Great post and solution for a small garage/workshop. I’m looking seriously at this idea also because I own the same Rigid TS3650 saw. Just wanted to confirm one detail since the Excalibur CI table sites are pretty short of detail. The cutout for the router lift in this surface is 9.25″x11.75″? I’m looking at the Jessem Mast-R-Lift II #02120 and want to be sure the plate will fit. Thanks!
Hi Dave, Yeah the opening is 9.25″x11.75″ – I have a Rout-R-Lift II in mine. Worth mentioning: The fit for my Rout-R-Lift II is quite snug. To get it out, I have to gently tap it with a block of wood. I keep meaning to adjust the fit with a few strokes of a file but I take it out so rarely that I keep forgetting.
After a bit of research I was able to find a table supplier. The General link in your original post gives a 404 page not found error now, but the cast iron wings are still available. Mine is on order now from Tools-Plus.com. For anyone else who might be looking for it in the future, Tools Plus calls it the Excalibur #40-070 cast iron table. It’s next to impossible to find anyone however who has shop drawing details or dimensions, but Tools Plus did send me a drawing of the bolt hole spacings on the attachment side and confirmed the opening would fit Jessem inserts. But their answer was kind of interesting. Here’s the exchange:
“Good day, to answer this question, “can you confirm that the insert for the router will fit a Jessem 9.25″ x 11.75″ plate”? is a little confusing because Jessem and the other companies did not maintain “precision out side dimensions” on their product. The answer is yes and no… what I can say is that our opening measures exactly 298.4 mm which equals 11.750 inch long by 235.4 mm which equals 9.267 inch wide.
The fact that SOME of the other guys products are oversize – worst case – you might have to sand off a few thousands of an inch off the length of the top plate.
Too allow for this in the future we have opened up our dimensions – the new tops will be in late Feb.”
Patrick Magro
General / General International
Excalibur Division Product Manager
Cell number 905-822-4832
This might explain why your insert is tight too. Anyway, thanks again for the great idea. I’ve also got the Jessem Mast-R-Lift II on order to install in it. It’ll be nice to finally get away from my portable Porter-Cable router table!
Yes, the wing fits on either side of the saw no problem. I did use the existing saw fence with the wing mounted on the left though. I am kinda amazed but I don’t actually have a picture of my router fence anywhere. My router fence affixes to the existing saw fence using the t-track on the saw fence. What I built is very similar to the ones here: http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/table-saw-router-workstation-project-21848/
Just remember balance and stability. The router wing is heavier than the original wing, and it’ll also have a router hanging from it. It may be necessary to add a leg to the right side to make sure the centre of balance isn’t too far to the right when ripping heavy full sheets.
I’ve since sold the Ridgid and installed the wing on the right side of my SawStop PCS and there are pictures of that setup here on my site too. I preferred having the router on the left because the right side of my saw is against a wall, and it was much more comfortable to reach when it was mounted on the left side.
Comments: 6
Great post and solution for a small garage/workshop. I’m looking seriously at this idea also because I own the same Rigid TS3650 saw. Just wanted to confirm one detail since the Excalibur CI table sites are pretty short of detail. The cutout for the router lift in this surface is 9.25″x11.75″? I’m looking at the Jessem Mast-R-Lift II #02120 and want to be sure the plate will fit. Thanks!
Hi Dave, Yeah the opening is 9.25″x11.75″ – I have a Rout-R-Lift II in mine. Worth mentioning: The fit for my Rout-R-Lift II is quite snug. To get it out, I have to gently tap it with a block of wood. I keep meaning to adjust the fit with a few strokes of a file but I take it out so rarely that I keep forgetting.
After a bit of research I was able to find a table supplier. The General link in your original post gives a 404 page not found error now, but the cast iron wings are still available. Mine is on order now from Tools-Plus.com. For anyone else who might be looking for it in the future, Tools Plus calls it the Excalibur #40-070 cast iron table. It’s next to impossible to find anyone however who has shop drawing details or dimensions, but Tools Plus did send me a drawing of the bolt hole spacings on the attachment side and confirmed the opening would fit Jessem inserts. But their answer was kind of interesting. Here’s the exchange:
“Good day, to answer this question, “can you confirm that the insert for the router will fit a Jessem 9.25″ x 11.75″ plate”? is a little confusing because Jessem and the other companies did not maintain “precision out side dimensions” on their product. The answer is yes and no… what I can say is that our opening measures exactly 298.4 mm which equals 11.750 inch long by 235.4 mm which equals 9.267 inch wide.
The fact that SOME of the other guys products are oversize – worst case – you might have to sand off a few thousands of an inch off the length of the top plate.
Too allow for this in the future we have opened up our dimensions – the new tops will be in late Feb.”
Patrick Magro
General / General International
Excalibur Division Product Manager
Cell number 905-822-4832
This might explain why your insert is tight too. Anyway, thanks again for the great idea. I’ve also got the Jessem Mast-R-Lift II on order to install in it. It’ll be nice to finally get away from my portable Porter-Cable router table!
Thanks for the heads-up about the broken link, Dave – I’ve fixed that now. Looks like General has completely re-done their website.
Really like this idea! Quick question – Would it install in place of the right hand wing instead of the left in order to use the existing saw fence?
Yes, the wing fits on either side of the saw no problem. I did use the existing saw fence with the wing mounted on the left though. I am kinda amazed but I don’t actually have a picture of my router fence anywhere. My router fence affixes to the existing saw fence using the t-track on the saw fence. What I built is very similar to the ones here: http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/table-saw-router-workstation-project-21848/
Just remember balance and stability. The router wing is heavier than the original wing, and it’ll also have a router hanging from it. It may be necessary to add a leg to the right side to make sure the centre of balance isn’t too far to the right when ripping heavy full sheets.
I’ve since sold the Ridgid and installed the wing on the right side of my SawStop PCS and there are pictures of that setup here on my site too. I preferred having the router on the left because the right side of my saw is against a wall, and it was much more comfortable to reach when it was mounted on the left side.