-
Edit: I've said pretty much the same as @nefarious just in a more long winded fashion.
Plunge saws excell at breaking down sheet goods.
Some sites will drop a pallet of ply etc in the middle of where it needs to be and other than lifting the top sheet up to put bearers under it so that you don't cut into the second sheet you can process it there without the manual handling risks associated with moving a full sheet about the place. In addition to this processing sheet materials in a table saw can be dangerous and tricky, it's also very easy to get wrong (unless you buy a very expensive saw with a large sliding table). It's also possible to buy what festool call an mft (you can make your own without the festool hipster tax) that is designed to allow you to make precise, square, repeatable cuts quicky and efficiently Peter Millard shows how to do this well in a lot of his videos.
Table saws are excellent at ripping timber stock down to an accurate width. They also have a use with sheet goods; once you are trying to cut something that is thinner than the rails it's tricky and easy to fuck up so a tablesaw with a good fence will work wonders.
I forgot to mention with the plunge saw chat before a regular circular saw that can run on tracks is much cheaper than a plunge saw, much more versatile than a plunge saw and can do everything a plunge saw can. The main reason that I have my plunge saw is that the dust extraction is sooooo much better than a normal circ saw so if I'm working in an occupied house I'm causing fewer dust issues.
You are reading a single comment by @Bobbo and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
Bobbo
musa
while we're on the topic - what's the use case for plunge saw vs table saw? have been mucking about having a go at making some cabinets from scrap wood over the last few weekends, and while with a bit of patience/faffing I can get consistent enough straight cuts with a cordless circular saw (originally bought for knocking out quick raised beds at the allotment) - it runs out of grunt when I try and cut case mitres - I appreciate it's not really the tool for this job.
Am I right in thinking that the purpose of the plunge saw + track is that you can make single cuts on far bigger sheets? Whereas table saw you're more limited by size of table/rail but easier to make consistent repeated cuts?
What I'm really asking if if I want to start making slightly nicer home furniture bits, is a table saw the right thing to go for?