How do I add router table a table saw?
londonlad
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
I’ve pretty much decided on the up-market Steel City Cabinet saw (with riving knife) (not convinced about the granite though??)and would LOVE to save a little space in the shop by incorporating my existing router table top as a left of blade wing.
Presumably the T/S fence rails will not extend out to the left – can anyone point me to an article or give me a hint as to how this might be achieved?
Thanks in advance
Replies
"Presumably the T/S fence rails will not extend out to the left...." Are you determined to use the TS fence for the router? Granted, I don't have a mountain of experience, but it seems to me a router fence is used differently -- variable openings for the bit, for one thing. Also, when I had my router table hinged off the left side of my table saw, I liked having a dedicated fence. I could drop the whole thing down (without changing the bit or the fence) when I needed to saw something wide, and just pull it back up when I was done, no lost time re-setting the router stuff.
Thanks Forestgirl for that idea - one that I've never thought about.No I am not determined but it does seem to be an opportunity to save some shop space (a wide belt sander might fill it).I like your idea. Have you got any pictures??
Hmmmm, pictures. I do, after searching around a bit (long story).
This is my old Jet contractor saw, with a Veritas router table top installed on the left -- don't have this saw now, though:View Image
Here's a pic of the frame underneath the router table top, sans table, frame dropped down:View Image
The whole unit, table+fence, would hang down without a problem, but I don't have a picture of that. Would give me room to wheel another tool through when need be.
The disadvantage of this bare-bones set-up was dust collection. I later built a DC box underneath with an outlet that connected through the overhead PSI guard of the table saw.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Ll,
I like you, have a need to conserve shop space and am building a new router table that will be installed in the Right extension wing of me TS. This will yield a router table ~ 27" x 32"; nice and BIG!
The plan is to use the TS fence (Beisemeyer) as the mounting mechanism for the router fence. I'm envisioning a saddle arrangement to accomodate the Rousseau router fence.
Like most things woodworking related; different strokes fer different folks. Or, put another way, many ways to defur the feline.
I'm in the process of building the new table and as such don't have pics yet but will post when I do. Here's a pic of the present setup - lots or work to do.
View Image
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I have that saw, and replaced the left wing with the router wing shown here: http://www.ptreeusa.com/tablesaw_products.htm#1066. I then moved the TS left wing over to the right in place of the plywood extension -- couldn't do that with the granite top. I made my own router fence from angle aluminum and MDF, because the Peachtree ones aren't available here in Canada. The rails for the TS fence stop short of the left end of the table, and you also lose a few inches because of the wide fence saddle. It would be possible to piggyback an auxiliary router fence with dc. onto the TS fence, but it would be bulky, as the bies style fence is quite wide, and doesn't have T-tracks for auxiliaries. If you were going that route your best bet would be this style of clamp: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17821
Hope this makes sense,
Jim
I chose to mount my router table on the OUTFEED side of the saw. If that configuration fits your shop - and rings your bell, I will post pictures.
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
AHA!!!
That DOES sound like a viable idea!!
- and YES I'd really appreciate a picture.Forestgirl made the salient point about the need for a dedicated router table fence - and I agree with her. I have an Incrafence on my existing router table and am very happy with it. If I adopted the hinged router table a la Forestgirl, I can envisage all kinds of cut and scraped ankles as I walk past the hanging router fence. A new saw deserves a new out feed table (The existing one was made as a temporary set-up 14 years ago!) and using my router table top as the out feed table top is something I'd never considered (duh). Now the challenge will be how to mount and demount the Incrafence when I use the router - something else to daydream about.Thank you for your response.Londonlad
The top is mounted with angle iron from the hardware store - no welding, just drill bolt holes. The entire structure (Unisaw and outfeed table) is about 5 ' x 5' and rolls easily on the HTC mobile saw base - yet does not require locking to use the saw.You can make your own top (I did at first) but then decided to have Woodpeckers make a custom top with tee-slots. Whatever, remember to provide slots for the saw-miter gauge runners. They will extend into the router top.When I added drawers for my router bits and tools, the unit became slightly tippy. I added a 1/2" pipe support screwed into two "floor flanges". When I want to move the table, I simple turn the pipe a couple rotations and I'm free to go.Frosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Fabulous!!That looks exactly like the set up I'll shoot forThanks you so much for sharingLondonlad
Good. I hope it works for you.Frosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Frosty,
In the pic of the Outfeed Table Supports, was the green kneepad fur when you were praying to the DC God(ess)?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
You caught meBut why weren't you paying attention to the subject at hand instead of looking around at my messy shop?For the record, I now have an Oneida "Dust Gorilla' (aptly named) and truly appreciate the upgrade.Frosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Frosty,
I did, I did man, I swear! I do like your outfeed table.
For some strange reason I feel like I'm related to the early worm.
:-)
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I am with jfrostjr - my router sits in the outfeed table, which is 3 by 4 feet in size. That makes for a nice oversized router table. I use the overhang of the table to clamp the fence in place. I also skipped on the router insert and screwed the router base directly under the table. I believe there's a video on the site somewhere showing Gary Rogowski building a similar setup.
Cheers,
Buche
This is what I did (although truth is I have not used my router table in a long time!) ..
My contractor saw with sliding table ..
View Image
The router table is built into the extension on the other side. I used a box aluminium section as the basis for this. It clamps onto the saw fence when needed, giving it adjustment parallel to the track ..
View Image
Some detail (older picture) ..
View Image
Hope this helps. I can post more construction details if you need.
Regards from Perth
Derek
I have a delta contractors saw with an iron router table on the right and an extension table beyond that. For that one I use my Bies fence with a sacrificial piece clamped to it for zero clearance cuts.
I built a 4x5' outfeed table permanently attached. In that I mounted 3 1 1/2 horse routers on small bases. Along each base I have 2 T tracks for a Rockler fence, and for two of the routers, one piece of miter slot a few inches in front of the base, for miter gauges, jigs and fixtures, etc.
I make a lot of doors, so having 4 routers set up speeds things a great deal. Very simple setup and when not in use, I just lift the routers out. However, dust collection sucks- I just tough it out with a dust mask, and push the dust on the floor where I can vacuum it up when finished.
Stef
Here's a pic of what I did with my Steel City table saw. After adding about a foot to the back side of the table, I built a router cabinet underneath and built a homemade table saw fence that I use as a router fence (easier to do than you might think). It slides back and forth just like a TS fence and locks into place. The advantage of this is that this fence lifts right out of the fence slot to get it out of the way when I need the table saw space.
I forgot that SC showed a granite router top in Atlanta last year, to replace the left wing of their granite TS. If they ever get it into production that might solve your problem. AFAIK they have no plans for a cast-iron model, presumably because that market is already well served.
The design of the riving-knife SC models, esp. the placement of the cabinet door, means that the left side is the only practical placement for a router top, unless you buy the long 52" fence, in which case you could place it on the right-hand extension. When putting a router top to the left, You have to ensure that there's enough clearance between router and cabinet, or the tilt-wheel will run into the router. The router top I use is 15" wide -- 3" wider than the original table wing -- to allow for comfortable clearance.
The fence rails stop short of the end of the left table wing, so any router top will be cantilevered out to the left. That's not a problem for a cast-iron top firmly bolted to the tabletop, but might be for the existing router top you mention. It is possible to move the fence rails to the left, but you lose usable table space to the right, and might interfere with the fence adjustment system.
Jim
Londonlad,
Scag has the delux setup, mine is a bit simpler. Forest Girls setup does not have dust collection box, which is a simple box underneath so you can extract through the plate. That was a revelation a while ago for me. MDF parts, Jesm lift, piece of aluminum angel iron, and some purty gray formica. My fence also lifts out of the tracks when using the TS.
View Image
AZMO
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Edited 1/7/2009 7:00 pm by AZMO
Sweet!!
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