I have been wanting to build a larger right wing for my table saw to help support longer pieces.  You know, be a better wing man. The sheetmetal wings are okay, but they don’t line up that well with the top and they kind of bow a bit.  So, I set out to build some custom wings from leftover material in my shop.

Materials, Plan, Measurements

I had a bunch of 3/4 melamine sitting around and some smaller poplar/ash boards that were used to make the wings.  Later, discover that 3/4″ may not have been the  best idea.  My plan is to create a frame around the melamine so I can hand plane it to a good fit.

First thing I noticed was a small edge on the rails, so that means that the poplar edge board could only be 1 1/2″ deep.

The small left wing is 27 1/16 long (front to back) and 10″ wide.  The right wing is also 27 1/16 long, but 24 9/16″ wide.  I still want to use the bracket on the right side of the saw and put some screws through it into the new wing for added support.  The rear rail doesn’t have any additional holes to support the wing much past 10″.

Creating the Wings

The frame pieces were quickly jointed an planed.  I wanted to create a rabbet for the melamine to sit into and figured a rabbet joint was probably good for the frame-to-frame connections as well.  I cut all the pieces slightly over sized and then created the long rabbets to house the melamine.  During this endeavor I was having a real tough time cutting them and realized I had one of the small chipper blades backwards.  It really makes the board jump around, fyi.

After the rabbet, I cut the front-to-back boards to the exact length and made short rabbets to house the side-to-side frame pieces.  Having a miter saw and table saw makes that a breeze.  Then, I cut the side-side pieces to the correct length, knowing the exact rabbet depth.  Once all the frame pieces are cut, I could dry assemble them and measure for the melamine sheet.

Dismantle and Measure

I glued up the melamine and frames and set them aside while I started to dismantle the table saw.

I needed to take some measurements of how far down the different holes were.  It was kind of strange, but each interface had different dimensions.

On the cast iron saw base, the center of the holes is about 15/16 from the top surface on the cast iron table saw.  I should also note, that the bolts used on the saw are M10  X 25mm long.  At this stage it dawns on me that the melamine is almost as thick as the center of the hole.  So that means it won’t go together real well.

The front rail has a t-track type connection, so I can add as many holes as I want, bu the rear rails only has a couple locations to screw through.

Drilling Holes and Mortising Recesses

I pulled the wings out of the clamps and cleaned up the top edge to bring it flush with the melamine.  Also, I had to make a few passes on the sides with the jack plane to bring them to the correct dimension.  I was about a 1/16″ long, which was intentional, so I could sneak up on it.  Then I set the wings in place and marked the hole locations on all three interfaces.  I drilled the holes from the outside and then ovaled them a bit (up down) with a straight bit and a trim router.  Since the melamine was so thick I had to mortise out recesses for the bolt and washer to fit inside.  The table saw interface and the rear rail interface needed the mortises.  The front rail was low enough to not require this.

Attaching Wings

The first wing took (LH side) took about 6 tries to get everything lined up and mortised properly, (deep enough, large slots, etc).  The second wing was much quicker and only took a  few attempts.  For the right wing, I added on more hole for the front fence to attach to since they are so cantilevered.  The right wing also require some large chamfers out by the metal bar to clear the welds.

I should have purchased a bit longer hardware, and will retroactively add some M10X30 or 35 bolts at the saw.  They are currently M10X25.   The hardware on the rear is also a bit short and I need to order some M8 X25 or 30 bolts.  They are currently M8X20 bolts. Adding them to my amazon order now.  I used a long straight edge to align everything, starting at the rear of the saw and working my way forward.  Then double checking the rear.  It was a bit iterative, but it turned out fine.

Update on 9/5/2018

I ended up getting longer hardware from Amazon (uxcell).  Cast Iron saw bolts are M10X30 bolts and the rear bolts are M8X25 bolts.

Rear Bolts (M8X25)

Good Photo of Before (Right) and After (Left)

Cast Iron Attachment Bolts (M10X30).  They have a slightly different head, but no problem.

I also wanted to show a couple of added supports that I glued an screwed to the bottom of the wings for some added support.  I may attach a fold up wing on the left hand side to help support really long pieces, so I added a support strip under the wing.

For the right side I figured I could use some additional support to prevent and sagging over time.