My tablesaw island and it's dust collection setup.

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Since 1984 my primary tablesaw has been a rebuilt 1940s Rockwell Delta Model 34-450 Unisaw. It has a Biesemeyer fence that will cut to 84", and a Biesemeyer vacuum/blade guard that is attached to the ceiling and hinges up when in the way.

The saw cabinet's base is attached to the shop's vacuum system with 5" flex hose. The hose going from the saw cabinet's base is supported by a wood trough on it's way to the hose's vertical drop from the ceiling. The hose is attached to the saw cabinet base by a removable wood sawdust receptacle. Two #720 De-Sta-Co pull action clamps attach the wood receptacle to the saw cabinet's base. The wood recepticle has an aluminum funnel (made from roof flashing) shaped in a way to direct the sawdust to the hose. Expanding insulation foam fill the space between the wood receptacle and funnel to give the funnel rigidity.

The motor is covered with a wood box that has a hinged door for access to occasionally clean around the motor. Openings in the saw cabinet base were filled from the trunnions down, but in the trunnion area and above, I left them open so the dust collector suction would not be makeup air starved. Doing it this way just made sense to me, but I must confess that I have not put a lot of thought into the "science" of air movement inside the saw cabinet base.

There are two dedicated dado saws below it's table extension. The 1930-40s vintage tabletop saws have been rebuilt and are installed upon sawdust catching carts that have straight lined wheels in the back with legs and "wheelbarrow" handles in the front. When needed the dado saws are rolled out from under the Unisaw's extension table. One is used for ¼" dados, the other is set up to dado for Youngdale hinges.

I have had this setup 27 years and it is great.

[Charlie Jones]

Very nice!. I wish I had that much room. My early 90's Unisaw is limited to a 36" extension.

[Bruce Page]

Beautiful shop and very well thought out. I love the drawer in the fence tube - why didn't I think of that!

[Michael W. Clark]

Very nice setup Jerry!
I may copy your 5" take-off on the saw cabinet for my Grizzly 1023. I have been trying to find an "end register" with a 5" outlet, but no luck locally.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a "Youngsdale" hinge?

[Rick Potter]

Ditto on the fence drawer. You should submit that to a magazine before someone else does.

Also, looks like you got some pretty nice motors on those old contractor saws.

Rick Potter

PS: I'll bite. What is a Youngsdale hinge?

[Patrick McCarthy]

another impressed with your fence rail drawer!

But now i have a SS and it has hooks welded to the side for the arbor wrenches . . . . but would have done it on my old pm66 in a heartbeat!

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Thanks Michael! Like you, I to tried to find an end register - I do not think one exists that could be adapted to for this.

I misspelled "Youngsdale", should be "Youngdale". The pictures below show the shop-made Youngdale hinge slot cutting gig and the hinges.

Youngdale hinges are cabinet hinges that are almost indestructible and allow a very wide swing on cabinet doors; http://www.youngdale.com/ I am retired now, but when the shop was running commercially, we used these semi-concealed battleship tough hinges until the market demanded totally concealed hinges. I never had any issues with Youngdale hinges, but I had a lot of issues with totally concealed hinges.

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Rick, I submitted the "Sliding Tool Tray" drawer to all the table saw manufactures a few years back and got lots of praise but none of them were interested. You and the other people posting have inspired me to submit the drawer to some magazines. Thanks!

The motors for the small saws are Marathon 1 1/2hp and a Baldor 1hp, both 220vac - more than enough power to cut 1/4" dadoes. The Unisaw has a 3hp. Baldor.

I misspelled "Youngsdale", should be "Youngdale". See my reply to Michael's post about the hinge.

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Thanks Patrick. Here is another on my large Powermatic dado saw.

[Michael W. Clark]

I misspelled "Youngsdale", should be "Youngdale".

I have seen a few of these or similar but never knew the proper name for them. The jig looks impressive too.

Mike

[Tom Taylor123]

Jerry,
Is your table saw cabinet air tight or is there air that is getting in? I see your front door is air tight.

[Jim O'Dell]

That fence drawer is the bee's knees!!! I like it, and the 84" rip!! 251630 I thought I was nuts with 65". :p Jim.

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Tom, openings in the saw's cabinet were filled from the trunnions down, but in the trunnion area and above, I left them open so the dust collector suction would not be makeup air starved. It just made sense to me to do it this way. I must confess that I have not put a lot of thought into the science of air movement inside the saw's cabinet.

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Jim, and every body else; Wow! I am a little taken back by the interest in the Sliding Tool Tray Drawer. Makes me feel good!

I purchased the 84" fence from Biesemeyer in 1984. At that time they did not make such a thing - they had to custom make it for me. Having 84" between the blade and the fence is invaluable.

[Jim O'Dell]

I think they at one time had a 96" rail set up? Maybe they started marketing it after making one for you! I need to see if I can work on the face panels for my Grizzly fence. The material used, while slick, doesn't lend itself to being flat. It's usable, but not perfect. If I can't fix that, I'm going to start looking for a Biese rail, or the right size square tubing that I can make my own. I have some online dealers for the Biese rails saved in my bookmarks, but last I looked, most of the long ones were no longer made. I guess once the actual Biese units were out of the system, Delta didn't make any more of them. Maybe when I get to the point of doing this, there will still be some of the 52" units available so I can shift to the right and keep the length I have now. (I have a Biese on my contractor saw, so I have the fence already.) Jim.

[Jerry Hillenburg]

I think they at one time had a 96" rail set up? Maybe they started marketing it after making one for you! I need to see if I can work on the face panels for my Grizzly fence. The material used, while slick, doesn't lend itself to being flat. It's usable, but not perfect. If I can't fix that, I'm going to start looking for a Biese rail, or the right size square tubing that I can make my own. I have some online dealers for the Biese rails saved in my bookmarks, but last I looked, most of the long ones were no longer made. I guess once the actual Biese units were out of the system, Delta didn't make any more of them. Maybe when I get to the point of doing this, there will still be some of the 52" units available so I can shift to the right and keep the length I have now. (I have a Biese on my contractor saw, so I have the fence already.) Jim.

Jim, Biesemeyer may have had 96" rails in 1984, I do not recall - my focus was 84" to fit my space. At that time the fence was the talk of the woodworking industry because it won the coveted IWF Challenger's Award two years earlier. I visited their booth at IWF in Atlanta in 1984 and they were enthusiastic about building me a custom size. They had great customer service and worked hard to accommodate.

Every saw manufacture proudly offered the Biesemeyer fence as an option to their saws. Woodworkers were buying these fences like people are buying IPhones today. My 84" fence caused the "Wow Factor" to play out every time one of my customers entered the shop.

I never understood why Delta bought Biesemeyer in 1995. The retrofit market was slowing because of saturation and the patent for the fence was about to expire. After Delta purchased the company, competitor table saw manufactures made clones and stopped offering the Biesemeyer fence option. Was Delta so naive to believe competitor companies were going to sell their saws with fences made by Delta? I wonder what impact Biesemeyer would now have on the woodworking industry if they were not bought by Delta.

Here is a link to William Biesemeyer's 1980 patent; http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4206910.pdf
Here is a link to the history of the company; http://www.deltamachinery.com/about-us/biesemeyer-history

Jim, since you have a fence already, you might buy the rail material locally cut to your desired length and make them yourself. I did that on my dedicated Powermatic dado saw that is pictured above.

[Andrew Joiner]

Youngdale hinges are cabinet hinges that are almost indestructible and allow a very wide swing on cabinet doors; http://www.youngdale.com/ I am retired now, but when the shop was running commercially, we used these semi-concealed battleship tough hinges until the market demanded totally concealed hinges. I never had any issues with Youngdale hinges, but I had a lot of issues with totally concealed hinges.


Jerry,
I was a youngdale hinge fan too for the same reasons . Beautiful shop. I can see by the photos you took the time to build things to last.

I just looked at your profile and our stories are similar. I'm sending you a PM.

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Jerry,
I was a youngdale hinge fan too for the same reasons . Beautiful shop. I can see by the photos you took the time to build things to last.

I just looked at your profile and our stories are similar. I'm sending you a PM.

Andrew, thanks for reading my Profile "About Me" bio. I just read your woodworking career story and we do have similar stories. Our early retirements were a result of a mirror like retirement funding strategy . Then, in our careers, we practiced our passion - woodworking. Now we go forward in our retirement practicing our passion - woodworking. But there is one BIG difference from then and now; now we can do what we want to do when we want to do it.

[Matt Day]

+1 on that sliding tool tray idea! You should win a router or something from a magazine for that. Now that I think about it, that would be a good place to store threaded rod too.

[Jerry Hillenburg]

+1 on that sliding tool tray idea! You should win a router or something from a magazine for that. Now that I think about it, that would be a good place to store threaded rod too.

Thanks Matt. I did submit it today to FWW. We will see what happens. I do have a little extra space for another router.

[Barry Mabery]

Jerry, I am most impressed with your shop layout and the semi or totally dedicated use of refurbished machines. I have seen other setups with two saws sharing an island and a Bies, but I don't think I've seen 3 (of course, square footage may have a lot to do with that). I read with great interest your carriage door pictorial and have marked it for (I hope) future use. The little touches, such as the rail drawer, the easy accessibility of push tools (at the saw) and the funnel design, are all great additions and will certainly be an inspiration to many of us. Please show us more.
Barry

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Jerry, I am most impressed with your shop layout and the semi or totally dedicated use of refurbished machines. I have seen other setups with two saws sharing an island and a Bies, but I don't think I've seen 3 (of course, square footage may have a lot to do with that). I read with great interest your carriage door pictorial and have marked it for (I hope) future use. The little touches, such as the rail drawer, the easy accessibility of push tools (at the saw) and the funnel design, are all great additions and will certainly be an inspiration to many of us. Please show us more.
Barry

Barry, Thanks for your comments. Here is the link to the carriage house garage door post. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?188002-Carriage-House-Style-garage-door-construction-technique&highlight=