Need to Build Aux Tables.

[mrpedersen]

Hi, Well I have received and installed the Shark Guard , Saw is set up and tested, cut some very old weathered pine, cross and rip cuts. Everything is straight and square.

Now, I would like to build 2 Aux tables for a crosscut sled jig and a ripping jig. I have seen and read the materials of choice are Baltic Birch ply, other plywoods, particle board melamine, and MDF. Which is the recommended material or does it matter? I will need miter slot(s) for each I presume ?

I do have 27 - 30 pieces of 3/4" MDF 30" wide and between 4 and 5 ft. in length with a formica / arborite top. Most of these are shelves around 3 walls of my garage. (original house owner) and are all in good shape.

I guess the next question would be, What type of hardware would I use to attach the tables to the rails.
All of my shopping has to be by the internet , with shipping, since my trips to the city are very rare. So I need to do a good order when I do it.

Oh, all of my cupboards are birch ply, wife say's I better be ready with other stuff to replace in a hurry!!

Glenn

[pelligrini]

You're going to like your shark. I think it's one of the best things I've bought for my saw, if not 'the' best.

My shop made axillary table was out of 3/4" phenolic ply from woodcraft, basically a coated Baltic Birch. I really like the material; slick, stable and waterproof. Kind of spendy though. It will sag a bit over time though, I wish I made my aux table/router insert with some reinforcing ribs. I mounted mine with some galvanized angle material from home depot and the t-nuts and knobs from the cheesy OEM router mounting kit. There's some good info in this thread: http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=37992

I have a narrow table made out of some 1" particle board melamine on the far left end of my saw mounted with 4 of the OEM wide table brackets. There's enough room between it and the left miter table for my SMT. It didn't take too long for it to sag in the middle. Some maple scraps fashioned into cross ribs flattened it back out.

That shelf material you have should work fine. You probably want to add some cross supports just in case though.

Check out T-nuts.com for your fastening hardware. Be sure to take the link from the main forum page http://www.bt3central.com/forum.php Once you do, you'll know why The assortment packs sure do come in handy for whatever you want to do with the saw. I prefer the nut and stud packages (and a bottle of locktight).

I would be more inclined to fabricate some narrow miter slot tables for the saw, keeping them independent from your axillary tables. I usually keep my SMT on the left side of my blade, but sometimes I'll move it to the right. If you change up, or move your axillary table that has a miter slot built in it will mess up your sled alignments etc. The RYOBI miter tables attached to the saw table and base allowing the rails to be repositioned.

I made my miter tables with a miter slot and a t-track. If I were to do them again, I'd probable make them a bit wider to support a miter guage. Mine are narrow so the SMT wouldn't be too far away from the blade. They will let a gauge tip a bit though. I always thought the RYOBI ones were too wide, but I see the advantages now.

[mrpedersen]

Thanks Eric,

From all the threads that I followed from your suggestion , it looks like it's an open door for a person's design. Many great ideas and projects. Including yours.

I do have table support materials on hand, so I'll be on the drafting pad on plan one out for myself. And order the other hardware. Don't think that I'll be doing any wide ripping, so that's not an issue. I have a narrow work space.

[pelligrini]

If you haven't perused it yet there's a bunch of good info in the articles section of this site: http://www.bt3central.com/forumdispl...=34&order=desc

Be sure to follow the last link from that section to the old articles page. It has a wealth of info and ideas: http://www.bt3central.com/index.php?page=articles

[mrpedersen]

JImD's thread for the Aux tables, just what I want and will use. The other link - wow, what an amazing amount of info, glad to have it - it'll take a while to go thru but I can tell that it'll be very helpful to me for all aspects and usage of this saw.

Glenn