Hi, guys, I’ve been away for a long while, so those of you who remember me, well Hello there!
We’ve moved from England to France, to Normandy. We arrived here at the tail end of November, bought a house and moved in in Feb, and since then I have been converting some old stables into a workshop.
Yes – a workshop!!! for me!!! It’s about 500 square feet (51square metres), and to be honest it is not wonderful – very old, poorly built walls (some are brick, some are oak timber frame with wattle and daub infill), and it has ‘grown’ an extension at some time. There is an electric supply, but no interior wiring yet, so everything has to be ran using trailing power leads until I get it done – but it is a WORKSHOP, and ITS MINE!
Right, now here’s the question – I have an old tablesaw ( a Wadkin, circa 1959), which still works, and I want to build some extra table(s) to support work going through it. The table is about 40 inches wide.
Can anyone suggest good options for the table(s)? I will probably make them into cupboards as well – I remember seeing an article in FWW about a bloke who worked in a single garage, who had done that.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Ozzy
Replies
Ozzy,
Hopefully Sgain will see your post, I believe he too had a Wadkin and had built an outfeed table for it. As I recall from the pictures, It was a two legged drop leaf that used the Wadkin for two of the legs, very interesting.
Good luck with your shop, sounds fascinating.
Thanks for that, BG. With any luck I will hear from Sgain.
Take care,
Ozzy
One thing you could do is back your workbench up and use it as an outfeed table. That's what I did for mine. I put levers on the bottom so I could lower and raise the table to fit the saw. It's worked great. I use the workbench as outfeed tabel and TS as an overflow to rest pieces on while I work, and I don't have wasted space. Just a thought.
If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it.
And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Bones,
Good to hear from you, and thanks for the suggestions. My bench is rather tall for that (I built it myself, and I'm 6 feet 2, with back problems), but it's definitely worth a look.
Take care,
Ozzy
You might consider building a mobile base for the saw to raise the height to match your bench. If you raised the bench to get it at a comfortable working height, then it makes sense to raise the saw also.
I built a base to raise saw. I have problems with my low back, and the stock height saw would make my back hurt after just a few cuts.
Hi, there, good to meet you.
Raise the saw? How did you do that? Is it a permanent thing, or can you move it around?
Thanks for the input,
Ozzy
Ozzy,
There was an article on a folding, shop-built tablesaw outfeed table in FWW a few years back. It was beautifully engineered, and folded up flat against the back of the saw when not in use. You could probably find it by using the search feature on this website.
If you choose to build an outfeed table that will be fixed in position all the time, consider using it for a router table as well. You need to conserve space where you can, and this is an ideal location for such a tool. You may even be able to integrate the tablesaw's fence to use with the router table.
ZoltonIf you see a possum running around in here, kill it. It's not a pet. - Jackie Moon
Hi, Zolton, good to meet you.
That is a very gooid idea about the router table. Thanks very much.
Ozzy
Hi Ozzy
You may like to consider another few options. What about a fold-down run-off table with a couple of fold away legs? In a 500ft workshop you could probably do with all the spare floor space you can get. people like HTC and Grizzly do sell them ready built, but they're easy enough to make (and a lot cheaper). Secondly why not consider siting your work bench behind the tablesaw and using that as the run-off table. I've seen this in a couple of workshops and it works quite well. BTW Richard's saw (the one featured in some of his articles was a 1970s or 1980s Wadkin SP12 panel saw, and a bit of a different beast from what Wadkin were making in 1959. Is yours an AGS or something more exoctic?
Scrit
Moderator http://www.woodworkuk.com
Scrit,
Good to hear from you. Yup, its an ASG, as used in schools, colleges and just about any small woodworking company. They must have sold thousands. It only cost me 200 pounds, and although I have had to do some repairs (the guide rails were both bent), it works OK. It would be nice to have a shiny new beasty, but I'm retired, so not really justifiable.
Take care, and thanks for the suggestions.
Ozzy
Remember you from a long, long time ago.
Anyway, size your run-out table to what you may be ripping. You could position your TS in a doorway or near a window to facillitate long stock running off of the table and through the opening. It also helps to have everything on rollers so you can adjust to different lengths or widths. I just put casters on the back side of the legs so I can lift the front and the wheels engage the ground, set it down, and it doesn't move. If you cross-cut long stock, you could have a saw-horse with a support for that too.
Pics of a shop under construction are always nice...
Hi, Tom, it IS a long time - I used to be the woodwork lecturer at a college for visually impaired people. The job was losing ground - the students we were attracting were not physically able enough to use tools, so I was offerred early retirement, and took it. That was 2 years ago. No broadband at home, so all went very quiet.
Now that, for the first time, I have a dedicated workshop, I hope to get into converting heaps of valuable hardwoods into sawdust! A new kitchen comes pretty high on the agenda - just as when I worked for a living, my priorities are all assigned for me!
Anyway, thats a good idea - I have had a few now, so I should be able to work out a reasonable plan of attack.
Good to hear from you, stay in touch,
Ozzy
This one might suit you or at least provide you with an idea or two.
http://www.phoenixwood.ca/forum/index.php?showtopic=1643
Excellent! Thanks very much indeed.
Ozzy
Nothing that could help you I would think..
however, Making a project was NEVER the problem..
Space to glue it up and finish was ALWAYS!
That's why I like to use old luan doors on foldable sawhorses for assembly and sanding. Can do that out under the cover I built over the front of the shop, which doubles as a double car-port. Lay down some tarps, and shoot clear finishes. For painted items, I just move down the gravel drive farther.
You can fold the horses and stack them with the doors against an unused wall.
I agree! I use some old 2 inch thick foam insulation on the horses!
This summer has been a bummer for finishing anything! Way to much rain.. ALOT ... ALOT of different bugs exploded into population!
I took my project outdoors and use some de-waxed shellac.. The flies were on the surface in an instant! Many stuck there as the Alcohol flashed off!
When I shoot finishes outdoors, I usually have a pedistal fan blowing on the pieces as they're finished and that minimizes nits in the finish.
Must've been some quick boogers to get into shellac. That stuff dries quicker than nitro lacquer...
good point!
I have a small shop, so I based my outfeed table on an idea by Frank Vucolo. (Do a search on his name in the in Workshop section.) Basically he uses a fairly short outfeed table with drawers, which have rollers on top. By pulling out the drawers you can effectively double the length of the table. That means the table only has to be slighly deeper than 2 feet to enable me to rip full sheets of plywood. I don't know about your saw, but my dust control port is in the back, so full cabinets were not an option.
Simon
Nice idea, thankyou very much.
Stay in touch,
Ozzy
Hi, Simon, good to know you.
I've tried to look up Frank in the workshop section, but to no avail. I cannot claim to be a whizz with this site, though, so it's probably my lack of nouse. It sounds like a good idea, though - I know Accuride do some pretty heavy duty full-extension slides, and they might be the way to go. Thanks a lot for sharing this with me.
Take care, and stay in touch,
Ozzy
You may need a paid subscription to access the article, but here is the Frank Vucolo article.
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/Workshop/WorkshopPDF.aspx?id=2324
Bruce"A man's got to know his limitations." Dirty Harry Calahan
Got it. Thanks very much,
Ozzy
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