Sunday, April 27, 2014

Table Saw Outfeed Support

It's been some time since I've posted. I'm now working full time as an employee of a company that I worked at as a contractor for 2.5 years before they hired me. We write software that controls and collects data from devices we manufacture for the law enforcement industry. We're very busy, gearing up for a release in early May, so my time in the shop has been limited.

In addition, last fall my primary home computer suffered a hard drive failure, in which I lost all of the plans I had drawn up for various projects. So I'm back at square one.

I have completed much of the reorganization work I had planned for the shop. I've rearranged everything and found that I don't like where my work table / "workbench" is. Plus it's become an unorganized mess to hold stuff until I find it a home. Yes, I am in desperate need of more storage!

In addition, I can't rip a full sheet of plywood on my table saw without setting up roller stands. Even then, they don't do a good job of supporting the stock. The outfeed support table that came with my 22124 table saw is OK but it's inadequate for some jobs, too.

So I posted a question on the WoodNet Woodworking forum, asking for input on dimensions for a good table saw outfeed support table. I got to see a lot of different ideas from a lot of very created people.

After thinking about it for a while, I sat down with SketchUp and came up with this:


As you can see, the base is two open storage cabinets and a router cabinet that returns so you use the router from the side. The router plate opening in the top is sized for my Woodpeckers router plate. The top features a set or rollers that I intend to make out of 1 1/2" PVC tubing, just like ones that Norm Abram made for his outfeed support. The top itself is 25" deep; the rollers, when extended to full extension, will increase the depth to 49", which should be able to support 8' long stock while it is being ripped without it falling off.

I will probably start this after we finish some household maintenance items and my office releases our next version. I will post about it in the coming weeks.