Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)
Over the course of last year I have focused in on upgrading the table saw/router table cart. It all started whit the fence system. After shopping around an looking at the few options for fence upgrades I chose to go with the Vega U50 Table Saw Fence System, witch has a 50 inch rip capacity. This has made a big difference in ease of use and repeatability of this old Craftsman 113 saw. (Ironic that the fence cost 3 times as much as the saw lol) I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking a fence upgrade and the do make a 36” version if space is a concerned. Also one nice feature of the fence is the metal plates on it to attach the extension wing. That made the process straight forward and relatively simple, Just a top with some bracing for support.With that completed I turned my attention to the router table wing. Since I had to remove the original I decided that this was as good a time as any to splurge on a router lift. While the router plate I was using worked it left a lot to be desired and was had quite a bit of vibration in it when using large diameter router bits. So, I chose the JessEm Rout-R-Lift II witch is the least expensive lift I could find and as far as I can tell the main difference between it and other models is the top is made from 3/8” hard board instead of aluminum. Since I have been using it for about a year now I have been very pleased with it and would certainly recommend it to anyone else who like me can't justify paying for more expensive models. I then added the aluminum 3/4” miter bar channel witch has been a great modification for using jigs and such. I am still using the original fences I made for the router so I don't have to worry about tying up the Vega fence every time, but the Vega fence dose reach the router and works great with it. To turn the router on and off I added a generic paddle switch and wired an old 15' shop vac electrical cord to it, so it can be plugged in no matter where it is parked in the shop.With everything back in working order I turned my attention to an outfeed support wing. The Vega fence made this rather easy as I could attach a 2” X 4” board to the under side of the square metal tube and then affix a framed plywood top to the 2” X 4” and add some plywood supports down to the cart base one either end. Then I routed the relief dados for the miter slots of the table saw.The last four thigs I did were adding a pice of 3/4” PVC pipe to the left side to hold the miter gauge, added a shop vac hose fitting to the back of the saw cabinet fore easy hookup dust collection, closed off the back of the saw with 1/4” plywood and card board to help the dust fall to the vacuum hose (I got this idea form rockusaf here on LJ https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/414473), and added some wooden holders for the router table tools and throat plates. I did add a magnet to hold the wrench in its slot and it works great.As for the original base cabinet I am still very pleased with how I originally made it. The shelf over the drawers is a great place to store jigs and push stick's. The cheap 5” amazon casters still make moving it easy and it locks in place very well. The dust bin door was worked out very good but some hinges would make its use more convent (maybe another future little upgrade).While I would like to have a big cabinet table saw and dictated router table, this option (even with the expensive upgrades) is still a lot more affordable and work very well in my weekend work shop. Price break down Saw $100, Fence $350, Router Lift $162, Casters $26, Paddle Switch $10 and I think the router was on sale for $80 when I purchased it 4 years ago. Everything else was left over form other project (plywood, drawer hardware, ect.) And the good thing about doing thins this way is didn't have to buy it all at one time, spacing it out over a few years.Thanks for stopping by and let me know if you have any questions or upgrade suggestions you would recommend,Matthew Stillwell