Attaching a folding outfeed table to an Xacta fence

[Nick Sandberg]

Jim Becker has an excellent outfeed table plan on his website (which is down now for whatever reason, I think it went off line this week while I was working on this project). I am trying to figure out how you all attach the outfeed table to the rail of the Biesemeyer style fence and also to the 2” aluminum angle iron. Is it just drilling holes in the metal and wood screws or something else that I am missing. Apologies if this is a silly question.

[Jim Becker]

Sorry about the site, Nick...I shut down the domain after 20 years as I haven't touched the site for over ten years now. I couldn't justify the money to maintain it as I have two others that I actually use. And yes, the domain died on the 20th...sorry also about the bad timing.

Most table saws with a "tee square" type fence typically have an angle iron rail on the back to help support the right-side table. My outfeed table design and many similar designs use that rail to help support the additional surface since it's there and quite sturdy. You just need to shim so that your new surface is at or "just a whisker" below the saw table height. To connect to it, I drilled holes in the angle iron and then screwed up from below. For the angled supports shown in the plan, the aluminum angle was screwed to the saw cabinet with self-tapping screws into 1/8" holes. The wood/plywood angled support arms just set on top of that aluminum angle, but I may have also drilled and screwed from below to insure they stayed put...I just don't remember as it was many years ago and I sold the saw a long time ago, too.

If I can help with any other questions, I'll try my best!

[Nick Sandberg]

Hey Jim. Thanks again for the help. Apologies but my first reply was eaten by the Internet. I went ahead and used some “SPAX #10 x 2-1/2 in. T-Star Drive Washer / Wafer Head Partial Thread Yellow Zinc Coated Cabinet Screws” with a bolt and a washer to attach to the back rail, I have found these Spax screws to be excellent at not splitting the plywood. I also used them to attach my angled supports, I drilled one hole in the aluminum angle iron for each support and it was very solid. There were already two holes in the rail for my Xacta fence so I just went ahead and used those, the benefit of the Spax screws was that they are practically lag bolts and cinched the top down about a 16th below the cast iron. Btw your old site is still visible on wayback machine so no worries there, also no need to apologize for your free resource going down, I appreciated the inspiration as well as your reply.

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[Jim Becker]

That looks good, Nick! Good screws are always worth the money...folks are not doing themselves any favors by using cheapo screws or inappropriate screws like drywall fasteners for woodworking. IMHO, of course.