A Precise Table Saw from an Electric Hand Saw

This photo is from 1972.  It shows me using a table saw I made with an electric handsaw, also known as a circular saw. 

Some will say, "Why bother?" since you can now buy an inexpensive table saw for the same amount of money.  True, but the adaptation shown here allows the user to remove the saw  from the table at any time and rip panels or frame houses, and then return the saw to its table precisely aligned and ready to do close fitting work.  You cannot enjoy that dual purpose usage with an inexpensive commercial table saw.

This Instructable differs from similar Instructables because it offers that precise mechanism for automatically and exactly aligning the saw each time it is returned to its table.  Details of this are in Step 16.

If you want yet another alternative for making your circular saw an accurate woodworking machine, see my earlier Instructable Get More from Your Circular Saw.

Step 1 Making the miter gauge

This is a good time to decide on the miter gauge you will use with your saw, and make or buy it.  When I made this table saw conversion, I purchased a commercial miter gauge.  The steps that follow will show you how to make a good miter gauge yourself. 

If you choose to make your own, begin with a straight steel bar.  The one shown is 1/4 x 3/4 inch and about a dozen inches long.  It is what I had at the time.  I would recommend a bar of 3/8 x 3/4 inch steel about 18 inches long, but 1/4 x 3/4 inch may be easier to find and works well, too.  Round the edges at the ends a little with a grinder so the miter gauge moves more freely in the slots.  The photos in this step and the next steps are from my previous Instructable titled Bench Saw Table for a Lathe.

Comments

[shazni]

please may i know how to do a opening with a miter cut in the middle of a board?
do you like do a plunge miter cut like a pocket cut?
i'm a new woodwork hobbyist and would like a bit of help please.
thanks

[Ondra78]

Thanks for the project. I make a similar saw.
I add photo of machine.

[lottfamily]

You and "your followers" spend a lot of time in these comments speaking lowly of Norm Abram (I really wanted to use stronger wording but I am trying to be polite). None of you have obviously spent much time at all checking out his total body of work. He truly is a master carpenter. When he began to do NYW the purpose of that particular show was to show and instruct building with power tools. If you spend some time reading some of his written work and watching early episodes of both NYW and TOH, you will see that his skill and knowledge is really top notch.

As far as an "expensive shop" vs an "inexpensive shop" I do finish carpentry and cabinet installation for a living and have seen without fail that the better carpenters get more jobs=make more money=set themselves up better. While the less skilled carpenters...well you get the idea. If I couldn't afford a table saw at today's prices for that particular tool then I am in the wrong business.

[Phil B]

I do not doubt at all that Norm Abram is both very knowledgeable and very skilled. I never implied he is anything but both. He also consistently uses expensive tools made by his sponsors that many of his viewers probably will never be able to afford. If those viewers were in the business as you are, they could struggle to provide themselves with those tools and justify it on the basis of needing to compete with others who own those tools and can guarantee professional results. As Norm's programs go at the present, they hold an impossible carrot on a stick in front of handy guys who cannot afford all of the wonderful tools. I have seen other woodworking programs that also seek to teach, but are not afraid of showing the viewer how to make jigs and accessories at home. I do not remember seeing that from Norm, but I also do not see all of his programs and do not have his books. The discussion about Norm Abram and his tools is not based on anything in the body of my Instructable, but is in response to some comments. My aim was to provide a way to a very accurate tool for the home user built from something that is probably already in his or her toolkit.

If you have been in the business for years, you have surely learned some useful things. Please consider publishing some Instructables soon.

[claudg1950]

I concur. The years I lived in Canada I consistently watched the NYW, all the time realizing that as an amateur, it was not only a matter of affordability of all those sophisticated tools flaunted by Norm, but also making sense of the expenditure, for a hobbyist who only makes a few mortises and tenons every year, so to speak.
My sympaties went to other shows --such as New American Woodshop or Bob Rosendahl´s exploits with a router-- but above all, to The Woodrights Shop, which demonstrates how you can do a lot of excellent AMATEUR work using pre-electric tools only.
On another note: your Ibles are GREAT. Thanks a lot.
I might be wrong, but I vaguely remember reading on an old Popular Magazine instructions on how to convert a hand circular saw into a radial saw of sorts, very similar to the excellent idea you advance here.

[Phil B]

Thank you for your comment. I was raised in Iowa here in the US. A neighbor had a Montgomery Ward tool that allowed mounting a circular saw so that it functioned as a radial arm saw. I even used it once to cut something and it worked pretty well. There was also a radial arm saw built around an old washing machine electric motor. You bought it as a kit from AMT, I think. I do not remember an article in Popular Mechanics about making a radial arm saw attachment from your own circular saw. It could well be there was one.

I am glad you find something useful in my Instructables. I enjoy publishing them.

Back in the 1990s I listened to a lot of shortwave radio and very much appreciated RCI's broadcasts. I always wanted to thank Canadian taxpayers for helping to make those broadcasts available.

[noesc]

This is how you handle trolls and "My dad is better then your dad" comments.
It even takes care of comments with a good point, but is so far off topic it could be its own instructable.

Thank you!

(And I will keep your instructable close at hearth for future needs. It's awesome!)

[AngryRedhead]

This is amazing and wonderful, and it's so much better to have multipurpose tools than tons of single purpose tools.  Very nice!

 

[Phil B]

Thank you.  I also get a deep satisfaction from knowing I did as well as the guy with a shop full of expensive tools, but with something I adapted at far less cost.  Most people have a basic circular saw, anyway.  Put a router and a hand drill or small drill press with this and you have enough tools to build some nice furniture.

[AngryRedhead]

I think you should write a letter to New Yankee Workshop about this.  ;-)

 

[Phil B]

Norm Abramson makes me chuckle.  Delta, Porter-Cable, and other tool manufacturers load him up with things the rest of us may never even see, let alone own and use.  Then he makes it look as if we all have access to those things.  Thank you for the suggestion, though.  Maybe he should do a series on tool adaptations for people with limited budgets.

PS  Check out some of the other things I have adapted or conjured on the cheap.

Carbon arc torch for a welder
Inexpensive welding hood for guests who want to watch
Torque wrench for a bicycle mechanic
Cone wrench for a bicycle
Automobile radiator pressure tester
Home postal scale from old CDs
Metal cut off saw from an angle head grinder
Banquet table mover for one person

[glorybe]

I spent a lot more time than I liked using a cut off saw on brass and aluminum. Frankly I hate composite blades. Our local rental shop lost a mechanic when a concrete saw blade exploded and sent a shard into his crotch. The bleeding could not be stopped in time to save his life. The poor guy just started the saw to make sure it was running right for the next customer and it was all over for him. After that any time I spent around any type of composite blade made me leery.
Unfortunately I had to do an awful lot of cutting of steel with a composite blade. And that saw was a high powered industrial unit so any error at all could trigger a really violent reaction.

[static]

  Sometimes I think Norm could use lessons from Roy Underhill.

[Phil B]

Interesting observation.  I have not seen Roy in a long while.

[iamchrismoran]

 yeah, I thought yankee and thrifty went hand in hand. NYW isn't for the light walleted.... but the fancy minded. I fancy someday I'll pull some of those projects off.

THIS project however:
I'll need to read through it a few more times to see how it'll apply to my circular saw, but I'm so happy to see this posted. I have had this precise project want in mind for as long as I realized that I'd likely want to spend more on a table saw than I should. I have a bandsaw that I'm not positive I have set up right, since it doesn't seem give perfectly straight vertical cuts and repurposing the circ saw would be an interesting option.

[Phil B]

You have a good observation about 'yankee' and 'thrifty.'  Delta-Rockwell, Kreg, and Porter-Cable want to showcase their tools and New Yankee Workshop makes a convenient vehicle, whether us folks can afford them or not. 

I have done table saw conversions on three or four circular saw, most of them for other people.  All of the saws were different from one another.  Still, each of them worked well.  Most of what I showed in this Instructable is pretty intuitive, but with a few details that make the final outcome work very well.  There are even other ways to do many of the steps, but I tried to show methods that pretty much guarantee a good outcome for anyone.

[glorybe]

I had a Porter Cable jig saw (industrial) and I could zip through 3/8 boiler plate on pieces 8 feet long. That jig saw had really serious power and saved me a ton of work. If one lacks a torch cutting system that little saw is a fabulous way to make long cuts in steel. In a couple of minutes I could run through an 8 ft. cut and chuck the piece in a mill to give the accurate, final cut.

[kulin62]

I have a Bosch GKS 190 Professional circular saw (1400W, 4.1 Kgs.) and was looking for ideas to convert it to a table saw. And I found this excellent i'ble. Thank you Phil.

My saw has the blade guard. Since you have mentioned in the Step 7 to keep the opening as small as possible to prevent scrap bits of woods going under, I assume that the slot in the saw table will not be wide enough to accommodate the guard to come up. is this correct?

My saw base does not have any holes, but surprisingly has four half-a-mm-deep stampings of 5/8 th inch dia. Probably they envisaged the conversion. But they have riveted and fused the base plate with the main body. So I have to figure out how to drill holes now.  I am contemplating using all the four holes for mounting along with the blocks with screws for alignment as in step 16. Any particular disadvantages of four mounts besides time taken to remove the saw?

While googling for the conversion ideas, I read somewhere about someone having a problem of the sawdust spewing up the table to the face. Phil, did you have any such problems? My saw has a slot for the sawdust to come out and attaching the dust extraction unit. 

I am also contemplating having 2 slots (like the ones for mitre guage) one each near the front and back of the table running perpendicular to the mitre slots, have two more steel flats and attach a straight edge to them to act as a sliding rip fence. Any suggestions or comments, Phil?

Thanks again for the wonderful i'ble.
Regards.
Kulin

[Phil B]

Thank you for your comment. 

Concerning the saw guard, I actually removed it from my saw.  i did not want to mention that in the body of the Instructable because several people would comment on nothing else and criticize me severely.  But, when I sawed smaller pieces, the pressure from the blade guard broke them or pushed them out of position so I did not get accurate cuts.  The best saw guard I know is to set the blade height so that only a tiny bit of the teeth stand up above the top surface of the piece being cut. 

If you want to avoid drilling holes in your saw base, see the solution I proposed below in my response to lenny25.  If you do drill holes, four will work.  Removing the saw from the conversion table will take longer to undo more screws.

I did not have problems with sawdust blowing into my face.  A dust extraction device, especially with a suction hose could be a big help. 

Some use rails at the front and back of the saw table for a sliding rip fence.  Slots might work.  You might still want to check the alignment with a tape measure before sawing.  I really liked placing a framing square against the miter gauge set to 90 degrees and then sliding a straightedge guide against the other leg of the square.  It was always very accurate as long as I did not bump anything while clamping the straightedge down.  It was fairly quick to set, low-tech, and very accurate.

[Broom]

i did not want to mention that in the body of the Instructable because several people would comment on nothing else and criticize me severely.

Bwahahaha! Isn't that the truth? "My way is the ONLY way!"

Thank you for what appears to be the only instructable on how to make a miter gauge. I'm using it now, although I will probably embed a protractor on its face.

[glorybe]

If you set the blade height such that the teeth barely break through the material you will cause excess heat build up in the blade. That dulls blades and in the worst case can cause a carbide tip to come flying back at you. Alertness and concentration can prevent most accidents. Personality also plays a huge role. I knew one pro who constantly needed medical help from injuries. He was skilled and intelligent but had a troubled personality. Injuries broke his moods up and he was never aware but it was obvious that he wanted the injuries he received. I worked with the fellow for seven years and he needed the emergency room at least twice every year from severe wounds received on the job.

[Broom]

i did not want to mention that in the body of the Instructable because several people would comment on nothing else and criticize me severely.

Bwahahaha! Isn't that the truth? "My way is the ONLY way!"

Thank you for what appears to be one of the the only instructables on how to make a miter gauge. I'm using it now, although I will probably embed a protractor on its face.

[Phil B]

Thank you for your comment. Often there is way to much testosterone in the comments people make on Instructables posted by others. Several times people have made comments on my Instructables in which they told me I was all wrong. Sometimes another person with some expertise in the area came to my defense. A cautious question to the author would be better than a strong black & white statement any day.

I saw on your member page that you chose an Instructable by Steliart as one of your favorites. He has another Instructable in which he built a miter gauge with a protractor on its face. He said it worked out quite well.

I have seen a few plans for a miter gauge, mostly in old copies of Popular Mechanics, etc. But, most of these were too crude and too simplified to do a good job. What I presented is based on improvements to a previous attempt or two, and it works very well.

[pfred2]

You're all wrong! hehe But seriously I've slapped circular saws using cleats to the bottom of scrap pieces of plywood and it works great.

The only beef I have with your setup is its too elaborate. Whenever I've been pressed to use this technique its always been with saw horses, or barrels, pails, milk crates are a classic with this rig too. With the old wooden milk crates just run the saw up from the bottom and you're done! They even had convenient ready made carry handles those did.

But I'm not that should criticize elaboration:
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2884/newshoptop.jpg
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/2234/fenceside.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/453/camq.jpg

As I've obviously gone to some lengths myself on this front.

[Broom]

Yep, and I actually saw a comment on Instructables.com that was basically, "Why don't you just buy one at a store?"...!

Thanks for the reference to Steliart's version. I found it shortly after posting here, and am thinking about that.

[Phil B]

The people who respond with, "Why don't you just buy one?" are the people you do not invite to go hunting with you. They would be saying, "You can get meat cheaper than this at a grocery store." Or, rather than fall in love, they would say, love releases endorphins. I can get the same feeling if I just eat chocolate at home and it will be a lot cheaper."

[Broom]

Sure, but I'm amazed they're even on this site!

[Phil B]

I suppose they join this site hoping to get useful ideas from others and also feel an entitlement to criticize. I want to preface what comes next by saying your comments have been very kind. Yet, I did notice you have not published any Instructables. Having said that, I must also say the folks who have given me a bad time are usually people who have not published any Instructables. Making comments on other people's efforts looks a lot different after you have put yourself out in the open for public scrutiny.

[Cooldeal]

I don't think that it matters one bit whatsoever if someone does a thousand instructables like you Phil B Lutheran pastor or if they did NONE. You are using that as some kind of leverage for yourself against someone else and of course you win all the prizes and get your picture on the front page. But you're not fair to others when they see something in your safety designs and offer you suggestions. You just ask how many instructables they've posted. Because that's what y ou have going for yourself over them. They may have many more and much more clever ideas of things than you and you can't judge their comments by the number they posted or not posted.

I see so much vanity in you that I comment on just your safety issues because they are absolutely dangerous. SOME OF THEM, not all of them. I do like most of your instructables and use or modify it to my own adaptations.

Some of them are quite dangerous and I am not talking about this one although I do wish you would emphasize more caution to the potential safety of others. Product liability these days is a huge issue designed around safety and PROPER use of power equipment. Yeah I could hang a circular saw from trees with rope and tape the switch on and cut wood like that if it works. But who are we to judge what is safe or not by how many people posted instructables or not? Because I care about the safety of others I don't care what kind of scrutiny I get. If they delete my account I can get a hundred others. I am doing what is right and that is caring about others' fingers or limbs.
One man lost two fingers on a power tool adaptation and if he could be warned he said he'd pay all he had in the world to have kept his fingers from heeding a warning about doing modifications unintended by the designer of the safety of the equipment.
All of your other ideas and designs are really quite helpful and valuable and fun to read and learn. But I can't stop thinking of the one persone who follows a dangerous instructable and gets hurt. I have worked in an incredible workshop facility that is probably one of the best in the United States for over 28 years and I've seen it all and made it all. I am a professional. Junk yard rigging is for the back woods of some swamp tribe in another country. It pays to be safe and if not then send me one of your fingers. No not that one. I don't want you hurt and if it n ever happens then fine but you're taking chances with some of these modified power tool conversions.

[Phil B]

I am a Lutheran pastor by day and a writer of Instructables/ home workshop guy by night. We have had to be exposed to some social sciences things related to counseling and personality, etc. You are right about accident prone personalities. Such people do exist. The suggestion about blade height comes from a workshop article long ago in Popular Science magazine. That article was from before carbide tipped blades. Unless the wood was binding or filled with sap, I have not seen evidence of heating, but I make a cut or two and then move on to the next operation, usually with another tool. I have heard of a carbide tipped blade throwing a tooth and always try to stand to one side of the blade. Thank you for your interest and time related to this Instructable.

[egbertfitzwilly]

Thank you for this instructable. I have been shopping for a commercial table mount for a while now but can't find anything.

Also I have published a couple myself, I feel your pain about the ability of some readers to obsess on petty incidental risks. I think the 'flag' button on comments needs a couple more entries like 'Already asked and answered' or perhaps "What a marooon...."

[Phil B]

Thank you for your comment.  I have not seen a commercial table for an electric circular saw in a long while.  Those I have seen did not seem strong enough or accurate enough.  I was very well pleased with what I described in this Instructable.

I once made one of these for a friend in which only 1/4 inch of blade cutting depth was lost.  The saw was hung from a piece of 1/4 inch steel.  1/4 inch Masonite butted up against it from the left and the right sides.  The Masonite was the top of the saw table.  I left gaps between pieces of Masonite to serve as miter gauge slots.  He was pleased. 

[kulin62]

Phil, thank you very much for all the comments and guidance. Thanks for the effort. I will post pictures of the saw table when I am done. With best wishes and blessings, Kulin

[Phil B]

Thank you.  I want to make one more comment.  Only rarely did I tilt the saw blade.  Most cuts were made with the blade vertical.  To keep small pieces from falling down into the table slot for the blade, it would be possible to inlet or rabbet 1/8 inch deep around the opening for the blade and make a Masonite insert that covers the opening with only a narrow slot for the blade.  Make another for the blade when laid over at 45 degrees.  But, it was also very rare when a small piece could fall into the opening.  More often the waste piece cut off was several inches long and in no danger of falling down into the opening.  It would also be very easy to cut most of the way through a piece, but leave a  small splinter uncut, stop the saw, and break the splinter by hand.  That would keep a small piece from falling down into the opening.

[kulin62]

Thank you Phil for the comments and suggestion. This idea had come to my mind and I was going to attempt it after assembling the table. I plan to work on 1/4 inch thick pine lumber a lot and hence the risk of something falling down. I will definitely make a Masonite insert for the slot. Thank you again for all the effort. With best wishes and blessings. Kulin

[steliart]

I have tried your miter gauge design with some additions and with the use of some different material (that I had) and I can say it works good. You can see it in myinstructable.

[Phil B]

Your Instructable is very nice.  I would have suspected the Plexiglas on the top face of the miter gauge would not have allowed tightening the adjustment down tightly enough, but it seems to work for you.  You have quite a woodworking shop on your one cart.  Thank you for sharing it.

[steliart]

Actualy I had the same doupts if the plexiglas will hold, but it proven to be very strong and flexible enough to allow me to add the protractor and and a scribe a line to it.

[hardlec]

With minimal space and funds, a saw that does double duty is a great idea.  Is it possible to make this table accept a "jig saw" or Saber saw as well?  Even better a triple threat with a circular saw, a sabre saw and a router. 

 

[Phil B]

Take a look at the first photo in the Introduction.  Notice the extension framework for ripping wider pieces.  I would suggest a rectangular piece of plywood for mounting the router and another for mounting the jigsaw.  When you need those tools, drop the circular saw's blade so it goes below the table surface.  Attach the piece of plywood  for either the router or the jigsaw on the extension framework and you would be ready to go.  There may be a better idea out someone else has.