There are many accessories that you can buy for your table saw to make it more versatile, safe, powerful, accurate, and convenient. One such accessory is the table saw extension. What this accomplishes is, as you might guess from the name, extends the working real estate of your saw. Specifically, it extends the sqare footaqge on the table surface allowing you to work with larger pieces of stock. When is this helpful? Especially when crosscutting lumber or sawing sheets of plywood or similar material.

Store-Bought or Home-made Table Saw Extension?

There are many commercial table saw extensions available on the market today. Some of these are made for specific models from their manufacturers, while others try to satisfy the configurations of many different makes and models. There are expensive ones and cheap ones.

On the other hand there is the type of wood worker who delights in not only designing but building all his own woodworking jigs for his wood shop. Building an extension for his table saw is just one more challenge to be savored. A quick search via the internet will locate many, many personal pages where these craftsmen (and craftswomen) display their home made extensions complete with high resolution pictures and step by step instructions.

Requirements for Table Saw Extensions

As with all power tools, the number one concern is safety. All design and usage considerations must be made with safety at the forefront. But aside from that, there are several other requirements. Let’s look at a few of them.

• Configuration.

  The extension must be configured so that it mates up with well, and securely attaches to, your particular table saw. In addition, you a good table saw extension is designed to install and uninstall quickly so you can get about your business and not spend all your time on set up.

• Minimum vibration.

  It's important to keep all vibration to a minimum to make sure that you get the most accurate cut possible, especially when doing finish work. This is one of the marks of a pro. Also, any mistakes on a project will compound as it proceeds to completion. Start off clean and keep it that way.

• Level.

  The extension should be level with the surface of your table saw in order to get an accurate cut, with respect to the degree of the angle of the cut. Also, if there are any level deviations between your table saw and its extension, there will be a tendency for you blade to bind. The consequences of this might be safety issues, burn marks on your wood, and shortened blade life.

• Diversity.

  Not strictly a requirement, but the more you can diversify your tools and equipment, the more productive and less cluttered your wood shop will be. This is especially important in smaller shops where space comes at a premium. As an example, one common adaptation is to make your extension double as a router table. Another situation is when your wood shop only has room for a benchtop table saw.

An Alternative

There is one alternative that can offer a degree of versatility although it requires some careful set up. You can buy rollers on stands that have a height adjustment. There are many situations where this is all you need and they can be much faster than setting up your extension.

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