Band Saw Outfeed Table, Version 2.0

Right after restoring my old Jet band saw, the first thing I wanted to do was resaw some usable wood from a pile of redwood slats that came from some old wine vats. They were curved in both length and width, and covered with years of crust. This would make the job both messy and dangerous on a tablesaw, plus a table saw didn't have the necessary cutting height to resaw a slat's width. Hmmm, time to make a band saw outfeed table.

My priorities were function, stability, simplicity, speed of assembly, and cost. This was to be a shop jig, not fine woodworking, using mostly scrap materials on hand. I did buy a piece of melamine at the local home center, figuring it had a nice, slick surface to slide material across. Virtually everything else was stuff left over, or recycled from, other projects.

First, how to hold it to the band saw? After searching different forums, there was plenty of table saw outfeed information available, but not much for band saws. I found a couple of designs that were permanently attached to steel frame band saws, but my little 14" cast-iron framed saw didn't have the necessary sheet metal.

When I added the Kreg fence to my band saw, I had to make a mounting bracket from a piece of angle stock. My old saw's table had the factory mounting holes for a fence placed too near the table's surface, and the Kreg's guide bar was actually higher than the table surface using those holes…not good. The angle stock mounting bracket allowed me to lower the Kreg fence and rectify that problem. Why not use the same principle to mount an outfeed table?

Interlocking angle stock holds the outfeed table to the band saw's table. Angle stock also provided support for additional side table's to increase the band saw table's surface area, drywall screws set their height flush to the table, magnets hold them in place.

1-½" x 1-½" x 1⁄8" aluminum angle stock is bolted to the table using the existing factory holes. Again, they were pretty close to the table's surface, but I could make it work. I then bolted ½" x ½" x 1⁄16" aluminum angle stock to the larger piece even with the edge of the horizontal face, making a sort of lip on the “L” shape of the original angle stock. A corresponding piece was screwed to the underside of the melamine, at the proper distance so that it “just” cleared this lip. This piece would keep the outfeed table locked to the saw, while using the saw to support one end of the outfeed table.

Next, I reinforced the melamine so it wouldn't flex. I wanted a table long enough to handle the long pieces of wood I have in mind for another project, and a table four feet long by two feet wide was about right (yeah, I know, that's huge, but if I'm working with an 8-foot piece of wood, I'll want it supported). A piece of left over 1 1⁄8" thick Sturdy-Floor provided the material to rip some 3-inch wide pieces to make a frame for the melamine.

Then, a couple of legs for the table. I wanted to be able to adjust the height of this table, since my garage floor is anything but level. Grabbing a couple of adjustable clothes rods we took out of our closet, I mounted them to the table, thinking I could simply use the twist-lock feature to adjust the height. Big mistake, they didn't hold up to repeated set-ups to test their integrity, and the table swayed like a drunken sailor. So much for Version One.

I thought about it for a bit, and had an idea that sounded simple enough. I cobbled together a pair of legs from plywood, with the idea that they be fully adjustable, stable, and easily break down to stow away when I didn't need the outfeed table for the band saw. Each leg is made from two 39" pieces of ¾" plywood, 4" wide and 2" wide, screwed and glued together in the shape of an “L”. A second part of each leg, 19" long and 3" wide, rests against the wider part of the “L” and is joined together by the base, a single piece of Sturdy-Floor scrap cut to fit inside the table's frame.

Plywood gussets reinforce the joint where the lower legs meet the leg base. Holes, drilled for 5⁄16" bolts through both upper and lower leg pieces on the drill press 1" apart allow the total length of the legs to be changed when needed. I had the idea that I might use this outfeed table for other tools as well, and wanted a lot of height adjustability, hence the large number of holes.

The legs needed to be strongly attached to the table, yet easy to take apart for storage. A system of glue blocks captures the legs in position, and I cut a large 3⁄8" rectangular UP-bolt in half to lock them in place. Once that bolt is hand tightened with wing nuts, the legs don't move at all.

The last step was adding feet to the legs for the final height adjustment so the outfeed table can be perfectly parallel to the band saw table. Using 3⁄8" carriage bolts, T-nuts, a wing-nut snugged against the leg base to lock the bolt in place, a second wing-nut and hex nut locked together on the end to form a handle, and a couple crutch tips on the end of the carriage bolts to prevent them from sliding on the cement completed the project.

The table works, and the legs come apart to stow away inside the table's frame, but how to keep them there? Bingo! The metal cross-piece to the U-bolt was screwed to the frame and provided a pivoting lock that held the leg base in place, notching the lower portion of the legs allowed them to fit under the gussets on the base, and the U-bolt halves keep the upper legs stowed against the melamine. The U-bolt wing-nuts and washers slide right over the 5⁄16" legs bolts, and everything stays put when stored away.

Additional details—the mounting holes on my old Jet saw are close enough to the table's surface that the melamine needed to be notched to clear the bolt heads. One hole was so close, only 1⁄16" was left under the melamine's top surface. This thin piece chipped out the first time I mounted the table to the saw. Bummer, but it's only cosmetic, and doesn't really affect the table's performance. Newer Jet saws or other brands probably won't have this problem. Also, I used the angle stock mounting idea to add support for additional side tables to the saw, improving the little 14" table width.

I now have a flat surface that extends from the saw's frame on one side, and an additional 4" on the other side. Melamine scraps fit between additional angle-stock pieces bolted to the fence mount in front and the outfeed table in back. Drywall screws provide height adjustment so they are even with the table, and rare earth magnets placed on the iron angle-stock scraps hold the drywall screws tight so the table extensions stay put. Surprisingly, the whole thing works quite well, and the extensions can easily be lifted out for blade changes.

One flaw is that really heavy pieces of wood will still utilize the band saw's table to support the weight. Extra legs near the saw's table could be cobbled together in a pinch, but then again, if I'm cutting wood that heavy, I probably need a bigger saw.