New life for my old table saw as a router table

was that done in your shop or by a machine shop?

-- there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it.

I milled out the top using my old jet drill & mill , had to reposition it on the milling table a couple of times as I did not have enough travel to do it with one setup . I don’ think it would cost too much to have it done, pretty simple job, a machine shop would do it in less than half of the time it took me.

-- A tube of calk and a gallon of paint will make a carpenter what he ain't

Great idea! The best part is you didn’t ask the LJ community whether or not you should do it. You made a decision and did it. Great decision and idea.

-- I would drink a river of the kool aid before I took the smallest sip of the tea...

I can see the price of old craftsman saws on craigslist jumping as I type this.

Great idea, I think I may toy with this idea also. My dad has access to a full machine shop at work.

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

Lumberjoe If you have a old beater saw it will make a better router table than you can buy. I have not seen too many with a nice cast table and miter gauge slot. I bought that saw new around 1974 and used it for a job saw for around 30 years then gave it to my son who used it for another year or two until he could afford a better one. When he said he was going to put it in the scrap metal pile I dragged it back home and made a router table.

-- A tube of calk and a gallon of paint will make a carpenter what he ain't

I was thinking about doing something similar but with an extra cast iron wing on my table saw. Any issues with warping in your top by cutting out so much metal and reinforcing ribs underneath?

As far as I can tell the table stayed as flat as ever. Gray cast iron is a pretty stable material. You will need to look your table over pretty close as you can see mine was barley thick enough to leave a lip for the router base it sit on in places. I used the extra thickness of the miter gauge slot to give full support on one side. Good luck I am waiting to see pictures of some more of these that the LJ community builds. I am sure someone can make a better one. I used my router in the wood table extension of my shop saw for years and it worked great but it was always in the way for ripping sheet goods and lacked portability. This table is small enough to take with me to job sites.

-- A tube of calk and a gallon of paint will make a carpenter what he ain't

here it is again for you guys who might be inerested

-- A tube of calk and a gallon of paint will make a carpenter what he ain't

Thanks everyone for great suggestions idea’s very good thanks to all LJ buds
jim

-- jim

Wondering if you or anyone else doing something similar used the saw’s arbor elevation mechanism for raising and lowering the router?

Nice reuse of the old saw table. Nothing like have a sturdy metal tabletop to work with.

-- Live to tell the stories, they sound better that way.