Attaching a auxiliary table to a unifence

[Bill Dufour]

I have a long unifence rail on my tablesaw. No problem to attach an extra table to the side of the tablesaw or the back rail. I do not see a good method to attach it to the front rail, All I can find is how to bolt a sacrificial face to the fence.
Bill D

[Gary Thinglum]

Bill, I built this one from the YouTube video by Laney Shaughnessy and I love it. (It is a three-part video) Very well-done video.
Lanny does a great job of explaining how he built it.
I use it all the time and if you don't need it, you can fold it down out of the way. I attached it to my Unisaw. It is extremely solid.
It took some time to build but, well worth the time.
The only change I made was to insert a piece of copper tubing as a sleeve, into the piece of wood that the table pivots on. I figured that eventually, the bolts would elongate the hole in the wood, and the table would not be square.
To attach the table to the Unisaw, I attached an aluminum angle to the side of the top then, attached the table to that.
I will try and get some pictures of it later today.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt6s3rzF8jg

[David Micalizzi]

Bill, I have a unifence too and want to build a small infeed table for a miter gauge or panel sled, something similar to what Izzy Swan came up with for saws with a Biesemeyer type front rail. I haven’t got around to it yet but thought I would use the t slot in the front or the one underneath the front rail that holds the stop for repeated cuts to hold a bolt and go from there. Probably not the complete solution you’re looking for but food for thought anyway.

[glenn bradley]

Confused by the terminology. Are we talking about a Unifence (face boards) or a Unisaw (outfeed table)?

[David Micalizzi]

I believe he is talking about an infeed table that would mount to the front rail of a unifence table saw fence. Possibly to feed sheet goods or larger work pieces.

[Jim Becker]

Confused by the terminology. Are we talking about a Unifence (face boards) or a Unisaw (outfeed table)?

UniFence. The rail is "more solid" in profile than the typical tee-square type fence, so you can't hang something like infeed support on the rail because it's flush with the saw with no gap to hook over. That gets the scale closer since you are aligning the face of the hi/low fence directly with the scale on the fence rail for your measurement. (that's typical for many hi/lo fences, such as those on sliders, too)

[glenn bradley]

UniFence. The rail is "more solid" in profile than the typical tee-square type fence, so you can't hang something like infeed support on the rail because it's flush with the saw with no gap to hook over. That gets the scale closer since you are aligning the face of the hi/low fence directly with the scale on the fence rail for your measurement. (that's typical for many hi/lo fences, such as those on sliders, too)

Ah, the light just came on. Thanks!

[Doug Garson]

If this is the profile of the Unifence rail, looks like it would be easy to install an infeed table using the Tee slot in the front edge.

[Bill Dufour]

Not a front table. A table to the right of the cast iron table.
The diagram is not how mine is attached. Mine has no angle iron. Just captive 3/8"nuts in the top slot and holes drilled through the back for bolts through the table apron.
Bill D

[Doug Garson]

Can you just add an angle iron where needed to support the side table?

[Jim Becker]

Not a front table. A table to the right of the cast iron table.
The diagram is not how mine is attached. Mine has no angle iron. Just captive 3/8"nuts in the top slot and holes drilled through the back for bolts through the table apron.
Bill D

I do not see how a side table would be materially affected by the UniFence rail. If to the right, it just needs a front apron so the UniFence rail can attach where applicable and that's just part of the structure you need anyway to keep it flat over time. (If to the left, it's a non issue in my mind) What am I missing here?

[Bill Dufour]

Consensus seems to be the table can just float and not be tied to the fence at all. I had assumed the fence and table should be locked together so it does not rise up.
Bill D

[Jim Becker]

If you fasten it securely, it shouldn't move. But you should use any available bolt holes from the front of the fence rail into the new right side table structure so that the fence rail is properly supported.

[David Micalizzi]

My unifence front rail has a tee slot running it’s length where it bolts up to the cast iron table and side table. I’m guessing now you have the older style rail which may not have a slot, hence the reason for your post. I would just drill and tap a few locations on the front rail where you want to attach your auxiliary table. There seems to be plenty of material in the extrusion and aluminum taps real easy. I would be reluctant to not have it attached, but that’s just me I way over build things.

[Bill Dufour]

I just came up with a good way to space the nuts to attach the rail to the saw apron. I can not find 9/16 x 21/64 (3/8 nut size) flat steel or I would use a long piece of that to replace al the nuts and drill+tap at the needed locations. I will simply space the nuts with 9/16 x 21/64 strips of wood, or 3/8" dowels, the length needed to keep them spaced as needed in the nut slot.
Bill D.
Something like below. O=the nuts. ----- = the spacer sticks.
O----------O--------O----------O-----O