# New fence (Part 2) Out Feed Table



## Coleve (Oct 31, 2012)

New fence system (Part 2) (Follow up to Fence install) 

Hi there again,
When I originally decided to document my attempts at building a replacement fence system and out feed table I optimistically predicted I could cover it comfortably in two stages. Unfortunately, I had not taken into account my lack of ability, understanding of the requirement for absolute accuracy and the fact that I had spent so long in the workshop my good wife forgot she was married. 

Now that the fence system was complete which I documented in an earlier post, I started on the out-feed table and initially it went quite well with base and sides complete with strengthening skeleton inside. As I have stated earlier I had to continually stop myself from over engineering not the design but the build, where dovetails and rabbits would look great, but unnecessary in my workshop as I would not be eating off it, but instead butchering some unsuspecting lump of 4x2. So, it was a couple of hundred pocket screws and a bottle of ape man glue. My apologies to the purists out there, man’s got to work to his abilities. 

Now this is where my problems started. Initially I decide to purchase 18mm ply (3/4) and keep it all the same thickness therefore allowing any piece of ply to be used throughout the construction. Unfortunately, I had not ordered the tracking, which when it arrived was only a fraction thinner than the ply. My initial intention was to rout in the tracking but the integrity of the ply would be lost. I then decide to cut the ply to suit the tracking and pack the tracking up to ply surface level with spare wooden slates from my living room Venetian blinds which were perfect, really lucky there. 

This is where it went pear shaped. In fact, if you could grow a pumpkin in the shape of a pear, that would be more of a representation. 

I first laid out strips of ply where my track would be for support. Then cut the ply and fixed it in position. I then cut the track using my compound mitre saw on low speed with an aluminum cutting blade. The 45-degree cuts went well until I started to fit the track, absolutely nothing lined up or was true, I was so devastated I almost went in the house for a cup of tea. What had I done wrong, well after some investigation I knew my ply base was rectangular, but what I had not taken into account was after raising the sides to counter level I had lost some of the true rectangle. When checking diagonals, I was 3mm out. Now that doesn’t sound a lot but with the tracking that equates to out of alignment over two meters, so much so that my test piece mitre track would not travel smoothly along it. So stripped out and decided to reverse engineer. Refitted all the tracking first using every square I had, then fitted the ply to the tracking. Before I started this process, I had to think of my criteria i.e. lining up the out-feed table to the table saw. Now I wasn’t worried about the saw being level as I am fitting adjustable legs nor the actual position of the out-feed table to the saw being a few mm either way, no the most important point was that the two opposing mitre tracks had to be spot on. I did not want to rely on my plumber’s tape as it only measures to the nearest half inch, so I made a jig to fit the saw and transferred it to the out-feed table track and it worked a treat.

You may be asking at this point why not router two slightly larger slots in the out-feed table and be done with it, but I want it to do other things. There are a plethora of jigs and hold downs in the market place for mitre tracking and that decided my route.

I also considered 3/4inch holes for wrought iron hold downs but they are not available in the UK only the cast ones which do not have the malleability needed, so will wait until my next visit to Houston to pick up a pair. 

One down side to using your compound saw for cutting aluminum is that it doesn’t like it one bit. After all the cuts were made I had to spend an hour resetting the saw back to 100% true, and while cutting, red hot metal flies into your face. I thought I had acne when I was finished. I was worried what my wife would say about my appearance, but being married forty odd years, adding scarred and pock marked to old, wrinkled and grey wasn’t going to make a great deal of difference. 

I decided not to screw down the aluminum tracking as I felt the screws would pull out of the ply, if I was using hold downs, so bored and used bolts and nuts backed with large penny washer’s underneath. 

Started the carriage next and at this point had to decide on wheels or adjustable legs. Wheels would have been handy, allowing me to move it about the shop, but in the end decided I wanted it as a dedicated-out feed table so legs it was. 
Nothing fancy just measure, cut and 80mm screws. But the observant out there would notice I included access opening all around. I did this just in case I did decide in the future that I may want it mobile to move around the shop as my wife occasionally allows me to change my mind from time to time

Now I was just about to start the varnishing and thought to myself, if I am going to use this as a second auxiliary bench as well I really should have some power at hand, well I didn’t. Table saw is 3 phase 415v. So I decided to harvest one of the phases and fitted a 13amp socket alongside saw isolator. The reason I went for just a plug and socket is that it would allow me to move the out-feed table by just pulling the plug. As I was standing there mulling this over, I first checked to see if my good wife was in the vicinity. She hates me mulling things over as I tend to stand and mull for quite a while. I think it irritates her to see me thinking, anyway as many of my power tools are 110v decided I should have that facility as well. I have 110v circuit around the perimeter of the shop but nothing accessible in the centre, so decided to use an old transformer I had and fitted it into a ply box hung underneath. I also fitted a switch for it as I didn’t want it live 24/7.

For those of you interested I have included a photo of the 3-phase isolator to my saw. On the bottom is a 240v volt supply that’s feeds my Vacuum which is linked into the switched live to the saw motor, and the other is the permanent live to my out-feed table for 110/240-volt supply

Next problem was attaching the out-feed table to the saw. I originally decided to bolt it on but after boring and setting it up I found I could not reach the bolts to tighten them. More mulling over. Took the bolts and welded on extensions and fed them back through the carcass and fitted Bristol levers and it works a treat.

Well it’s complete now about 99%. Still have not decided whether I want a lower shelf. It would just encourage me to hoard more stuff. Quite happy how it turned out. Cost about £150 plus another £50 for electrics, screws etc., which for a pensioner is just about affordable. Upside is the wife enjoyed the down time, she told me it gave her some indication of what life will be like when I pop my clogs. 

Now there are quite a few of you out there that must me mulling to yourselves, it’s just an out feed table, and that’s correct that’s what it is, and surely I could have knocked one up for a lot less money, time and effort, which is true especially if you are a hard working individual that can only devote the occasional weekend to a project such as this due to work and family commitments, but after 46 years working full time at the preverbal coal face my time and money is my own, and although there is not lots of money there is an abundance of time, which allows me to be more creative in my desires, which in this case is producing an out-feed table that allows me to develop and expand that creation, which in turn keeps me occupied, busy, and deliriously happy in my workshop, isn’t that what it’s all about.

Footnote 
Now as I was going to utilize it as an ancillary table I felt the open mitre track was not suitable and went on line and found you could purchase inverted aluminum track that slides in and gives you a flat surface, unfortunately I could only find it in the good old USA, so made my own out of ply cut-outs, will do just now, but would appreciate if anyone knows of a UK seller.




Just for your info in case anyone decides they need to build one of them, main materials were;

3 sheets of 2400x1200x18mm (8x4x3/4)
10 lengths 2400x100x50mm. (8’x4”x2”)


Accessories /side affects

1 pint of sweat
2 pints of tears
2 band aid plasters
I cup of blood
Occasional migraine 
3 hours of wife nagging me
27 cups of tea. 
Insomnia

Hyperthermia:
(Did not require hospital treatment, my good wife rendered first aid in the form of a neck scarf, which I indicated I can’t wear that in the workshop, why she asked, it could get caught up in the machinery. Could it she asked speculatively.)

Colin
Deliriously happy 
Scotland


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Now THAT'S an outfeed table! I can see many uses for all that acerage and the tracks look potentially useful as well. Not sure how you got the tracks to align so well with the miter slots on the saw. A mm or two error and the miter bars would hang up. But the craftsmanship is excellent. You must have more room in your shop than I have.

A lower shelf would be a good spot for storing jigs flat and other bulky items. My compressor sits beneath my outfeed table. Quite convenient.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Wow is that one nice setup ! Very impressive outcome , and probably the best setup I’ve ever seen . Love how you have storage under the outfield table like that


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Just reread this post and have to say, you're a pretty fair writer. Amusing and information rich. You must have been a book loving-miner. Strunk and White forever.


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## Coleve (Oct 31, 2012)

It took me 4 days to get the miter tracks in line, made the mistake of starting with the wood, had to strip out and start again


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## Coleve (Oct 31, 2012)

Thanks appreciate the kind comments


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Wow! Nice job!! Not sure what the back track is for but I'm guessing we're gonna love it when we see it in action.


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## Coleve (Oct 31, 2012)

Hi
I’m using it for hold downs as I am using the table as a second bench. Handy for long pieces of wood


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Makes perfect sense. I like it even more now.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Very nice job Colin.


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Wow, great job! I can see a lot of uses for those tracks. Your table is about the size of my shop. I just rebuilt my worktable which doubles as an outfeed table for my contractor saw. I'm waiting for some miter track to embed into the table so I can use my crosscut sled. The saw butts up to the end of the worktable and is at the same height so the runners on the crosscut sled hit the table.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Very nice Colin.


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## Coleve (Oct 31, 2012)

Hi
Sounds good. That’s where I hit the buffers for some time trying to line up saw with new mitre track, eventually had to make a jig as you see in the photos. Good luck hope it works out well for you


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

It isn't entirely necessary to have TTrack in the outfeed table. It requires a very exact alignment. I think you'd have to build the entire table, and work out a way to lock in the alignment BEFORE routing and putting in the TTrack. I don't have anything but grooves in my outfeed table. My shop-made jigs have miter bars extending several inches below the end of the jig so they are still engaged with the saw top after the workpiece clears the blade.

I sure admire your tenacity in making the TTrack line up. It is a beautiful piece of work, that's for sure.


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

I finally finished the miter slots in my worktable. What I've done, compared to Colin, is laughable but, I'm not as talented as he is. I added a new top to my workbench and extended it by 6". The new top was added over the old one and raised the table by 3/4". Since my worktable is the outfeed table for my contractor saw I had to add miter slots so the crosscut sled wouldn't hit the new top. What made it a bit more challenging is that the fence on the table saw is attached to the back of the saw so that the saw can't be flush with the outfeed table. I made a jig for the the router and sized it by clamping it to the miter track while I screwed the stops at the two ends. (In the picture one of the stops looks crooked but it's the camera angle.) After measuring it about 100 times I routed the grooves, squared off the ends with a chisel and installed the track. I tested it with my crosscut sled then put some scrap wood fillers in the tracks so they don't get filled up with stuff while i'm working on other projects. 

After I received the miter track I tested it to make sure it fit the slides on the bottom of my crosscut sled. It didn't. That's when I found out that the miter tracks in the table saw are not exactly 3/4". They are slightly wider. I guess that's because the aluminum top was stamped, unlike a cast iron top. I used a card scraper on the inside of each track to shave off enough so that it would fit the new miter track but would still be snug in the saw's miter tracks. 

In the end, it all works but, it seems like nothing is easy, at least for me.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Nice work Barry . That’s a great looking setup you built there . I can see where having a fence like that at the back would create more challenges. Looks like you nailed it though


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

An outfeed table is pretty much a necessity on a small saw like that. Very nice solution indeed.


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Thanks guys. Compliments from you mean a lot to me.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*Talk's (not) Cheap*



Barry747 said:


> Thanks guys. Compliments from you mean a lot to me.


Wait'll you get the bill! LOL!

Seriously, sweet looking outfeed table. 
I'm really starting to like the idea of a natural wood surface, as opposed to laminate. I can see where a few coats of Urethane would give a rock hard and really durable surface.
My current 4x8 outfeed and work area was never finished and it looks it.


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## Badger2 (Nov 11, 2014)

Superb workmanship that is top quality. Far beyond me and my needs but lovely to see. Well done.
Malcolm


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## wileyboy (Dec 30, 2013)

A really great article and an even better outfeed table, I am so jealous


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

> I had spent so long in the workshop my good wife forgot she was married.


Get a stickum name tag that says- Hello! My name is xxxxxx. As for the scarf, did she take out a big insurance policy on you?


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## Coleve (Oct 31, 2012)

Great table a lot of thought went into it. Glad it worked out so well

Colin


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Dan, since my worktable top is 3/4" plywood I finished it with a coat of Zinseer Seal Coat then two coats of satin poly. I did this with the last top also. If (when) I drip glue or other finishes onto the top, it wipes up easily with a either a wet or dry paper towel. Even if i miss a glob of glue it's easier to scrap off than if it seeped into a raw wood top.


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