who has built a PERFECT box before?

[bumpweLL.nYc 10+ year member]

circ saw and a guide beats a $200 table saw anyday

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

circ saw and a guide beats a $200 table saw anyday

I can make about 10 cuts to every one cut with a table saw compared to using a circular saw and guide. I made quite a few enclosures with both methods and I will never go back to a circular saw and guide again. The accuracy is MUCH better and way easier to get right and the speed of the cuts is ridiculous. If I have 8 cuts to make that require a 14" rip, I can do those 8 cuts in about 5 minutes or less. It takes me 5 minutes to just get the guide measured, placed, and then checked to make sure it's perfectly square everywhere. That, is well worth the extra money spent on a table saw.

Unless of course you're talking about cheap and ghetto saws. Even though, the saw I do all my cuts on was a $250 Makita that has a max rip of about 32" and I wouldn't trade it for the best circular saw and guide on this planet.

 

[bumpweLL.nYc 10+ year member]

yeah but once the gate on the table saw gets a little loose its basically worthless. A $1000 table saw cant be beat but most of the ones Ive gotten a chance to play with, the gate only locks in the front and the back has play, which isnt good since youre putting pressure on the gate and will most likely shift it. If they came out with a reasonably priced table with a double locking gate I would take it. But then again it takes about 30 seconds to mark and clamp a guide for a circ saw, and efficiency should only be a concern if you do it for a living. Still not a necessity though, I would pick up a router, good clamps, or a brad nailer before a table saw.

:EDIT: plus unless you expand your table theres no way to get a 2'*4' sheet on there

 

[MemphisCherokee 10+ year member]

i cut my boxes with a moonbeam laser from goldeneye...they come out perfect every time

its a Moonraker Laser

anyways

they work hella good

 

[bigbang 10+ year member]

I have the Home Depot cut my wood, and I get overhang, but never gaps. Simply put, rip horizontal pieces.

If I want an 18" deep box, I rip an 8' long 16 1/2" piece with the saw fixed horizontaly at 16 1/2" high, and the sheet fed through sideways. I will then end up doing at least a couple vertical cuts to get that 8' strip down to a managable size, usually knocking out the top and bottom, then I follow up by setting the saw horizontally again and cutting two identical sides and possibly an identical center divider. When I assemble the box, I know the top, bottom, two sides (and internal divider) will meet without gaps, and because they were cut from an 8' long board of uniform width, the face and back will sit flush and only require sanding to take off the overhang because I make the face about an 8th inch larger than neccesary on both sides.

All cuts come in at least pairs, so when possible, rip the pieces horizontally with the saw hieght fixed, and you will at least wind of with equal pairs. Its when the dude marks the wood and eyeballs vertical cuts for each individual cut that you have variance. Hope somebody benefits from this advice.

 

[bjfish11 5,000+ posts]

yeah but once the gate on the table saw gets a little loose its basically worthless. A $1000 table saw cant be beat but most of the ones Ive gotten a chance to play with, the gate only locks in the front and the back has play, which isnt good since youre putting pressure on the gate and will most likely shift it. If they came out with a reasonably priced table with a double locking gate I would take it. But then again it takes about 30 seconds to mark and clamp a guide for a circ saw, and efficiency should only be a concern if you do it for a living. Still not a necessity though, I would pick up a router, good clamps, or a brad nailer before a table saw.
:EDIT: plus unless you expand your table theres no way to get a 2'*4' sheet on there

I have to disagree with you on this one. The table saw I bought, had a 36" rip capacity, and it ran me $550. The fence on it was really nice. It locked tight, and I never had any play with it. I have since upgraded my fence, but not because of lack of quality, just to get extra rip capacity.

I really feel, one of the most important tools in building an enclosure, is a good saw. And for accuracy and efficiency, a table saw is awesome, (if you know how to use it properly). If you plan on building quite a few enclosures, the best investment you can make, is a good table saw. You can get by with sub-par drills, and a router is not a necessity.

 

[sqhertz 5,000+ posts]

im planning on getting a table saw sometime but i notice everything within my budget ( less than $250) has a 30" rip capacity. is it only the higher dollar tables that have the larger capacity?

 

[bjfish11 5,000+ posts]

Yes, you almost have to upgrade your fence to something such as a Biesemeyer Fence System to get anything over 32-36".

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

Impossible to make a perfect box. Very good ones come with practice though.

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

Usually just wood glue does the job for me. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
If the gaps are a little larger than usual then I'll fill it from the inside using some sort of sealant whether it's goop, gorilla glue, or something else like that.

MDF dust with heavy glue wash is the best filler. Blends in, sands clean, and bonds best since it's all the same material.

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

clamps?...pre-drilling? that's for people who use circular saws...LOL.
purple haze poisonous?...maybe if you used Miracle-Gro. just because it's purple doesn't mean it's a purple strain. i've had purple colored blueberry strains before.

Have you ever built a box in your life? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

circ saw and a guide beats a $200 table saw anyday

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

Joseph aka ~Magic_Man~ is perfect at building boxes. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Mr Cabinetry 10+ year member]

bumpweLL.nYc,

I hate to break the news to ya, but no $ 200.00 tablesaw ain't going to do squat if the intention was to use such a saw for cutting 3/4" MDF and anyone that thinks otherwise did nothing more than pizz their money away.

Yeah, they do have rip fences that ain't worth a sh!t, but these types of tablesaws are " bench top " and are not meant to be used for heavy duty cutting.

So making the comparison " circ saw and a guide beats a $200 table saw any day " it just plain laughable.

Onto your rant about Tsaws with the lousy rip fences, your right and wrong on both counts because I have seen/used crappy Tsaws with good rip fences and Good Tsaws with pizz poor rip fences.

And to your comments about the type of rip fences, the best d@mn tablesaw fence ever made is what's called " T-Square Rip Fence " that was first made by Biesemeyer and is the most widely used tablesaw fence system used in the trade of cabinet making, millwork and woodworking.

A T-Square Fence system on tablesaw, he!!, any Tsaw for that matter will make the saw the most precise and accurate for cutting material then any POS fence that locks at both the front and back of the saw.

BTW, here's my Tsaw - JET 708300K / JWTS-10CW2-JF 10" Table Saw w/ a Jet 708957K Xacta Fence II JET Homeshop 52" Fence mounted on a custom fabricated rolling cabinet base I built for it so that can be set level to ensure cutting stability and accuracy.

The saw with the fence system cost me less than $ 800.00 keeping in mind that was back in 1998.

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

That is pure sex //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/omg.gif.05aa02c3095d6ce9338996654eca0863.gif