Outfeed Table; Tilting and Height Adjustable

[reible]

I remember an outfeed table that used a bicycle fork into the bottom of the back table leg (tube). The swivel joint was used at the back of the out feed table in line with the trunnion tilt line. I believe that an adjustable leg was used between the the swivel and the bicycle fork. Once the proper leg length is determined, a fixed pipe could be used in place of the adjustable leg. I believe the handlebar part of the fork was sawed off and the remaining part was inserted into the leg or pipe. I only noticed the post because the outfeed table raised and lowered with the main table and could be tilted with the main table.

Bill Mayo

Hi,

Not sure if this is what you remember, the discussion was at ssug.org site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12199425@N ... 724522009/

Ed

[reible]

A few weeks back I posted some pics of the outfeed table design that I have been building for my Mark V 500 machines over the years. I have started to switch over to the 520 table setup on all of my machines, so it is time to think about a design for the 520. Here is what I have found over the years in building outfeed tables and I think it will hold true for the 520.

1. Don't build it too heavy, 1/2" Baltic birch ply laminated with formica and reinforced only where necessary.
2. Don't expect the outfeed table to be lifted with the Shopsmith main table, you have plenty to lift and adjust with just the Shopsmith table.
3. Attach the outfeed table to the Shopsmith main table after all adjustment has been made to the Shopsmith main table. I rarely make more than a slight adjustment after the table is attached.
4. Use a single adjustable leg on the outfeed table, if you are concerned about tipping your Shopsmith your are frankly putting more material (weight) on the Shopsmith than you or your Shopsmith should handle.

I am in the process of drawing up plans for my tables at this time and when I finish construction I will post some pics.

ldh

What has been proposed is a table with only an initial adjustment then it travels up and down and tilts with the main table until you take it apart.

The object is not to have a support (leg) that you need to adjust between height or tilting adjustments. This creats a few issue like how much weight can the the whole thing take before something bad happens.

Some proposed ideas are that it fit both the front or back of the machine or if you wish both.

That it be easy to remove so you can take the main table on and off without much effort or time.

That you can be reasonable safe cutting just about anything you want like sheets of 4x8x1" MDF... (without looking it up I think you're near 100 pounds) and add to the fact it is not a static load and you can not assume the shopsmith is on a level surface etc etc... The point is you can't keep anyone from doing something dumb like putting his canon ball collection on the table but still you want a good safety factor. If I can support the load that the two telescoping legs can, say 150 pounds I feel safe.

In my prototype I used the 555997 extension table brackets for the setup, that let me do some early testing without having the tilt feature. While mine design is not useable I did find that it is slick to have the extension table track the main table.

If shopsmith could come up with a good design for a good price I think a lot of people would buy it. Nick had proposed it to the powers to be at shopsmith but with things being the way they were/are it sound like that was not going to happen soon. So several of us have played with designs and plans but I'm not convinced we have something that is ready for primetime.

If you want to get in on the ground floor and do your own design feel free and we can most likely find all the previous post here and at ssug.org to catch you up. I have a couple of paper designs but I'm not really active on this now. Dusty is the go to guy.

Ed

[billmayo]

I am not sure. I believe this would work very well by attaching a plate to hold the leg to the bolt and use the swivel joint at the outfeed table. You could use a fixed length pipe and adjust the plate bolt to level the outfeed table.

I use roller stands for infeed and outfeed support for my stand-alone table saw. I do not use the Shopsmith for sawing or powering the thickness planer as I use 220 VAC motors with higher HP for these functions.

Bill Mayo

Hi,

Not sure if this is what you remember, the discussion was at ssug.org site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12199425@N ... 724522009/

Ed

[ldh]

I have a Shopsmith Support Table (555784) for my 520 that works, but has one stumbling problem. It is too heavy for me to attach it easily to the table and when attached, too heavy to lift with the table adjustment crank. I do hope all interested members submit ideas and plans that just may end up being that better mouse trap.

ldh

[dusty]

Here are some additional photos that are intended to detail the vertical support bar and the attachment to the Shopsmith Main Table.

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Nearly a year ago Nick posted a couple pictures that showed an Outfeed Table that he was producing that would travel up and down with the main table as well as tilt left and right. The bad news was that further develop had been put on the back burner for some reason.

I saw this and decided that I couldn't wait. I set out to creat my own version of what Nick had shown us.

Previous parts of this thread detail most of my table. I had some problems though in that the table supports would bind when I tilted the table. I knew I needed some sort of "ball joint" to connect to the table but I couldn't figure how to create these joints. The project got pushed off to the back burner like Nick's.

Well, a couple weeks ago I moved it back to the front burner. Why, not because I needed it anymore than in recent past but rather because Nick announced that he was going to release some improvements on his Adjustable, Tiltable Outfeed Table.

I have now completed my prototype. It is a prototype because I made some errors in design and assembly that I want to correct.

The final design change involves the incorporation of $1.29 worth of parts from Ace and two repurposed parts from old shower heads.

Pictures say it all:

[Ed in Tampa]

Nearly a year ago Nick posted a couple pictures that showed an Outfeed Table that he was producing that would travel up and down with the main table as well as tilt left and right. The bad news was that further develop had been put on the back burner for some reason.

I saw this and decided that I couldn't wait. I set out to creat my own version of what Nick had shown us.

Previous parts of this thread detail most of my table. I had some problems though in that the table supports would bind when I tilted the table. I knew I needed some sort of "ball joint" to connect to the table but I couldn't figure how to create these joints. The project got pushed off to the back burner like Nick's.

Well, a couple weeks ago I moved it back to the front burner. Why, not because I needed it anymore than in recent past but rather because Nick announced that he was going to release some improvements on his Adjustable, Tiltable Outfeed Table.

I have now completed my prototype. It is a prototype because I made some errors in design and assembly that I want to correct.

The final design change involves the incorporation of $1.29 worth of parts from Ace and two repurposed parts from old shower heads.

Pictures say it all:

Dusty ole buddy you forgot to post the pictures. Never mind they magically appeared after I posted my comments.
I really wonder what is going on inside this thing called a computer.

Ed

[dusty]

It is not your computer (or you), Ed. I posted without pictures and immediately went back into edit mode to add the pictures. You must have viewed the post while I was doing the image attachment.

[a1gutterman]

Very nice work Dusty! Are there any complications using this outfeed table? When do they go into production?

[nuhobby]

dusty,

That is really cool!

Please keep us posted. Also, a curiosity: Do you find that one [length] setting of the PVC-pipe threads works throughout height/angle operations, or do you ever need to re-set it?

[dusty]

The length does vary slightly through the tilt range of the table. I will add photos later to show the effect - which I am not going to correct.

Tilting the table "left" requires the support arm to be slightly longer if I want the outfeed table to remain perfectly flat (in the same plane as the main table).

In the very beginning of my efforts to do this, I learned that there was a variability factor. I am still sort of at a lose as to what causes this
phenomena.

The ball joints (which are parts from old shower heads) made all the difference in how this seems to work. There is no stress at all on the coupling points (as the table location is changed). It works well tilting to the right (ie. the outfeed table remains on the same plane as the main table).

PS This is an editorial change from an earlier post where I stated that the support leg did not need to change length. I was wrong!