I have had some fold-up shelf brackets sitting around the shop for a long time.  I originally bought them for something else, but I don’t even recall what they were for.   So, I decided to add them to my flip top table to act as outfeed/infeed for the planer and supports for the miter saw.

The elevation of the miter saw and planer are different from the axis of rotation, so I need something that can adjust vertically.  I also know that the planer/saw won’t be perfectly 90 degrees to the stand.  So, the folding wings have to have a little rotational allowance as well.  Here we go.

Here is the table:

I started by laminating two pieces of 1/2 plywood together to act as supports for the folding brackets.  Screws and some clamps work pretty well to laminate.  Then I laid out the slots I need for the vertical adjustment and oversized them for some rotational allowance.  Then, screw the folding bracket onto the laminated piece.

I then drilled the locations for the hanger bolts and tested the fit of the folding brackets.

 

All looks pretty good.  Now its time to measure for the height of the support piece that will mount the wing.  I used some scrap 2X4s and cut them to 2 inches, which will put the panel of MDF at the proper elevation.  I screwed the 2X4s the shelf brackets and then added  a piece in between the 2X4s to keep them fixed to each other.  Imaginge a box without the 4th piece near the hinge.  I wish I would have taken a picture of this, but still no time machine, shucks.

I turned my attention the wing itself.  3/4 MDF cut to 23X23 inches.  I wanted to trim the MDF so I don’t crush or damage the corners and edges.  I turned back to my scrap pile and found some 2X6 cutoffs and ripped these down to 1/2 thick strips.  After that, the tedious part started, mitering all corners to fit.  Once I dry fit all of the pieces, I started glueing and using pin nails to hold it on.  Once I have them all pinned, I used clamps and cauls to make sure there was good contact and let sit until the glue dried.  I trimmed the edging where I would be lifting the wing, so it wouldn’t get ripped off.  You can see that cut below.

I pulled out the block plane and flushed up the edging to the top

I added a large chamfer to the edge near the planer to allow boards to ride up, if I didn’t have them perfectly aligned.

I set the wings on top of the folding brackets, centered them, and starting drilling holes through the top into the support pieces.  I went a little overboard with the screws, but better to have too many than too few.  After attaching, I applied three coats of poly with some sanding in between and then finished it off with wet sanding.  A little wax and done.