Improving on what I have

[wannabewoodworker]

Well I finally got the garage setup so I can work out there when it is really cold. Something I have never been able to do before. I got a torpedo kerosene heater and that really gets the garage warm so I can stand to be out there.

So I have this nice Rigid TS 3650 Tablesaw I picked up last year on Craigslist and although I really love the saw and it is crazy accurate it was lacking some niceties that I really needed. Mainly I had no out feed table or anything else to support the stock after passing it through the blade. This was annoying as well as dangerous so I decided to fix that problem. I have been reading Mattias's website at Woodgears.ca and I am constantly amazed with the precision he attains with his diy jigs and tools. He has an article about how he modified his Delta cabinet saw with Outfeed and table extensions. So I used his ideas as a guide to hotrod my Rigid TS.

I built the Outfeed table first. I made some L-brackets out of some reclaimed Oak from my mothers old waterbed. I made mortise and tenon joints to connect the L's together then glued and clamped them square. They came out pretty good and I proceeded to bolt them to the back of the saw housing using some hefty 5/16" bolts. Once they were bolted up I noticed that the sheetmetal of the housing wasn't too rigid so I cut a cross brace to bring the two brackets together. Then I noticed that because the horizontal supports were ~23" that they also needed some additional bracing. So I cut some diagonal supports and that seemed to tie it all together. Then I cut the Outfeed tables. Two sheets of birch ply were exactly what I needed to bring the surface up flush with the cast iron saw top. I decided to make the Outfeed the same width as the cast iron top which is 44". I had to mount the birch ply tables 3/4" away from the fence rails so that the fence would slide unencumbered. Then I had to do some measuring never fun for me so that I could route the miter handle channels. I picked up a Milescraft router guide kit that I saw at Lowes on clearance for $22 which made this job very easy for me. I had to make the channels slightly wider than 3/4" so that the miter Guage guide bar would slide through easily. I can only guess that my 3/4" straight bit is a little shy.

Anyway I got that all completed and then went to work on the right table extension which I am planning on using as a router table as well. I won't bore you with the gory details but it came out very nice. There is a couple minor things I need to adjust but all and all I am pleased with the outcome.

I did use my 84' Mark V for drilling, joining and holding my current HF router table top which is mounted to a set of SS extension table legs. I also got to try out my new to me speed reducer. I had to drill out a screw on the miter gauge that held the miter slot bar to the handle. It made drilling out the screw child's play.

By the way some of the more experienced and accomplished woodworkers here will probably think big deal but for me it is a pretty big deal to complete both tables and have everything fit like a glove. I have struggled mightily with measuring and cutting since taking up this passion. The measuring and cutting stuff may come easily to most but it has been a rough road for me to navigate. I think this time around having heat and no time constraints allowed me to take my time and make sure everything was perfect before cutting or assembling anything. So taking my time and being thorough is the big take away for me this time around.

[pennview]

Your saw and those added tables are looking good, Michael. Just an observation and friendly suggestion, but do you and your family a favor and buy a dust collector. The Harbor Freight 2 HP model for about $150 with a coupon from the Sunday paper is the best deal around. Your lungs will appreciate it too.

[wannabewoodworker]

I actually have the DC3300 but I don't have all the connectors yet to attach it to all of my power tools. I do have an outlet on the TS to connect it to but have not as of yet used it on that. I was noticing all the dust when i was working out there and it is annoying to say the least. I have it all cleaned up now and the next foray into the dungeon I will definitely give it a whirl and see how it works for controlling the dust put out by the TS. I need to get the dust chute for my jointer as that really makes some serious wood waste. The other tool that made a ton of dust was the circular saw I had to use to cut the birch ply man does that thing create some serious amounts of dust. And my miter saw is also a crazy dust maker but i have not been using that of late and usually take it outside the door to use it. I would love to get one of those big dust hoods for the Miter saw but as like everything else it costs a fortune. It is all a learning experience now that I am really starting to make some dust but it is also extremely fun and exciting doing all of this new stuff that I have been wanting to do for a longtime.

[pennview]

Collecting dust and chips from compound miter saws, routers, table saws, etc., is a never ending challenge, but well worth the pursuit. Some years back, I always seemed to get acute bronchitis around Christmas time after prolonged stints in the woodshop working with domestic and imported hardwoods, that included lots of walnut and other irritating woods. If finally dawned on me that the bronchitis was a result of all of that dust. I now pay much more attention to collecting dust and I no longer get bronchitis, but then again I don't do as much woodworking as I once did.

I've got both the DC3300 and HF dust collectors, and the latter really works well, especially for the money. But the DC3300 will do most jobs, especially when set up close to the source of the dust. When I had a contractors-style tablesaw I enclosed the underside and back of the saw with thin plywood/cardboard and then cut a hole for the duct collector hose, and that seem to help cut way down on the dust. I used magnets for the cardboard around the motor, as tilting the blade requires some shifting of the cardboard to keep things sealed. For the compound miter saw (and radial arm saw) I placed an open sided box behind the saw with a port for the dust collecting hose, but it only captures some of the dust, especially when cutting miters.

[heathicus]

Great job on those table extensions!

How loud is the HF dust collector? I should probably get one myself. Can a regular trash bag be used with it?

[gchapman]

I have the same Ridgid TS3650 and dust collection is difficult to say the least. My intention is to enclose the bottom and rear of the cabinet and put a dust collection outlet in the bottom when I make it. Another issue is the open space around the tilt slot on the front of the cabinet. Someplace I saw someone had used flexible magnetic sign material with just a curved cut in it to match the curve of the tilt slot to close it in and still allow the arbor to be tilted.

[robinson46176]

I have the same Ridgid TS3650 and dust collection is difficult to say the least. My intention is to enclose the bottom and rear of the cabinet and put a dust collection outlet in the bottom when I make it. Another issue is the open space around the tilt slot on the front of the cabinet. Someplace I saw someone had used flexible magnetic sign material with just a curved cut in it to match the curve of the tilt slot to close it in and still allow the arbor to be tilted.

I find the dust collection on my TS-3650 quite adequate. I use an adapter to slip on a section of 1 1/2" vac hose about 7' long. I then lay the 4" hose from the HF 2 HP dust collector down on the floor and slip the vac hose about 3' inside of the 4" hose. The open space allows the DC to keep its flow volume up but it still draws from the saw fine.
Having said that I have to add that my dust collection theory is different than a lot of woodworkers. If it catches the chips as well as the fine dust that is a bonus but the fine lung damaging dust is all I really care about. I have a number of good brooms and dust pans. I can sweep the floor... I want to catch that air-born dust absolutely as much as I can. Larger chips, not so much...


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