Shootingboard.net

Contractor Saw Outfeed Support Project Some people have asked me about my outfeed table. It’s really very simple — much more so than many others I’ve seen on Woodnet.  It’s 3/4″ melamine trimmed with scrap (pine/poplar/birch/etc). I guessed this would give me the most sag-free table with the least amount of work. The edge trim builds up the height and (hopefully) will help prevent sagging.

Figuring out how to mount it to the saw gave me the most trouble. I wanted it to be fully supported by the saw (no legs) so I don’t have to set it up every time I move the saw. I got the idea to use angle-iron to support the table based on Photog’s fold down outfeed table post on Woodnet. His Ridgid saw has webbed wings, so that mounting method wouldn’t work for my saw.

Here’s my solution:  I first mounted a long (48″) piece of angle iron along the back of the saw, to provide extra support for the 2 side wings:

Why did I need to do this?  On my saw, the end of the fence hooks over a rear fence rail (I don’t know if the new ones do this), and it just didn’t seem sturdy enough to support the  extra weight of an outfeed table. So I took this rail off and installed a 48″-long piece of angle-iron along the back of the saw, extending all the way across both side wings. I then put the rear fence rail back on top, since it was needed for my fence. I used the standard hole locations, but I think I had to switch a couple of the bolts to slightly longer bolts, though.

I added this extra piece of angle-iron for two reasons: (1) as noted above, to add extra support to the wings (to keep them from flexing), and (2) to give me a rear “bracket” to mount two table supports to (as seen in the picture above).

I then cut some short pieces of angle-iron to make L-shaped mounting brackets behind the front fence rail:

Once this was done, I attached a long piece of angle iron on either side of the saw, extending about 18″ out the back:

The outfeed table rests on these, using bolts to level the table at four points:

I originally wanted to have a fold-out extension, but I ended up just making a removable one. I made the fixed portion about 18″, so that gives me a little over 2 feet from the back of the blade. This is plenty of room for most of what I do, and this was all I used for a long time. Eventually I made a removable table that rests on the lip at the end of the extension table (see first photo), and is supported by a roller stand:

I just use clamps to keep the removable part of the table from slipping:

This is now big enough to handle 8′ long material when I need to. If I wanted the extension to hang from a hinge, I probably would make the fixed part of the table shorter – just enough to clear the motor.

One last point:  if you do something like this on this type of saw, you need to rout out a spot so the motor clears when it’s tilted all the way to 45*, like this:

You should tilt it all the way, then raise & lower the blade to make sure the motor does not contact the table throughout the full range of travel.

It ain’t purdy, but it works for me. If I had to do it over again, I probably would have made the fixed portion of the table shorter, so that I could attach the extended part of the table with a hinge.  This is how I actually planned for this to be designed.  However, if I tried to do that with mine, I’m afraid the extra weight might make the saw too “tippy” when raised up on its lift wheels.  Slambubba on Woodnet learned from my basic design flaw and improved on it, and he posted his outfeed table on his web site.