Since I established a wood shop in my garage that I share with 2
motorcyles and all the other misc. junk that a garage accumulates, I have
been working on small projects, such as decorative boxes etc., but now I
would like to start building storage cabinets for my garage and eventually
my Kitchen.

Since I am now starting to deal with full sheets of Melimine and plywood,
I could use some advice on handling and cutting these large pieces. I am
in the process of researching putting an outfeed table on the table saw,
which will help somewhat, but does not solve all the issues.

1) What I would really like is a Panel Saw, but they are expensive and
take up a lot of room. However, is this the only option that is open to me?
I saw an ad in the Rockler cataloge for plans for a build your own panel saw
and was wondering if anyone has purchased the kit and built it and what they
thought of it/

2) I would like to attach a infeed table to the saw when needed, does
anyone have any suggestions on how to attach one? I have a Delta cabinet
saw with the Unifence.


Right now when I need help to cut something, I need to ask the neighbor for
help, but this is/will quickly become a bother to them. I have seen
pictures of other people's shops who had large tables built around thier
table saws, which would be nice if we had that much room in our shops.


Thanks

Joe

jdavis (at) divi (dot) com

I waste a little wood but when dealing with 4 x 8 panels, I lay them on
some junk 2 x 4s on the floor, cut a little proud of the mark with the
circular saw and then cut to finished size on the table saw. I, too,
would like to have a panel saw some day but the aforementioned has
gotten the job done so far.

bob g.

hdjoe wrote:
Since I established a wood shop in my garage that I share with 2
motorcyles and all the other misc. junk that a garage accumulates, I have
been working on small projects, such as decorative boxes etc., but now I
would like to start building storage cabinets for my garage and eventually
my Kitchen.

Since I am now starting to deal with full sheets of Melimine and plywood,
I could use some advice on handling and cutting these large pieces. I am
in the process of researching putting an outfeed table on the table saw,
which will help somewhat, but does not solve all the issues.

1) What I would really like is a Panel Saw, but they are expensive and
take up a lot of room. However, is this the only option that is open to me?
I saw an ad in the Rockler cataloge for plans for a build your own panel saw
and was wondering if anyone has purchased the kit and built it and what they
thought of it/

2) I would like to attach a infeed table to the saw when needed, does
anyone have any suggestions on how to attach one? I have a Delta cabinet
saw with the Unifence.


Right now when I need help to cut something, I need to ask the neighbor for
help, but this is/will quickly become a bother to them. I have seen
pictures of other people's shops who had large tables built around thier
table saws, which would be nice if we had that much room in our shops.


Thanks

Joe

jdavis (at) divi (dot) com

Robert Galloway wrote:

I waste a little wood but when dealing with 4 x 8 panels, I lay them on
some junk 2 x 4s on the floor, cut a little proud of the mark with the
circular saw and then cut to finished size on the table saw. I, too,
would like to have a panel saw some day but the aforementioned has
gotten the job done so far.

bob g.
And if you clamp a straight board for a saw guide, you can get a fairly
straight cut. You still want to tidy it up on the TS but with little waste.
jo4hn

hi joe,
i too have these problems in my own shop. A good part of the reason we are
having a "man's" garage sale this weekend. I finally have some room! as of
now, i use the circular saw and a set of collapsible sawhorses as a
poorman's panel saw. I layout and cut the 4x8 sheets into oversize but
managable pieces and finally cut to final dimentions on the table saw
keeping the factory edge against the fence. For the long rips, i have 2
portable roller stands i use at work set up for infeed and outfeed support.
hope this helps -dave
"hdjoe" wrote in message
om...

Since I established a wood shop in my garage that I share with 2
motorcyles and all the other misc. junk that a garage accumulates, I have
been working on small projects, such as decorative boxes etc., but now I
would like to start building storage cabinets for my garage and eventually
my Kitchen.

Since I am now starting to deal with full sheets of Melimine and
plywood,
I could use some advice on handling and cutting these large pieces. I
am
in the process of researching putting an outfeed table on the table saw,
which will help somewhat, but does not solve all the issues.

1) What I would really like is a Panel Saw, but they are expensive and
take up a lot of room. However, is this the only option that is open to
me?
I saw an ad in the Rockler cataloge for plans for a build your own panel
saw
and was wondering if anyone has purchased the kit and built it and what
they
thought of it/

2) I would like to attach a infeed table to the saw when needed, does
anyone have any suggestions on how to attach one? I have a Delta cabinet
saw with the Unifence.


Right now when I need help to cut something, I need to ask the neighbor
for
help, but this is/will quickly become a bother to them. I have seen
pictures of other people's shops who had large tables built around thier
table saws, which would be nice if we had that much room in our shops.


Thanks

Joe

jdavis (at) divi (dot) com

hdjoe wrote:

Right now when I need help to cut something, I need to ask the
neighbor for help, but this is/will quickly become a bother to
them. I have seen pictures of other people's shops who had
large tables built around thier table saws, which would be
nice if we had that much room in our shops.

Joe...

I had the same kind of problem. My solution was to build a
tilting cart that can be used for many different purposes. I've
posted pictures at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/shop_cart.html
which might provide some ideas.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA

In article , Morris Dovey
wrote:

I had the same kind of problem. My solution was to build a
tilting cart that can be used for many different purposes. I've
posted pictures at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/shop_cart.html
which might provide some ideas.

Slicker 'n goose poop on a golf course, that is!

Also, making some roll around tables that you can use for assembly/etc
when not used as tablesaw extensions would be a solution in a shop
where a permanently setup outfeed tables would be too much

John

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 12:55:32 -0500, Morris Dovey
wrote:

hdjoe wrote:

Right now when I need help to cut something, I need to ask the
neighbor for help, but this is/will quickly become a bother to
them. I have seen pictures of other people's shops who had
large tables built around thier table saws, which would be
nice if we had that much room in our shops.

Joe...

I had the same kind of problem. My solution was to build a
tilting cart that can be used for many different purposes. I've
posted pictures at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/shop_cart.html
which might provide some ideas.

Ingenious!!! A panel table that tilts by using solar energy. ;-)
Mark L.

Morris Dovey wrote:

hdjoe wrote:

Right now when I need help to cut something, I need to ask the
neighbor for help, but this is/will quickly become a bother to
them. I have seen pictures of other people's shops who had
large tables built around thier table saws, which would be
nice if we had that much room in our shops.


Joe...

I had the same kind of problem. My solution was to build a tilting cart
that can be used for many different purposes. I've posted pictures at
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/shop_cart.html which might provide some ideas.

Mark L. wrote:

Ingenious!!! A panel table that tilts by using solar energy. ;-)

Yabbut what I really wanted was a solar powered forklift that I
could use/keep indoors. )-:

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA

We all face that problem, no matter how big our shops are. I think you will
find most folks use a circular saw to get the sheet into manageable size,
and then finish the panels on the tablesaw. It is rare that you need a
panel larger than 1/2 sheet of stock, either half in the length or half in
the width.

For me, I buy the sheets at the store and put them on their provided cart.
I get an employee to help me if necessary. I roll the cart to my truck and
they slide off the cart into my truck bed without lifting. I get home, back
up to the shop, place horses behind my tailgate and slide the sheets off
onto the horses, again no lifting. Use the circular saw to cut them to a
bit over the sizes I need. Only then do I lift them.

--
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com/woodshop


"hdjoe" wrote in message
om...

Since I established a wood shop in my garage that I share with 2
motorcyles and all the other misc. junk that a garage accumulates, I have
been working on small projects, such as decorative boxes etc., but now I
would like to start building storage cabinets for my garage and eventually
my Kitchen.

Since I am now starting to deal with full sheets of Melimine and
plywood,
I could use some advice on handling and cutting these large pieces. I
am
in the process of researching putting an outfeed table on the table saw,
which will help somewhat, but does not solve all the issues.

1) What I would really like is a Panel Saw, but they are expensive and
take up a lot of room. However, is this the only option that is open to
me?
I saw an ad in the Rockler cataloge for plans for a build your own panel
saw
and was wondering if anyone has purchased the kit and built it and what
they
thought of it/

2) I would like to attach a infeed table to the saw when needed, does
anyone have any suggestions on how to attach one? I have a Delta cabinet
saw with the Unifence.


Right now when I need help to cut something, I need to ask the neighbor
for
help, but this is/will quickly become a bother to them. I have seen
pictures of other people's shops who had large tables built around thier
table saws, which would be nice if we had that much room in our shops.


Thanks

Joe

jdavis (at) divi (dot) com

From there I find the PS Panel Saw Jig invaluable. About $100.00 but
I feel worth it.

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 11:02:47 -0700, "Pounds on Wood"
wrote:


We all face that problem, no matter how big our shops are. I think you will
find most folks use a circular saw to get the sheet into manageable size,
and then finish the panels on the tablesaw. It is rare that you need a
panel larger than 1/2 sheet of stock, either half in the length or half in
the width.

For me, I buy the sheets at the store and put them on their provided cart.
I get an employee to help me if necessary. I roll the cart to my truck and
they slide off the cart into my truck bed without lifting. I get home, back
up to the shop, place horses behind my tailgate and slide the sheets off
onto the horses, again no lifting. Use the circular saw to cut them to a
bit over the sizes I need. Only then do I lift them.

I have a 4'x8' sheet of stryafoam 2" thick that I lay sheet goods on
and set a circular saw to just cut through, lets me kneel right on the
work piece

MikeM



On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 12:18:34 -0400, "
wrote:

From there I find the PS Panel Saw Jig invaluable. About $100.00 but
I feel worth it.

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 11:02:47 -0700, "Pounds on Wood"
wrote:


We all face that problem, no matter how big our shops are. I think you will
find most folks use a circular saw to get the sheet into manageable size,
and then finish the panels on the tablesaw. It is rare that you need a
panel larger than 1/2 sheet of stock, either half in the length or half in
the width.

For me, I buy the sheets at the store and put them on their provided cart.
I get an employee to help me if necessary. I roll the cart to my truck and
they slide off the cart into my truck bed without lifting. I get home, back
up to the shop, place horses behind my tailgate and slide the sheets off
onto the horses, again no lifting. Use the circular saw to cut them to a
bit over the sizes I need. Only then do I lift them.

MikeM wrote that he used 2" Styrofoam with is a great idea and it works
great. You don't even need a 4 x 8 sheet as if you have some strips of the
same which you can put under your sheet. Nice thing about the foam is that
you can cut into it and never both anything. The other thing I do is use a
piece of particle board 12" wide x 8 foot for a guide for my saw. The
particle board it great as it is absolutely straight and cheap.

I like the foam, but not the kneeling. Motto: never do anything kneeling
that could be done standing up, sitting, reclining, or laying down.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com


"Mike M" mikem14nospamat.mindspring.com@ wrote in message
...
I have a 4'x8' sheet of stryafoam 2" thick that I lay sheet goods on
and set a circular saw to just cut through, lets me kneel right on the
work piece

MikeM

In article , "hdjoe"
wrote:

There are many options available to you. When you purchase your lumber
yoou can usually get the yard to make one cut with their panel saw.
This will get you to approximately the dimension you want. An output
roller stand makes an enormous difference in feeding long pieces through
your table saw. It need not be attached to the saw. Others have
mentioned reasonable methods for cutting your panels to size. Cutting
should not be your problem.

If you are building several kitchen cabinets in one run you will quickly
run into a space problem for storing partially finished cabinets.

Dick


Since I am now starting to deal with full sheets of Melimine and
plywood,
I could use some advice on handling and cutting these large pieces. I
am
in the process of researching putting an outfeed table on the table saw,
which will help somewhat, but does not solve all the issues.

In article ,
Richard Cline wrote:
In article , "hdjoe"
wrote:
...
There are many options available to you. When you purchase your lumber
yoou can usually get the yard to make one cut with their panel saw.
This will get you to approximately the dimension you want. An output
roller stand makes an enormous difference in feeding long pieces through
your table saw. It need not be attached to the saw. ...

That's why the Lee Valley roller stand
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...=1,24 0,41060
is on my wish list. One nice thing is that it will take up very little
storage space.

I hadn't thought of it before, but it also could be used for an infeed
table when needed - probably I should put several of them on my wish
list!
--
--henry schaffer
hes _AT_ ncsu _DOT_ edu

"hdjoe" wrote in
om:

snippage

1) What I would really like is a Panel Saw, but they are expensive
and take up a lot of room.

The woodworking program at the Adult Education center has a panel saw. Even
though I have an unreasonably well-equipped garage shop, for someone of my
abilities, I take at least one class per session, so as to have access to
some of the tools I don't have. The folks who hang out there are also
generally enjoyable to be with.


2) I would like to attach a infeed table to the saw when needed,
does
anyone have any suggestions on how to attach one? I have a Delta
cabinet saw with the Unifence.


Consider a moveable assembly table at tablesaw height, if you need infeed
support. My router table and workbench were built at this height, for that
very reason.

But I don't cut panels that way very often any more. It's awkward at best,
and generally not as accurate as it needs to be. A good circular saw, with
cutting guides seems to me far safer. Guides don't need to be fancy or
expensive. Final trim cuts, on the reduced sized panels, are made at the
cabinet saw, with far less excitement. I do believe that the good sized
folding outfeed table makes for safer, more accurate operations.

Patriarch

I have the store load my pickup. I drive home and set up a couple of saw
horses behind my truck. I pull a sheet onto my saw horses and cut it up
with my circular saw and some straight edges. I stack the pieces in my
shop. These stacks get taller than me. I frequently do 30 sheets at a
time. If I need accuracy I trim the pieces with my table saw later. I plan
this for a dry day. I make cutting lists so I can work fast.