Whether you pronounce it mela-mean or mela-mine, the stuff has a lot going for it. Stiff, flat, cheap and slick. But, it's not easy to fasten fasteners!
I'm trying to build an outfeed table, I'm tired of using the roller stands. Given the limited amount of space in my shop, I want to make a hinged flip-down/ flip-up table. It will have some fold out legs for support. Nothing fancy.
One complication is that my fence rides on a rear rail. To get around this, I plan to make a "shelf", out of melamine as well, 4" wide. I'll attach this to the saw with a piece of angle iron or aluminum. See picture below.
There will be three pieces of aluminum (left wing, center, right wing), attached to the saw via bolts. I can for the most part use the holes that attach the rear rail to the saw, I just need to drill two extra holes to make sure every piece of aluminum is fastened with two bolts. For the picture, I just mocked things up with some duct tape
The 4" shelf will be attached to the three pieces of alumium. See picture below:
(yeah, it's sagging on the right -this is a duct tape mock-up remember. I don't do sketchup very well :icon_scra). Anyway, this gives the fence the necessary space to move freely.
I want to attach the main table (44" x 36") to the shelf via hinges.
Question #1: How should I attach the angled aluminum to the shelf? Sheet metal screws? McFeely wood screws? Bolts and T-nuts would probably be best (particle board doesn't hold very well), but then I have a bunch of holes in the shelf. Not ideal when it has to be a smooth slick surface.
A variation would be to route a 1/8" rabbet on the underside of the shelf, epoxy in a 3/4" wide strip of aluminum into the rabbet, and then use screws through the aluminum into the particle board. That ought to hold it, but as you can tell, I'm a duct tape kind of guy. There's got to be something better.
Question #2: I originally planned to use a piano hinge. But as before, I'm worried about little screws holding in particle board. Some ordinary door hinges could work if I used T-nuts and bolts, but then I have holes again. Any ideas on how to get a piano hinge to work?
I'm trying to build an outfeed table, I'm tired of using the roller stands. Given the limited amount of space in my shop, I want to make a hinged flip-down/ flip-up table. It will have some fold out legs for support. Nothing fancy.
One complication is that my fence rides on a rear rail. To get around this, I plan to make a "shelf", out of melamine as well, 4" wide. I'll attach this to the saw with a piece of angle iron or aluminum. See picture below.
There will be three pieces of aluminum (left wing, center, right wing), attached to the saw via bolts. I can for the most part use the holes that attach the rear rail to the saw, I just need to drill two extra holes to make sure every piece of aluminum is fastened with two bolts. For the picture, I just mocked things up with some duct tape
The 4" shelf will be attached to the three pieces of alumium. See picture below:
(yeah, it's sagging on the right -this is a duct tape mock-up remember. I don't do sketchup very well :icon_scra). Anyway, this gives the fence the necessary space to move freely.
I want to attach the main table (44" x 36") to the shelf via hinges.
Question #1: How should I attach the angled aluminum to the shelf? Sheet metal screws? McFeely wood screws? Bolts and T-nuts would probably be best (particle board doesn't hold very well), but then I have a bunch of holes in the shelf. Not ideal when it has to be a smooth slick surface.
A variation would be to route a 1/8" rabbet on the underside of the shelf, epoxy in a 3/4" wide strip of aluminum into the rabbet, and then use screws through the aluminum into the particle board. That ought to hold it, but as you can tell, I'm a duct tape kind of guy. There's got to be something better.
Question #2: I originally planned to use a piano hinge. But as before, I'm worried about little screws holding in particle board. Some ordinary door hinges could work if I used T-nuts and bolts, but then I have holes again. Any ideas on how to get a piano hinge to work?