Adding cast iron wings to a Rockwell Md.10. Should I drill for fence tube mounts?

[James W Glenn]

Hello, first post here. I am in the process of setting up "MY" first shop, and the endless series of choices to be made. I bought a Rockwell Model 10 contractor saw off a buddy, (I helped him move his new Powermatic saw in to his shop) and then purchased a set of cast iron wings off of Ebay. They are pretty flat and one side is milled for a router mount.

The stamped wings presently on the saw have slots to catch mounting bolts from the original fence tube/rails. I am wondering if the table is stabilizing the fence, or is the fence holding up the stamping? It would be simple enough to drill the cast iron wings, but perhaps fussy to adjust all 8 bolts to keep the rails parallel and un-bowed. I am leaning towards letting the rails and tables float indepedantly. The saw is stored at a fully equiped shop so if I am going to do any improvements, it would make sense to do them the first time I assemble all the parts. I do not have the budget to upgrade the fence at the moment, and I would want to use the tool more before declaring it in need of upgrade. Thanks,Woody

[Rick Potter]

I think that you will find the fence is stabilizing the stamped wings in this case. Why don't you just put on the cast wings and see how it works out.

Rick Potter

PS: Just went out and looked. The wings on my Unisaw are not attached to the Biesemeyer fence.

[Mike Cutler]

James

All of the table saws I've owned have had the cast iron wings drilled to accept the fence rails, but I have lower end tablesaws, so take that for what it's worth..
More importantly is to ensure that the the CI wings are level across the top,and corner to corner, especially with the throat. The alignment takes an evenining and box of motor shims, or old feeler gauge sets to get right. After the top is aligned, then the fence is installed.
Like Rick says, give it a go as is, and if you need to drill holes, they're easy enough to drill.

[Bill Huber]

I have a Jet contractor saw and it came with the stamped wings, that did last to long.

I was given some cast iron ones and installed them on the saw, after getting them flat as Mike stated and adjusted I then installed the rails and did drill into the wings, just a little extra support for them is the way I look at it.