Zero footprint outfeed table

[drzaius]

20 minutes ago, SawDustB said:

You're both right, of course. It's more that I'm not sure I'll be able to put laminate on the bottom with the ribs and other pieces in the way.

Gotcha. I used a layer of ply on both the top & bottom to hopefully keep the table flatter. My last outfeed, which I also use as an assembly table was just MDF with ribs on the underside & it eventually developed a bow. So this time I went kind overboard on it, but it is still dead flat after a couple of years. My out feed is 36" x 48" with an 18" x 48" removable extension.

[SawDustB]

30 minutes ago, mat60 said:

I think you are really going to enjoy using this.   Nice how easy you will be able to fold away when your done for the day.

I think so too. It's going to make the saw so much more functional.

19 minutes ago, drzaius said:

Gotcha. I used a layer of ply on both the top & bottom to hopefully keep the table flatter. My last outfeed, which I also use as an assembly table was just MDF with ribs on the underside & it eventually developed a bow. So this time I went kind overboard on it, but it is still dead flat after a couple of years. My out feed is 36" x 48" with an 18" x 48" removable extension.

Yeah, that's a good idea, certainly it's best practice. I'm trying to keep the weight down, but I could put on 1/8" ply which might help a little. I want to avoid a second layer of 1/2". I'm not planning to use this for an assembly table - it's purely just for outfeed support. It's a bit of a different scale, too. The finished dimension on this is coming in at around 23" x 28".

[drzaius]

3 hours ago, SawDustB said:

I'm trying to keep the weight down

Not gonna lie, mine isn't a light weight. It is easy to raise up on the hinges though.

[pkinneb]

4 hours ago, SawDustB said:

...It's more that I'm not sure I'll be able to put laminate on the bottom with the ribs and other pieces in the way...

Oh I misunderstood you I thought you meant on the sides not the bottom. I wouldn't worry about the bottom mine lasted 12 years and counting and was constructed the same way as yours. Its now with its new owner but I suspect it will last many more years. Here's an early pic as stated I did the top and the sides. Disregard the piece on top that was a down draft area I incorporated into the outfeed table but never used.

[SawDustB]

I'm getting close to completion on this one. I laminated the top with Formica, and cut the miter slots into the top. Due to a mismeasurement, the slots are 1 1/2" (they were supposed to be just over 1"). My miter slots are the t shaped ones, requiring more than the usual 3/4".

I've just got it propped up on the dovetail leg right now with a quick clamp. I could just use it this way if I put a brace to prevent it collapsing, but it's supposed to go to a bracket on the saw.

I ended up skinning the bottom in 1/8" ply to help prevent twisting and stiffen it up a bit. You can't see, but I also had to add a bit more structure to attach the hinge. Overall, I think it's strong enough now and it's still reasonably light.

[drzaius]

That's some pretty exotic looking 'veneer' on the top 

I really like having an outfeed that just folds away & is supported independently of the (uneven) floor.

[xxdabroxx]

I really need to build something like this for my table saw.  I'm almost thinking a thin "torsion" box with hard board on the top and bottom would work well and be pretty light.  I think I would just do a single adjustable folding leg in the middle of mine for now.  Maybe use 1/2 mdf for the webs, they should stay nice and flat.

You've got my gears turning, now to come up with a plan and execute. 

[SawDustB]

37 minutes ago, xxdabroxx said:

I really need to build something like this for my table saw.  I'm almost thinking a thin "torsion" box with hard board on the top and bottom would work well and be pretty light.  I think I would just do a single adjustable folding leg in the middle of mine for now.  Maybe use 1/2 mdf for the webs, they should stay nice and flat.

You've got my gears turning, now to come up with a plan and execute. 

Mine basically is a torsion box... I've got 1/2" ply on the top, and 1/8" ply on the bottom. I don't think I would go thinner than 1/4" on the top. I used very dry pine for the frame, which has the advantage of being nice and light. 

 

[SawDustB]

I mocked it up after clamping a board onto the saw. It seems like it will work, but I think I'll need a L shaped piece.  It doesn't seem to make the saw unstable or anything.

I might try using it like this for a week or so before I make it permanent. I want to be sure before I drill my holes in the saw.

 

[Robert Morse]

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I have the same design bolted onto the back of my PM2000.  I like the design you came up with for reducing weight, and I like your wood grained laminate - my local Home Depot only had black. 

The design worked GREAT in my last shop (half of a 2 car garage).  I will say that I used 2 layers of MDF with laminate glued on top, so mine wouldn't meet your requirement for light weight.  On the plus side, the table folds easily on the "hinges" and the only time its slipped on me was when I forgot to lock the arm thing on the bottom in the open position with the barrel locks... When it fell, it definitely got my attention. 

The "table" part of mine is attached to the saw via a pretty big laminated chunk of Beech, which has 1" wide miter slots routed into it.  I now wish I had routed miter slots into the table top as well, but I went overkill and secured the 2 layers together with glue and screws before I laminated, and I'm not willing to sacrifice a router bit to discovering the screw locations while making the slots.  In hindsight, I should have marked where the screws went in...

A couple other thoughts: for me, the extension table became a de facto assembly station - and it was super easy to get dried glue off the laminate, and the table itself is quite rigid and flat for assembly. Because the bottom of mine is flat, it is easy to clamp things down to it around the edges while glue dries, or to hold work.  Oh, and when you're done, folding the table flat will help to make sure your family doesn't cover the flat surface of your outfeed table with their stuff. 

[SawDustB]

So it cracks me up that my last comment on this said that I'd use it that way for a week... It's been over a year, and I'm just getting to it now. I added a magnet to keep it from swinging out when it's opened. You can see in the picture I put a barrel bolt in the ideal open position. I also bolted the wood piece into the saw. There's a 8/4 maple piece in behind that it's attached to. I tapped the piece of wood so I didn't have to fiddle with nuts under there.

I've been really happy with this as an outfeed solution. Now that I've got these last couple of things done, it's about 30 seconds to put it up and 10 seconds to put it down. For my space constraints, and where I have to move the table saw every time to use it, that's a big deal.

[legenddc]

Are you still able to raise/lower the wheels with the outfeed table hanging down? I have the Craftsman equivalent of this saw and it has levers on the front and back for the wheels.

[SawDustB]

14 hours ago, legenddc said:

Are you still able to raise/lower the wheels with the outfeed table hanging down? I have the Craftsman equivalent of this saw and it has levers on the front and back for the wheels.

Yes, no issue. On the ridgid, there's one foot pedal on the front that activates all of the wheels together. Here's a side view:

You can see the folded table stops about 4-5" above the floor. Here's the back view:

To me, this is about as large a table as I would want to do this with on this saw. It doesn't impede the mobility at all. That's one of the reasons I went with lightweight construction. I think the wheels would be hard to put down if it was too heavy.