I am in the process of completing a tablesaw outfeed table roughly patterned after one in Fine Wood Working.
The top is removable and made from 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood screwed and glued together. After edging it with some scrap white oak, I glued on white Formica and chamfered the Formica/white oak edges. I was ready to route in the miter slots when it dawned on me......I don't know where the screws are located.
When building the top, using a square, I had marked out a 4" grid on the entire top. After putting glue on between the two sheets of plywood, I used the aforementioned grid and put a steel screw every 4". Yeah, I know...overkill again! Then I installed the Formica. Unfortunately, the screwheads are under the Formica. Grrrrrr.......
I tried using one of my new multi-talented electronic stud finders that has a metal sensing function. It located the screws but only within a 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" square. The distance between the miter slots is such that I needed a closer tolerance. I tried desensitizing the stud finder by installing pieces of cardboard under it. It didn't work as my new one uses "auto-calibration". My old electronic one you set the sensitivity but it wouldn't sense metal and I could not find it anyway.
Several decades ago I had a simple magnetic stud locator that was just a cylindrical magnet with an axle that allowed the cylinder to rotate and point to the magnetic material. Eureka. I don't have that one any more. A shopping trip to a local HD didn't result in finding one but I was able purchase one at a local Ace Hardware stop. It allowed me to locate the screws under the Formica top to a 1/4" by 1/4" area.
A $4 tool is cheaper than a new carbide router bit or an emergency room trip.
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Tablesaw Outfeed table.....Uh Oh!
