New Tablesaw

Well, now that I had turned over the Prospector to the rightful owner (and gotten paid) it was time to look for new tools. I was going to buy a new table saw to replace my old Craftsman contractor model. I was thinking of the new Rigid with the granite tops. Then, as I thought about it, I convinced myself that that is not exactly an upgrade and as such, not worth spending any money on. Not that I don't think the Rigid would be an improvement over the one I have, just not better enough to justify the expense.

Aside from that, I wasn't prepared to spend the money on a cabinet saw, because they are really expensive and I really didn't want to pay for one. So I had convinced myself that I didn't need a new saw anyway and the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Then I started poking around on Craigslist. That's where I found this baby.

A Delta unisaw 52" unifence "Grand Edition" Model 36-816. I noticed that the guy had it marked down to $950 from $1000. A bargain at either price. The saw is about ten years old, and that is all time in a hobby workshop, so I know it wasn't subject to running 6-8 hours a day 5 days a week (which means low hours). This saw could handle that type of running though and still be worth the money I paid for it.

Needless to say, I couldn't pass on this deal because I would never see one like it again. I borrowed a trailer from a friend, hooked it up to my Danger Ranger (with 259,000 miles) and took off to pick it up. The guy I got it from had already sold the other tools he had that I would have been interested in, but he gave me a boatload of lumber. All cherry, walnut, mahogany and curly maple. I tried to pay him for the lumber as it was worth about $800, but he wouldn't take anything for it.

I didn't travel 2.5 hours to fight with someone to take my money, so I loaded my truck and took off.

Now I have to wire my shop. My new saw needs 220v service (I have none in there). Not to mention that I really need more outlets. I originally had 2 pairs of outlets on the same circuit, and couldn't run my shop vac with any other tools without throwing a breaker. I added two circuits at 110v and one at 220v, all at 20A, so they should be able to take any load I place on them with my small shop tools. Here are some pics of the conduit and outlets I ran.

You can see some of the lumber I got from the table saw guy.

I know the shop is a mess, but as I get the wiring done, it will get straightened up.

Note that I also ran conduit and boxes for a third circuit should it become necessary. I probably should have run the stuff for an additional 220v circuit for a future dust collector, but I will hold on that until I locate one.

Now I can get on some other projects that are pending and need to get done.