As a woodworker, you need a table saw, a platform from which you can undertake all your activities. There are multiple reasons and consideration taken in place when acquiring the table saw among them are financial ability and the extent of activities for which you need a table saw.
Suppose you bought a small table saw and with time the spectrum of work increases what happens? It is either you purchase a bigger table saw or make yours bigger. Not everyone is capable of purchasing a table saw from time to time. Again, most table saws come smaller by default so you may need to extend it.
Therefore, you can have your small table saw perform more tasks; this is by making it bigger through extension. By extending your table saw it saves you the cost way more than the amount you can use to buy a new one. Therefore I’d advise you to use the small extended table saw.
This article will enable you to expand your table saw, thus saving you the extra cost incurred when buying a new one.
Adding an outfeed table extension
One of the best ways in which you can make your table saw bigger is adding an outfeed table extension. This is done by adding a table-like substance at the back of the saw. The size that you add will depend on the amount of work that you handle. You need to bolt the outfeed table extension on the stand of the table saw.
This extension has an L-shape and two sturdy shelf brackets. The joints that are included in the brackets create a double lap joint making the unit very sturdy. Let us now check into details how you can extend the size of your table saw if the one you are using seems smaller for your tasks.
Steps How To Make Your Table Saw Bigger
- Making sub-frame
- Surfaces
- Biesemeyer fence layout
- Finishing the fence and the alignments
- Cutting
- Subframe
The beginning of a table saw extension is the building of a sub-frame. When building a dimension, it is essential to take into consideration the accurate measurement of the lumber that is being used. Often a 2*4 stud part will measure ~0.5 shorter along all the axis. Sometimes these measurements can be varying due to different methods of drying.
The lumbar of preference is a square-shaped. It will ease your task while building such boxes. Some sets of machinists square can be the best, but another grand best thing less costly is one piece square that can be used in framing. Some of the cheap squares are deemed to have a capacity of holding good tolerance due to their good length.
Surfaces
You can use some shop grade birch and melamine to make a main supporting surface and working surface area for the saw. This is an important consideration to put into account in your extension of the table saw.
The recommended birch you can use is the Baltic birch. It is better than the shop grade because it has less quantity of ply’s, but for structural elements, it will suffice. Also on the side of melamine, it is not strictly melamine but can be replaced with any hard material of your preference.
There is a crucial tool that would be very helpful in your workshop collection. It is called a dowelling jig. The dowelling jig has good performance when it comes to clamping any material of low density such as melamine such that it clasps the wood firmly together, thus preventing separation of the materials.
Biesemeyer fence layout
A solid square fence is one other very vital part of the table saw. The fence is included in most of the available contractor’s saws is enough, but it is not that easy to keep the square as well as to micro-adjust it. Biesemeyer fence is one among the available fences that have been in the field for some time now.
When it is correctly built, the results are some firm fence that is normally self-adjusting since it can modify itself to a square. In case you have an able pocket it is advisable that you go for the aluminum extrusion for use in making the principal slide rail together with the definite fence.
This gives you enough rigidity, and it is also less dense enough to fit your requirements. Sadly to have this, you need to have a ready and dependable source of aluminum extrusion other than being dependent on the mail order for the extrusion.
Finishing the fence and alignment
Having your main guide rail fit onto your frame, you can now start constructing the brackets for support you need to hold the slide fence in place.
The table saw fence at times can deem very challenging and tricky to build, but it is funny enough on how they end up turning out to be very simple structures in nature. Another crucial thing to have in mind is the need for a set of clamps. These will play a great role around your workshop since you will need them to help hold the rail in line.
leath, drill press, and a rotary tool are important devices that you need along the process. These items can be useful in cleaning the screw set for good fence modifications depending on their availability; one of them can serve the purpose. It becomes easier for you to work the modification bolt by cutting slots at the end.
These can fit the selected hole
and located in place. Trust me, the results from this will not disappoint you. At times due to human errors, you might find out that you made an error due to design oversight and sometimes the top of the fence appears to be higher at some point.
This error can be corrected by replacing the plastic slides with thin nylon which can work best to ensure that your work is on a good level. At this point, you can align your fence as close as possible with the help of a tape measure. Furthermore, you can align the blade by cutting deeper into the hardwood.
Often at times, you need to check to confirm that the miter slots and the blade are in their perfect alignment first then followed by fitting the square. In case you have had such an experience before, and you become used to it, then you can skip this step.
Cutting
It is not always guaranteed that you can work correctly with the exact measurement of materials. Therefore, during cutting, you need to have an extra sacrificial piece of wood. Apart from preventing you from cutting into the metallic fence.
It will also enable you to make fine cuts on the materials used to slide thus bringing close the fence flush and the surface of the table saw. Having this saw station finally complete, you can now be able to use it in such a way that it can advance itself. You can use jigsaws for cutting curves and making complex shapes. You can also use jigsaws to finish off any cutt that you started with a circular saw,
Extras
These are further steps that can be included when making your table saw bigger. Beautification of the table saw is among the extras. You can cover the outer surface of your cabinet using an equal piece of plywood.
The space under your saw can be used for the extraction of the sawdust and another bigger space opening located below the working surface can be used for holding the router lift and cabinets for storage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the benefits of having a table saw extension?
A: A table saw extension is necessary because it helps you when you are cutting larger pieces of materials. It creates an extra surface so that you can do the cutting precisely.
Q: Why do one need a big table saw?
A: Many individuals, according to statistics, prefer using smaller table saws than big ones; this is basically due to space availability and the reliability of the small saws.
This actually matters but to some extent as workshops advance the materials you engage on your work increase, and due to this also your needs for a bigger table saw increases, therefore, you have no option but to go for the bigger saw.
Final Verdict
After this, you will be able to handle your multiple tasks and larger ones without any strain since your working surface is larger due to the extension of your small table saw. The article includes all the steps you need to increase the working surface of your table saw. The steps I have covered can help you since a bigger surface means more work.
Therefore, make your table saw bigger, you can perform larger tasks as well as the small ones with the same tool without straining too much due to lack of space. I hope the article will be much helpful to you since every detail covered is the one to serve the purpose of the topic. Thanks for your time.
Here you can get another infomation how to cut straight with a reciprocating saw.