Jon Peters from Jon Peters – Longview Woodworking shared the woodworking tip featured in this video.
After a viewer asked about the spacing between his two table saws, Jon decided to give a full walkthrough of his table saw island setup. He explains how he fit two full-size saws into a modest shop footprint, and shares the small details that make the space work efficiently for daily use.
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Sizing Up the Table Saw Island
Jon’s shop measures roughly fifteen and a half feet by thirty feet, and the table saw island itself takes up a nearly square section of that space. The outfeed tables on either saw were built to align so the whole setup reads as one continuous surface, even though it houses two separate machines.
A slight curve was worked into one side of the build because the island was constructed around an existing cabinet rather than from scratch. It’s a good reminder that shop layouts rarely start from a blank slate, and working around existing fixtures is often more practical than tearing everything out.
Storage Built Into Every Gap
On the side of the SawStop, Jon built in a cabinet that houses an air filtration unit along with extra blades, vacuum bags, and other shop odds and ends. It’s a good example of turning dead space next to a machine into usable storage rather than letting it go to waste.
The Powermatic side includes storage for a dado stack, which Jon uses frequently with his crosscut sled for box joint and flat-tooth joinery work. He points out that even though the SawStop has become his primary saw, the Powermatic still earns its keep for specialty cuts.
Dust Collection Routed Underground
Rather than running ductwork across the middle of the shop floor, Jon routed his dust collection system beneath the floor itself. The shop floor sits on plywood over treated floor joists, which gave him the chance to run piping underneath instead of overhead or across walkways.
This approach keeps the floor clear and the shop looking tidy, and Jon notes it’s worth planning for early if you’re working with a raised floor system or pouring a concrete slab. The dust collector itself lives outside the main shop in a small attached shed, and it connects to both table saws, the band saw, and the jointer, with an open port ready for a planer as well.
Filling the Gap Between Two Saws
One of the more clever details is how Jon handled the narrow gap between the two table saws. He built an extension on one side sized to cover the Powermatic’s motor housing while also leveling that saw with the SawStop’s extension table.
The gap itself is filled with a two-layer panel, a layer of plywood topped with a thinner MDF sheet. The idea is that when the MDF surface eventually wears down, it can be popped out and used as a template to trace and rout a replacement, giving a perfect fit without guesswork.
That small gap between the saws also doubles as a path for dust collection hosing, and Jon tucked a router bit storage drawer and a surge protector into the same area. It’s a smart way to make a leftover sliver of space earn its keep.
Why Keep Two Table Saws at All
Jon admits that running two table saws isn’t strictly necessary, but circumstances made it worthwhile. When SawStop offered him an industrial cabinet saw, he didn’t want to part with his Powermatic, a machine he’s owned for decades and rebuilt with a new motor along the way.
Part of the reasoning is also about safety around less experienced users. As his kids got older and started using the shop, Jon felt more comfortable having them work on the SawStop rather than the Powermatic, which has no riving knife and gets used for dado and bevel cuts that aren’t compatible with that safety feature.
In practice, the SawStop handles the vast majority of cuts, while the Powermatic fills in for the specialty work Jon doesn’t want to run through the newer saw. Having both on hand means never having to compromise on setup just to switch between standard and non-standard cuts.
A Lesson in Making the Most of Limited Space
This walkthrough is less about needing two table saws and more about thoughtful space planning. Every inch of Jon’s island serves a purpose, whether it’s hidden storage, rerouted dust collection, or a replaceable sacrificial panel.
For anyone working in a tight shop, the takeaway isn’t necessarily to add a second saw, but to look at existing gaps and dead zones as opportunities. Small, deliberate choices like these can make a compact shop function far better than its square footage would suggest.
Buy Jon’s plans here: https://jonpeters.com/design-plans/
Matt’s Take
These are my personal thoughts and tips based on my own experience in the shop. This section is not written, reviewed, or endorsed by the original creator of this project.
That underground dust collection routing is one of my favorite details in this whole setup. If you’re building a shop from the ground up and have any say in the floor structure, it’s worth thinking through dust collection before the floor ever goes down. Running pipe overhead works fine too, but there’s something to be said for a shop floor with nothing hanging or crossing walkways to catch a cord or a board on.
The sacrificial MDF-over-plywood panel trick is a good one to file away even if you only run one saw. Any zero-clearance insert or filler panel near a blade is going to wear out eventually, and tracing the old piece to rout a new one saves a lot of trial and error. It’s the kind of small habit that pays off more the longer you own a shop.
On the safety side, the point about riving knives is worth sitting with. A riving knife moves with the blade and helps prevent kickback by keeping the kerf from closing up on the blade as material passes through, but it’s not compatible with every cut, like certain dados or non-through cuts. If you’re running a saw without one, or with the guard removed for a specific operation, it’s worth slowing down, using push blocks, and being extra deliberate about hand placement.
Lastly, the idea of treating gaps and dead space as storage opportunities applies no matter the size of your shop. Narrow drawers, vertical slots, even a few inches between machines can hold router bits, blades, or hardware you’d otherwise be hunting for in a junk drawer.