You can largely do without a table saw if you have a combination of other tools. However, you'll have a hard time ripping thin boards with a circular saw (just not a lot of room to clamp a guide). There are work-arounds, of course, but nothing beats a table saw in that regard.

 

JDJ,
After 30 years of power tool woodworking, I have moved a lot of my work to hand tools. For small furniture it is much more economical to buy hand tools to do things that just cant be done with power tools.
I have a great table saw and use it when it makes sense, but sometimes it really is out to kill me.
Many folks prefer a band saw over a table saw and I am starting to agree even though I have both.
If it was me, I would buy good chisels, a couple of planes, (stanley # 5 and #6 are around for $40), maybe a couple of good hand saws.
Go ahead with the routers if you like that, though I use mine less and less.
Just my opinion.

 

A table saw is absolutely not a necessity. In many cases it does make things easier, but if you think about it, people made very nice furniture for hundreds of years without a table saw. Personally, I use mine for ripping, and the occasional dado, but that's about it. As long as you're comfortable ripping using your circular saw (And a table saw is essentially just a fixed circ. saw mounted upsidown) I'd say you're good. But you'll need the chisels…If anything, to clean up corners after the router, or rabbets, or whatever. But trust me on the chisels.

 

While a table saw isn't a total necessity, they do make the job much easier, safer and more accurate than alternative methods…

 

I never thought I needed a TS, until I owned one. Its a vintage craftsman 8" machine I bought for $40., But even this old beater convinced me that the TS is a "must have".
SOOOOO much easier and more accurate for ripping lumber than any other machine.
I also like to use mine for crosscutting. I have a miter saw, but it only gets set-up when I have several cuts to make. Otherwise, I grab a crosscut sled that I made in about 30 minutes from scrap, and make my cuts on the TS.

If you enjoy woodworking, I think a TS is a good investment and a fun tool to use.

Do without chisels? Seriously? A decent set of Narex bench chisels will cost you $30. A honing guide, plate glass, and sandpaper to sharpen them will cost about $25. You'll be glad you have them.

 

The table saw is a very useful tool for cabinetmaking with sheet
goods. A track saw system or vertical panel saw can substitute.

The problem with the table saw is it hogs up so much space,
in my opinion. It's really an old technology and the handheld
circular saw is more convenient in many situations.

Repeatability with portable track saw systems was something
of a problem for awhile, but now at least two have guides
for making accurate repeat rips and repeated square crosscuts.
The downside of such systems is they get costly. For pros,
they are great time savers on job sites.

A small table saw like the older Delta 9" tilt-table model is a
good thing to have for making furniture as they are very
accurate for joinery and can crosscut drawer sides, rip
small pieces and be set and used for grooving drawers
more quickly than a router table.

For cutting the shoulders of tenons, a small, accurate table
saw is a very nice thing to have.

 

If time isn't an issue you don't need one. But i don't think i've ever met a woodworker where time wasn't an issue.

 

There is no such thing as an essential power tool, but my tables saw is the last one I would want to live without.

 

When you say you have a homemade track saw, I am guessing you are using something as a straight edge and clamping it to the right part on the board then clamping the other end and then running your circular saw up against the straight edge.

That is a fine system and it is what I tend to use for breaking down large sheet goods. However, the main problem with that system is that 1) Its very difficult when you need to make small cuts on small boards, and 2) It takes a lot of time to setup in comparison to a table saw. I the time it takes to clamp up even a small board and then use your circular saw to cut the board I could set the fence accurately within a 64th of an inch, and make the same cut 10 times. If you are doing a lot of cutting the time savings alone pays dividends on owning a table saw.

A table saw with a tenon jig or a crosscut sled and a dado set is also an excellent tool for cutting tenons. Plus a table saw does not have to be super expensive. A good used contractor's saw can be found for 200 to 400 dollars pretty commonly on craigslist. I would steer clear of the craftsman models if I were you, but otherwise there are lot of good deals out there.

 

Personally, I learned woodworking relying on my TS; but I'm sure that there are other alternatives. However, you will be hard put to do router work (squaring out the rounds) without nice sharp chisels. Good luck with your decisions.

 

Not an absolute necessity but it is the #1 tool of choice in the majority of wwing shops….maybe even vast majority (but I don't have stats….).

 

I agree that it definitely is not a necessity. Of course, I do have one and use it to do a lot of things. Certainly you can do everything that a table saw does with other power tools, you will just need a lot of other power tools.

If you don't want to get a table saw because you want to do every thing by hand, then you just need to get some really good hand saws, chisels, planes, and of course a lot of sharpening tools. But that is a style choice.

 

I use a band saw as my primary saw and do almost all my ripping on it. For panels I use a circular saw and guide. For most project parts I hand cut for cross cut and joinery and clean up on a shooting board - but sometimes use the band saw if geometry permits. This requires a well tuned band saw but there is lots of guidance on how to do that.

All that said, I finally did break down and buy a small table saw about a year ago (the tiny DeWalt). I did it because I was building a roomful of arts and crafts furniture and there were so many parts and joints that I found I needed the saw to save time and improve repeatability. Since then it has been gathering dust.

Don

 

Far more furniture has been made without a table saw than with one. (They weren't even invented until maybe 200 years ago - lol)

Since then, however, they've become one of the most indispensable machines in a woodshop. Do you ABSOLUTELY need one? Not really. Would having one simplify your woodworking life? Absolutely. (IMHO)

I've been watching the growth of CNC in woodworking and am pretty impressed with the "lunchbox" CNC machines. They're pretty limited in what they can do, and they're really expensive, but I'm betting that within 50 years CNC machines will be the "go to" woodshop machines.

 

Based on the path you want to go down (stationary power tools vs. hand tools), a table saw would make the most sense. You'll appreciate the simple convenience over the tricks you're performing with the circ saw. Perhaps a used machine that includes a router table on one of the extensions to save space and $s. And I predict you'll reconsider the no-chisel decision in the not-too-distant future; electric or hand tool shop, at a certain point they're indispensible. Good luck!

 

It is the one tool I think is most useful overall and saves a lot of time. Anything can be done without it but I'd rather have it despite the space it takes up.

 

Is a TS necessary for woodworking - it pretty much is spelled out above that it is not…..can you live without one…sure…then why have one? Well they are a convenience and can do things that would require additional setup on another machine to do the same job.

Now a days…pretty much everything done on any one machine can be setup and done on a different machine - i.e… Tracksaws for ripping panels and crosscuts, a chop or sliding mitre saw for crosscutting and mitre cutting (if you spend time aligning and adjusting for some reasonable precision), a router for making dados, a router to make mitre cuts, a router can even make cross and rip cuts (not the most elegant way but in a pinch?), a bandsaw for ripping and crosscutting….all it takes is some imagination and possibly a bit of jig making to make a tool do a job that might have been performed on a different tool.

I used my TS to do a lot of items until I got my router table set up properly….now I mostly do dados on the router…tenons…and motises on the router….rabbets on the router….you name it….but ocassionally I go back to the TS because it is convenient…and easier to set up for some cuts…

The TS is one of the most accident prone machines in the shop. I'll bet we do not see TS as they are now in a few years. There are so many innovations….sliding tables, kickback pawls, riving knives, add on extension wings with router table tops…new types of dust control and blade guards….and the sawstop flesh sensor saw brakes….sometimes it is hard to keep up.

 

Thanks reggie that answers my question pretty well. i didn't mean to turn this into a power tools vs hand tools debate. I want a table saw for the convenience but I can't see an absolute need for it. Since I am a hobbyist, I definitely dont mind taking extra time to make cuts if it means not shelling out for a table saw immediately. I will likely get one in the future for the convenience. I just didn't want the lack of one to hold me back in my future projects.

I definitely will get some chisels too. Thanks everyone for the great advice

 

I guess I'm just old fashioned, but to me having a GOOD cabinet saw in a wood shop seems practical. A good cabinet saw with decent acessories can do all the following not only well, but quickly - rip wood up 3" thick to size, Crosscut up to 24" wide with superb accuracy, cut compound angles, cut dead- on tenons, cut smooth dados and rabbets, and size 4'x8' panels. It can also do other thing not as quickly such as cutting tongue and grooves and making dental molding. It can even be made to cut coves. But yes JDJ you can get without one for a while, but ultimately your going to want one as you say. Given the monetary constraints all of us work under, I would advise against getting one now since your unsure of where your going with woodworking. But if you find your really hooked, then I would strongly suggest not getting a half-way table saw. An aluminum topped contractor saw or even a hybrid is not going to perform the tasks I described well if at all. Get a good, precise, true cabinet saw when you can afford and a new world of wood working will be open to you. Also you won't have to upgrade later so that ultimately its a savings.

 

I would second what Stevo said. I find myself gravitating toward hand tools more and more. I think you get a better feel for how wood reacts. thats my 2cents. Good Luck!

 

When my wife and I moved out here to (Bakersfield) about 8 years ago, we had to live in an apartment for about 6 months while our new house was being built. For at least 25 years prior, I had never been without a shop of some kind to tinker and relax in and I wasn't going to start then. I got an apartment with an extra bedroom and decided to sift through my collection and only take what I knew what was a necessity, for me anyway. The tablesaw was definetly first on my list without even thinking about it. I can do things on a table saw that allowed me to put my Router Table, Chop Saw & Compressor in storage. You are really the only one that can decide that though.

 

Even tough I have one in the studio it see's very little use other than a surface to rest things on. A band saw would be a more useful tool if your working with a lot of hardwoods / softwoods vs plywood.. My work is primarily done with hand tools.

 

I don't think that any power tool is "essential", think of how guys got things done before them. For me power tools make a lot of the "tougher" parts of woodworking easier, ie. ripping a board to width(have you ever tried it by hand?). Of all the things you listed that you want to start trying, the one power tool that I could think of that is able to do those is the router with a router table. I wouldn't pass on the chisels though.

 

Back the the power tool vs hand tool discussion for a sec. The advantage of hand tools is a significant reduction in noise and dust. Some would also argue that hand tools are safer and can be as quick and efficient as power tools. Much of it comes down to having the right tools and knowing how to use them. Also, good hand tools may not be a less expensive way to go.

The New Traditional Woodworker: From Tool Set to Skill Set to Mind Set by Jim Tolpin is a good read if your interested in the hand tool route. His powered shop tools are a bandsaw, lathe, drill press and a Tormak sharpening system.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Traditional-Woodworker-Tool-Skill/dp/1440304289/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305842425&sr=1-1

(disclosure I have a full shop of power tools, but am thinking of doing more with hand tools)

 

Ironically, Jim Tolpin is also the author of "Table Saw Magic" .....lol! (a very good book on TS use)