Derek's home made table saw

Derek Kirstenfeldt, from Australia, sent me some pictures of his homemade table saw.

Derek writes:

Hi Matthias,

I just noticed you have been sharing your home made table saw and thought I would share mine. I came across a 9 inch Makita Circular saw and put a larger 10" blade in it for more depth of cut. I removed all of the guards etc. which would otherwise restrict its movement. I made the stand from 19mm plywood and 16mm MDF which I then painted up. I also put some wheels under the whole thing so I can easily move it around in my small shed.

The lift mechanism is made from a sliding base on drawer runners with a threaded rod which turns to move the sliding base forwards and backwards. This in turn pushes a wooden stay up, moving the saw blade up. The saw pivots on its own depth adjustment mechanism, which seemed very stable on this old saw.

It works very well. I can get 80mm depth of cut from this saw.

I then made up a sliding fence using steel and a turned wooden handle. I have adjustment screws on the fence giving me full adjustment both left to right and up and down.

I used some UHMW plastic on the underside to help it slide smoothly. I don�t think this plastic would have been entirely necessary as the steel seemed to slide very well without it.

I routed the miter tracks into the plywood top and epoxy glued in some aluminium track.

I plan to add a tilting router lift to the left of the blade where I have some extra space. I also need to add a switch and a dust port, which I will fix over the hole in the back.

The actual supporting frame under the plywood top is 25mm thick MDF about 200mm wide on its edge with cross bearers in the middle. It keeps the plywood very flat and stable. I also plan to add some screw down legs, which will stop the wheels from rolling when I use the saw.

The only thing I wish I had done differently is to use a different lacquer on the table surface. I used an oil based lacquer, and it's not very slippery.

Derek Kirstenfeldt