Thread: Outfeed Table

I just made mine oversize so the mitre gauge didn't hang up. Works great.
A straight edge on the slot, mark a line then rout oversize.
The outfeed table is one of the handiest things i've made for my shed. I whipped up a fairly small one for a particular job but I consider it a necessity now. I plan to build a bigger better one soon.

My outfeed table is 2cm lower than the saw. What mitre slots?

Aw ... Wongo ...
I just had on of those "Bother spit and darn ... how could I have overlooked such a simple solution" moments.

Nevertheless I refuse to copy your brilliant solution. Instead I have designed my own. The outfeed table will be 10 mm lower than the saw table.

The outfeed end of my fence runs on a bolt with a nylon (or similar) face along a piece of angle iron fastened to the back of the table. Fence type can be seen in pic. Thought I'd remove that angle and fit a ceramic button to the underside of the fence for the fence to ride on ... one of those ceramic buttons made to slide furniture on. An alternative would be a piece of very slippery plastic, if I can find it. Any other bright ideas gratefully accepted.
IMAG0227.jpg

What about dis?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51S3qgynn2L.jpg

Wongo,

Thought about felt, cork or similar. Have some in the house and will try it when I get home. However, my concern is that whatever I use must easily ride over the mitre slot when I am moving the fence to rip narrow pieces, and soft material may catch in the slot.

Does anyone have any experience here?

Bloody hell John what do I have to do?

Try this one
http://athomeinthenorthwestblog.com/...5/11154055.jpg

or this one
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_SS500_.jpg

or this one
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_SS500_.jpg

Originally Posted by Wongo

Bloody hell John what do I have to do?

Well ...

You could drop into my shop and put them on my fence ...

Actually, the first pic you posted is of the type of ceramic buttons I was thinking of using. Have used them in the past under refrigerators etc. My guess is that the bigger button is the one to use, so it can't fall into the mitre slot.

My question was to discover what experiences existed in solving this issue. Surely I am not the first to want to remove the angle iron from the back of the saw ... this must have been done before. Just looking around to see what seems to work best.

Returned home on Thursday ... very disappointed that Wongo had not visited my shed and installed the ceramic button on the underside of my fence.

So, took a minute off and did it myself. Perfect! Used a 55 mm square button so it could not fall into the mitre slot, and it rides cleanly over the slot ... not even a click, let alone a clunk.

Now I can pull the angle iron off the back of the saw table and attach the outfeed table (when I build it) directly to the existing saw table.

Makes me wonder why the manufacturer did not do this. It would be cheaper, (no powder coated angle iron) and it works perfectly.

Doesnt the rear angle iron play a role in rigidising and aligning the extension wings ?
I thought so, so I left it in place and built the outfeed table so that it starts immediately behind the angle iron. Of course this means a 50mm gap between sawtable and outfeed table, but in practice it has no real consequence.

I also wonder whether you are throwing something away with your ceramic button - the ability to adjust the rear of the fence so that it runs as close to the table top as possible. Very useful for cutting thin plies and veneers - and a safety issue because its pretty scary when a piece of ply travels under the fence while its being cut.

cheers
Arron

I've set mine up the same as yours Arron. I drilled holes in the angle iron and attached hinges with countersunk screws for the outfeed table. The fence support slides over the screw heads no problem.
For cutting thin stock I clamp a piece of MDF to the face of the fence so there is no gap at all and no possibility of the work piece sliding under the fence.

Arron,

I guess a lot depends on the type of saw one has. My saw is an old Taiwanese contractor saw. See pic.

IMAG0237.jpg
On my saw, the left hand extension table used to be a sliding table, but it was worse than useless, so I replaced the sliding extension with a fixed MDF insert supported by a hardwood frame and made a cross-cut sled instead ... big improvement! The original fence was a disaster. Unlike the current fence, it stopped short of the sliding table (now MDF). This extension has steel brackets under it that support it. The original table used to slide past the original fence support, so the angle is not part of its support. The right hand extension was a hole until I built the cabinet recently, and is now also MDF with a hardwood frame. It is bolted to the cast iron table on the left hand side and supported by/screwed to the cabinet on the other, so again the angle iron is not needed for support.

The fence has a recessed bottom face. The ceramic button actually lowers the fence slightly when compared with the original bolt, so the clearance over the table is only about one or two millimetres. I was prepared to make any necessary adjustments to keep the fence at the right height over the table, but it was not necessary ... I got lucky.

My plan is to build the out-feed table in two parts. The first will be about 350 mm wide (to extend past the motor). The second will be hinged to the first short section, so it hangs down out of the way when not in use ... at least that is the current plan ... all will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Makes sense, thanks for clearing that up.
Cheers
Arron

The outfeed table is on. I wanted it fixed to the saw, which is on wheels.

In the end I decided to make the outfeed 450mm wide. This means I can put a cut through a workpiece that is about 1650mm long before the centre of gravity moves over the back edge of the outfeed table. This is likely enough.

Decided to follow NCArcher's advice. Cut oversized slots in the outfeed table with a dado blade.

For now, the hinged leaf I was planning to install to extend the outfeed table even further is a parked-up idea. If I decide it is necessary, it is simple to add later.

IMAG0270[1].jpg

Because I removed the angle iron the back end of the fence used to ride on and replaced it with a ceramic button under the fence (works perfectly), I was able to bolt the outfeed table directly to the original iron table.

Outside edge of the outfeed table is supported by two 45 degree braces attached to the cabinet. Can barely recognise my old contractor saw now.

Works like a bought one ... very happy with the result.

Hi John,

With my saw the outfeed table is on four legs, the table is 900x1200 with oversize mitre slots. The fence still runs along the bar on the oufeed end and the table has a 25mm gap to allow this. I made the table this large because my workshop is quite small and it will double as an assembly bench. Because the floor is not as level as it could be I screwed lag bolts into the bottom of the legs to get the table to the height of the saw.
John, how did you shape the 4" tube to that square section on the blade guard.