When i set up my shop I kind of just threw in a set up for a chop saw and I am not happy with it. I am going to redo this set up. I was wondering if anyone had any pictures or thoughts on their setup. I am mainly concerned with the work supports and fence to the left and right and an adjustable stop. Also dust collection. Thanks for any help.
Dana
Replies
Hi. There are all kinds of set-ups. Question is, what do you want.... a portable station, or a permanent station, or a combination of both? Are you using a radial arm saw, regular miter saw, or SCM as your "chop saw?" Do you already have a dust collection system in your shop, or are you just using a shop vac? All of this affects how you determine to set up shop.
Primarily, you want to adequately support your stock on one or both sides of your machine...depending on how long of stock you normally cut. You also want to be able to make repetive cuts without having to pull out a tape measure all the time, and you want to be able to square an end without having to change your cut setting; so a fence complete with flip stops are necessary.
You can accomplish this in many ways...both using portable aftermarket systems, and/or by fabricating your own set-up. Your saw can be mounted into a portable stand that has extension wings, or you may want to build a long, narrow table , with your chop saw centered in-between. Or you could set your chop saw on an existing work table and bolt it down, and build extension boxes that bump up on both sides of your saw and bolt or screw down in place.
You need to install a fence on at least one side of these extensions; if not on both. As for repetitive cuts, you could use a Kreg metal channel and flip stop system, or build your own. A self sticking tape measue can be handy, although not necessary...it really all depends on what you mainly use your chop saw for.
If doing trim work, tweak it out with extensions, fences, flip stops, extra accessories ( jigs) for cutting small parts, crown moulding etc.
If you mainly are just rough cutting..... then perhaps just install an extension table on one side; it can even be a roller type table. Do mount a fence to this table plus a fip stop, put a sawhorse or adjustable support on the other side of the machine so as to handle long stock and you are done.
Check out Gary Katz's website. He has some good examples of miter saw set-ups.
For dust collection, you can use a cardboard box, or make one out of plywood. Mine is half-moon shaped with a hole in the top; where my dust duct enters. I have a blast gate mounted right there with a handle so to open and close easily. But you can mount it any way you like. You can also simply attach a shop vac to your saw's dust manifold and plug both your saw and shop vac into a special plug ( you can buy at Sears for $20) that automatically turns your shop vac on whenever you run your chop saw, and automatically shuts off when you finish cutting. No system is going to eliminate 100% of the sawdust, but you can eliminate at least 90% with these type of systems.
I hope this helps answer some of your concerns.
For examples...In our production shop, we had steel, solid panel bottom runout tables with built-in rollers. The rollers were situated between the solid panel bottoms. These tables were 8ft and 18 ft respectively. Both run out tables had a built-in steel fence with multiple sliding stops that we had to tighten down with a wrench for our cut settings. The stops were spring loaded; which allowed us to push the stock in tight against the fence and the stop so that we could bypass this stop setting and move our stock down the runout table to another desired stop setting without actually having to reposition our earlier setting. This unit was a hydraulic 20 inch cut-off saw used for rough cutting. It had a half moon type shroud at the back of the machine, complete with blast gate. The runout tables and machine were all firmly bolted in place.
We also had a 20 inch Delta Radial Arm Saw. We had a 10 ft steel extension table mounted on the left side of the saw. This extension was all open roller type. We bolted a tall mahogany fence to the back side of this extension unit, and cut a dadoe in this fence to accept a self stick , left hand read, tape measure. On top of this fence, we screwed down metal channels and used a Kreg flip stop. Both the Radial Arm and the extension table were permanently bolted down into our concrete floor. The mahogany fence had slotted holes so we could adjust our settings if ever it got knocked out of alignment. The flip stop was adjusted with the self-stick tape measure so that we did not have to pull out our own tape...it was that accurate. On the right hand side of this machine, we used a mobile support roller that could be adjusted and moved around so as to hold extra long stock when cutting. This Radial Arm Saw was outfitted with a home-made, half moon shaped dust collection box.
We cut 2 pieces of 3/4 plywood into a moon shape, and tacked on light guage sheet metal ( aluminum coil stock would also work and so would 1/4 inch luan) to it to complete the box. On the left side of the wooden box, we ripped this piece vertically in half and attached a piano hinge so this side could flip open to remove any stuck debris. This hinged side had a simple cross bolt attached, that seated vertically into the actual arm saw's table ( behind the fence area) to stay closed.
On our SCMS we used a portable system made by Stablemate...cost was $125.00 This system mounts 2 aluminum bars to the bottom of your saw. These bars are equipped with crank handles. The rest of the system looks like a giant saw horse... legs unfold and lock into position; complete with roller type extension wings that can extend out to approx 6 ft on each end. Your saw mounts to this saw horse via the crank handles...a few turns and your saw is mounted in place. This is a decent portable system, but solid extension wings would be better. There was no real flip stop system with this set-up, so we pulled out our tapes a lot.
When using our small, Makita miter saw, we simply placed it on our work bench. We had 2 holes drilled into both sides of this miter saw's table. We built 2 small boxes at the same height as the miter saw table height and glued in dowel rods into each end of thse boxes. We simply inserted the dowled boxes into the actual miter saw holes and used this set-up right on the work bench for cutting small stuff. We could have added a fence and stops but we did not. There was no dust control on this set-up either; although a shop vac would have done wonders.
So, there you have it...a few options to consider. I personally like Gary Katz's setups for his Bosch SCMS. Check it out on his website.
Hope this helps.
Davo
Dave,
Paragraphs would make this so much easier..... you have good thoughts, so I copied and pasted into Word so I could seperate them to read them. I am not critical, just self serving, so I can read your posts easier.
Thanks AZMO
Thanks. Funny thing is, I did have them divided into paragraphs, but after I hit the "post" button, this was the format it showed up as. It does make it hard to read...I honestly don't know why it appeared the way it did...Perhaps I unknowlingly did something wrong?
Davo
Dana,
John White has Miter Saw set up in the Tools and Shop issue about 6 months ago. I don't have membership here to see if it is available on the pay side. I remember it being very sharp, typical John, well thought out and functional.
This months Shop Notes publication has a very nice set of plans for one that builds into a wall cabinet. Very clever as well.
Here is a picture of the one I made, small footprint and rolls away which works for me. I have a dust collection hookup and have a short piece of hose connected to the opening as well that draws dust quite well. I hate the sound of my shop vac, and use my DC to do both.
AZMO
Here's my setup. I still need to make a better outfeed stop block clamp. The reccessed tape measure is quick and very accurate, handy for quick cuts. For important stuff and a higher quality cut, I use the sled on the table saw.
Bret
Dana you should check out this months Shop Notes. Best Dust collection I have seen for the miter saw. The part that works is the steep sloping sides and back so the dust also falls without plugging up the ports. Still they are dusty machines.
http://www.shopnotes.com/
All you need for an adjustable stop is a T-Track, scrap of wood and a knob to lock it in place. Fixed tape measure is nice.
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