Rear Dust port installed (not permanently yet, still have to put some poly on the finish). The base plate allows me to attach a different port setup if needed like a 90 deg angle, etc.


Fence is now partially finished. Installed the braces and dust port with a little glue and 1 1/4” recessed screws.


Here are some shots of the face frame. The cabinet is stained with Red Oak, and the face frame in Golden Oak. I wanted a bit of contrast. The drawers and door will be done in Red Oak also, and the table top frame in Golden Oak. The face frame is 3/4” wide by 1/2” deep. I used the cross cut side of the oak on the front so that the figuring would show. You can’t really see it in the pictures, but it looks awesome.



And some pictures of the router door. I used spline miters for the door, and Red Oak stain on it to contrast against the Golden Oak stain on the face frame.



Here is the top where I am installing the 1” X 2” oak frame around it. I made sure that the cross cuts were shown on top for the figuring. I tried to get some good shots of the figuring in the oak, so hopefully you can see it. I should have wet it down a bit.



This final shot is just of the cabinet side to show the contrast between the two stains.

The next few pics show the current state of my shop. When you are caught in the moment and really want to get a project done, this is what happens. I really, really, really need to get her cleaned up.

For those that remember, a year ago or so I ran into some 1” oak trim that was being thrown away from a resturant. All of the solid oak used in this project is from that.

Hopefully some more progress this week!!!

This picture is just a view from the front. The top consists of 2 pieces of 3/4” MDF glued together sandwiched between a top and bottom layer of black formica. I have not added the solid oak molding around the table top yet, but it’s ready to go. Probably will happen tomorrow, along with the face frame for the cabinet carcass. The top will be a bit over 25” X 36” when the oak molding is on. By the way, the top is not mounted yet. I just placed it onto the cabinet for the pics. You can see the drawer fronts inside the cabinet. The fence is in pieces right now and has not been assembled yet. It is made of MDF. I still have to get some laminate on it, drill some holes, create the dust collection port and fence faces, etc. I am waiting on my t-track to arrive also. If you look closely, you can see the pocket holes in the carcass on the inside I did with the Kreg jig. Awesome.. Just awesome!

Here is the router table at an angle. The PVC piping on the table will attach to the back of the cabinet for dust collection. The side port off of the PVC pipe will be attached to the fence dust port with clear corrigated flexible tubing. Please excuse the mess in the shop. I am going to try to get most of the shop cleaned up this weekend. This was the first time I had ever laminated anything, and it turned out great. The sawdust on the table makes it look like it is messed up in the pictures, so please ignore this. You can see on the top front part of the side, there is a 3/4” X 3” piece of solid oak that runs across the front for additional stability. I did the same on the bottom of the front and back of the cabinet to keep the table from sagging any. I should get quite a few years out of this one.

In this picture you can see the dust collection port (4”) on the back of the cabinet, and the back of the fence. The only visible pocket holes are 8 on the back. The rest were done within the cabinet where the drawers will hide them. I wanted to do these on the inside also, but there wasn’t enough room within the side drawer areas to screw them in properly. I will hopefully plug the ones on the back tomorrow.

This is a distance shot of the router table. The small PVC fitting will go into the fence dust port to attach the hose. I placed small temporary castors on the bottom to move the cabinet around until I can get some good locking castors.

This is the cabinet dust collection area that will house the router. I kind of followed what seems to be the standard for this. I still have some final cleanup and sanding to perform before finishing.

Here is a closer pic of the fence back. I still have a lot of work to do to get this sucker finished. You can see the table saw that I restored a while back with the Delta T2 fence in the background. Still works like a charm.

This is a pic to show that the fence has not been assembled yet.

Just another pic from the back of the cabinet.

I’ll start keeping up with the pics during the progress of the project. I have just been so anxious to get this thing done to start using it.

For the past couple of years, I have been wanting to build a router table ala Norm. Well, my birthday was last friday (March 27) and my wife was asking me what I wanted. Well, long story short, I started out with a couple sheets of 3/4” oak plywood, and a sheet of MDF. This past weekend, I spent some time in the shop ripping the plywood based on my own drawn out plans on graph paper based on various versions of the table that I researched on the Internet. I’ve spent a lot of time researching everyones tips on building to finishing, materials for the top, bracing, the fence, dust collection, and the list goes on and on.

I got most of the carcas completed, minus the drawers and face frame, and just completed laminating the top (2 – 3/4 sheets of mdf glued together) on both sides. This was my first time ever laminating with formica, so I was a bit worried I would mess it up, but everything turned out great. I used black formica and it looks excellent. I have trimmed up the excess laminate on each side, and am ready to install my oak framing around the table top.

One quick note. For those that do not have any of the Kreg pocket hole jigs, they are AWESOME. I have never really used one before, so when I got one last week for my birthday, I had to try it out. It is the most usefull tool I have ever used. I’ll have to do a review on the jig soon, and some awesome clamps that Harbor freight had on clearance that work great.

So far, I am pleased with the results of the table build, but still have a long way to go. I will get some pictures of the router table up from this point forward on construction starting tomorrow (camera out of batteries).

I wish that I had taken pictures of each step to further clarify the information listed below. Looking back now I realize that it would have helped quite a few people. I may be able to do some sketches and post them here…

First, I went ahead and attached the square tubing to the front rail. Then with a pencil, I made a mark on the front rail at ‘0’ on the measuring tape that is attached to the square tubing.

Then, I disassembled the front rail and tubing. I had a ‘0’ reference point on the front rail from the previous step. I placed both front and back rails together so that I could get my ‘0’ reference point transferred from the front rail to the back rail.

Next, I placed the fence on the tablesaw and moved it to where the zero position would be (against the blade), as if the fence was actually attached, making sure to square the fence with the table. The T2 fence has a plexiglass (or clear plastic) sight where you read the attached measuring tape through. I made a mark on the table where the reference line on the sight was. I then drew a line at that point on the saw top from the front to the back, of course making sure that the line was square to the table.

Next, I layed the front rail on the top of the saw, matching up the ‘0’ reference mark on the rail to the line that I drew on the saw table top. I then measured 1.75 inches from each side of the saw table and drew a line on the front rail for each. I did the same for the center of the table at 10”. I then did the same for the rear rail.

I then drilled the holes. I actually offset the holes a bit higher and did not align them with the existing holes that were in the rails because I wanted to make sure that the fence was as close to the table as it would go without scraping across the table when you moved it or riding too high above the table. The fence sides are adjustable up and down, so you do have a bit of tweaking there too. If you look at the blog, you will notice in the fourth picture down on the before and after pictures, that the holes that mount the rail are up slightly from the original holes.

Once you mount the rails and put the fence on, you may have to adjust the plexiglass sight on the fence a little. It is adjustable side to side, but when I installed it, I barely had to make any adjustment to it at all.

Like I said before, I really was really worried that I would mess it up, but if you take your time and make sure that all of your measurements are accurate, everything will work out fine. All I can say is that it made a 200% improvement on the tablesaw. I have been using it now for a few weeks and it is extremely accurate. It’s nice being able to set the fence on a measurement, and not have to double check the fence to the blade to ensure that what it says is what it’s going to cut.

I am by no means an expert at installing table saw fences, and really, I was taking a big chance on messing up the fence and it eventually not being usable (or returnable). I took my time thinking about how I could accomplish the installation. There may be a better way to install this fence on a craftsman tablesaw, but this way worked for me.

Hope this helps… as stated above, you will have to drill all new holes in the rails to get it to work right.

If you can guess what it is, post it here. I’ll let you know if you get it right. I gave a really good hint in the first blog posting. You just have to do a little research to get the answer.

I cut some of the pieces today, 4 – 18” long pieces have been jointed and edge-glued together to form one plank (needed it to be a little longer than what is required so that I can shape it on the bandsaw), and the remaining length has been resawn and 1 piece of it shaped on the scroll saw which gave me a bit of scrap to use for some other things on the project.

I had a hard time trying to come up with an idea for the contest, but finally I went with something that I love other than woodworking (hint, hint). I am making my favorite one of these, and this is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, but never really thought about making it from one 2×4. It won’t actually be functional, other than a piece of art to hang on the wall, since you really couldn’t have a functional one out of softwood, but for ‘the most part’ the dimensions will be full size and not scaled. I am still trying to figure out how I will make a couple of the things that will be part of the project, but it shouldn’t be a problem…

Hopefully I didn’t give out too many clues… :)

Here is the before picture:

Here are the after pictures with the Delta T2 fence installed:

The next two pics show closeups of the rails where I had to drill new holes since the existing ones did not line up. I also had to drill 3 new holes in the rear of the saw table to mount the rear rails:

As in my last blog post, I still have a few things to do to it like mounting the motor and installing a new switch, making a router table extension, and putting some adjustable feet on the legs of the table.

Let me know what you guys think so far!

Just in case you can’t see the pictures completely, here is a link to the album.

I am actually on vacation for the remainder of the year, so I’ll be finishing up this saw. I have 2 more things to do to it….

1. Mount the motor and install a new switch
2. Make a router extension wing.

I have always hated the Crapsman ‘Professional’ router table that I have. It has the aluminum top that we all hate, and it has always felt flimsy.

This saw has the standard cast iron extension wings, which are not solid. If I leave the right side wing off, that will give me approximately 24” from the edge of the table, to the end of the fence rail. So i’m looking at a 24” X 27” router table extension.

I took some pictures, but I can’t get them uploaded because my step-daughter took my usb cable to her dad’s house. Hopefully I’ll get it back tomorrow and I can upload them…

I was a little afraid of drilling holes in the rails primarily because I was worried I was going to mess it up, and wouldn’t be able to return it.

I still have to drill and mount the rear rail, but I’ll also have to drill holes in the back of the saw table. Amazingly this 1952 Craftsman tablesaw (model 113.27520) did not have any mounting holes for a rear rail.

Some funny things I found in the manual:

Apparently ‘Miter Slots’ were called ‘Table Grooves’ back in the 50’s
“The saw guard assembly and splitter blade bracket are not furnished with the saw because of government orders restricting the use of aluminum.” – was this due to the Korean War?

Some things I have learned so far:

1st and foremost… TAKE YOUR TIME, no matter how anxious you are to get it installed.

2nd... When modifying a fence, make sure to measure everything about 20 times before drilling. I did, and so far everything has worked out fantastic. I still have to drill and install the rear rail, so hopefully it will work out like the front did.

3rd... If you are unsure on what to do, or want advice concerning anything, come to lumberjocks.com. I have never seen another website with members that were so knowledgable and willing to help (maybe this should be the 1st…).

One more note… A lot of you may be wondering why I would want to put a new fence on this old, piece of crap Craftsman tablesaw anyway. Actually, the reason is that after I had restored it, I wanted to use it. With the original fence broke, I thought I would initially use it just with a sled. Once I got it mounted to the stand, It looked too good not to have a fence. I wanted something cheap, but good and reliable. I did some research on making my own biesemeyer clone out of angle iron and square steel tubing, but decided against it since I have never welded before, and I didn’t want to use bolts to hold the fence pieces together. I started looking into biesemeyer clones, and really liked the Delta T2. It was cheap ($150 at lowes), lighter than most of the other Biese-clones, and the sides of the fence are aluminum held with t-bolts which makes it easy to replace the sides with extruded aluminum sides full of t-tracks (ahh.. fun with clamps, jigs, etc).