Before we moved to Florida, Zachary had a pretty nice large Crasftman table saw. While we were downsizing the household for the big cross country move, that and a few other large shop tools didn't make the cut. It was sad at the time, but it was the most practical at the moment. We didn't know what we would be doing once we were in Florida, let alone where to keep it all.
Present day, the shop tool collection is growing again. Zachary's job is remodeling our house, in hopes of making a good investment return in a couple years. While he misses the large shop tools he once had, he still doesn't have the space for it all. We hope our next house will have a proper large shop space for Zachary's tools and creations, but in the meantime he is making the best out of what we have. Sometimes restrictions brings out creative ingenuity.
Shortly after we bought this house, we also bought a small portable table saw for projects. It does the job, but not well. Small work surface, uneven cuts, etc. Inspired by a few creative woodworkers on YouTube, Zachary set out to enhance his table saw.
He disassembled the table saw, removing the motor and mechanism out of the body.
Using a table top from a old cabinet, he cut out a space for the blade to come out of the new work top surface. You can see the old cabinet in the picture above. We got 2 of these cabinets for free from a large local resort that was remodeling their guest rooms. The tops are maple, great for making a solid work surface.
Then he built legs for his top.
It took some fiddling to get the saw mechanisms to work correctly in the new housing. After a while, the movement of the saw settings were moving smoother than they ever did in the original saw body.
It lives!
He put wheels on it, so it can easily be moved around the garage and driveway. The driveway is often an extension of the small garage as a work area, so that was essential. While he still would like a nice large table saw again one day, this enhanced table saw is a far improvement to what he had for not much investment and a little time & patience. He will be adding miter slots to the top and a cutting fence.
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