Outfeed table & miter slot extension

[Matt Day]

My basement shop is relatively small. I have tools and cabinets on the outside walls, and only enough room in the center for my cabinet saw with extension table and a my workbench which doubles as my TS outfeed. I've routed miter slots in the workbench to allow the miter gauge full travel. I've had the same setup at my last 2 shops and it's worked good.

The "problem" is that I finally am going to upgrade from a 2x4 and MDF workbench to a solid maple workbench with tail/front vises, and I don't really want to route miter slots in a nice solid top. My current plan is to have the new workbench/outfeed about 1/2" lower than the TS, and use a piece of 1/2" MDF when I'm using the saw.

The other thought I had was to place the workbench 6" or so away from the TS at the same height, and make a spacer that has the miter slots.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

[Paul Murphy]

Without seeing a floorplan it's hard to suggest anything, but I would probably rather have the miter slots in a spacer than have them cut into a workbench.
Perhaps even build a small folding outfeed spacer?
Also be sure you make the spacer with miter slots large enough to accomodate a crosscut sled and/or miter sled.

[Michael W. Clark]

If you space the workbench 6" or so away, make it slightly lower than the table saw. If you try to hit the height exactly, the bench could be too high especially if you are ripping something like 1/4" plywood. It will droop after it comes off the table and could hit the bench.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

[QUOTE=Matt Day;1985315]My current plan is to have the new workbench/outfeed about 1/2" lower than the TS, and use a piece of 1/2" MDF when I'm using the saw. QUOTE]

I was thinking of doing the same thing due to space restrictions. My line of thought was that the MDF would also make a great sacrificial top for dirty work, glue-up, etc. It would also keep the edge of the table from getting banged up.

I was thinking of doing it in three pieces: MDF - gap for miter - MDF - gap for miter - MDF. The MDF would stay in place by using 3/4" dowels referencing the dog holes in the bench.

[Victor Robinson]

I have the exact same situation, and though I haven't bitten the bullet yet and started my "dream bench" build, I have thought a lot about the same conundrum. I ended up deciding (for now) that I will use some sort of sacrificial board on top of the bench that can be attached to, and removed from, the bench easily in the same spirit that Cyrus is suggesting (either using dog holes or threaded inserts, or whatever).

The thing that I love about my setup now is that the utilitarian bench and saw create one large, mostly flat, surface. With the new bench + outfeed "jig", the jig would have to cover the entire bench surface to give me the same flat area I now enjoy which makes it a less than ideal size-wise to handle and store. Which makes me wonder, am I actually somehow downgrading my workspace by building my dream bench? And then I realize that for the way I work, I need three separate tables...a workbench, an assembly table (which isn't ideal for outfeed because there's always assembly on it!), and an outfeed table. Which is then incompatible with the amount of space I have. Which then gets me going in circles and completely putting off a new workbench.

Uh....where were we?

[glenn bradley]

This will depend on how you use your saw. My outfeed is about 8" away from the table to allow a 6" duct to run between the two for my planer. Even still, the miter slots extend quite a ways into the outfeed to accomodate my large sled so 6" of extension would not do me much good. I would route the slots and take function over aesthetics. If the grooves have not bothered your use of the old bench, they should work for the new. I made filler strips thinking there would be a problem with the grooves but, I have never used them. My outfeed is a fat 1/8" lower than the table and there is a small "bridge" to assist with thin, narrow stock. We all work differently and your mileage will most assuradly very ;-)

[johnny means]

Assuming this us pretty much a permanent situation, I would route slots in my bench top. What's the point in a work bench that doesn't work for you? Why set yourself up for a perpetual work around that needn't be? You could madge fillers for those rare occasions when the slots were a problem.

[Stew Hagerty]

I had a similar situation and I simply set the saw high enough that the miter gauge clears the top of my bench. The small dropoff doesn't seem to bother anything at all.

[Carl Beckett]

Assuming this us pretty much a permanent situation, I would route slots in my bench top. What's the point in a work bench that doesn't work for you? Why set yourself up for a perpetual work around that needn't be? You could madge fillers for those rare occasions when the slots were a problem.

This would be my preference.

I do like the outfeed at the same height as the tablesaw top - and I believe it is safer this way as well.

The crosscut sled (and even sometimes the miter if at an angle) does extend out past the back of my saw more than 6" - 8" - more like 20" - and I have a 24" outfeed.

Although I understand the desire not to mark up a shiney new workbench top - if its not serving your function what is the point? If it were a temporary solution I might feel differently.

And besides - when/if you ever did move it or upgrade your shop - maybe just build a new bench and leave this one on the outfeed. By then you will have a list of things you want to change about it.

My vote: rip some grooves in it.

[Matt Day]

I guess I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with this issue.

I think I'm going to stick with the plan to make the workbench about 1/2" lower than the top of TS, and use 1/2" MDF on top of the workbench when I need an even outfeed table. Rather than using dowels like Cyrus suggested, I might just attached a strip or two of 3/4" material to the bottom of the 1/2" MDF to keep it from moving. I'll then use the strip as a hook to store it vertically between the TS and workbench when I don't need it. Finding a place to put the 1/2" MDF the size it will need to be will be tough, and I think my plan would work well.

[Alan Bienlein]

Thirty plus years doing this and never ever saw a need in grooves in the outfeed table for the miter slot.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm with Alan. Make yr workbench lower by 1/2", and forget about the spacer or mdf. It's not needed. Slots are needed for clearance - not support. Having yr outfeed 1/2" below the sfc of the tsaw is fine.

[Carl Beckett]

Thirty plus years doing this and never ever saw a need in grooves in the outfeed table for the miter slot.

Hi Alan - did you ever use a sled? (and if so, how was it guided?)

[Prashun Patel]

I use sleds a lot on my tablesaw. The front of the sled never extends so far over the rear of the saw that the sled is in jeopardy of tipping. But then again, my runners are longer in the front, so even when the fence passes thru the blade, the sled runners are engaged through most of the saw's miter slots.

For crosscutting wide plywood, I have a 'front fence only' sled that works like a miter gauge in reverse, to avoid needing infeed support. Even for this, where the weight of the fence hangs off the edge of the saw for certain cross cuts, the sled simply never gets tippy or squiggly by having only on-saw miter slots.

[Alan Bienlein]

Hi Alan - did you ever use a sled? (and if so, how was it guided?)

Yes I have Carl. Never had a problem as our out feed tables were all about 1/2" lower than the saw and the front edge of the out feed was cut at about a 30 degree angle and slid tight up to the table saw The runner on the sled would ride on the top of the out feed so tipping wasn't an issue and never had to worry about anything catching the front edge of the out feed and possibly causing a kickback. The out feed tables were not permanently fastened to the saw to allow for cleanup.

My current out feed table is 1/8" strong lower than my table saw due to the fact I know have the JessEm Mast-R-Slide attachment on my saw. Once I got that the sled went into the burn barrel.

I've seen too many people get into trouble on the table saw with a kick back caused by a piece of wood sticking partially out of the slots routed in the out feed for the miter bar or because they tried for some odd reason to get the out feed flush with the top of the saw and one day they go to rip somthing and it gets hung op on the out feed because for what ever reason the table was now slightly higher in one spot.