Questions on a few table saw mods

[Ethan Spronk]

Hey all, I recently bought a used Rigid 3650 TS. What an improvement from my craftsman direct drive! It had a ton of surface rust on top so i cleaned that all off and waxed the top. Any advice on cleaning the rust off the bottom of the wings? There are just a few spots on them that I would like to stop. First thing on my list of projects for it was a zero clearance insert, this was after cleaning the rust off and making sure everything was square on it. I read alot of posts on here about what to use and decided to use 1/2" mdf mostly because I had a few scrap pieces left and im on a tight budget. So my question is how do you hold your homemade zci down? I read a while ago about someone using magnets countersunk in the bottom. Is it worth the hassle? I plan on making a few inserts for different angles I use commonly and eventually a dado insert once I find a good deal on a set of dados.

Some other projects I have in mind is a folding out feed table based on Bob D's design and a router table mounted in the the wing.

Another question I had was dust collection on the router mounted in TS extension. I want to use the original fence because I think it will be more accurate than me trying to build one but I know I need to try do something about the dust since my shop is in my basement. Any suggestions or pictures of what you have done?

Thank you

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[glenn bradley]

Evap-o-rust can be brushed on but, removing the wings and turning them upside down would make things easier. As to the ZCI, just make a duplicate of your original front screw hole. This is what I did for my old Craftsman saw. At the rear I left a little material and made a 'beaver tail' to slip under the retention casting. On others I tapped in a small nail to fit under this area. The rear of the blade is rising up out of the saw. If anything is going to go wrong, the rear of your insert will want to rise up and seek out your face at a high rate of speed; safety first ;-)

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[Jerry Miner]

So my question is how do you hold your homemade zci down?

Gravity and friction hold mine in. Never needed more.

[Earl Rumans]

What do you have the router mounted in? The Incra Clean Sweep system is fabulous but I don't know if you want to spend that much. I have this system on my tablesaw mounted router setup and it really works great.

[Ethan Spronk]

Thanks for the replies thus far. I have not made my router table yet so I am still looking for ideas on how to do that the best. Currently it is in a little craftsman box bench top router.
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[Mark Ashmeade]

I used to have a TS3660, almost the same. It did well for me. I made a simple router table wing out of laminated 2x2, drilled a hole in it for the router bit, and three holes for the mounting screws. Then I made a simple box-like fence that attached to the TS fence using the T slots in it. In the centre of that, I put a 2 1/2" dust fitting, and that worked just fine. Not too much went under the table, since the hole wasn't very big.

The bigger issue was the sawdust generated by the saw itself. If I had kept the saw, I'd have made a cabinet for it. Ultimately, I sold it and bought a cabinet saw with more power, riving knife and longer fence rails. The fence & rail system on the RIDGID was very, very good though. It also has a massive table surface, at 44" wide, it's as wide as my cabinet saw's.

On the ZCI front, I made some up out of plywood, and they were a tight fit, so I never had to bother fastening them to the table. Gravity and friction worked fine. I accept there was a risk there, but it I thought it acceptable, since when cutting, the workpiece will also hold it down.

[Pat Barry]

On the ZCI front, I made some up out of plywood, and they were a tight fit, so I never had to bother fastening them to the table. Gravity and friction worked fine. I accept there was a risk there, but it I thought it acceptable, since when cutting, the workpiece will also hold it down.
I did this also and have never seen a problem with it however, I can see what Glenn mentions as being a possibility, especially for the first few uses. The biggest problem I have had is if I end up cranking the blade up higher than what I originally had, then the back of the blade will definitely lift the insert up. One thing I notice is that I do need to frequently remove the insert, dust off the area that the insert sits on, because it does tend to accumulate saw dust and that raises the insert. Eventually this will cause problems feeding material.

[Jim Rimmer]

[QUOTE=glenn bradley;2224573] As to the ZCI, just make a duplicate of your original front screw hole.

That's what I did. I also drilled small holes and took the leveling screws from my original insert and threaded them into the wood so I could adjust it.

[Chuck Darney]

When I had my 3660 I just made a bunch of MDF duplicates of the stock insert. They sat just a little low. I tried screws as levelers and that work. A better idea came out of some WW magazine. A couple of dabs of hot glue on the insert. Push down until exactly level to the table. Friction holds the insert in.

[Bryan Cramer]

A good dado set is the Freud Diablo either 6" or 8". I got a the 8" at HD for $100.

[Randy Tucker]

... Any advice on cleaning the rust off the bottom of the wings? ...

This stuff from Harbor Freight Tools worked great on the ancient Craftsman jointer I bought at a garage sale for $40 and am cleaning up. http://www.harborfreight.com/1-quart-evapo-rust-rust-remover-96433.html

It's non-toxic, non-corrosive. I couldn't soak the jointers parts in the solution, so I wet multiple layers of paper towels with the solution, laid them over the jointer top, sprayed with a spray bottle full of the solution, covered with plastic wrap, let it sit overnight, and removed the rust in the morning with a Scotch-brite pad. It took about three repetitions to get all of the rust off, and it was really rusted.

Hope that gives you and others some hope for rusted tools.
Randy

[Michael Mayo]

I have the very same saw that I too picked up on Craigslist guy lived one street over from me which made getting the saw home easy. I made some ZCI's out of some Corian I had on hand. I used the original throat plate as a template and traced out the shape from it to the Corian and then used the bandsaw to cut the initial shape. Then I used the original plate as a template and double sided tape to adhere the two together. Then using the router and flush trim bit I trimmed the Corian to the exact same size as the original throat plate. The little tab that goes under the table to hold the plate down at the front of the saw had to then be trimmed down to fit into the recess in the table. I used a dado blade on the tablesaw to accomplish that task and it came out perfect. Then I drilled holes in the same place as the original plate and tapped them out for some set screws to level the plate. They came out great. I did have to run the Corian through my planer to get it down to the proper thickness or slightly less actually so that it could be adjusted up. They are very rigid much more so than the other materials I used in the past.

I had made a router table extension for the right side of the saw but have since built a dedicated router table and made a new extension table that has no holes in it as it serves as a nice spot to keep things i use while cutting on the saw.

I also made an outfeed table for the front of the saw using a couple aluminum L channels welded together to make them very rigid. These are bolted to the sides of the extension tables to support the outfeed table. I used some nuts and bolts on the aluminum channel in order that I could adjust the outfeed table height flush with the tablesaw table and also routed some miter slots into the outfeed table so that my crosscut sled would easily push onto the outfeed table.

I love the saw it is quite accurate for a contractor grade saw but is much more than your average contractor grade saw. Until I can afford a cabinet saw this saw will suffice for now. It has many drawbacks but seems to be very usable.

[Ethan Spronk]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions of the zci, I made one but it is not very tight, I dont have a band saw so I used my jig saw to cut the curves. I think I am going to try another one and leave a tab on the back. I would like to get as much holding it down as possible so I dont have to worry about it when I first start the saw up.

The next project I am working/brain storming is the router table. I found a model of ridgid r4516 and modified the fence guides to my 3650 dimensions so I could see how it would look. I was thinking about using 1.5x 1.5 x .125" angle iron to frame up the insert. I can slot the holes so I can adjust it up and down to level it with the table top. I was going to put 3 bolts through the cast wing (I will have to drill them) and 3 into each rail. I was then thinking I would glue two 3/4" melamine pieces together for the top to help decrease sag over time. I would have to notch the bottom board where to provide access to the bolt heads holding the angle iron frame. I was thinking about using a rockler or kreg router plate with a kreg dual track in front of the router plate for jigs to slide through. I am still debating what to do for a fence. If I build one that clamps to the existing table saw fence or build one just for the router. I would then have to get more t channels to hold that. As you can see in the last image I have offset the router plate to the infeed side is this a wise thing to do?

Do you have any suggestions on the build? Ideas that would save me money? (My wife keeps me on tight budget :) )

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