Replies

1. 
   mike_b | Jan 21, 2007 05:20pm | #1

   <<My current thinking is 3 plywood boxes,>>

   Using cabinets to support your saw station is a great way to create extra storage. You could use 3, 4, 5, whatever -- however long you want your table to be. It's a good idea to design one (probably the one under the saw) as a bin for cut offs and scraps.

   As far as joinery on the cabinets goes, just make them like any kitchen cabinet. If you're not familiar with the process, there are lots of books available on the subject -- Jim Tolpin's BUILDING TRADITIONAL KITCHEN CABINETS is one of many. OR, you may be better off just buying a few from Home Depot or Lowe's -- cheap enough and ready to install. Good luck with your project.

   Mike

2. 
   BigFrank | Jan 21, 2007 09:13pm | #2

   I built mine from a design I saw in Pop Woodworking. Its great for maximizing space in a smaller shop. Its essentially a cabinet with the saw on a levelled platform and two large "wings" on either side of the cabinet which fold up yielding a platform about 8 feet long.

   Here's a picture:
   http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=313742389&context=set-72157594408420376&size=l

3. 
   mudman | Jan 21, 2007 11:57pm | #3

   Here is my setup. The mitersaw is adjustable via the eyebolts. The end of the bolts sit in axel caps of the same size. The axel caps are set in the underside of the platform. The whole thing is perfectly adjustable, adjusts very smoothly and is solid. I have never had to reset it, although I use the Radial Arm Saw more often.

    

   Pardon my spelling,

   Mike

   Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.

   
1. 
   loucarabasi | Jan 22, 2007 03:50am | #4

   mudman, How does the pvc work for you on the dust collector? And do your feet hit the toe kick when you use the Miter saw?  Just asking becouse I am getting ready to redo my radial arm & miter station. I'll take any advice you can give me.

   Thanx, Lou

1. 
   mudman | Jan 22, 2007 05:54am | #6

   The PVC works a lot better than I thought it would. A 1 1/2 HP collector will keep up with any one machine at a time. It is tricky to find all the right fittings to get the DWV and schedule 40 stuff to work togather. If you want I can post what I did. But if you search there is a thread where I posted some detailed pics and explinations of the tricks to Forrest Girl.

   I made the toekick the same as I do for kitchen cabinets. And I have no issue with it, even wearing work boots. I made the toe kick cover removable so I can clean under the cabinets. As if.....Hah hah.

   I would recomend that you make at least some of the cabinets 30 or 36 inches deep. I have a lot of tools that will not fit in the standard 24" cabinet. I know it wastes some plywood... but the space is usefull.

   I am really very happy with the leveling system for the mitersaw. I think it is a great design. I would like to extend the table behind the RAS to keep the dust from getting under the saw. The dust collection box on the RAS works well too. I would also recomend that you keep the table the same height all the way across. I made the whole bench higher than normal, 39" I think. It keeps me from leaning over as much to see the cut or tape. All the tools on that bench also work well at that height (sander, morticer, Drill press). I also made a leveling system for the RAS. The factory legs sit on top of it.Pardon my spelling,

   Mike

   Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.

2. 
   kummell | Jan 22, 2007 05:12am | #5

   Mike, how are you doing dust collection on the miter saw?  I've found the tiny 2 1/2 inch port on the back of my saw's pretty useless...

1. 
   mudman | Jan 22, 2007 05:58am | #7

   Hooking the collector up the the port catches probably 70%. But that 30% left behind adds up. I built a collection chute from scrap plywood simular to the one for the RAS. The 2" chute is also hooked up. Without the chute there was a lot more "bounce back" of the larger chips.Pardon my spelling,

   Mike

   Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.

2. 
   forestgirl | Jan 22, 2007 05:48pm | #8

   I just made this a couple days ago.  Works pretty well, will work better when the DC has permanent ducting and it has a 5-6" port in the back:

    

   View Image

   View Image

   The white ply that's clamped to the table is just for holding it in position until the assembly was done.  Reinforcement was added later to hold the fitting into position.  Was in a hurry, so I just grabbed a downspout adapter at Ace Hardware.  Not the best solution, but works for now.

   Position of the air intake seemed to work best when it was below mid-point.

   View Image

   Don't expect a hood to work well with a vacuum -- need more air flow.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

   Edited 1/22/2007 9:53 am by forestgirl

1. 
   kummell | Jan 22, 2007 06:57pm | #9

   fg, that looks great - thanks for sharing the pics.  how well has it worked in practice?  do you have an idea of how much dust you grabbing with that thing?  Are you left with any dust to clean up afterwards?  Any reason you wouldn't put the hole even further down so your could sweep any "leftovers" into the hole?  What kind of plywood did yo use for the hood?

   (I sound like my 2 1/2 year old daughter with all these questions!)

   thanks again!

    

1. 
   forestgirl | Jan 22, 2007 09:10pm | #10

   "I sound like my 2 1/2 year old daughter with all these questions!"  Reminds me of my grandson when he was that age.  LOL!

   There's some dust that circles and lands between the back of the saw and the hood.  The hood as you see it in the pictures is upside-down from when I first tried it out, when the inlet was above the midline vertically.  When I flipped it and put the outlet below midline, collection was much better.  The trick, it seems, is to get it where it will suck in dust as it circles in a vertical plane (as the blade spins).  Any lower and I think it'd start missing more dust. You can watch the dust easily as you cut and see how it moves.

   What I'm seeing is that there's little dust landing on the floor.  Two things that I'll do to improve it:  One is to put a narrow "lip" on the top piece of 3/4" ply -- that should increase the dust's tendence to circle back down into the inlet.  The other, off in the future, is to put a bigger dust port (5-6") which will greatly increase the air movement in back of the saw.

   The ply is 1/8" birch ply, and that curve is about as sharp as it will bend.  I could have made it longer, so that it would come closer to the back of the saw, especially on the left side where there's no need to reach behind the saw to change bevel settings.  The only clearance problem that showed up is when I change the blade -- the blade guard comes back into the top 3/4" ply -- no biggie, just have to hold the head down an inch or so.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

3. 
   loucarabasi | Feb 28, 2007 03:36am | #11

    Mudman, Is the picture of the hand missing a thumb by the radial arm saw there for a reason?

   -Lou

4. 
   jvk | Feb 28, 2007 01:36pm | #12

   Here's a few pix of my setup.  The DC works great by gravity feeding the DC.  I nested it in and around the DC for space saving.  Could build a cabinet box around the bottom for small storage.

   trimjim

   
5. 
   user-206453 | Feb 28, 2007 03:12pm | #13

   Matt,  I've found that in addition to some type of hood or backsplash, a shroud is needed to stop the ricochet of particles back out into the room. This also creates a negative pressure space inside its' chamber. So, although not all the dust goes down the  air chute, what doesn't just falls to the shelf around the chute. My contraption looks a little makeshift and it is. The idea was to have something that would drape over the opening but still allow for the swing of angled cuts. My original idea came from the big plastic strips that you see at Lowes or Home Depot going out the big back door. I pulled the plastic back from it's "in use" position to shoot the pic of the chute.

   I built my support cabinets so that they can be leveled independently to the miter saw.

   Bill Lindau

   
1. 
   epearso | Feb 28, 2007 09:51pm | #14

   Gang, I'm considering building my workshop cabinets in similar fashion, as boxes with the chop saw stand lower than the adjacent 2 boxes on either side.  I've found Matthew Teague's The Smart Shop blog here on FWW to be a great inspiration.  He also built something similar and wrote an article (Smart Shop in a One Car Garage) in which he has sketeches for a chop saw stand similar to what y'all are talking about.  Here's the link:

   http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/Workshop/WorkshopPDF.aspx?id=2818