Hinged TS Extension Wing

There is limited room in my shop and the TS is parked with the left extension removed & the right one on. I'd even like to keep the right one off until needed. Yet, it's a nuisance to have to reassemble the wings each time I need them. So I was thinking of hinging them, allowing me to keep them on all the time in the down position, & simply raising them as needed. Before I pursue this, I was wondering if there are hinges made specifically for this. So far Googling hasn't yielded anything, only for outfeed tables. Any of you hinge your TS extensions? Are there negatives with this concept that prevent this?

al rather than hinge your wings make room for them to stay on all the time the wings are for support of wider stock and should be set up to be flat across the entire surface and a hinge system isnt going to maintain that well..

Larry, with the recent purchase of a band saw & jointer, the shop has "closed in" with no opportunity for expansion. If I could simply "drop" them when not in use, that would make a big difference. Just thought that since the wings only support wider pieces, then I could make a hinged wing that are reasonably "coplanar" with the table which is the primary flat surface I rely on.

If the wings aren't going to be fixed (and therefor reliably aligned as a reference surface) I would forgo them for a more flexible and multipurpose sort of support. You could certainly run a set of locking hinges along the table edge and flip the wings up and down. However, as this is only an available load surface as opposed to a reference surface a stand that could also be used at your bandsaw, DP, jointer or planer could be more desirable.

Here are a few examples.

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A lot of folks like the Ridgid and it is inexpensive. I modified my roller stands like so to prevent the wide roller from trying to steer my material; works great for curvy bandsaw cuts. An additional revision is here. My point is that if the wings will not be a rock solid reference surface, lose them and use a substitute that can pull additional duty around the shop .

I've seen pics of people that clamp something similar to what Glenn showed to their jointer's fence as it was placed where a TS wing would be normally. Never done it myself, but just a thought.

glenn bradley said:

I modified my roller stands like so to prevent the wide roller from trying to steer my material; works great for curvy bandsaw cuts. An additional revision is here. My point is that if the wings will not be a rock solid reference surface, lose them and use a substitute that can pull additional duty around the shop .

Click to expand...

Boy I like that! You are a master of shop jigs

Creativity is certainly not lacking above. Thanks for the ideas.