One of the machines that can make a big difference in our woodworking shop is a table saw, especially when it comes to giving wood strips and boards the desired dimensions. The idea, as you may have seen on many sites, is to screw our disk saw to a board, cut a slot for the blade to protrude on the other side, and place the board with the saw face down on a table frame. In order to turn on the saw we need to lock the machine switch with a flange or other system like the one shown in the video.
The machine should not be plugged directly into the mains, however, and a switch should be installed to safely turn off the power. I will use the one you see in the photo I have from a workbench that I don’t use much anymore. It is advisable to use something like this, as this type of switch is not easy to accidentally operate.
If you put a single switch or a power strip with a switch, you must place it so that you can safely turn the machine on and off.
My hand-held circular saw doesn’t have much blade diameter, so I used a chipboard only 1cm thick so as not to lose too much cutting capacity. As I did not trust that it would be well fastened by screwing the machine directly to the board, I preferred to drill some holes through and use some screws with self-locking nuts.
I thought about whether to use a melamine chipboard (that’s what I think those with colored “veneer” on both sides are called) or whether to use a plywood. In the end I decided on chipboard because it stays flatter over time. This board has been in the workshop for some time now, leaning on its side and is still flat. I have a small plywood board in the same condition for half a year and it is warped.
It won’t be my ultimate table saw, but I guess I had to do something like this on this woodworking blog. You will see that the board I use is a little small for the structure of the table and that it has a cut on one side. As this is temporary I didn’t want to use a new board and luckily I had this used one in the workshop. As soon as I can, I will put a tabletop that covers the entire structure of the table and I will place the motor of the miter saw that I have disassembled, which has more power and will give me more cutting capacity.
If you want to see how to make a blade lift system or other versions, here are more articles on homemade table saws.
