BUILD MOM'S TOPSY-TURVY TABLE SAW

Image Gallery Your scrap pile can provide many of the necessary materials.

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

The ability to create something useful from little more than a pile of lumber is a talent that grows with practice. Unfortunately, it's hardly possible for the neophyte to build Project One if he or she lacks the proper tools . .. and yet, given the state of our economy, those implements might very well be unaffordable unless some money can be saved as the result of a few successfully executed do-it-yourself undertakings.

There is a way out of this dilemma, though. Thanks to a little bit of "make do" work on the part of researcher Clarence Goosen, we've been able to come up with a sound design for a piece of equipment that's essential to any well-equipped workshop: the table saw. And because the homemade apparatus uses a common hand-held circular saw (a relatively inexpensive tool used in tens of thousands of households across the nation) as the heart of its operation, the cost is a mere fraction of the $200 to $300 purchase price that's typical for an implement like this. Furthermore, the completed project can, in effect, serve as a dual-purpose tool, since the motor-and-blade assembly can be disconnected from the table frame in a matter of minutes and used separately . . . just as you'll likely use it to cut the table saw's frame to size in the first place!

GATHER THE GOODS

To work up your own topsy-turvy trimmer, you'll need to get hold of—in addition to a functioning adjustable circular saw with at least a 1-HP motor and a 7-1/4" blade—a 3/4" plywood sheet measuring 36" X 48", three pieces of 1 X 8, each 10 feet in length (as an alternative, you can cut up an entire 4' X 8' sheet of quality-grade 3/4" plywood to satisfy both requirements), 10 feet of 1 X 2, 6 feet of 1 X4, and a 26"length of 2 X 2.

The metal components required are a 4" piece of 1/8" X 1/2" X 1-1/4" X 1/2" channel iron, a 1/8" X 2" X 2" X 7" section of angle iron, a 1/4" X 1" X 18" length of bar stock, three 1/4" body washers, and a scrap of 7/8" round stock 4-1/2" long. All of the necessary hardware is detailed in our illustration, and you'll find the exact dimensions of the various finished components there, too.

"LAY UP" THE FRAME

After you've cut all the parts to the required sizes (a coping saw can be used to complete both the 2-3/4"-radius access hole and the 2-1/4" X 8 1/2" side opening indicated), you can begin to assemble the frame. Start by fastening the upper and lower side braces to the legs with No. 8 roundhead wood screws.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print