I’ve finally finished the on-board extension table for my Ridgid R4510 portable table saw – and you can get the plans to build your own right here, right now – for FREE!
The 10″ extension table is mounted on the saw and can stay there – even when you fold up the stand and take the saw to the job site. All the accessories – the fence, mitre gauge and blade guard can be stored normally as well.
The problem with portables
Like most portable table saws, the length of table behind the blade is very short. It’s not a big problem when you’re ripping long stock, since you need to use an outfeed support or table anyway.
But working with stock between 10 and 30″ long is more difficult, especially if you normally use a portable roller stand. Trying to position a stand immediately behind the saw can be tricky and still leaves a gap. And working without a support is dangerous – especially when you try to prevent your work from diving to the floor behind the saw.
(click on any image to see the photo gallery)
My uneven floor outfeed issue – solved
My small basement shop has an amazingly un-level concrete floor. Add to that, the fact that I’m always moving the saw out of the way or rotating it to rip long lengths of stock and you can imagine the frustration of trying to manage an outfeed stand as well. With the on-board table it’s a piece of cake.
If the saw is tilted a couple of degrees in any direction – so is the outfeed table (“if” means “ALWAYS” in my shop :-). And even though the back of the extension is only 12″ beyond the saw – you can rip, resaw or rabbet work pieces up to 34″ long without worrying about it tipping off the back.
Design Inspiration
The two keys to this design are the perfectly placed cord wrap studs on the back of the saw and the cut-outs in the sides of the table. The rear extension is cantilevered on a plywood “bridge” support that sits on the cord studs. The side extension on the left and an adjustable support arm on the right “grab” the saw table to hold the extension in place – even when the saw is vertical. The table is made from two layers of 1/2″ plywood with a lap joint at the corner.
It’s extremely solid and provides a lot of extra work surface to this already-great portable table saw. You can remove the table in less than a minute with a hex key and leave the rear support on the saw – ready to support the end a longer outfeed table.
I’ve taken a quick look online at the portable saws by other major brands like DeWalt, Bosch, Makita, Ryobi, etc. but haven’t seen one that is as well-suited for this easy-to-make on-board extension table as the Ridgid. If you’re not familiar with the Ridgid R4510, check out the review by contractor Duane Verkaik below on ToolSelectTV. I agree with his assessment 100%.
Here’s a rundown of the R4510
Get the plans
Instead of putting a price on these plans, I’m offering them for free – all I ask is that you spread the word and tell other woodworkers where they can get them.
Like all of our Stonehaven woodworking plans these Ridgid R4510 On-Board Extension Table plans include:
- Dimensioned CAD Drawings
- Hardware List
- Colour photos
- Detailed Instructions
Ridgid R4510 On-Board Extension Table Plans
#SST-1201 PDF 9pp
Hi Steven,
They’ve changed their design a couple of times since the R4510 including the points that I used to attach the extension table to the saw. I watched a video that showed all angles of the saw. You might be able to re-engineer my concept for the 4514 if you can find some suitable attachment points that will still allow you to fold it up without taking it off (FYI – I’ve never folded mine up since I took the pictures for my blog post :-)
I really do love having the extra table space behind the blade.
Let me know if you come up with a solution.
Cheers,
Rick
I recently purchased the R4514 do you know if this would fit the newer saw table vs the R4510
Hi Rick.
I found you on Pinterest and love your posting on expanding the table on a Ridgid 4510 table saw.
If you do come up with a new design for table top expansion on a Ridgid 4513, please get the word out. I’m sure I’m only one of many, many people would greatly appreciate the opportunity to follow your plans and modify our 4513 saws.
Thank you for your consideration, Rick!
Hi Rick,
Thanks for the reply. Sorry for the duplicate comment. You can remove the second one if you want. I posted only because I thought the first one had been rejected. (By the way, I also tried reaching you via your main “contact me” form, but I kept seeing some PHP scripting error. Maybe it’s because I’m running an obsolete version of IOS on an ancient iPad.)
Yes, that sled has been extremely useful. The only thing I’d change about it is that some kind of telescoping stop would be nice for longer work pieces. If I had built your extension table first, I might have also been tempted to make the sled a few inches deeper. (I built a 24″ deep desk with miter/bevel cuts on the corners, and my sled allows only 21″.) But it works great for most projects.
Ron
Thanks Ron,
I love solving problems and the short table was a problem I needed to solve. Fortunately the design provided the attachment points to make it work on the 4510. I’ve had a couple of people ask if it would work on the 4513 and I just can’t see a way to attach it. I love the 4510 saw. I had a quick look at your sled and I’m inspired to make one myself now!
Cheers,
Rick
Rick,
Thanks for publishing this design. I finished building one yesterday, and I’m very happy with the results. It reflects some clever engineering, and I’m sure it required a great deal of thought.
I posted a description with photos of my build at LumberJocks (and a link to this page), and it has received a reasonable number of looks and some nice comments. I’m afraid a direct link would run afoul of your spam filter, but you can find it there by searching for my projects page.
It’s a shame that Ridgid removed the handholds on the R4513. This design deserves to be built for years to come, rather than gradually disappearing due to lack of compatibility.
Rick,
Thanks for posting these plans. I finished building one yesterday. Your design is very clever and well-engineered, and I can imagine that it took a great deal of thought. I posted some pictures of my sled at Lumberjocks.com (https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/409158), and I included a link back to this post.
Also, I modeled the extension table in SketchUp and would be happy to pass it along to you if you’re interested. It’s a real shame that Ridgid removed the tabletop handle cutouts from the R4513. Maybe someone who owns the newer saw will find a way to adapt the design for it.
Dave,
I just had a quick look at this YouTube video and it looks like they’ve changed the table design. I couldn’t see if they changed anything on the back of the saw but my extension table was designed to grab two hand holds – one cast in the left edge and one at the opening where the lever releases the sliding extension on the right side of the blade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXyWN5m999Y
Bottom line: my design would need to be adapted to fit a 4513 and I don’t see an obvious way to easily secure it to the table top.
If you come up with a design alteration that works, please let me know and I’ll post it along with mine.
Good Luck,
Rick Atkinson
Stonehaven Life