Homemade Panel and Table Saw

[woodturner]

This showed up in Tools of the Trade today, thought it was interesting.

Homemade panel saw

Homemade table saw

Introduction from Tools of the Trade, a trade journal for those who use tools, including commercial woodworking shops:
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Incredible Home-Made Panel Saw

David Frane

I'll probably never meet Hector Acevedo, but that doesn't mean I can't admire the heck out of the panel saw he designed and built from scratch. Aside from the obvious quality of the build, one of the coolest things about it is how...

little space it takes up. The saw is attached to the wall of his garage. The frame that holds the sheet goods folds out from the wall when in use and tight to the wall for storage. The guide rails and motor assembly are connected to pivot and store against the ceiling when not in use.

Like, the table saw he built, Hector's home-made panel saw rates a 10.0 on the awesome scale — with 0.0 being completely worthless, 5.0 being close, but no cigar, and 10.0 being as good as it gets. Congratulations Hector on a perfect score.

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[Stytooner]

Very cool stuff.
I gotta say though, that if you take the time to design your own table saw, you need to design a riving knife system as well.
On his saw, it isn't even possible to mount a throat plate splitter. He did a lot of work for no gain really.

[cabinetman]

I gotta say though, that if you take the time to design your own table saw, you need to design a riving knife system as well.
On his saw, it isn't even possible to mount a throat plate splitter. He did a lot of work for no gain really.

+1. I agree. Personally I wouldn't waste my time making a machine like that. For the hobbyist, it might be a good project with some foresight as you said. I didn't see a blade guard either. Maybe he'd be interested in a Shark Guard.

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[woodturner]

Very cool stuff.
I gotta say though, that if you take the time to design your own table saw, you need to design a riving knife system as well.
On his saw, it isn't even possible to mount a throat plate splitter. He did a lot of work for no gain really.

In the article, he says the motivation for designing the saw was that he could not find what he needed commercially at an affordable price.

He has revised the design since the photos were taken. The pdf drawings at the bottom of the tablesaw show a new motor arrangement that includes both a riving knife and a guard.

I wasn't suggesting anyone should build this saw, I just thought it was an interesting project. I added the intro from Tools of the Trade (a trade journal for those who work with tools, including woodworking shops) to the first post, and their comment was essentially "Ohh, neat". No question the economics would steer a commercial shop to purchase manufactured equipment, but if the shop needs something specialized and unavailable, they may make their own.

I'll probably never build a Studley tool chest, either, but I still like to drool over the pictures

[leehljp]

That is a very very nice one. I made a similar one in Japan and while I would rate it above a 5 because it was very useful - I personally would not rate it above a 7. It was accurate, but I made it with the rails about 1 1/4 inch (30mm) above the sliding saw - which made it not good for sawdust. Sawdust flew everywhere. It was precise and cuts were totally predictable. I liked that saw but had to leave it behind.

I also made mine to fit flat against the wall and with a hinge to let it come out from the wall at the bottom about 4 inches to make the plywood lay against the back base better.

[woodturner]

I made a similar one in Japan

What was the motivation for make vs buy? Are machine tools not available in Japan?

I haven't been to Japan in decades, and am interested in hearing about the woodworking tool market in Japan. I sometimes find myself implicitly assuming products are as available in other countries as they are here, and would like to learn what it is really like.

Thanks.

[JimD]

I've thought about making something like this several times and even got as far as creating the rack against the wall. I've made a router table with it's own lift that I like a lot. But for ripping up sheet goods, I think track saws are the way to go. A big advantage, for me with kids with their own houses and more forseeable projects than I need for myself, is they are portable. My normal way to deal with sheet goods is to set up my little fold up HF trailer, go get the material in it, and when I get home, my lattice of 1x4s goes over the sides of the trailer and the sheet goods go on top. The track saw lets me make all the finish cuts and the pieces come into the shop. A big advantage of doing it this way is the lifting of the full sheets is minimized. I can still handle a full sheet but I'd prefer to minimize this activity. They are heavy enough that if I do it enough something bad will happen. Lifting sheets onto a panel saw on the wall is another disadvantage of the subject panel saw. Most of the time the way I'm doing it I can lift one end of the sheet and pivot it into position. Easier and safer for one person - even one reasonably large person.

While the panel saw looks like it might not cost a lot to make my home-made stuff always cost significantly more than I imagined when I started out. You might save money versus a track saw but you also might not. If you want precision you have to buy some stuff you probably don't have. When you are done, you might be surprised if you add up what all the materials cost.

To me the big advantages of the track saw are portability and reduced handling. You are also guaranteed precision. Not all home made tools I have made were satisfactory when I finished. Then you have a sunk cost with nothing tangible to show in the end.

Jim

[leehljp]

What was the motivation for make vs buy? Are machine tools not available in Japan?

I haven't been to Japan in decades, and am interested in hearing about the woodworking tool market in Japan. I sometimes find myself implicitly assuming products are as available in other countries as they are here, and would like to learn what it is really like.

Thanks.

Motivation to build was that it simply was not available to a home user overthere. I never did see one in a home center. I did see one later by a fellow that purchased machinery from companies that were upgrading or going out of business. It was a matter of knowing where to look, and I didn't subscribe to Japanese language trade industry mags.

Most tools available here are available there. Until 2000, it was easier to buy Japanese tools here in the States than in Japan, simply because they did not offer the tools to home shop users there - through home centers or most tool stores like they do in the States. Another thing is that the same tool sold in the US - cost nearly 50% to 100% more IN Japan than the item offered in the US. (Manufactors tax that was not applicable to export items.) The Japanese versions had metric shafts on saws and routers (for bits). Nowhere near the amount of router bits commercially available there vs the US. On saw blades, IMO, even the cheap circular saw blades were of higher quality than most of what is available (regardless of brand) at HD or Lowes in the US.

While I generally held Makita in higher regard there than Hitachi, Japanse tool users, overall, regarded Hitachi as the highest quailty and go to tool if a choice was available.

On availability, one thing I never saw in a store of any kind (except for one very cheap cheesy Taiwan knock off) was a lathe. I later found out that they have them but one has to be an industry insider to know where to go and get one. I frequented the tool districts of Tokyo when there and in Osaka regularly. Nagoya does not have a "tool district" but I did find some "industry tool stores". Still, I never saw a lathe in those stores.

[jabe]

Looks great. Something someone with a lot of time on his hand would do. I have a panel saw in my carport, makes life easier when cutting sheet goods. It was expensive to have it shipped to Hawaii but, I could write the cost off on my cabinet/remodeling business. Anyway it takes up little floor space as it is against the wall. With a 1 1/2 HP dust collector attached to it there is very little dust flying around. I bought it b4 track saws were available so now if I had to do it over, I would get a track saw for it's portability.

[russde]

fold up HF trailer, go get the material in it, and when I get home, my lattice of 1x4s goes over the sides of the trailer and the sheet goods go on top. The track saw...
Jim

Jim,
would you mind posting a photo of the 'lattice' of 1x4's? I have the same trailer (it just made the trip, loaded, from Boston to Corpus Christi, no hiccups) but I'd love to see how you go from the trailer to the track saw.
If no photos, maybe a better description?
thanks,
Russel

OP: lots of motivation and skill on hand for this guy...and time, gotta be a lot of time into these builds

[Denco]

+1. I agree. Personally I wouldn't waste my time making a machine like that. For the hobbyist, it might be a good project with some foresight as you said. I didn't see a blade guard either. Maybe he'd be interested in a Shark Guard.

.

Actually, creating one's own power tool is a lot more fun than you think.