Best Material for an Outfeed Table

[Eric Roberge]

I have to agree. Way too clean! Alan, Do you use your shop?... Just Kidding... I love that table. You did a great job!

[Peter Quinn]

You are welcomed but by no means required to get fancy on the outfeed table. Mine is a piece of 3/4" cheepo plywood from the borg screwed to a decent poplar sub frame made fom scraps I milled up, some shellac, some wax, does its job. It won't win any awards for aesthetics but it came in under budget and has been reliable ever since. Way I see it is every minute I spent making that table more elaborate than it had to be was a minute I wasted not working wood that I can never get back. Opinions due vary considerable.

Also, I am not a fan of ultra slick work surfaces generally except on my router table. I like things to move smoothly without being slippery, and melamine or formica is just too slick for my needs. Its more like an air hockey table at that point than a wood working shop table.

[Jimmie Mayfield]

How about a hollow-core door as a cheap outfeed support? Relatively sturdy, lightweight, inexpensive...

[Chris Padilla]

1/2 Baltic Birch with high-pressure laminant on both sides.

They connect to my Incra rail and come off very quickly should I need the support elsewhere or to hang on the wall out of the way.

[Narayan Nayar]

You know, Chris, I have one of those and love it. I tried to order another a few months ago and they're no longer made

[Roger Jensen]

I built this one out of 3/4 Birch PW from HD, with a 1.5 inch walnut border to help stiffen it. I extended the table 12 inches before the hinge so it would clear the dc hoses behind the saw. I also like the extra 12 inches there for most of my cuts.

If I had it to do over again (and money wasn't an object), I'd use phenolic plywood. For now the poly topcoat is slick enough. I'll eventually add some fold up legs, but for now I'm using a popup outfeed table from HD.

Roger

[James Williams 007]

I bought the top from Redmond and Sons for 30$ because it had a ding in one of the corners. I also grabbed one for my dad and he built a cabinet under his I just made mine a rolling table. I use mine to assemble and the glue wont stick to it so I like the laminate.

[Ken Lustgarten]

I like a slick surface. I would start with a good grade of ply with sturdy supports underneath. Either use laminate and wax or apply poly and wax. The poly and wax combo is cheap and easier to repair. Glue will not stick to either. A series of holes (Festool MFT style) provide flexible clamping for securing glueups.

When the need arises to use it as a work bench put some hardboard or mdf on the table. Cut a piece a little bigger then the table so you can fasten a few blocks of wood to the bottom edges of the temporary top to keep it from sliding.

[Chris Padilla]

You know, Chris, I have one of those and love it. I tried to order another a few months ago and they're no longer made

It is unfortunate but I guess sales weren't good on them. Most of it you can make on your own since you've got a pattern right there. I recall their price being kinda high...like ~$120 or something? They knocked some off if you bought 2.

Anyway, I recently picked up some more Incra rail and I will be adding it to my bandsaw and my jointer/planer combo machine so that I can use these outfeed/support tables for those pieces of equipment. I hope the rail arrives before this weekend as my plan is to get this all done this weekend.

[Eugene Wigley]

I use 3/4" plywood with formica. I made the frame out of poplar.

[Steve Clardy]

I have just a simple 2x4 framed table with a sheet of 7/16 OSB throwed on top.

[peter leyden]

I second the vote for using a hollow core door for an outfeed table. They are cheap, readily available(sometimes for free) and they are a ready built "torsion box".What's not to like?
PS They are often thrown out when people fancy up their interior doors, and I for one am not averse to picking up a used door!

[chris dub]

A couple of space saving options:


I took a piece of laminate flooring that I had left over and attached it to a sawhorse. It is by no means a full outfeed table, but it seems to work well for most things other than full sheet goods. The surface is very slick and pretty durable.

Another that I saw on another forum and made was a fence extension/outfeed combo. It is a sacrificial fence that extends past the ends of the saw table by 6-8” or so on the front and back. And then attach a piece ¼ -½” thick plywood to the bottom of the fence extension on the front and back. The horizontal pieces can be 6-8” wide. If the fence is flush with the table top then the plywood outfeeds should be as well. You can roundover the edge where the material comes off the table to help with any unevenness. Again not great for sheet goods but is a great space saver and works well for those 8” wide boards that are 4-5’ in length. I used this on my portable table saw with the Wixey digital fence. Otherwise as with any sacrificial fence your measurements can be thrown off.

[jeff norris 2011]

Any one else using laminate flooring for their top?

I am thinking fake wood flooring

[Steve Clardy]

That might be to slick, things sliding off to easily? If you used it for things other than just an outfeed.
Sand the finish off I suppose