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Well I have been out in the shop taking some measurements and I think I have everything straight. I will just tell this as a kind of sequence of events to make it easier for myself.
I started out buying Ryobi's wide table kit, Part#4730300, and the wide table leg set, Part# 4730305. The wide table kit extends the rails 41" inches and the leg set supports the rails and whatever table you add to it. The wide table kit is around $155 and the leg set is about $35. The wide table setup is only necessary if you want the extended cutting capacity but I would recommend the leg set if you end up with with a table top as thick as mine to keep all the weight off the rails.
STEP 1 For the top I used a piece of 5/4 counter top material with a plastic laminate on the top. I lucked out and picked this up as an outfit was throwing it away. I had planned on gluing two pieces of 3/4" MDF together and installing me own laminate but never look a gift horse in the mouth. HA! Anyway my top measures 22 1/4" by 48" for the long side and 22 1/4" by 14 1/4" on the left. I aligned the rails so that the black 0 is aligned with the right side of the blade. My ripping is done on the right with that being the long side of the table and the short side of the table is on the left. To attach the table to the rails I bought some angle brackets from Ryobi but I don't have a number for them, and parts from the user kit. I used six brackets on the long side and two on the short side. Down each side of both tables I routed a 1/2" by 1/2" rabbit to make it easier to attach the brackets to the rails and to provide some adjustment for leveling. On the long table top stop the rabbets 5" from the saw end of the table. This stops the rabbets from interfering with the shims you will add in the next step
STEP 2 When installing the long table I added 2-5/16" spacers positioned over the flats on the right side of the table saw. The spacers were close to 5/16". What I did is planed two strips of wood down and test fit them until with the extension table sitting on the flats it was even with the saw top. With the table on the left side just the opposite must be done. Routing just over a 1/2" by 3/4" rabbet on the end next to the saw. Again routing and test fitting so that when the rabbit is sitting on the ledge of the table saw the table top and saw top are even.
Step 3 Now that the tables are installed I started on the miter slots. The first time I did this I used a Fasttrack Adjustable Miter Track Part# 08.60.67 and is 42" long. It is available from Highland Hardware. Their phone# is (404)872-4466. I have since changed over to what they call Dual Track. Part# 7213-220 available from WoodsmithShop. Their phone# is 1-800-444-7002. I think my miter bar is an odd size and the fasttrack didn't give me quite the fit I wanted. The dual track provides more adjustability and gives you an additional T-track that accepts toilet bolts for some nice accessories such as a featherbaord etc. With the fasttrack I ordered one 42" track at $24.95 and cut it in half. This gave me a slot for each side of the table. With the dual track I ordered 2 at $24.95. They are 32" long and I cut them down to fit. You could probably give both places a call and I'm sure the would send you a catalog. Whichever one you choose the main thing is keeping the track parelell to the blade. To do this I raised the blade to max and laid a level along the blade being careful not to flex the blade. I clamped it to the saw top and then clamped another level to the side of it. With my router against the level as a straight edge my bit was about 6" from the blade. I used a 1/2" straight bit and cut a 1/4" slot across the table. I then shimed between the two levels and then clamped them back together. This moved the router bit out to the final width of the miter track. I then repeated these steps sneaking up on the final depth until the miter slot fits level with the table top.
Step 4 If you use Ryobi’s angle brackets you will find that you need to install two fender washers between each bracket and the rail. I use mail threaded knobs to attach the left hand table to the rails. That way it is easy to remove it to reinstall Ryobi’s sliding miter table. Before you take it off the first time it would recommend making an alignment jig to make the extension table easy to reinstall and maintain alignment with the blade. An easy way to do this is to fit a piece of hardwood to each miter slot. Make them the full length of the miter slot. Lower the blade below the table and lay a scrap piece of plywood down. Pull the plywood and hardwood strips out past the front of the table far enough to drill up through the hardwood strips and into the plywood. Repeat this at the back of the saw. Mark the plywood as to left and right side. Now whenever you have to reinstall your left hand extension table use your alignment jig to maintain parallel between the miter slot and the blade.
Original PDF Document:
table.pdf
