Infinite frankensaw?

[TimTucker]

Working on a frankensaw of my own and have a pretty good general idea of the layout I'm going to use, but figured I'd post this as a general thought exercise: given about 8 feet of space to fit things in and an unlimited number of bt3k saws to use for parts, how would you arrange them? How many saws would it take? How many routers would you mount? What other tools would you mount?

Ideas spawned from the realization that I seem to see a bt3k variant of one sort or another pop up on Craigslist every few months selling for less than I can sell off a subset of the parts for...

[LCHIEN]

I really can't see a use for more than two saws/motors one for ripping or crosscutting and the other with a dado. or one rip-bevel/one crosscut
Maybe a third one caould be justified with a 10-inch sanding disk installed on the arbor and using a speed controller.
With any of the above a router could be mounted somewhere in the mix.

[LinuxRandal]

Space and budget not issues.....
Maybe three saws, with the third being on the backside as an outfeed table. Beside it, maybe your router table in the other outfeed sections (although I think it might be a bit low, personally), and your saws having your favorite general use blade, the other having the other used function (crosscut if the first is more rip, etc), and the last having a dado blade.
Be interesting to have it deep enough for back to back BT's, with enough space for the sliding tables.

But I don't use my BT like I did, as I use tracksaw systems more now.

[TimTucker]

Had thought about crosscut + rip + plywood blade, but even without a track saw, the bora edge guides I have are probably going to be my go-to method for most plywood cuts.

Is the dado really worth it vs. doing dados with a router? Router bit changes seem far faster than blade changes and 2 router plates fit in about the same space as a saw.

Would any one of the variants be better suited for tasks than the others? (i.e.: I was thinking about using a 3100 on the far left of my saw for cross-cuts, but would the 21829 be better for the kerf indicator marking spot and left mount fence holder?)

[LinuxRandal]

Dado blades verses done with a router, is really a personal preference thing, nothing more. I prefer a router and if I could redo history and give myself lessons, I wouldn't have the tablesaw at all, but use a guided circular saw system and a bandsaw instead.
Only thing on the variants question is I would prefer a 3100 or later produced saw, over the 3000 with possible shim issues, especially when going for used.

[TimTucker]

Progress so far:

Overall view:


Cross-cut side -- planning on having the extended miter fence attached across a few aligned saws dedicated to 90 degree cuts aligned using the back holes on the 21829 sliding table (realized when I went to start adjusting it tonight that one of the plastic pieces underneath is broken, so there's another sears parts order). Seems like I may be able to do angle cuts from the front stops without removing the rear fence.


Router section -- waiting on a replacement cord for a craftsman router to go on the left / harbor freight plunge router on the right. Should give the option of using miter slots or a SMT.


Rip section -- extra top with a zero clearance plate on the right to fill things in. With a miter slot on the rip saw and the miter slots on the additional top, that should allow for miter based jigs later on if I decide to go that route. Figured since I'd be adjusting the height of the rip saw most often, I'd swap out the adjustment wheel with one from the 21829.


View from below (note the left side has been replaced by the side of the 21829 to get the updated fence holder bracket):


Views of the cart (this is actually cart #1 that I'm intended on using as an assembly table -- I used it to build an identical cart for the saws. The only real difference between the two is that the saw cart has total locking casters). Top is 2x4's with a 30x80 door on top, bottom is 2x4's with 5/8 T&G OSB on top, most everything fastened together with a Kreg jig.




Still more details in the works, but this at least gets be set back up enough to use the saws again.

[Neal]

Goodness. It is almost difficult to know what to say about this. Impressive is one things which comes to mind. It does have that "mad scientist" kind of vibe going with it. I'm impressed.

[trungdok]

I'm speechless..........

[TimTucker]

Other points to note: the saws are mounted to 2x4s screwed into the base on each end, so I leave the option open later to remove the saws and use the base as another assembly table.

Biggest todos:
- enclosing the router area for better dust collection
- adding dedicated switches
- adding homemade t-slots along the front / back of the base
- making removable infeed / out feed tables that connect to the t-slots
- cord / power management for everything connected
- experiment with Attaching an original Incra jig between the two rip fences

- adding t slots around the twin assembly table to clamp things down

[randombetrayal]

Forgive my ignorance as I am waiting to put together a single complete saw, but I will have two sets of rails eventually and have hopes to do something similar, but less ambitious. How do you connect two rails to each other to span the extra length.

[TimTucker]

The wide table kit came with brackets that go on the back and bottom of the rails, along with t nuts to go in the track to attach them to.

If you have extra t nuts lying around, or order some from http://www.t-nuts.com/bt3c/ you can just use a mending plate or similar fastener to make your own attachment kit:

http://t.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-10-in-Zinc-Plated-Mending-Plate-15390/202034036

For the setup I have above, it's 3 sets of rails with the brackets from the wide table kit on the backs only. Seems to be strong enough / have enough support with the saws on each side of the middle rails firmly anchored down, but I may add support on the bottom if it starts to sag.

[capncarl]

I like having a big saw. I've since graduated from the BT saws to a Powermatic saw but the first thing I did before I started using it was build a large cabinet base for it. It seems that the larger saw, outfeed table or work bench I come up with the larger "pile-it" area I have. That's probably why the track saws are gaining popularity, no where to pile stuff!
capncarl

[TimTucker]

Just got a blade installed on the rip saw - had an Amana euro rip blade sitting around I'd acquired at an estate sale. Wasn't quite sure how it would perform, but a few test cuts and it went through hardwood maple flooring like butter.

Here's the blade new (amazingly I picked it up along with a Forrest WWII for $10):

http://www.amazon.com/Amana-Tool-RB1020-Euro-Rip-Anti-Kickback/dp/B000P4SFWQ

[randombetrayal]

The wide table kit came with brackets that go on the back and bottom of the rails, along with t nuts to go in the track to attach them to.

If you have extra t nuts lying around, or order some from http://www.t-nuts.com/bt3c/ you can just use a mending plate or similar fastener to make your own attachment kit:

http://t.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-10-in-Zinc-Plated-Mending-Plate-15390/202034036

For the setup I have above, it's 3 sets of rails with the brackets from the wide table kit on the backs only. Seems to be strong enough / have enough support with the saws on each side of the middle rails firmly anchored down, but I may add support on the bottom if it starts to sag.

If it's not too much trouble the next round of photos you take/post, would you show a close up of this connection.
thanks

[TimTucker]

If it's not too much trouble the next round of photos you take/post, would you show a close up of this connection.
thanks

There are some pretty good diagrams in the instructions for the wide table kit (specifically on page 5):

http://pdfstream.manualsonline.com/2/2f86f8f9-b2b2-44f5-b262-a7ad1a11af9e.pdf

If you want I can take a photo but it really is just like depicted in the instructions except on both sides and without the bottom connector.