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Anyone have one of these and can comment on how you like it? I’m looking to reduce down the table saw / router table and small bench I use it a single thing to save some space. I don’t use the router table enough to to really justify the larger one I own. 36” table saw would be the size I’m after. Probably a contractor saw but depending on cost a cabinet would be fine.

Gotta make room for more important things.

Brad

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I have this setup.
I simply mounted my router base under the side of my tablesaw extension so the fence works for both the tablesaw and the router.Dead simple and works perfectly.

I have an extra base that I also use with the same router motor.

My suggestion would be to find a cabinet saw. The contractor style generally has the motor hanging out the back and an open stand. The motor mounting keeps them from being as compact as a cabinet saw and the open stand makes dust collection more difficult.
In the RDB (run down bungalow) I use for guitar building I have an old unisaw with a short home made fence rail and a wooden extension table. The extension table has a hole bored in it with a router base mounted under it. The saw is on castors and can be turned to give the best access to any side of the saw or push it against a wall out of the way. The wooden extension table allows me to mount a fence for the router either with clamps or screws. The Biesemeyer fence removes in seconds to provide a flat surface when I want to use the saw as an assembly table, tool table , etc. The footprint of the saw is about 2X2 ft, or 2X4 ft with the extension table.
Old iron seems to be selling for about a $1 a pound these days (but they are heavy). I was given a unisaw that is nicer than the one I have in my shop, and one of these days I hope to drag it up the hill and swap them out. Right now it is in the way of another saw.
I like having the router table mounted under the extension table. There are times when I am using both the saw and router and I am able to rip a strip and rout an edge on it without disturbing either set up. As a table, saw, and router combination I think it is hard to beat.

Hi Brad, I would pretty much repeat what Clay has said, find a good used cabinet saw and a router table top, modify as needed to fit together.
You can shorten the rails if you find one with a 52” fence.
This is a general saw with an Incra top which I modified to fit in the side extension.
90% of my router use is hand held, not table mounted.

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Maybe you didn't notice my set up the other week when you were here as we had it covered and were using it as a worktable but my router table and table saw are together in the center of the shop.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

A ceiling-mounted cabinet saw...now that is an efficient use of space.

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- Bob Dylan

Another option is a hybrid saw, which is really just a less robust version of a cabinet saw. I have a Ridgid hybrid saw, and it works great. It has really good dust collection and the best caster system I’ve ever used.

If space is an issue, and you don’t need to cut large sheet goods on the saw, I can highly recommend the 26” Vega table saw fence. If you mount it on the saw a certain way, it will only stick out to the right a few inches beyond an extension wing (in which you will mount a router). I have two cast iron wings on my saw, and they give me a very stable platform. Using the shorter fence does mean I have to use other ways of cutting larger pieces of sheet goods, but I prefer that, anyway.

The two issues I can see with extension table mounted routers is dust collection and cuts where the bit must be buried in the fence. A light-weight 3mm ply-and-scrap wood box enclosure for the router with a vacuum drop from the main duct or tablesaw drop, as well as a clamp-on sacrificial fence face would fully address those issues.

One of the gentlemen that has built here in the past and has a very nice, compact but well equipped shop a mile or so away from ours has a General International hybrid that makes the case for this class of saw as the happy medium for luthiers. Sears apparently sold these Gen Int'l saws for a time, but badged them as Craftsman, so I see these pop up on Craigslist from time to time at very reasonable prices. Although I enjoy the very solid, robust nature of a cabinet saw, it seems to me that not much is given up with the hybrids, and the dust collection shrouds on these saws may allow a much smaller dust collection system to do the job than with the cabinet saws I've used.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

Exactly, Brian. I realized how much work we got done on your table saw using it as a work surface and thought it might be a good way to free up some space in the shop..... for that spray booth we discussed.


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Yep, but that "gravity" thing is something that will create some challenges.

I'm slowly converting over to a combo table saw / router table. Moving from my grandfather's old Craftsman contractor saw and free-standing router table with a makeshift clamp-on fence to a cabinet saw with router extension wing.

Picked up a broken down 12" Grizzly two years that just ended up needing new bearings to run beautifully. My next move is to add a router plate to the extension, and move my Incra Fence over from the contractor saw.

If you have long rails on your Biesemeyer style fence, you can add tabs and cross bars to support a router table outside of the cast iron wings—this would give you a nice large work surface. The trick is to make an fence extension that drops over the fence alowing you to bury the bit when needed. They've used this for years in my family's wood shop.

You'll want to bend up some mounting brackets likes these, and drill extra mounting holes in the steel rails.
https://incra.com/router_system_accessories-tsrthw.html

Then make an auxilary fence attachment inspired by this:
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2010/02/02/fence-transforms-tablesaw-into-a-real-router-table


or this

http://virtualight.com/?p=1422


Incra makes a box you con put around your router for dust collection when not using the dust collection fence. (Rockler makes the dust bucket) , but its pretty easy to knock together a box to house the router and add a 3" or 4" dust port.

I use a router extension table from Rockler. It works well for me except... the weight of the heavy router permanently mounted to the table caused a slight sag, I had to screw a couple steel rails under the table to keep things flush.

I wish I would have spent the extra $$$ and added one of those lift systems that you use a crank on to raise and lower the router. It is a pain to lift the router out to make fine adjustments.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I have what was Powermatics largest contractors saw with a Benchdog cast iron table extension with the Benchdog router lift, no issues, very nice combination. My big saw is a Powermatic 65
I'm able to use the table saw fence with the router.

I wonder what do you guys think about this... when I ask for table saw in Taiwan that's what 90% of all woodworkers use...

https://goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21304091011451

Riving knife? What's that??

I never seen it kick back however mostly because the circular saw motor is barely strong enough to cut the material. When the blade tries to bind the saw just stalls. I guess that's the safety feature for them.

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Typhoon Guitars
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Hi Tai,
I once bought a less elaborate version of what you are showing at a flea market. It was a small folding table you would mount a circular saw under - the same idea. It was kind of rickety and I never used it. The Taiwanese version looks much better. The table in the lower picture looks like it would disassemble and could easily be moved to the jobsite. It looks like it would be better than the typical light weight "bench top" table saws many of us used for site work. With a good quality circular saw mounted underneath the top and a remotely located switch it might be a decent tool.
A riving knife is a metal "blade" that mounts directly behind the saw blade and keeps the kerf from closing up and pinching the back of the blade which can cause a kick back.
www.finewoodworking.com/2008/11/01/figh ... ving-knife

If your saw doesn't have provision for mounting a riving knife you can often mount a simple shark fin splitter on the table insert that goes around the blade. It is only effective for a set position of the blade but you can make several inserts and mount different height shark fins if you find the need (or make a single insert with replaceable shark fins).

I was expecting you guys to cringe in horror at a skil saw being mounted on a table and all.

Yes it is a commercial product and it is designed to be easily taken apart. I seen someone transport it in a normal 4 door sedan. 99% of all construction workers use it. The only complaint I have is it lacks a proper remote switch (it is basically a standard light switch, some people just use a circuit breaker).

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

My first tablesaw (45 years ago) I built from a circular saw mounted in an old sewing machine cabinet same as what you are showing. I clipped my finger on it it once (not badly) and then went out and bought a real tablesaw..

The saw you show there with the wrench looks like a track saw. Makita, Dewalt, Festool and many others all sell them. A very nice tool
for cutting sheet goods when used with the associated track. Not so much for guitar work tho.