Take a tour of my Table Saws
Interesting Characteristics
I have two tablesaws in my shop, each has a primary purpose ripping and crosscutting. On my crosscut saw I have the JessEm crosscut sliding table, that device is a dream. I bought it within a month or two of JessEm putting it on the market (so I've now had the table for a number of years). I also use my crosscut saw for cutting miters. I have a dedicated miter table and for a specific project I built an extra-large miter fence for the JessEm sliding table. You can see all this in the photo tour. My other saw is primarily a ripping saw but I also use it for dadoes and cutting sheet goods (materials where you typically use the rip fence but with a special-material blade). I have a multitude of jigs and custom attachments for both my saws. Many of these I've built purposefully for various projects (i.e. spline cutting jigs) but some I've made as just general enhancements to the saw (fence fine-adjustment control, feather board attachment, etc.). I've photographed a number of them with a short commentary.
Commentary
Both of my table saws are 1980's vintage (made in the USA) Craftsman saws. I have spend both time and money to rebuild them better than new. They both have 2HP 220V TEFC motors (an upgrade from the original 1HP), they both have the balanced pulleys/link belt upgrade. The table top on my crosscut saw has been surface ground to a fine polish. The arbor bearings in both are still in good condition, the runout is only .001 I have taken great pains to align the saw for dead accurate cutting and I regularly check the blade-to-miter slot and blade-to-rip fence run out with a dial gauge to ensure that the saws remains true.
As you can see from the photographs, I've tossed out the saw's legs and build cabinets. My rip saw is a combo unit since it also has a router table. The router top was custom made to my dimensions by WoodPecker woodworking tools. Like all the workstations in my shop, both tablesaw cabinets are mobile. I enjoy customizing (rebuilding) old machinery as much as building furniture. But it's not an end in itself but a means to an end. That of making the job of building furniture more efficient, accurate, safer and enjoyable. My shop is a clear testimony to that.
For a detailed walk-thru of individual workstations in my shop, click on any of the links below.