Table Saw Super-Sizer (Outfeed/Assembly/Side table from Family Handyman 11/2012)

[tohellwithuga]

I was looking through November's Family Handyman and saw an article on an interesting knockdown outfeed/assembly/side table that can be hung on the wall when not in use. Since my workshop is only 20x20, I don't have room for a permanent outfeed table, and this is an interesting option.

I wonder if anyone here has tried this plan, or something similar, and what your opinions of it are? What are some potential problems with this? One thing that I wonder about is how sturdy the table would be after it was assembled/disassembled a few times.

I'm not sure if it's ok to post this, but I can't find a link to it online. This is just the article intro page just to get an idea (no instructions).

[kirkroy]

I like it!

[Cochese]

I saw that when I was thumbing through the issue at Lowe's on Saturday (BTW, the small shop solutions article? Not worth it). That's probably about the size of my shop.

[All Thumbs]

It seems awfully large and maybe a bit time consuming for setup and tear-down.

[tohellwithuga]

It seems awfully large and maybe a bit time consuming for setup and tear-down.

It could be built smaller - looks like the dimensions were constrained by the outside of the stand. But, yes, setup would be a little time consuming.

[mpc]

One thing folks commonly overlook is making their basic workbench height match what they'd need as an outfeed table... so it can do double-duty. If that height is uncomfortable to work with though - it'd probably be too high - consider what can be done to adjust the height of the table saw or have small "riser" blocks for the bench. Remember, you can adjust the height of either item!

In my shop, floor space AND wall space are at a premium. So many of these "fold up and store against the wall" ideas create more problems than they solve. Something that stores with the saw - even if it flips over the TOP of the saw for storage - makes more sense to me. I've made long skinny infeed & outfeed (4 total) stands that hinge from the BT3's rails for my saw. They're quite handy for big sheet goods. I did make them "sit" on the top of the rails for extra strength (so the pivot hinges would not have to support the weight of sheet goods) but that means they can get in the way of the BT3 fence. I have to juggle them around sometimes... a little inconvenient but much less of an issue compared to assembling a knock-down table. One day I'll post pictures of them.

mpc

[tohellwithuga]

I would love to see those photos, mpc. The idea of attached/hinged supports had crossed my mind also, but seeing it implemented would be nice.

I had also thought about the wall space issue - looking around my workshop, wall space is definitely at a premium (although there are things I could do to free up some space, for sure).

[chopnhack]

KD shop furniture is truly handy when permanent dedicated space is an issue. Fold down furniture is a notch better in that it folds on hinges usually and is much quicker to put into and take out of service.

[mpc]

Views of my infeed/outfeed tables. First pic (Infeed_and_outfeed_example_1527.jpg) shows the tables installed. Notice they sit on the tops of the BT3's rails (for extra strength) but that means they interfere with moving the fence. The edges are close to the BT3's tabletop too; I don't have the typical 3 to 5 inch gap. Small square blocks are visible near the BT3 rails; those blocks connect the metal brackets I made (that ride in BT3 rail slots) to hinges on the bottom of the infeed/outfeed tables. This allows the tables to hang vertically from the BT3 rails for storage. And to let the fence pass - just fold the table about 45 degrees and slide the fence past. The far end of the infeed/outfeed tables is supported by a simple 1x2 stick mounted with a locking shelf support hinge - Woodcraft sells them. The 1x2 legs are a little flimsy laterally but they've worked fine so far.

Locking_support_detail_1461.jpg is that Woodcraft shelf hinge. The diagonal brace is spring-loaded to latch against the vertical part of the hinge; pulling it to the left in the pic (or pressing that white button/lever at the very bottom of the hinge) disengages it from the vertical part allowing the hinge to fold and the leg to fold against the underside of the table. This is my prototype table - thus the crummy looking too-thin plywood table and extra paint splatters on the 1x2 scrap.

Third pic (My_brackets_for_BT3_Rails_1440.jpg) is my home made prototype bracket. It's basically 3 metal parts welded together (though you could run a countersunk machine screw through the three pieces and just use a washer+nut on the bottom) and powder coated. A flat bar stock, a chunk of square stock, and more bar stock at a 90 degree angle with a screw hole in it. Home Depot stocks bar stock that fits into BT3 rails and the square stock in their over-priced metal bars/rods section. This is a prototype piece; it's only about an inch "long" in the direction parallel to the BT3 rail. The real ones are almost a foot long (as wide as the infeed/outfeed tables) so they don't rack in the BT3 rails. Lesson learned with the prototype.

The 4th pic (View_of_rail_bracket_2102.jpg) shows the details. The black part is the welded & powder coated metal bar, square stock, and two "ears" with screw holes. Those ears are screwed to small spacer wood blocks that are then hinged to the baltic birch tables; the blocks are sized to get the tables to match the BT3 tabletop. You can just see the black hinges at the tops of the spacer blocks. A plywood cleat at the top is a spacer; this cleat sits on the top of the BT3 rail so my welded brackets and those wood spacer blocks don't have to support the weight of whatever I'm cutting.

The 5th pic (prototype_in_stored_position_1463.jpg) shows how the whole things folds and hangs from the BT3 rails. The length just clears the floor so I can wheel the whole shebang around. This is a wood mock-up prototype - including wooden mock-ups of what later became the 3 welded metal pieces.

I don't have drawings for any of this... I just made it up on the fly, experimenting with scrap lumber on the prototype.

Since the pieces just slide left/right in the BT3 rails I can position them to match both the "keep" and "cutoff" parts of my workpieces. And on the infeed side I can walk between them so I never have to reach over the infeed tables or lean at awkward angles.

Finish is nothing more than spray-on polyurethane, a quick steel wool sanding, and paste wax on the top surfaces.

For folks eyeballing the cabinet underneath the BT3... it's just a baltic birch plywood box with ears. The vertical sides of the box just fit in the opening where drawer fronts are visible, the "ears" are on the top and bottom pieces and extend all the way to the legs of the BT3000 stand. I added doors over the openings in the BT3000 stand to make 3 inch deep cabinets with those ears - good storage for dado sets. My early model (13 amp) BT3000 stand is pretty "open" on the ends (just smaller than the door that you can see in the first pic) unlike other stands I've seen on these forums with much more metal "wall" in the side panels. The drawers sit on 1/4 inch plywood shelves and can open to the front or back of the BT3 saw. They don't have typical drawer glides or other runners - they just ride on the 1/4 plywood. It's handy to be able to open them from the front or back of the saw. In fact, I have to be careful to not "slam" them shut - they'll just slide all the way through and fall out the other side! Spray-on poly finish again. Most of my shop stuff is Baltic Birch and spray-on poly.

mpc

[mpc]

Okay, I found a decent pic of my BT3 storage cabinet from many years ago. The edges of the BB ply are visible around the drawers, the end of the upper "ear" is visible at the top of the side opening. Notice how "open" the right side of the metal stand is on my early BT3000? Seems unusual; most others I've seen on this forum are mostly metal walls except for a 3 or 4 inch "mail slot" in the bottom.

This pic shows my early mobility method: pipes in "U" loops attached to the stand as suggested by somebody on this forum many years ago. I've since replaced the pipes with the Delta style mobile base since the "pipe wheelbarrow" method doesn't work with an added wide table kit. I cut the wide table kit legs shorter and replaced the feet with locking casters; you can see this in the first pic of the prior post. The leg kit is hinged to a home brew platform that holds the far end of the rails. This way I can disconnect the wide table kit from the BT3 itself, pull a deadbolt style latch, and fold the legs against the underside of the rails & table for storage. It used to lean against the front of my BT3 for storage. With my re-arranged shop though I have enough room to leave the wide table kit permanently attached so the folding leg trick is no longer necessary - and in fact is a nuisance since the deadbolt sometimes rattles loose while I'm rolling the saw around the shop/garage. Time to remove that hinge! Or replace the stock BT3 base + my cabinet that fits inside the base + the wide table kit legs with one long cabinet! I no longer need to store stuff underneath the wide table.

mpc

[toolguy1000]

or this really inexpensive (if you can find slab doors lying around) solution for benchtop TSs:

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/item...table-tablesaw

[tohellwithuga]

Wow, thanks for the photos and description, mpc. I'm going to have to study it a bit, but I definitely like what I see.

And toolguy1000, I'm not sure if I've seen the 2-door hinged method before, I like it. I may just have to implement that for now, at least in the meantime. Thanks for posting that.

[greenacres2]

And a pair of hollow core doors is pretty light compared to 3/4" plywood!!

Not that i need light, no sir. I'd double up on the 3/4 ply. Yep. But some people might need light. Yep, some people. Not me though--way too heavy is good for me!!

earl

[jnesmith]

I haven't seen that one, but have been considering building this one from Wood mag.



I have the plans if you are interested.

[greenacres2]

Wow John--that is very cool as well. Would double as a nice assembly table.

For about 4 months last winter one of the local CL's had a couple advertising an electric powered dual drafting table. Each table could be raised individually like between about 26-42", and tilted independently too. I couldn't quite cough up the $300 they wanted (or the 2 hour round-trip), but new the thingg would have been like $1,500-$2,000 as i recall. Wish i had bought it, but also kind of glad i didn't.

earl