Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw

Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - Printable Version

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Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - Bibliophile 13 - 08-06-2019

I recently acquired a 14" Steel City bandsaw, which I will be using especially for resawing thick stock, including small logs. I needed outfeed support, but with two requirements:
1. It needed to attach to the saw itself, mainly for stability.
2. It needed to fold up flat against the saw.

I couldn't find many such designs online (maybe I wasn't looking in the right place), so I eventually came up with my own.

It's a simple but effective design. The legs are attached to the sides of the solid table with long wood screws so the legs can pivot. The legs do stand on a little riser to keep the table co-planar with the band saw's table. (That's the one little compromise I had to make with this design. If the legs were long enough on their own, they would be too long to fold up alongside the table.)

The outfeed table itself is just glued up out of 2X stock I had lying around.

Had to level it off with a jack plane. I didn't need a perfect surface, just something that workpieces won't catch on.

The table is (about) the same width as the bandsaw table, and it's as long as the distance from the underside of the table to the floor, or really a hair under.

The only mildly challenging part was attaching the table to the rails on the bandsaw table, which required drilling through the rails, inserting a wooden spacer, and attaching hinges with bolts and stop nuts.

(Yes, I had to replace the broken metal trunnions with maple ones I made myself. It was the price of getting the saw, so totally worth it in the long run.) The wooden spacer had to be thick enough to put the top of the outfeed table at the same level as the top of the bandsaw table. It took me a couple tries to get it exactly right.

The table folds down perfectly.

I had to position the cross-member on the legs so that it cleared the housing for the belt and pulley.

I haven't yet stress-tested it with really heavy material, but it works just fine so far on light-duty cuts. If the legs turn out to be too spindly (They're only 3/4" thick) I'll replace them with some thicker ones.

RE: Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - farmerj111 - 08-06-2019

Very nice. I'd never considered putting an out feed table on my band saw, but maybe I should.

Joe

RE: Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - shoottmx - 08-06-2019

Awesome idea! You did a super job on that outfeed. Congrats!

g

RE: Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - Mike in kc - 08-09-2019

I notice thats a pretty "Beefy" table, do you have any provisions for fine tuning the legs to get the table "just right"?

I made a circle cutting jig a few years ago and made the leg adjustable, simply because concrete floors aren't all that "flat".

For those interested, click the picture for more.

RE: Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - Belle City Woodworking - 08-09-2019

Great Idea and great job!

RE: Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - stav - 08-09-2019

Considering a band saw table is not fixed, are you not at all concerned about the additional strain on the table trunions (sp?)? No expert here, just asking.

I like the idea btw.

RE: Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - Stwood_ - 08-09-2019

Good design. Something I've wanted to do when I get rountoit.

RE: Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - Bibliophile 13 - 08-09-2019

(08-09-2019, 06:08 AM)Mike in kc Wrote: I notice thats a pretty "Beefy" table, do you have any provisions for fine tuning the legs to get the table "just right"?

You mean the length of the legs? It's a trick, because if the legs are the right length to fold up alongside the table, then they can't be quite long enough to get the table level. (It's a practical geometry thing.) So I ended up just making them short and putting a riser block on the floor to raise the table to the right height.

RE: Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - Bibliophile 13 - 08-09-2019

(08-09-2019, 01:55 PM)stav Wrote: Considering a band saw table is not fixed, are you not at all concerned about the additional strain on the table trunions (sp?)? No expert here, just asking.

I like the idea btw.

Good question! Ordinarily, yes, I would be, especially since the trunnions on the Steel City saw are pretty fragile. But as it happens, the whole reason I have this saw is that the trunnions broke, and the previous owner couldn't get replacements. So he upgraded to a nicer saw and passed this one on to me to repair. I made myself some replacement trunnions out of hard maple and angle iron, and they're holding up really well. The table doesn't tilt any more, but I don't care to use a bandsaw for beveled cuts anyway.

RE: Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw - WaterlooMarc - 08-10-2019

Good job. This has been on my to do list for lakmoat 5 years now. Maybe one day.