Fold-down power feeder

[Peter Aeschliman]

I'm thinking about adding a power feeder to my table saw (which will have the router table in the extension wing).

I want to be able to use it for both the router table and the table saw, but have it fold down completely below the outfeed end of the table saw when I want it completely out of the way. I don't want to bolt it to the table top like a production shop would, where they have dedicated table saws for ripping.

I'm blatantly steeling the idea from Felder (video fast forwarded to the right spot):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvR5k99PMiE#t=3m40s

Has anybody retro-fitted something like this to a north american table saw before? I'm considering just buying the assembly from Hammer and fabbing up a mounting point somehow (I'm also a novice hobby welder, emphasis on "novice").

My biggest concern is the outfeed table on my saw. I want good support for rip cuts on plywood. I guess I could add second hinged section to my outfeed table to help with that.

Any creative ideas out there?

[Peter Aeschliman]

Of course, as soon as I posted this, I realized that the router table feed direction is reversed when it's in the right extension wing (assuming I don't do climb cuts), and the fence will be on the other side of the feeder, which means I'll have to adjust the "toe" of the feeder when I switch between TS and RT modes.

Are power feeders reversible?

[Mike Heidrick]

Accura used to sell one for Comatic 1hp large feeders called the Flipper. Have not seen it in awhile.

[Mike Heidrick]

Are power feeders reversible?

Yes and multiple speeds in each direction.

[Mike Heidrick]

I needed more support than this on my sawstop ICS. I took it off and have not worked on it anymore. I bought it for my jointer originally.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/P7294127.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/P7294128.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/P7294125.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/P7294126.jpg

[Peter Aeschliman]

Wow, that's awesome! Thanks! Exactly what I am thinking about. This would go on my SS PCS.

Have you thought about what you would do to gain the additional support needed? Was it causing the angle iron on to flex or something?

[Mike Heidrick]

The unistrut was flexing. I was thinking an I beam stand alone maybe. My feeder is 100lbs though so it is quite a bit more than the baby feeder so keep that in mind. Plus make sure you have room for it tilted away. I will be curious to watch your progress.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Peter, my felder has that swing away bracket and feeder. It's HEAVY, so make sure what you mount it to is solid. It also might be heavy enough to make a light saw tippy when it's hanging off the back because of the added leverage so far behind the CG. That being said, its an effective mount, and I'd think it'll work for you. The bracket lock is pretty clever from Felder, you'll like how it works.

[Erik Loza]

They make a tipper bracket for some of the older CU300's. I tried it once with a three-wheel feeder and practically gave myself a hernia by trying to prevent it from slamming down. Gas strut or not, I can't imagine flipping a four wheel feeder over on any kind of bracket like that.

If I couldn't get a hold of a elbow-type swing arm, a-la Knapp, I would mount the feeder to a rolling cart, then wheel it up and clamp it to the machine when needed.

Erik

[Rod Sheridan]

They make a tipper bracket for some of the older CU300's. I tried it once with a three-wheel feeder and practically gave myself a hernia by trying to prevent it from slamming down. Gas strut or not, I can't imagine flipping a four wheel feeder over on any kind of bracket like that.

If I couldn't get a hold of a elbow-type swing arm, a-la Knapp, I would mount the feeder to a rolling cart, then wheel it up and clamp it to the machine when needed.

Erik

LOL.

The trick is to store the feeder as close to the base as possible.

That way you have the leverage to flip it up or down easily............Regards, Rod.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Peter, I happen to have one on my Hammer saw.

When folded down, the bracket is just below the saw top so it doesn't interfere with work pieces.

If you made you out feed table with a couple of pins at each end it would simply lift on/off your saw and not interefere with the feeder in either position.

Regards, Rod.

[Bill Adamsen]

This is what the Knapp feeder bracket looked like. I don't have one (covet perhaps) but other active members of this forum do.

[Curtis Horswill]

Timely thread, I just built a copy for my Knapp saw/shaper. Just have to paint it yet. Thanks to Dave Kumm for letting me borrow yours to copy. Sorry about the pictures, not sure why they rotated.
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[Peter Quinn]

Trying to dead lift one of these things is no joy, and lifting it on a pivot is very close to dead lifting it. I think my smallest one weights 120#? I used to share one between 3 machines, shapers and table saw, and I have a small rolling cart at table top height, I unbolt it from the table in under 2 minutes, shimmy it on to the cart....completely out of the way, no real lifting. I have a place to park it. So if you have the space for that, it's a viable alternative to the pivot, and tapping the tables makes a very secure mount.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Thanks everybody for the feedback. Curtis, how much does that arm sag when it's fully extended? I assume your combo machine's cabinet has a pretty solid attachment point there in order for that to work!

For the fold down configuration, it sounds like a heavy duty spring like the accura setup Mike posted would be necessary.

Rod, does the Hammer unit have a spring?

[Curtis Horswill]

The arm has very little to no sag when extended out. The Knapp has a thick steel base, probably close to 3/8" thick.

[Rod Sheridan]

Thanks everybody for the feedback. Curtis, how much does that arm sag when it's fully extended? I assume your combo machine's cabinet has a pretty solid attachment point there in order for that to work!

For the fold down configuration, it sounds like a heavy duty spring like the accura setup Mike posted would be necessary.

Rod, does the Hammer unit have a spring?

Hi, no it doesn't.

The trick is to store the feeder with it raised as little as possible so you get maximum leverage when raising the feeder..........Rod.

[David Kumm]

There is no sagging on the Knapp. While they aren't perfect, they did have by far the heaviest cabinet build. The base is all 6mm steel with a full floor and a full partition between the saw and the shaper. The additional weight of the shaper helps to offset the imbalance too. DAve

[Peter Aeschliman]

Just wanted to follow up on this. I decided to de-complicate things and just get the jessem clear cut hold downs instead.

The part about feeding that feels unsafe to me is having to apply force in all three dimensions (in the feed direction, against the table, and against the fence). It feels almost impossible to do properly with a push stick. My theory is that it will be much safer if I can let a tool take care of some of that. A power feeder takes care of all three dimensions, but if I could just focus on feeding, I think that's good enough for me.

This way I avoid all of the complications and expense of installing a feeder in the way we've discussed it in this thread. Plus I sense that the jessem units are much easier to set up for a cut...