Knockdown Outfeed Table

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  • pelligrini
    Veteran Member
    • Apr 2007
    • 4217
    • Fort Worth, TX
    • Craftsman 21829

    Knockdown Outfeed Table

    I finally got around to making an outfeed table a couple weekends ago. It ended up being a bit heavier that I wanted because I found that a cheap lowes 3068 hollow core door isn't necessarily flat, nor all that stable. It is still fairly easily taken off and on at the end of a shop session.

    The legs are adjustable; done with sliding dovetails, a slot, and a T-bolt. I needed adjustable legs because the ground the saw sits on is not level. I made the legs last fall. A light application of paste wax got them sliding easily again. The bottom half of the leg is the movable portion. The adjustment knob stays in the middle and is easily reached during setup. Gravity will pull the sliding portion down.

    The table attaches to the saw rails with simple brackets made from some 2x4 and 1x4 scraps. I used some 5/16 T-studs from T-nuts.com and some wing nuts.

    The door was edged in some 1x Radiata pine. The edging height is the same height from the bottom of the rear rail to the table surface (minus a 32nd or so) The edging member is received by the brackets on the saw rail.

    Cross ribs out of the same material were glued underneath after the cutout for the SMT was made. I ended up doing the cutout with my router as my wife borrowed my jigsaw and it could not be found. When I glued in the 2x filler strips in between the door skins I recessed them a bit and then cleaned up the joint with a flush trim bit. I probably should have made the cutout a bit wider to accommodate running the edging in it. It would have finished it out much cleaner. (I have to keep telling myself that it's just shop furniture. It doesn't really matter.)

    I brushed on a couple coats of water-based poly after a good sanding. I chamfered the top edges of the pine slightly too.
    Attached Files
    Erik
  • JR
    The Full Monte
    • Feb 2004
    • 5633
    • Eugene, OR
    • BT3000

    #2
    That is a very cool design, pelligrini! I really like the brackets that hold the assembly to the rail. Easy on, easy off.

    Nicely done!

    JR
    JR

    Comment

    • poolhound
      Veteran Member
      • Mar 2006
      • 3195
      • Phoenix, AZ
      • BT3100

      #3
      A nice result. Did you end up using the cheap lowes door and adding the supports/edging for stability or begin with something else?

      I made a work and assembly table from a similar door (sits on saw horses when in use) and it is not perfectly flat but it works.
      Jon

      Phoenix AZ - It's a dry heat
      ________________________________

      We all make mistakes and I should know I've made enough of them
      techzibits.com

      Comment

      • pelligrini
        Veteran Member
        • Apr 2007
        • 4217
        • Fort Worth, TX
        • Craftsman 21829

        #4
        I just planned to add a lip/egde down the one side of the door I bought just for the table. It was about the easiest and most flexible way to attach the table. Maybe I had a bad door, but it really wasn't stable. It would bow when just supported with a couple Rigid stands. I also plan on using it for a light-duty assembly table, so I added the ribs and the rest of the outer edging to keep it flat.

        My first plan last fall was to use a sheet of 3/4 laminated MDF I bought. That was a really stupid idea for a portable/knockdown table. Portable and 3/4 MDF are two things that would never be associated together. It got turned into a drill press cart.
        Erik

        Comment

        • poolhound
          Veteran Member
          • Mar 2006
          • 3195
          • Phoenix, AZ
          • BT3100

          #5
          Originally posted by pelligrini
          My first plan last fall was to use a sheet of 3/4 laminated MDF I bought. That was a really stupid idea for a portable/knockdown table. Portable and 3/4 MDF are two things that would never be associated together. It got turned into a drill press cart.
          I know what you mean. I keep thinking about building a proper torsion box assembly table out of MDF (like David Marks) but I have no permanent home for it and moving it around and storing it would be a real PITA.
          Jon

          Phoenix AZ - It's a dry heat
          ________________________________

          We all make mistakes and I should know I've made enough of them
          techzibits.com

          Comment

          • dbhost
            Slow and steady
            • Apr 2008
            • 9209
            • League City, Texas
            • Ryobi BT3100

            #6
            Very nice job. How well does it work? As I recall, you don't have workshop space to burn. I am assuming this thing stores away fairly easily, and does multiple duty as perhaps an assembly table or??
            Last edited by dbhost; 10-07-2008, 02:35 PM.
            Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.

            Comment

            • pelligrini
              Veteran Member
              • Apr 2007
              • 4217
              • Fort Worth, TX
              • Craftsman 21829

              #7
              It works great. I wish I would have built a proper outfeed table much earlier. I've got another leg from the set I made last fall. I plan on making a narrow infeed table when ripping long stock.

              Yep, there isn't much space. That bottom left pic is me standing right outside the doorway when I was finishing the table inside. It just stowes against my sheet stock in the storage area next to the shed, or standing on edge in the shop floor.

              I'm thinking of adding some brackets to those metal shelves so I could set it up inside if needed. That would also take up almost half of the floor space left in the middle though.
              Erik

              Comment

              • bigstick509
                Veteran Member
                • Dec 2004
                • 1227
                • Macomb, MI, USA.
                • BT3100

                #8

                It has me thinking of a redesign on my setup.


                Mike

                "It's not the things you don't know that will hurt you, it's the things you think you know that ain't so." - Mark Twain

                Comment

                • Pappy
                  The Full Monte
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 10453
                  • San Marcos, TX, USA.
                  • BT3000 (x2)

                  #9
                  Great idea having it easily removeable instead of hinged. Adjustable legs are a plus on any surface.

                  Gonna have to save the pictures...
                  Don, aka Pappy,

                  Wise men talk because they have something to say,
                  Fools because they have to say something.
                  Plato

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