Simple non-folding table extension?

[mikepwagner]

I am thinking of building a pretty simple wide table extension for my Bt3100.

From what I can tell, most of the complication and ingenuity if focused on making the extension foldable.

If I don’t want it to to fold, it seems as though I could buy a set of rails for $25 - $35 on ebay, a router table for about he same, use some kind of f flat steel/aluminum flat pieces in the extension slots to attach the table, and add a set of legs.

Does this seem like a reasonable way to proceed?

[LCHIEN]

I posted an article here
https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...to-your-bt3x00

on making half-length or a bit more extension rails that are strong enough to easily hang out 24 inches to either or both sides without leg support.
I used some off the shelf aluminum extrusion and set screws to make a quick easily assembled and I thought elegant solution.

[mikepwagner]

This is more or less what I was thinking of.

Thanks.

[Jim Frye]

You might try here for ideas. Lots of alternatives. I have limited space in my shop, so I just move the saw's rails for wide table work. I have extra BT3K accessory tables.

https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles/legacy

[dbhost]

I'll have to dig up pics, but a full second set of rails is going to make your saw WIDE, like not entirely sure of the measurement but probably in the area of 7' to 8' wide. I added a second set of rails, used some L brackets / T nuts to attach a basic set of wooden legs and made my own top out of plywood / tempered hardboard. I routed a cut through for a Bench Dog aluminum router plate and a slot for the aluminum miter slot, then I routed another slot as the first one was too far away from the actual router to be useful. Remember the whole thing measure twice cut once? I ignored that...

Anyway The wooden legs were good, sturdy, but ugly. I got a set of BT3000 wide table legs and added them...

I should have stuck with wood.

IF I were to do it again?

1. Add half rails instead of full rails. I am NOT going to crosscut full sheet goods on this thing, EVER...
2. Stick with the plywood / hardboard top. It's great.
3. Stick with the Bench Dog router plate, OR spend the extra money for a router lift.
4. Build a proper cabinet supporting it, and the saw, including a router enclosure. Solves the support, AND ever present shop storage issues.

[twistsol]

To start, I guess it depends on what you mean by extension table. If you are talking about a wide table as shown below with the router plate mounted in it, I think most of the solutions for this are typically non-folding, but they are really nothing more than a sheet of plywood or MDF so nobody posts them. (there is also a folding outfeed on the back of this saw)



On the other hand if you are talking about an outfeed table to catch items past the blade, most of those are folding like the one I just built for my current saw. Typically they're built as folding because they take up a lot of space that could be reclaimed when they are not in use. Also, they don't require much precision since it's just stock support.



If you want to add an extension table to the right or left of the saw that folds down, that's where there is some complicated (at least for me) engineering.

The short answer is yes, if the table doesn't need to fold wherever it is placed, it makes things much simpler. Adding a router to the table is both convenient and space saving.

[dbhost]

So here is mine. 2 layers of 3/4" ply glued and trued up, capped with what is that 3/16" Tempered hardboard, glued and trimmed. I 1000% admit I screwed up on setting up the miter slot dadoes and the router plate is too far inward. I will redo this at some point. YOu can see I rabbeted in sort of slots for the L bracets to mount the top to the fence rails. The legs are Ryobi pieces that I should have just stuck with the 2x4 jobs.

Anyway the workbench behind it has a 6' top and this thing is easily a foot longer, in other words, too long to be useful.

In all my years of running this saw, honestly I am really not sure the wide table has been useful. I do like the Bench Dog router plate MUCH better than the Ryobi router table insert, but I can do that using the regular rails.

FWIW, my saw is a bit of an odd duck. The prior owner added miter slot tables to both sides of the blade.

Honestly the more I look at it, the more I want to take out hte Ryobi router table part, remove the extra rails and cut down the added table to fill that void. Probably extend a bit past the rails but still be workable... And that way I could use the flip down mobile base better...

[mikepwagner]

Thanks for all the input - I had looked at some of the legacy plans - most seem more complicated than I had planned. Right now, the saw is on a metal stand I bought when I bought he saw 20 years ago. I am not sure that I am reading to build a cabinet to support the wide extension table and the saw.

I am still mulling over this - I am planning on cutting some sheet goods for some model railroad modules. I don’t have any sense of how often I will cut sheet goods in the future.

By the way the way, I have the Ryobi outfeed table - my question was about a wide extension table I should have made that clear in the questions.

I am also considering the overall width of the table with another full set of extension rail.

Thanks for all of the ideas.

[LCHIEN]

I posted an article here
https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...to-your-bt3x00

on making half-length or a bit more extension rails that are strong enough to easily hang out 24 inches to either or both sides without leg support.
I used some off the shelf aluminum extrusion and set screws to make a quick easily assembled and I thought elegant solution.

[mikepwagner]

This is more or less what I was thinking of.

Thanks.

[capncarl]

If the purpose of a wide table addition is to cut large sheet goods , then a track saw may be a better alternative. A number of track assemblies and saws are readily available.
A wide tablesaw is nice to have but takes up a lot of floorspace, is usually covered with shop clutter and is always in the way if you don’t have large shop. To cut large sheet goods with any semblance of accuracy you need a good and large rip fence and a equally large outfeed table. This finishes filling up a shop quickly.

[mpc]

Search this site for "sawboard." It is a dirt-simple thing you can make for a circular saw that gives you some of the same ability as a track saw. It will cost very little if you already have a decent circular saw; just get a high-tooth count blade designed for veneer plywood for the saw. Track saws are really good at making clean cuts and most track saws have good dust collection too. Circular saws and dust collection rarely go together unless you have one of the Porter Cable Mag series saws with the small dust port. That's what I have and, connected to a shop vac, it gets a lot of the dust but not all of it.

With a sawboard you can cut plywood sheets into smaller, manageable sizes that can be finish-cut on the table saw if necessary. My results though are good enough that I cut the raw plywood sheets to final size pieces with the sawboard, my PC Mag saw, and a good Freud blade. I used to lay a few 2x4s on the floor to support the plywood and give myself blade clearance; not long ago I picked up a "Centipede Sawhorse" thing, the 4x8 foot model, that I really like. Flop a sheet of plywood on it and cut. With its many vertical posts it supports the workpiece and the offcut most of the time; only when cutting off smaller pieces do I have to catch them. It includes plastic holders for 2x4s so you can use those to make additional supports if needed.

If you'd rather expand your BT3's work surface, search this site for "wide table kit." That's Ryobi's name for the add-on kit that included fence extension rails, some bits to clamp the new rails to your existing rails, and stuff to help make support legs. Many folks find the saw ends up too wide, too ungainly, when the long rails are added... so folks cut the rails in half (and sell the other half) to get a much more reasonable compromise. That makes the BT3 quite versatile and gives you a good spot for a router table without overwhelming most shop space. I had the full length rails on my saw for a while... I finally got sick of maneuvering the whole thing and switched to half-rails myself. Getting the Centipede Sawhorse was a big factor in that too - plywood sheets were much easier to cut, and safer too, on that with the sawboard. Search this site for posts by me and you will find pictures of my original setup with the wide table kit and some infeed/outfeed tables I built specifically for plywood work. With those tables I only had to guide the plywood sheet, I didn't have to support any weight which helped a ton. Still, it was a challenge to keep the whole sheet against the fence, or against my long fence extension, sometimes. It only takes a small rotation to make a plywood sheet grab/bind on the blade. That ruins the cut at best and can damage the BT3: either the BT3 drive belts break (which is better) or the motor fries because the blade can't turn.

Tricks I've seen to get near-perfect tear-out free cuts on plywood:
1: the sawboard, or the track of a track saw system, sits on the "keep" side of the plywood workpiece and holds the fibers down as the blade tries to push/tear them upwards. The waste side does get tear-out though as there is nothing holding the wood fibers down.

2: if both pieces need to be tear-out free, which is the usual case, laying a strip of blue painter's tape where you intend to saw works wonders. Apply the tape, then do your measurements and markings. Clamp the sawboard or track in place; it's edge should be roughly in the center of the tape strip. Make the cut. Then, when removing the tape, don't pull it upwards... instead pull it sideways, off the cut edge, so you don't lift the fibers with the tape. The cut quality should be good. Tape works too if you use a table saw; just put the tape on the plywood face that will be touching the table saw top. Don't leave the tape on too long (several hours) as the glue residue might migrate into the plywood, contaminating a small section.. just like the annoying price tag stickers.

3: another method is to make a shallow cut on the top surface, maybe an 1/8th inch deep. This pre-cuts the fibers with the blade hitting them at a more shearing cut angle rather than a lifting angle. Then move the workpiece out of the way, raise the blade, and run the workpiece through again. Many professional table saws (the ones costing thousands of dollars and used at furniture or cabinet production shops) often have a second "scoring" blade ahead of the main blade to make this shallow cut. So one workpiece pass is all that is needed.

mpc

[capncarl]

My outfeed table was designed to jack up and roll on top of the tablesaw for storage. My shop has 2 rooms, a 24’ wide “auto shop” and a 14” wide wood shop. The table saw sets in the center of the auto shop so I occasionally have to roll it into the wood shop, then I roll the outfeed table in the wood shop over the tablesaw. It would be that easy except for the clutter that accumulates under the outfeed table. I just pile it on top of the outfeed table and it rides with in the wood shop at the same time.

[LCHIEN]

He's looking for a wide table extension. Not an outfeed table.

[capncarl]

After the wide table, that’s next!