Rigid 3650 modifications

Alan Bienlein

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Today I decided to increase the rip capacity of my table saw to 50" by moving the support rails as far to the right as possible. I figure this won't be a problem since the saw is a left tilt and I don't cut with the fence on the left side of the blade anyways. I was wondering if anybody out there has mounted one of these saws on a cabinet with wheels to help with dust collection. I also have a 3 hp router on an extension wing on the right side. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Mar 14, saturday 001.JPG

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That is a great idea for me to do that .I have a Delta 36-679 contractor quite similar to yours .The only thing is that I like the maneuverability without the support legs .but all it takes is to take it off and set it aside:huh:.as for dust collection on contractor style .I dunno:(
 

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This saw is similar to the Sears I used to have I wouldn't move it more than for a 36" rip to the right of the blade that covers all the rips & cuts usually needed to include base cabinet ends. Anything longer you can flip & cut with the narrow side against the fence with your project part on the left of the blade. You still need to properly tie in & support the left wing. I made all sorts of cabinets as did my Dad for over 30 years in his commercial shop with a saw set up this way. If you have a commercially made 50" fence system you would still be supporting your left wing but your running some chances with only the bolts that hold the wing to the main table supporting it you could break the casting on the wing or the main table. The fence system & table & wing system are meant to be integral to each other.(supporting each other) With the support on the left side you could also mount the router table there & be able to stand along side the end to run it.

I see you do have your router table on the right side of the saw.

I look at a router table & my position when using it the same as if I were standing at a shaper or even a jointer where I stand along side. There is a reason these tools were made to be operated this way control & safety where you can easily use both hands for better control. I plainly don't like to reach from the in-feed side of a table saw reaching forward with my right hand & trying to assist with the left. If I have to have the router table on the right side of the saw I would put the router fence between the saw blade & router bit & feed it from the end of the table. Is that a Sears router-table? How do you like the ribbed aluminum table does it trap chips on the top?

Here is a pic of my TS cabinet.
In the 2nd pic you'll note 2 webbed wings on the right side & a brown topped router table on the left.

I see you have the table mounted with the miter slot to the outside So you could use it feeding the material from the back of the saw & standing at the right end of the saw. This way you don't need the rails out so far to the right either & the left saw wing will be properly supported & you may not even need those extra legs. This would also give you a more compact foot print to the saw.
 

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Alan
you can put a '' dust shoot in the square hole under the table and add a piece of PVC tubeing to it in the center. That way when the chips fall they will fall into the attached PVC. I hooked a shop vac to my General to take the chips from inside the saw.
I remember at one time there was an artical in one of the WW mags that gave the dims and construction process on how to do exactly what your looking to do. Bats look a lot like it from his pic. I have it around somewhere And will try to find it tomorrow
Reg
 
Thanks for all the replys so fer:wave:. Reg I look forward to seeing that picture. Bart I am going to support the left wing with some angle iron I have and then reattach the switch to the angle. As far as using the router table standing from the front or back is not a problem for me. To me it is very natural an comfortable but we will have to seebecause I still might move it to the end where the support legs are. The router top was a bench top router table I bought on clearance at HD, used it once and put it away for because it wasn't any good:mad:. I ended up making a plywood wing for the router but eventually it sagged and started to cause me problems so I dug out the router table and modified it to fit between th rails. I have a few problems with chips in the grooves but I have gotten in the habit of using the air nozzle between cuts when needed:thumb:.

The reason I moved the rails is because alot of the projects I'm getting into latley require crosscuts of full sheets that are more than 36" in length.If you look at some of my recent projects you will see what I'm talking about.

The support legs on the end can pivot up out of the way if needed and to move the saw around. I still have to make the mechinism to lock them in place, but the saw feels much more solid now:thumb:.
 
Thanks for all the replys so fer:wave:.

The reason I moved the rails is because alot of the projects I'm getting into latley require crosscuts of full sheets that are more than 36" in length.If you look at some of my recent projects you will see what I'm talking about.

The support legs on the end can pivot up out of the way if needed and to move the saw around. I still have to make the mechinism to lock them in place, but the saw feels much more solid now:thumb:.

Alan, I might offer the suggestion of another (different method) without having to build a cabinet like Bart's.

Since you already have a Herculift under your saw, (which I REALLY Like on my Buddy's Rigid saw), when you make the mechanism to lock the support legs, if you add some short angle braces to keep them solid when you are moving the saw around, you can go to HF and buy one of their Cheap lift kits OR the Delta kit, (you know the ones that have two fixed wheels and the one "step on" lift wheel assy for the other end). Just attach a piece of Angle across the bottom of the two support legs and then use ONLY the "one wheel" lift assy from the mobility Kit I mentioned and attach it to that piece of angle you connected across the bottom of the legs. When you want to move your saw, just raise the Herculift, and then step on the lift tab for the legs and you're good to go and that extra wheel under the end of the extension will add stability during the move. When the "one wheel" lift Kit and the Herculift are both released, the saw will sit solid on the saw's legs AND the Table Support legs. Cheap & simple, but just another idea anyhow.

Cheers
 
Another good idea, thanks Norman:thumb:. The more I get into this, the more I think about a seperate router table. Even though I have a descent size shop, my available space for large tool storage is shrinking and I still want to ad a cyclone! The reason for the cabinet under is to help with dc and to give me storage for my tablesaw and router table accesories. I think the one wheel lift kit from hf might work for the cabinet. I'll have to investigate it further.:type:
 
I put 4 good lockable casters on my cabinet, I found I could get by locking just the front 2. Unlock 2 casters & this thing just glides where ever I want to move it.

I have 2 Rockler 3 wheel bases & one HF 3 wheel base. They look the same but are not necessarily the same. The HF base peddle wouldn't raise the front enough to roll I discovered that then didn't drill the pivot pin in the right place. To far to drive round trip to return it so I welded up the holes & re-drilled it & repainted it. The metal its made of isn't as heavy either so I used square metal tube in front & welded tabs on the bottom ends of the tube extending out underneath the ends of the 2x wood material of the sides so the front & sides would lift at the same time not seprately the sides after the front by a little bit. Yes these stands roll pretty good but not as nice as the cabinet with 4 casters. I can turn the 4 caster cabinet in one spot one end going 1 direction while the other end goes the other direction in a circle. The 3 wheeled bases the caster makes a circle around the fixed wheels or you jockey back and forth. I have the 3 wheeled bases on my 14" band-saw, Radial Drill-press & 6" jointer.

I purchased a Shopfox base for my Belsaw planer the casters wouldn't caster & were hard to roll. I purchased some real nice casters from HD for $15 each & welded some extended pads on the base to mount the caster to. The base & planer now roll so easy I can quite easily move it & even roll it up onto the 1/2" interlocking anti-fatigue mat & roll it around. Sure is noce to not have to remove the mat before rolling out the planer.

There is a lot to be said for real good casters on shop equipment.
 
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Alan,

I built a cabinet under mine to solve a slightly different problem. End result, I got 48" + to the right of the blade, and a router table with lots of area, and infeed and outfeed, and tons of storage, and dust collection. Essentially, it's a torsion box on casters. Took the legs off the 3650, and built a dust collection box underneath, with a blast gate I can hook a 4" flexible hose up to. It doubles as an assembly table. Beware, once you start doing the mods, it can get a little out of control. ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
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