Going through the Sept 2004 issue of The Woodworker, published in
England, I came acrossed two interesting truly hybrid portable (bench
top) “table saws” that didn’t look like anything I’d seen before , One
by Elektra Beckum is called the Secanta and the other by - who else? -
Festool - called the Precisio CS50 EB (don’t them Eyetalyan names
conjure up images of ridiculously fast, “what the hell was THAT?!”
automobiles - not just cars?)

Unlike the more familiar U.S. Contractor’s saw with a tilting fixed
blade, these units also allowed for pulling the blade forward - an
upside down radial arm saw. And rather than have the fence fixed at the
front and back, with a separate cross cut miter/mitre fence, these saws
attach the fence to either side of, or the front of, the saw table. The
Elektra Beckum took it one step further by allowing the saw to be
rotated in the horizontal plane as well.

At 1,200 and 1,075 pounds sterling, these units are in the low to mid
price range of a good cabinet saw. But add in a 12 inch sliding
compound miter saw’s cost and the capabilities per unit cost gets more
attractive. And both units have an integral set of legs rather than the
sheet metal folding “stands” that are extra on most U.S.

Since most of us have limited shop space, often shared with the washer,
dryer AND a car or two, you have to wonder why these types of
combination units aren’t available in the U.S. market. When you look
at the Festool “System” of bench/work table, plunge saw and router with
fence, . . ., other than the astronomical prices, why aren’t they more
popular? We can’t ALL be frugal Yankees.

Anyone out there have experience with either of these units?

charlie b

Shopsmith put out one of these at some point in the 1980s called the
SawSmith 2000. It did not sell very well and was discontinued. See it
at:

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/faq/sawsmith2000.htm

Dave Hall

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 12:56:45 -0700, charlie b
wrote:

Going through the Sept 2004 issue of The Woodworker, published in
England, I came acrossed two interesting truly hybrid portable (bench
top) “table saws” that didn’t look like anything I’d seen before , One
by Elektra Beckum is called the Secanta and the other by - who else? -
Festool - called the Precisio CS50 EB (don’t them Eyetalyan names
conjure up images of ridiculously fast, “what the hell was THAT?!”
automobiles - not just cars?)

Unlike the more familiar U.S. Contractor’s saw with a tilting fixed
blade, these units also allowed for pulling the blade forward - an
upside down radial arm saw. And rather than have the fence fixed at the
front and back, with a separate cross cut miter/mitre fence, these saws
attach the fence to either side of, or the front of, the saw table. The
Elektra Beckum took it one step further by allowing the saw to be
rotated in the horizontal plane as well.

At 1,200 and 1,075 pounds sterling, these units are in the low to mid
price range of a good cabinet saw. But add in a 12 inch sliding
compound miter saw’s cost and the capabilities per unit cost gets more
attractive. And both units have an integral set of legs rather than the
sheet metal folding “stands” that are extra on most U.S.

Since most of us have limited shop space, often shared with the washer,
dryer AND a car or two, you have to wonder why these types of
combination units aren’t available in the U.S. market. When you look
at the Festool “System” of bench/work table, plunge saw and router with
fence, . . ., other than the astronomical prices, why aren’t they more
popular? We can’t ALL be frugal Yankees.

Anyone out there have experience with either of these units?

charlie b

"charlie b" wrote in message
...

At 1,200 and 1,075 pounds sterling, these units are in the low to mid
price range of a good cabinet saw. But add in a 12 inch sliding
compound miter saw's cost and the capabilities per unit cost gets more
attractive. And both units have an integral set of legs rather than the
sheet metal folding "stands" that are extra on most U.S.

Hmm - 1200 pounds is about 2KUSD at todays rate...

BillyB

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 12:56:45 -0700, charlie b
wrote:

these units also allowed for pulling the blade forward - an
upside down radial arm saw.

Scheppach also did one a few years ago. It was great for cross-cutting,
pretty lousy at ripping. So it was popular with shopfitters and their
like doing on-site tubafour carpentry. Or at least with well-heeled
carpenters in Germany, as it was very expensive.

So it's too flimsy to be a good workshop saw, costs as much as a real
saw, and is only really useful for rough work. It was killed dead by big
mitre saws, and finally by sliding cross-cut saws.

Isn't Festool is German?
"charlie b" wrote in message
...
Going through the Sept 2004 issue of The Woodworker, published in
England, I came acrossed two interesting truly hybrid portable (bench
top) "table saws" that didn't look like anything I'd seen before , One
by Elektra Beckum is called the Secanta and the other by - who else? -
Festool - called the Precisio CS50 EB (don't them Eyetalyan names
conjure up images of ridiculously fast, "what the hell was THAT?!"
automobiles - not just cars?)

Unlike the more familiar U.S. Contractor's saw with a tilting fixed
blade, these units also allowed for pulling the blade forward - an
upside down radial arm saw. And rather than have the fence fixed at the
front and back, with a separate cross cut miter/mitre fence, these saws
attach the fence to either side of, or the front of, the saw table. The
Elektra Beckum took it one step further by allowing the saw to be
rotated in the horizontal plane as well.

At 1,200 and 1,075 pounds sterling, these units are in the low to mid
price range of a good cabinet saw. But add in a 12 inch sliding
compound miter saw's cost and the capabilities per unit cost gets more
attractive. And both units have an integral set of legs rather than the
sheet metal folding "stands" that are extra on most U.S.

Since most of us have limited shop space, often shared with the washer,
dryer AND a car or two, you have to wonder why these types of
combination units aren't available in the U.S. market. When you look
at the Festool "System" of bench/work table, plunge saw and router with
fence, . . ., other than the astronomical prices, why aren't they more
popular? We can't ALL be frugal Yankees.

Anyone out there have experience with either of these units?

charlie b