Romanum Eunt Domum?

I cannot be stopped. I am the Tool King.

Today I decided to have another go at the table saw extension. I plan to saw up my half-done router table and turn it into an insert. Then when I get it working, I plan to use the saw and router to build a better insert and extension. To do this, I need to be able to saw a 30″ by 60″ piece of heavy particle board coated with melamine. I realize I could do this with a circular saw and something clamped to it as a guide. Just shut up about that, okay? I want to use a table saw.

I rolled the Powermatic 66 out, got the fence put on, made sawhorses (harder than it seems, because the sheet metal pieces have specs straight out of the Mexican Handbook of Metalworking Tolerances), and prepared to dismantle the router table. Then I realized I had no splitter.

Problem? Sure, for girly men like you. But not for me. After I finished crying, I went to the computer and learned that the Powermatic 66 has a bolt inside it, just waiting for a splitter. And I happened to have a piece of aluminum scrap in the garage, about an eighth of an inch thick!

Unfortunately, the aluminum had an angle in it, like angle iron, but I happen to have a pile of tools that will cut anything, so all I had to do was choose. Rotary tool? Dry cut saw? Hacksaw? In the end, I went with the grinder and my mighty 5″ vise. I sliced a nice piece out of the aluminum, and then I used a spade bit to enlarge an existing hole. Now I had a splitter with a bolt hole.

I was pretty happy to learn that spade bits cut aluminum. I had no fluted bits that big, and I was leery of using my pretty Forstners.

I cut and filed and cut and filed, and eventually, I had this:

Isn’t that beautiful? It’s not perfect, but I know exactly how to make a better one, and this one should work fine. I suppose I could even make one with pawls, if I were feeling manly. Maybe the bolt isn’t strong enough to withstand that, though.

People were giving me advice on blades. That’s one of the Corian blades I got with the saw. This is a phone photo, so it’s blurry, but maybe you can tell something about it.

Tool people, clue me in. I set this thing by eyeballing it; the bolt in the saw has a jam nut, and you can adjust it. Think that will be okay, or should I expect a board through the liver at any moment?

I figure the desk is a good thing to test it with, because it probably weighs 40 pounds, and I doubt even a 5-horsepower motor can throw that very hard. At least I hope not. I’m just guessing.

Let’s see if I can get that desk cut up.