TS Fence and Router Extension Wing


kingswarrior777

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I am working on a plan to spend some Christmas money in the range of about $350.00 and I wanted to get some feed back to see what others have done. Most of my equipment was handed down to me from my Grandfather and I don't have money to replace anything with brand new equipment, so I have decided to setup / fix / upgrade the tools I was given. Previously all of my projects have been in turning but I recently made some cutting boards and would really like to start some bigger projects using right angles. But alas my table saw is not accurate enough. (Really crappy fence) And my Router table is worthless

Desire: Table saw fence upgrade & Router Table

Tools: Delta 34-710 Super 10 Motorized Saw & Ryobi 2.25 HP plunge router

My thoughts are to upgrade my table saw fence and put the router table in the right wing of the table saw because space is at a premium. I am looking for a system that would work well together, but might also be friendly on a lower budget. I could get the fence now and then add the router to the wing later, but I really wanted to know what the best options were since I am planning on doing both. I know incra has a system that all works together, but that might be a little big and pricey for my uses.

Delta TS? Accufence? Incra? Jointech? Etc...

Let me know what you think!

~Molokmot

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Putting the router table in the right wing is a pretty easy project; don't try re-using the tablesaw fence over there. Make a new fence that clamps onto the table; I have a fence that locks down in a t-track and I think it is much slower to adjust than a clamped fence.

I doubt you could find a stock router table plate that takes the Ryobi, but maybe the base is similar to another? Is there a way to do an above-table bit height change? Some plunge models have a hex screw on the underside for above-table adjustment. If not, setting the height incrementally might be tricky with a plunger.

I looked up that tablesaw. Looks like it has a crappy fence like my dad's old Craftsman contractor saw had. Does yours not hold calibration? move while using it? have no way to calibrate?

What's funny is that someone told me to never try turning until I got all the "90º projects" out of my system cuz he said I'd never turn back (pun intended :))

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I am working on a plan to spend some Christmas money in the range of about $350.00 and I wanted to get some feed back to see what others have done. Most of my equipment was handed down to me from my Grandfather and I don't have money to replace anything with brand new equipment, so I have decided to setup / fix / upgrade the tools I was given. Previously all of my projects have been in turning but I recently made some cutting boards and would really like to start some bigger projects using right angles. But alas my table saw is not accurate enough. (Really crappy fence) And my Router table is worthless

Desire: Table saw fence upgrade & Router Table

Tools: Delta 34-710 Super 10 Motorized Saw & Ryobi 2.25 HP plunge router

My thoughts are to upgrade my table saw fence and put the router table in the right wing of the table saw because space is at a premium. I am looking for a system that would work well together, but might also be friendly on a lower budget. I could get the fence now and then add the router to the wing later, but I really wanted to know what the best options were since I am planning on doing both. I know incra has a system that all works together, but that might be a little big and pricey for my uses.

Delta TS? Accufence? Incra? Jointech? Etc...

Let me know what you think!

~Molokmot

I updated my 50's Craftsman Table Saw with a Delta Unifence. I got the Unifence for $150.00, added the Melamine Side table and shelf, and today I will be working on getting the Outfeed table Constructed.

SawSwitch007.jpg?t=1325283444

Depending on the saw you have, I also agree with James. You can do quite well picking up used saws on Craigslist if you are patient.

Good Luck!

John

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I have been looking into the Ridgid R4512 recently and for the money it seems to be a decent table saw with enough power and all of the accuracy I would need as a hobbiest. Haven't seen a bad review yet and with a life time warrenty it seems like a great idea. Anyone have any first hand experience with this one?

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have the r4512, overall for the money I think it's a pretty decent saw. I have two dislikes one, the stamped steel extensions, If I could find some cast wings that would fit it I'd probably buy them. The stamped steel is impossible to line up perfectly, and even if you could line them up perfect, a little pressure hear and there will put them out of alignment again. How important is perfect alignment of the wings? Well that's for you to decide. They haven't affected any of my work (at least not that I'm aware of) I am just a bit of a perfectionist whenever I setup my tools. The other is the fence, it is OK considering the type of saw. If you compare the fence to any other saw in the price range it will either be as good or better, but that really doesn't say a lot. Once clamped down you have to put a great amount of force to make it deflect, great! But, when you are clamping it, it is very hard to make it perfectly parallel to the blade/miter slots. The back doesnt always square up with the front. My technique for dealing with this is everytime I clamp down the fence I usually give it a "lock, unlock, lock, unlock, lock, unlock, lock" action and that helps square it up, not always perfect but usually dang close. Actually looking for an upgrade on a fence is how I stumbled upon this post. With my negatives out of the way, if I had less than 900$ to spend on a saw again, I'd buy the ridgid again without much thinking. I put a forest woodworker II sawblade on it and it has cut everything I've thrown at it. If I could afford to spend 1000-1200, there are many other options I'd explore most likely I'd choose something from steel city or grizzly.

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Cyclingneko,

Did you happen to put a router table in the saw extension? I am thinking about using the MCLS router extension XM EXTENSION TABLE 1

Any thoughts? I would build my own, but I am not sure I have the tools to be as accurate as I would get in a purchased solution.

Regards,

MolokMot

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I bought a Delta T2 as my fence upgrade and I'm very happy with it, makes a good saw for the price a great saw for the price, maybe... One problem though. After installing the new fence and squaring it up the the miter slot, it wasn't square to the blade. I spent probably 2 hours aligning the blade to the miter slot when I first bought the saw 4 or 5 months ago. It was a real pain in the neck to do, I had to set up a series of clamps basically to move the trunnion then tighten down the bolts, finally after so long of trying to pry and bang and everything else that was my solution and it seemed to work. Now I'm back to having to pull the panel and try to get everything aligned again. This time I'm buying peachtree's contractor saw alignment kit http://www.ptreeusa.com/tablesaw_products.htm hopefully that will make it less of a headache and possible keep it aligned better. I'll try and remember to post my findings. For now I have the fence aligned to the blade, and I'll avoid using the miter slots until I get the trunions adjusted.

MolokMot,

Not yet. The plan as of right now is to put a cast router extension to the left of the saw to replace the stamped steel wing. Normal cast extension wing's usually cost around 100$ (after shipping) from what I've found. So kind of killing two birds with one stone I'm thinking to get the MCLS XCI for an extra 150 and I'll have another router table in my shop without taking up more floor space. The one thing I need to confirm is whether or not a router mounted on the left side will clear the motor housing on the saw. It may be close. I need to find out if the cutout on the router extension is perfectly centered and then make some measurements. From looking at the pictures, I don't believe it will be a problem. My shop layout only allows for the router table to be on the left side of the table saw. For this reason I wouldn't personally buy the XM extension table, it's too wide IMO to be on the left side of the saw. If your plan is to put the router table on the right side of the table saw, I think the XM extension may be fine, plus the fence rails on that side will give more attachment points to better secure the extension.

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