What table saw are you using?

[emoney]

That's the same fence that's on this Delta I just bought.

 

[mistermikev]

That's the same fence that's on this Delta I just bought. View attachment 576854

is a pretty solid fence for me. locks down easy and doesn't "jiggle" - those are my two requirements!!

 

[fmunoz]

well, I can snap a photo or two tonight when I get home... and am happy to help with any q you may have.

I'll also try to explain it as the pictures probably won't tell you quite all the hangups.
first off getting the sliding extension off is required. I can't tell you exactly what all is involved but basically you start taking out screws until you can jimmy it off.

then, I bought some 1" square tube, and some 1.25" square tube from metals depot 2' long. this allows one to modify the depth of the table to bring it from what I believe is 24 1/4 out to 27" (if I'm remembering right) which is required for the delta t3 fence.
It also prevents you from drilling holes in the expensive saw stop as the square stock serves as an intermediary. so... basically I lined up the square stock on the saw stop so it sat just under the mitre rabbets, and marked out where existing mount holes were.

then I drill through the square stock on my drill press. I took a graduated bit and expanded the holes on the outside of each of the tube stock pieces so the head of the screws would fit through into the hole on the other side, and i could get a socket in there to turn them. I used the existing mounting screws that were originally holding on the extension on the sawstop.

then it's just a matter of lining up the delta t3 on this square stock, and marking out where holes will be, taking the square stock off, and drilling on my drill press.

since the screw holes are going to be covered once the square stock is mounted -it would be impossible to be able to reach the bolt heads with a socket... so I marked out a 'slot' under each screw location, took my dremel cut off wheel, and cut in a 'slot' where I could slip a box wrench in to hold the bolt while i tightened it down on the delta side.

now, on the down side... i no longer have a sliding table... but now I have permanent table extension from the delta rails. the sawstop will still fold up and is mobile... just a little bit more cumbersome with the delta "legs" protruding off the top.

Thanks! that is super useful and detailed, I am seriously considering going this route, as I love the saw and the only thing that I was hoping I could upgrade was the fence

 

[mistermikev]

Thanks! that is super useful and detailed, I am seriously considering going this route, as I love the saw and the only thing that I was hoping I could upgrade was the fence

yeah, it is a really great saw for sure. pretty happy w it other than the fence. with the t3 fence on and that super general blade... glue ready cuts right off the saw. (I hope) you probably can't even see the join in this... and it was glued up as 8/4 and routed into it 3/4 deep so the line is that invisible all the way thru... r-hand side you can just barely make it out at the bottom end grain.

 

[fmunoz]

yeah, it is a really great saw for sure. pretty happy w it other than the fence. with the t3 fence on and that super general blade... glue ready cuts right off the saw. (I hope) you probably can't even see the join in this... and it was glued up as 8/4 and routed into it 3/4 deep so the line is that invisible all the way thru... r-hand side you can just barely make it out at the bottom end grain.

Nice, was that routed on a CNC?

 

[mistermikev]

Nice, was that routed on a CNC?

yes

 

[Thrill]

Guess you already made your choice, but I have the Delta 36-725T2 as well and love it. Its done everything Ive needed it to do. Cut through 2"+ thick hard maple with no problem. It was a huge pain in the ass to get it 100% set up and dialed in, particularly getting the blade square to the miter slot and getting the riving knife in line with the blade, but spend the time and effort to get it all dialed in once, and you probably wont have to do it again.

If you did your research, you know that there was a lot of problems with the motor on these, particularly the ones made a year or 2 ago. Some had bad capacitors, some the motor fan was the problem, others said it was because you need a dedicated 20 amp circuit for the saw. Ive had mine almost a year and had no problems. I have 2 separate 20 amps lines run in my shop, so I use one for all my lights, fan, other small stuff, and one for my big power tools like my bandsaw and table saw and jointer.

 

[LtDave32]

Cabinet Maker.....guy literally had 2 fingers and thumbs left on either had, lol. And he was proud of it, believe it or not!?

I worked for an old contractor when I was a kid, one Summer. Had a hand like that. Used it a s a teaching-aid in the most morbid way.. " ya know, kid.. once you lose a piece of your first finger , the next one ain't so bad. You're used to it, see? You just tie it off and get back to work..."

Crazy old bastard.

 

[LtDave32]

So to update, I settled on the Delta 36-725T2 from Lowe's. Mainly because when I went to look at it, I was hit with, "You know, if you open and use our Lowe's Credit Card you can save 20% once on anything you purchase". So the addt'l $100+ off the price kinda sealed the deal. Got it home and put together but haven't had time to do a true set up, but man, I didn't know what I was missing with a good fence before. Sheesh, what a difference from my Craftsman Contractor Saw. Bought a new general purpose blade, of course, as I've heard not so great things about Delta's factory choice. Also have some Zero Clearance inserts on the way along with a new 8" Dado Stack (it'll be my first time using one).

As to the "safety conversation"; My FIL is a General Contractor his whole life and I'll never forget one summer during my college/early marriage days to his daughter, he hired me mainly to insure I kept his kid fed/clothed/housed/etc. And I will never forget the day he introduced me to his Cabinet Maker.....guy literally had 2 fingers and thumbs left on either had, lol. And he was proud of it, believe it or not!? It was a good summer, however, as I got to work with every specialist on a new home construction from the cabinet guy to the brick layers/vinyl siding folks to the plumbers/electricians. I learned more that summer than in any of the 6 years I've spent in college, for sure. Oh, related side note; the electrician used to think it was funny to tell me, "Sure the breaker's off, now change out that plug"....right before I got a shot of 110volts, lol. Wasn't so funny to me at the time.

Thanks all for weighing in. In the end, it's always about the $$$

Love it, E.. Carbon copy of some time in my youth, learning the trades.

Plumber ever ask you to fetch him the "pipe stretcher"? lol..

 

[emoney]

@LtDave32 Absolutely on the pipe stretcher. Little did he know, however, that my dad was a plumber, so that one backfired.

@Thrill I was lucky on my blade. It came out of the box dead on. The fence needed a slight tweaking, but I spent the most amount of time getting the riving knife dialed in. I've got some zero clearance inserts on the way and once I get them, that thing will be pulled out of the saw and I'll switch to those small inserts that Kreg and others make. It's too wide for a good, thin kerf blade anyway.

Started work on my first piece of furniture, and I'm pretty dang happy so far. I'll make a new guitar in the new year and we will see if I can get those same joint lines that @mistermikev got. If not, I have a jointer still, lol.

 

[emoney]

For anyone interested, this saw just went on closeout at Lowe's for HALF OFF. This thing was a good buy at $600. but it's an absolute steal for $350. If your store has it, and you can find room for it, I'd recommend buying it.

 

[Thrill]

Really? Thats a great deal. I got mine 20% off the $650 and thought it was a good deal at that price. $350 its a no brainer for someone who needs a table saw or has wanted one. Definitely a step up from the job site type of saw.

Just check the flatness of the table. The first one I got was really sloped in around the blade, I had to exchange it for another.They arent perfectly flat, but you can find one that is at least flat around the blade so you dont end up with weird cut angles.

 

[fmunoz]

For anyone interested, this saw just went on closeout at Lowe's for HALF OFF. This thing was a good buy at $600. but it's an absolute steal for $350. If your store has it, and you can find room for it, I'd recommend buying it.

do you have a link? I can't find it by searching the lowe's site

 

[emoney]

do you have a link? I can't find it by searching the lowe's site

It looks like they took them off sale. It was shared on several woodworking sites and lots of folks went and got them so I’m guessing Lowes did a double take

 

[emoney]

And, just like, he's built his first piece of furniture. Still plan to do a little buffing, just like on the guitars. But, here's a close-enough-to-finished couple of pics to bring closure.

Made myself a jig to line up the handles. I'm a fan of symmetry, btw. Truth is, my OCD'edness won't allow for asymmetry. Soo.....

 

[solteroblues]

I have the Delta saw and its been great for me. Has more capability than I do, so I'm not worried about outgrowing it.

 

[Deftone]

I cut a 2-foot board on my DeWalt with rack & pinion, I have between 0 and.002 runout from end to end.

that's one straight cutter.

Fuckin' A.

 

[LtDave32]

Fuckin' A.

Def, I depend on the superb accuracy of that rack & pinion fence.

Though my saw is the earlier 10-inch blade model, I wish it were bigger than "jobsite" size.

I'd like to build extension tables for it.

 

[Deftone]

Def, I depend on the superb accuracy of that rack & pinion fence.

Though my saw is the earlier 10-inch blade model, I wish it were bigger than "jobsite" size.

I'd like to build extension tables for it.

I'd be happy with that tolerance machining a piece of aluminum on a Bridgeport mill.

 

[LtDave32]

I'd be happy with that tolerance machining a piece of aluminum on a Bridgeport mill.

Ithhinnk my decimals are off by a point, so let me correct that


I'm serious. I trued up a fret board blank, it was 2.751 on one end, and 2.753 on the other.

It can vary a bit with blade wobble, but most of the time, It's damn accurate. More so than any other saw I've worked with.