Doesn’t it always just seem like when you go to cross cut a wide panel that your tablesaw is just an inch or two too short to make the job safe? It’s not a smart move to start a cut using the miter gauge with it not fully supported by the miter slot. Surely, though, we’ve all risked it when the work piece is so large that it forces the gauge to hang off the table by just a bit.
But now there’s an effective solution you can whip together with some plywood cutoffs.
We just saw this solution to the problem in the September/October issue of Fine Woodworking, by a fella named Dan Sweeny. We liked it so much that we had to give it a try. The extension is built out of Baltic birch plywood. Take a close look. It straddles the tablesaw fence rail with two fixed cleats sized to hug the rail, and uses Rockler’s universal fence clamps to keep it in place. The plywood platform has a perfect dado sized to match the miter slot in the tablesaw, 3/4″x3/8″.
We can’t give you plans for this because the exact sizes depend on your tablesaw. But you can figure it out. Build yours to suit:
With this miter gauge extension in place, you can now safely use the miter gauge or a sled when your work piece is larger than the space of the table in front of the blade.
Extension table built by Danny Lopez, Woodworkers Source Tucson store
Use Rockler’s Universal Fence Clamps on this miter gauge extension.
Vice President of Operations – Woodworkers Source
We’re a family-owned lumber & woodworking supply retailer with 3 delightful stores in Arizona, and 35 friendly employees.
Mark oversees the company and creates tutorials on wood finishing and woodworking tips for hardwood lumber.
Woodworkers Source is a division of MacBeath Hardwood Co.
