Looking for a solution

Brad,

I’m not seeing any photo come up.

As far as…. having “more table” on the left side of the saw…. you can just mount your rails differently. It may take some modefications – but you could do it. Not really sure how much room you have – but you could make a massive outfeed/rip side table that you could totally size to fit inside and around your rails.

Either I don’t understand the question – or I think this is an easy fix really.

Zac

-- "Start with ten.....end with ten"

what type of saw?
I only have experience with a 10” Powermatic 66 Cabinet Saw , that is pretty much the same style as many other bradns (Delta, Jet, Stop Saw, General)....The only thing you need to do is to install the rails at the left side, so your extension table and fence will be running to that side….the measurements strip must be replaced though.

-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.

Brad:

If all saws are set up one way there may be a reason for it. Safety may be that reason! I am not a safety engineer but I know all cars no mater what part of the world or side of the street you drive on have the accelerator on the right foot and the brake on the left.
Before you plunk down a lot of money buying and modifying a nice shinny new table saw you may want to look into the safety of what you want to do.

-- Bob Clark, Tool Collector and Sawdust Maker

Big_Bob,
Have You seen Left-side worbenches? It’s the same with a table saw, both fit the needs of Left handed people like Brad.

-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.

the only safety thing i can think of is blade tilt. i’d want a right-tilt blade if the fence is to be on the left 99% of the time. now… this being the case, there are often GREAT deals you can get on right-tilt saws because they’re not as desired. i know there may be some super duper deals on right-tilt steel city saws…..

for example, in ohio, hartville tool this weekend is having a limited number of ….
Steel City 3hp Deluxe cabinet 50” fence right-tilt saws w/ titanium top for…....
......

....wait for it…..

$824!!!!. see it in their flyer at http://www.hartvillehardware.com/pdf/February_2009_Tool_Sale_Flyer.pdf

of course….that’s too far for you.

aside from that, i remember at the 2008 woodworkingshow here in st. louis, a local vendor was cutting $200 off the right-tilt steel city saws.

and… i think i’ve seen fabulous steel city right-tilt deals on tool king.

Wow those are some good deals.

-- Just 'cause a cat has kittens in the oven, it don't make 'em biscuits.

After you do your research – you are putting your hard earned cash down for the new saw – get the best you can afford and don’t look back have fun with it – I just retired and am having a ball in my shop when ever I can. I was in your spot and decided to get good quality equipment and look into Grizzly as well as the rest of the suggested Manufacturers.

Jack

You might want to call technical assistance at the saw companies you are considering and see what they have to say about setting up a left handed saw. My 2 cents.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

I have a sliding table mounted on the left side of my saw. and the fence and router on the right. The fence is an Incra TS III and it is used as the fence for the router also.

I love my sliding table. I’ve got an Exactor which was designed by a man in Canada and built by Excalaber. They had a folling out and excalaber now makes one. Mine has stainless steel tubes instead of powder coated tubes. My saw was originally in a gargage the had a lot of rusting problems so I went stainless. I’m glad I did.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

From what I see, a table saw with only the cast iron wings is the same size to the left and right of the blade. All I’d think you’d need to do is simply mount the fence rail with the intention of it being on the left. You might have to drill new holes which would make returning it impossible. A friend of mine bought a Unisaw with Delta’s sliding table, supposed to replace the left wing. The instructions say to cut the fence rail where the wing joins the table to make room for the sliding table, he just drilled new holes and moved the rails to the right, the ruler no longer lined up was his only problem. I hope this helps.

-- "At its best, life is completely unpredictable." - Christopher Walken

I’m not sure what happened to the picture, try this
”
My Blog:

-- Brad,--"The way to eat an eliphant is one bite at a time"

I agree with Chris and modestmouser. It sould not be a big deal to mount your rails so that you have more room to work on the left. And a right-tilt blade would make sense as well.

Having said that, I’m a lefty all the way and I don’t have any problem working with the fence on the right.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I’m with Charlie- I’m a lefty as well, and work on a regular table saw, but if you are used to working in a different setup, then it shouldnt be too much of a hassle to place the fence rails on the ‘other’ side… I would recommend going with a right-tilt table saw if thats the case as was mentioned here as well for safety reasons.

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.