. Will they last less time than the others? Dont know but since my wood doesnt cost me anything and my only cost is time, staples, and glue.....we'll see. I'm courious myself but it has saved some time and at my age....thats worth more than anything else!
a good router will make a lock mitre which will have very good strength and a lot less work than finger joints
Ray
I just knew I was going to like you
skill saws bite too
guess thats why they call them skill saws
more skill than brains youer ok
jay
If your just building some Coates nucs you don't even need a table saw. I have made quite a few out of plywood with nothing more than a chalk box and a skill saw. Now with that said a older good quality table saw would be nice to have. Cause once you start making a few boxes you will want to make some more. It is really quite fun once you figure it out.
BY all means keep your fingers out of the way. use a push stick
I do a fair bit of wood butchering and when it comes to plywood I use almost exclusively a skil saw. I thought the rabbits and frame rests on a coates nuc were made by adding a second layer of shorter plywood to make the rabbit. If not you could simply do that. As I get older I find it is not the cost of the tool but rather where I need to keep it for the 300 days of year I am not using it.
>I am not a wood worker at all ..... notta... ziltch!
Well, I've been doing woodworking with my dad as long as I could remember, and then shop, and then I was a carpenter and of course now I build a lot of bee equipment. I used a table saw a lot over the years, but never owned one until 10 years ago or so. I once freeformed shaped an electric bass guitar with a skill saw... and made many top bar hives with nothing but a skill saw. Not to be a wet blanket but if I were only learning woodworking to build a few nucs, I'd save my fingers and buy them... or if you insist, I'd buy the saw stop:
www.sawstop.com (http://www.sawstop.com)
At least that way it's unlikely you'll cut off your fingers, but you still could get hurt on a kickback... I worked with an old carpenter who had been using power saws all his life (started doing carpentry professionally when he was 16) and he cut himself for the first time when he was in his sixties. Working late. Tired. One second of losing his concentration. Ran his thumb through a table saw. He only kept his thumb because he always followed safety procedures and the blade only stuck up 1/8" above the wood... but an 1/8" by 1/8" channel cut out of your thumb makes it hurt the rest of your life every time it gets cold...
You can buy a cheap table saw and be very careful (which is what I have done, but I'm considering the SawStop). You can just use a skill saw. Of course you can cut a finger off with a skill saw too, but it's more difficult and kickback is less of a problem. Especially if you buy a small skill saw that doesn't have so much power. I don't like the ones with a brake in them because they jump too much when you shut them off. I've used a worm driven 7 1/2" that would almost jump out of your hand when you let go of the trigger. That is less of a problem with a direct drive as the torque is more forward and back instead of a twist. If it was mine (it was not) I would have greased the brakes to get it to still stop but not quite so suddenly. If I were buying one today I'd be looking for something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Rockwell-RK3441K-Compact-Circular-Saw/dp/B00GTEU0M4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1415799907&sr=8-3&keywords=trim+saw (http://www.amazon.com/Rockwell-RK3441K-Compact-Circular-Saw/dp/B00GTEU0M4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1415799907&sr=8-3&keywords=trim+saw)
You want it light. You want it to be able to cut through a 2 by (1 1/2"). You want it light. You want the blade on the left side (unless you are left handed) so you can see where you are cutting. You want limited enough power that if it tries to kick back you don't lose it. Better to have it stall than kick back...
To me the real advantage of being a woodworker is being able to build things that I can't buy.
As others have said, I have a table saw, but I would cut plywood with a skill saw unless I had someone to help me run the plywood through the table saw.
Sawstop link didn't open: Edited to make clickable, Buzzbee