It's two story. The plan is for my wife to set up her photography and backdrops in the second level up the stairs.

The long term plan will be expanding my kitchen, doing a pantry, and some additional storage with some of the space in the future when I can afford it. The wall between the kitchen and mud room and coming down and I am have the floors even height. There is also some coat closets, a big stair case and some other stuff that eats up the space pretty quick.

Good deal, you're on top of it. I had this vision in my head of a large open mud room that just collects shoes/coats/everything. From experience, general prupose rooms collect everything well, but defined rooms actually serve a purpose other than chaos.

I own a manufacturing company. I read the thread a little but I did not read into it so please excuse me if I repeat things others have said. I own 2 Delta table saws, one German sliding table saw, a Straight line rip saw and a Nested CNC router among other things.
For a home/garage shop a cabinet saw can be limiting. If you are planing on sawing sheet goods you really need outfeed tables that will support the sheet (massive) and even with that cutting a sheet of plywood accurately is art. It can not be done well by someone who does not do it frequently. A cabinet saw is good for rough ripping of hardwood and other hardwood operations. Both of my Delta cabinet saws have power feeders on them. Without a power feeder it is dangerous in my opinion.

If you must have a cabinet saw I would get a Saw Stop saw but it blows the budget away. If you are cutting sheet goods stick with a saw track system. I do not own any so I will not comment on which is best. I am partial to Festool tools in general. If I was shopping for a saw track that is where I would start. BUT I am not motivated by cost. I would buy the best one I could get. We wear things out. I throw out standard miter saws over time. Our good miter saws are several thousand dollars and weigh 300 pounds.

You can get a Delta table saw for around $500 if you purchase it on a professional woodworking auction site. People are dumping them, they are antiquated.

I am not sure if this link will hold up over time but here are dozens that have sold and are for sale. Be aware most are three phase. You can get a static phase converter and it works fine. You lose some HP but that is fine also.

http://www.irsauctions.com/index_sea...nd=50&srch=190

So knowing what I know. I would get the best saw track system I could get and very good table top table saw.

For you tool junkies here is the sliding table saw we use.
http://www.martin-usa.com/products/t70/

Here is the miter saws I was talking about.
http://hoffmann-usa.com/machinery/om...sion-miter-saw

We set the sliding saw with a caliper. It holds +/- .004" easily over 8 feet.

We don't have any CNC machines because we pride ourselves on being a custom cabinet shop and not a cabinet factory.

Why do you use circular saws? If you were a real cabinet maker you would use a hand saw and planes.

I run a business, it is absolutely a factory. The goal of a business is to make money. I use the best tools available to make a superior product and make a profit to support my family and my employees family.

I am sure that when the circular saw came out there was "real cabinetmakers" that refused to use the new technology. I am also sure of what happened to their company.

You can get a Delta table saw for around $500 if you purchase it on a professional woodworking auction site. People are dumping them, they are antiquated.

This is the second time this week I've read someone recommending irsauctions. Have you purchased from them? There's a couple of auctions within driving distance but the thing making me hesitate is that they require insurance (2,000,000) for anyone picking up something that can not be picked up by hand. I believe a table saw would fall into that category. Maybe it would be easier hiring an independent hauler than picking it up oneself. Does anyone have any opinions?

I hope my rambling helped, good luck!

I have bought quite a bit from them at auction. Each auction is different. You can ask questions on an item on the web site. I would ask if loading is available. If it is a surplus item most shops will drop it in a pickup for nothing or $20. If it is a liquidation normally there will be riggers. A new delta saw is $3000 +/-. If you buy an old used one it is likely better than a new one. We have one that was made in the 70's. Only have ever had to replace the switch. We have one I bought new, had to replace the motor after a few years.

Every sale has a few riggers assigned to it. You can contact them and meet them there. They would load it on your truck for you for $30-100, if you were nice and accommodating it would be cheaper. They carry the insurance. The $2,000,000 is for people that want to send in their own people to disassemble a finishing line or large piece of equipment and load it themselves. Not a guy buying a small item. It is "as is where is". So no warranty is implied. If it is direct wired and hooked to dust colllection you have to pay the rigger to disconnect it.

BUT a Delta table saw is essentially a switch, a starter, 3 belts, motor and two arbor bearings. All can be repaired or replaced. Bearings are $30 each so you can make it essentially new for $60 if the rest is in order.

An unbelievable vendor is McMaster Carr. They have a website. They are not the cheapest but they have everything and I mean everything. It is an industrial supply house. One of my favorite vendors.

I hope my rambling helped, good luck!

The fence system is really the heart and soul- you may consider craigslist and trying steal a rather decent and much more common contractor style saw - then adjusting it to cut well, replacing the fence, and adding a side extension to make it a panel saw.

You'd be surprised how huge an improvement you can make with a pro level fence system, and some blade alignment. $300 for fence. $300 for saw. $100 for extension. You'd have a pretty kick ass saw for $700. You would not want any longer.

Post a picture of your saw, I'll reccomend one. The other table saw thread had some pictures and stuff from when I upgraded mine.

I agree. Just having enough 20 amp circuits is the main problem- but it's unlikely you'll run them all at the same time. Usually you one one or two tools at a time.

I want to hit the ON switches on the jointer, planer, table saw, router table and band saw all at once and then toss small pieces of plywood around the garage and see what piece of equipment throws the board the farthest! Don't try this at home, kids!

I just want to see you hit the ON switches all at the same time. Accomplish that and the board mayhem will be a bonus.

Get it on! Looks great.

I actually enjoy wiring. I've thought about becoming an electrician, but at this point I don't want to take a pay cut to apprentice.

Thanks! I don't mind it either. Over the last two years, my understanding of residential wiring has grown immensely with the main breaker panel replacement (and the inspection sign-off) becoming a sort of "final test". I was educated in electronics and could troubleshoot my way through whatever complex circuitry was in front of me but for years those 3 wires used in house wiring were just baffling! lol

Quick question, and it is a noob question. Since all of the large power tools like the TS, the BS and the jointer come with 4-6' power cords, what do most folks do to get the power to the tools? For example, if the TS is going to be in the middle of the shop with 8' of open space all around it, how does one plug it into the wall?
I was thinking that I'll buy some SOOW rubber cord (10 gauge) and install a 220v male plug on one end and a 220v receptacle in a metal box on the other end and use it as a beefy extension cord that will run along the floor to the TS.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cerrowire...803A/202564780

Thoughts?

That's about what I use. Mine is 50' and I originally made it for my welder, so once I started adding more 220v tools, I just used the 50 amp plug on all of them.