I picked up this BT used out of an ad in the paper. When I got it, I had already been a BT3k'r for about 3 years. I picked up my first BT when the old Builder's Square was morphing into HQ and changing from the Ryobi line to Bosch. I had been looking into "real iron" but decided for the $114 I paid for it (when the BT was selling for around $600) that I could used it while I saved enough money for a "real" saw. Needless to say, I fell in love with the BT. Even though it was an abused floor model, all adjustments were dead-on and have stayed that way for 2+ years. Anyway, I started to collect accessories so that I could put together a wide-table version of the BT.
Fast forward almost 3 years. I had been reading with interest the great deals that everyone was getting on their BTs as Lowes was clearing them out. One Saturday I was glancing through the local want adds and spied a Ryobi table saw with accessories for $150. I just had to call. I found out the saw included the wide table kit, legs, two long miter fences, eight carbide blades as well as other miscellaneous woodworking supplies. SOLD!!!! (I also sold the accessories I had begin to purchase for my original BT making this saw virtually FREE!)
Now that I had my wide-table kit, (as well as another complete BT) the only real thing I was missing was the space to store everything in my garage. I decided to build the cabinet you see primarily as additional storage. Since I already had a dedicated router table, I didn't need the integral BT router fixture.
Building Notes:
The right side cabinet is made out of 3/4 Birch veneer plywood from HD. I rabbetted the top and bottom as well as the back for strength then glued and nailed the carcass together. The drawers were sized specifically for some of my tools and hobbies. I made the drawer sides and backs out of leftover engineered oak flooring material. The "good" veneer side was nice, but uninteresting. I liked the grain patterns on the "bad" side and decided to make it the visible side for the case front. For the cabinet under the saw (left side) I used scrap plywood to enclose the stock base and then used the same Birch ply for the doors mounted with piano hinges. The only modifications I did was to replace several of the standard 1/2" carriage bolts with 1" ones to help hold the plywood. . I retained the stock Ryobi outfeed table and used the plastic clips to mount the long miter fence on the front kick plate. The base is built on standard 2x4s with the cabinets attached with 3" deck screws. All plywood was sanded to 220 grit and finished with gloss water-based poly. The clamp rack is a 2x4 mounted between the legs. The casters are 3" HD specials with the front being locking casters. The whole unit is heavy, but mobile. Before anyone asks - the blade guard and splitter were not with the BT when I bought it. All in all, this approach takes advantage of otherwise unused space and generates a tremendous amount of storage. Hmmm...now what to do with my other BT?????
Roy
aka WrkWatchr
rshrove@satx.rr.com
Original PDF Document:
rssawcab.pdf