table saw/router table combo.

[Sticks McGee]

Hey everyone I have a question.

Currently I own an older Grizzly contractor saw (I believe it's a 1023). Love the saw as it is cast iron with cast iron wings (heavy sumbitch). I also have a dewalt router mounted under a router table that I built years ago. The table saw does not have a mobile base and I am extremely limited in space. The router tale top is a piece of laminate I got for free years ago. It is about 30" deep by 50" wide and about 2" thick (again heavy). I built a basic 2x4 frame to attach the top to. I built a home made fence for it that I simply clamp in place on the table top. Right now the space in my garage does not allow me to set either the router table or the table saw out in a useable spot so when I do work on a project the stuff must be brought right outside the garage onto the driveway. This means balancing a 250 lb saw on my floor jack with a 2x8 across the lower frame. The saw is stored in an area with the router table sitting upside down on the saw. it takes me a good 30 minutes to slear stuff out of the way, left the router table and carry it outside and then work the saw out there.

My plan is to build a cabinet that will roll around when needed (retractable casters) and sit solidly down when I use it. The saw will be mounted on this cabinet and I want to build some drawers to keep the table saw accessories in them. I want to turn one extension wing into a router table so I can use the table saw fence for the router. Also in the drawers I build I can keep router bits, accessories and my plunge router. Does anyone have anything like this that you have made and pictures? I am just trying to get ideas to get started on the build.

 

[srmofo]

I have plans to build a similar setup, but I intend to weld up a metal cart to place the saw and cabinet on.

In the mean time, I built a wood cart to roll my saw on. Use harbor freight casters and they don't need to be retractable.

I can post some pics later tonight

 

[Sticks McGee]

That would be great..I had also entertained the thought of building a steel base to place the cabinet on. I need to do something because it is a giant pain the the **** to roll that thing in and out with a floor jack. In past years the saw only had to be moved a few feet within the garage and that floor was always smooth to moving it was not a big deal. Also my router table never had to be stored on top of it as I had room for them both to sit on the floor..

My latest project I worked on last weekend for three separate days and each day was the full move outside and back inside..This is a small cabinet I am building for my wife..I have the doors now built I just have to get them fitted with hinges then final sanding prep and stain and finish..

 

[shoot summ]

I have the Benchdog cast iron top, I've made my own tables many times, but wanted something that was more on par with my saw.

http://www.benchdog.com/ProMax.cfm

 

[srmofo]

That would be great..I had also entertained the thought of building a steel base to place the cabinet on. I need to do something because it is a giant pain the the **** to roll that thing in and out with a floor jack. In past years the saw only had to be moved a few feet within the garage and that floor was always smooth to moving it was not a big deal. Also my router table never had to be stored on top of it as I had room for them both to sit on the floor..

My latest project I worked on last weekend for three separate days and each day was the full move outside and back inside..This is a small cabinet I am building for my wife..I have the doors now built I just have to get them fitted with hinges then final sanding prep and stain and finish..

Im in the middle of cleaning and organizing and finishing years worth of projects in order to get my place into a workable shop. 1 of my main priorities is to make everything as mobile as possible because I am still parking 2 cars and a motorcycle in my garage as well as doing projects in it.

Heres the table saw cart. I inherited my grandpa's delta unisaw and the thing is just too heavy to move without wheels so I whipped up this temporary solution a few years ago and never completed my router/ table saw combo. I also removed the right table wing because it relied on a support and I just dont have the room for it right now, plus it made the saw impossible to move without help.The bottom is just .5"sheathing ply scraps . Once I had the saw in place I reinforced the bottom inside with another layer of the cheap ply I had. Surprisingly it hasnt given me a bit of trouble. The cheap casters dont roll all that well so even when Im pushing a full sheet through by myself it still doesnt move, but I suspect with a lighter saw you might have to engage the locks.

It kind of a mess out there right now because I am also working a cabinet, but mine is to keep most of my larger tools centrally located. Right now theres some here, some there, some over there, you get the idea.

I thought I had some better pictures of it, but this is all I have for now. I finished up the pry bar rack this weekend (First project with the swag pressbrake). I left the overhang in the back for my clamps to be hung but I haven't started those yet . Its going to be a grueling task. I think the side opposite the pry bars will have have measuring tools like squares, t-squares, levels, etc

The doors are trimmed in red oak scraps from when I installed new stairs in the house a few years ago. It still needs sanded and Im not sure what I want to do with the finish. Originally didn't intend to do anything with it but it came out so nice I kind of want to now. Using magnets off old name badges as door catch, and IIRC the handles came from an old hunter alignment machine cabinet (or I might have dug them from the curbside I cant remember)

 

[StillTooManyHobbies]

There are multiple pictures of table saw-router cabinets on any of the search engine image tabs. The cabinet shown is just one of them. Look at a lot of them before deciding which one might work best for your situation.

The router table wing in dark stain is mine and it works great. I have a cabinet saw so adding a drawer base to mine would be different than yours.

Best of luck.

 

[tarbellb]

I would consider either converting the cast iron wing into a router table (may prove tough). Or ditching the cast iron wing and attach said 2" laminate top directly to your
table saw as the new wing and turn that into a router table with lift features.

I have this set up and it is very convenient, specially using the same fence for both the saw and router!

 

[Prometheus]

Shopnotes had something like this in an issue a long time ago:

As others have mentioned, Google image search has tons of examples to pull ideas from.

 

[shoot summ]

I would consider either converting the cast iron wing into a router table (may prove tough). Or ditching the cast iron wing and attach said 2" laminate top directly to your
table saw as the new wing and turn that into a router table with lift features.

I have this set up and it is very convenient, specially using the same fence for both the saw and router!

Guy on EBAY sells them...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNISAW-to-R...098?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aea6d0c9a

 

[srmofo]

Guy on EBAY sells them...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNISAW-to-R...098?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aea6d0c9a

Thanks for the link, that is a pretty cool idea I had never considered. cheaper than buying a router lift and plate also.

I also have access to a machine shop for the next few years too.

 

[Sticks McGee]

Wow! Awesome ideas! I am gonna keep looking but getting great ideas. Thanks