Ridgid R4512 TS -- shop built folding outfeed table & router insert

Hi John,welcome to LJ’s and yes this is a great site…nice modifications you did there…i have the same saw and im looking forward to adding a router table insert also.thx for posting…

-- Jeff,Tucson,Az.

Welcome to LJs.
I just purchased a new (to me) C’man contractor saw & need to get me an outfeed table like yours!!!

Thanks for shaing and providing me motivation!

-- Randy-- I may not be good...but I am slow!

I dont see miter slots in the outfeed. is it low enough to clear the miter gauge or sleds as they come off the back of the saw?

Thanks for the welcoming comments!

@jaydubya: yes, the outfeed table sits just low enough to provide clearance for the miter gauge. I don’t use a crosscut sled (yet), but it would be east to modify the height of the table and add miter tracks down the road, if desired.

-- John, BC, Canada

Nice work nwbusa.

Looks very nice to me, and its great that it folds away when not in use.

-- I GIVE UP!!!! I've cut this @!&*!% board 3 times.... its still too short!

WOW!!! thats really cool how you made a colapsable outfeed. How did you henge it? it looks like door henges? any closeup pics?

Wow, my very first post to LJs back from the dead :)

Yes, I used standard door hinges. You can see here where I had to drill two new holes in the hinges to mount them to the rear fence rail.

Here’s another shot of the hinged leg. I’ve over-exposed the pic a bit so you can see where I mounted a short piece of angle iron to the TS base to act as a ledge for the bottom of the leg to rest in. The tricky part was figuring out the lengths of the leg segments and the angle of the cuts for the leg hinge, so that the outfeed table sat level.

The funny thing is, I almost never use the outfeed table anymore, as I built a mobile assembly table that I use for that task. Still, when the assembly table is occupied, I can always roll it out of the way and use the folding outfeed table. It’s surprisingly strong.

Good times!

-- John, BC, Canada

Show us some pics of the rolling assembly table. How do you like your R4512 since you have had it for a few months now.

James

I have some melamine myself I bought off the scrap cart at HD just for this purpose. The only concern I have is how the melamine reacts when routing for the router insert (whether it will chip etc.) Did you have any problems working with the melamine/particle board? Assuming you used particle coated with melamine.

Welcome to LJ’s John. nice design you have there.

How have you found the balance of the saw? I know that stuff can be heavy, does it cause and “wobbly” moments or is it all rock solid.

David

-- No one plans to fail, they just, just fail to plan

James, check out my shop page in my profile, it shows a couple of shots with the mobile assembly table set up. As for the saw, I really do like it. I spent some time getting it really dialed in, and invested in a some better blades. I rip 8/4 hard maple with no problems. IMO, it’s a very good saw for the money.

Tom, I had some very minor chip out when I routed the melamine. When I redo the router table, I’ll probably use MDF and top it with Formica or something similar. It didn’t turn out too badly, though.

David, the saw doesn’t get moved much anymore… cars live in the driveway now. But the balance of the saw was not adversely impacted as far as I could tell. There’s considerable mass in the saw to keep it from being tippy. I did always collapse the outfeed table before moving it, though.

Thanks guys for the interest. :)

-- John, BC, Canada

Thanks for the info. Yes I couldn’t tell from the picture, to me it looks pretty clean. I’m not sure if I’ll go the MDF and laminate route, if I can source a good price on laminate then yes. The router table extension does look good though. I have the same saw myself. Thanks again.

Awesome job John. I too have limited work space in my cellar and have been thinking of doing the same, you just inspired me more. Thanks again.
Also like your cordless tool cabinet. I see you have many drills, as I do. My wife can’t understand why I need so many drills. I try to explain, but she just doesn’t get it:)

Peace to all

-- Joe from Western Ma.... Peace to all

That looks awesome. For some reason your insert looks a lot bigger than mine. Did you fit it in the standard “hole” that was there, or is it modified at all?

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts