Hinged rails?

[tfischer]

I was just surfing the T-nuts site today and discovered these...

http://t-nuts.com/product_info.php/c...roducts_id/246

I've been away (from this forum) for most of a year now, and figured there'd be some threads about them here -- but a few searches turned up nothing.

They intrigue me, because up until today, I figured a wider table was out of the question for me, since my saw has to park in a place not much wider than the standard rails. So my questions:

1) Does this actually work, e.g. are the rails stable enough?
2) What can you use to support them? I like the legless solution alluded to in the link above, if it's stable enough...

If I missed the previous threads on this, please point me there if you could...

Thanks!
-Tim

[Jeff]

Tim,
The hinges are pretty high quality and fit on the rails about as well as anything, and the lack of play in the hinge itself allows for a repeatable foldup/down without the rails being out of alignment when up. The down part doesn't matter much anyway, but the critical part is the up, and they hold true. You obviously would have to have either a leg set on the end, or some rigid bar at the hinge joint to provide the lock. Personally, on my setup with the weight I have, legs are required. If you just want a shorty table that will be used as a board holder for cuts, etc, you can likely use a lock bar, maybe 12" aluminum or steel with 4 t-nut/knobs to lock it in the horizontal. All your leverage would be on that bar, so you'd have to use something that can take the weight.
I was originally looking to design a hinge set that rode in the rail slot itself, but the cost to machine them would have been a bit more than I figured people would want, so when I found these and tried them, I was pretty happy with the results. I wouldn't use them to bear the weight when up, but to hold the alignment. They'll hold up fine when folded down. (I think that makes sense).
Quite a few people have them, but really, nobody has mentioned them much or told me about their setups.

[softop41]

rail hinges

Tim,
I have the T-Nuts rail hinges on a half set of extended rails and they work perfectly. Because I only use a half-length rail set and they aren't up full time, I don't need any support to maintain alignment. They are very nicely made part that fits into the rail perfectly. The fence moves from the original rail onto the extention without any hangup at all.
I agree with Jeff that you will need suppport for a full length set of rails.
As with the other T-Nuts products, they fit well and do exactly wht they are supposed to.
HTH,
Jerry

[tfischer]

Thanks for the info. Now I have yet another thing on my wish list (well two things actually, the hinge kit and a set of 1/2 rails...)

Jerry -- what do you use to hold them up? Can you post a pic when you get a chance?

-Tim

[bigstick509]

Any chance of posting some pics, I would love to see the setup.

[softop41]

rail hinges #2

Sure, I'll post some pics as soon as I can get into the shop; it's too cold here right now.
To answer the question of support, I don't use any support due to the short length(half set) and probably the fact that I don't leave them up full time. I also use the rail joiners that one of our members, Komatoast69, sells. I believe I bought mine from him on EBay. His set consists of 4 plates with bolts and T-Nuts to extend rails. His system puts a 1/4" thick steel plate on the inside and the bottom of each rail. With the hinges, you replace the bottom plate with the hinge. Then the rails are held in alignment, when raised, by the hinge on the bottom and the plate/4 T-Nuts on the inside of each rail. It takes less that a minute to raise the rails and lock them in place.

Jerry