I have a bit of a dilemma here, or maybe my brain just isn’t kicking in the “imagination” circuit…
I am in the process of building a new house and will be setting up a “temporary” shop in the basement of the house while it’s under construction. Tools include a Unisaw (3 hp/220v), among the other standard things you’d find in a reasonably well-equipped shop. I would like some input as to how best to set up the saw, with accessories and add-ons, such that its primary function will be panel-cutting and cabinet work. I will be building the entire kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and a considerable number of built-ins such as bookcases and a media center.
Right now I have the bare bones basics – the saw, a fairly decent Freud 40-tooth blade, a Mule Accusquare fence, a Freud dado set, and a Bosch 1617 router mounted in a homebrew table wing. Stock miter gauge, absolutely nothing in the way of sleds, jigs, outfeed table, nil, nada, zilch. All I’ve used the saw for since I got it has been a few rip cuts on PT lumber for my deck on my current house. Mostly the saw has been waiting for a chance to be used. Basically my entire shop is in mothballs until the new house is dried in and heated.
If possible, I’d prefer to make jigs and fixtures rather than buy them. Off the top of my head, I’d think I should take the saw off of it’s mobile base and set it up with a large outfeed table and side table for handling plywood sheets, and fit it with some kind of riving knife or splitter, and a tenoning jig and crosscut sled. Any suggestions?
Replies
Jon,
For one person , you need to sink your saw into a say a 7' wide x 6 -7' long saw/combo work table . This will make handling large panels more manageable .Wax the top a bit now and then , you will use every inch of it . This takes more room , but also eliminates the offeed rollers, tables and aparatus .The jigs and fixtures can be made as you need them.
good luck I hope this helps you dusty
Jon
Dusty's suggestion of a side and outfeed table is excellent. An mdf top that keep waxed will work great. Wax both sides, or you'll be dealing with moisture absorption big time, especially since you're below grade. I'd also tell you to lose the freud blade, and buy a Forrest for the carcass of your cabinets. I've been using 2 for years without any tearout in cabinet grade plywood, without prescoring. And, for your doors, a good tenoning jig for the M & T joints. For under $100, it isn't worth it to build one that won't be as adjustable as the one from delta.
Good luck, I've done this same thing myself.
JC
I agree that the best first step is an outfeed table, etc. I would also suggest investing in a good aftermarket mitre guage (personally, I prefer those made by Incra).
As far as jigs are concerned, I would build them as the need arises.
The other thing I would counsel is don't spend a lot of time and effort on making fancy stuff -- outfeed tables, benches and the like. Whatever you build now, you will probably want to rebuild/refine as you move down the line and your experience grows. I would say that right now, you objective should be to build rough and ready stuff that is functional.
Others will say you should spend xxx time thinking about, designing, and building a great workbench, for instance. I just don't buy that line of reasoning.
Good luck ...............
Jon -
As others have testified, a sizeable outfeed table is a must. That was the firstest thing I built when I set up my saw in my new shop. Had I the room I might have had the outfeed table a bit wider than the saw on the left hand side now that all's said and done - it would make cutting narrow pieces from full sheets of plywood somewhat easier. But, as it is, a roller stand or a home made support off the right hand side works just as well.
Second-est is a cutt-off sled. Spend some time and get it right; square and well fitting to the miter slots of your saw. For trimming door panels and squaring up pieces that are too wide to fit in a miter saw I find it's indespensible. Make a couple while you're in the mood. A smaller one for .... small stuff and so forth.
Feather boards and push sticks should be a top priority with regard to safely using the saw.
From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.
Dennis
Good miter and cross cut sleds small and large are a must.
Why remove the mobile base? Chances are you will need to move the saw from time to time. I have made an outfeed table that uses the angle iron on the outfeed side of the table and the supporting legs angle back to the mobile base. This makes it easy to remove if need be and to clean up the excess saw dust that always seems to escape, it also allows temp storage under the outfeed table. If you need a left side support I would suggest a separate storage cabinet/table with drawers or doors with locking casters and make the top in such a way that you can adjust the hieght to accomidate other machines which may need a supporting table from time to time.
I say this because unless you are hoing to have the entire basement in the furture you are sure to become short on space. Even though I have a devoted shop with almost as much storage are on the 2nd floor it seems that I am always short on space when doing the large projects.
Good Luck with your house
Garry
Jon,
I've never done a bunch of kitchen cabinets, but I have been thinking about it and how to accomplish in my small space. The first thought is to seperate the door/face frame process from the carcas creation process...I'd probably do the doors and attach to face frames first because they take up less space. Either way, however, the milling, staging, joinery, sanding, glue-up, etc. all have specific needs...not the least of which is a flat surface for glue-up. I often use my TS, fense, and crosscut sliding jig to insure my glue-up is square and flat...it could be accomplished with a couple of boards perpendicular to each other on a flat table such as a torsion box. Anyhow, there's my inexperienced view...
My suggestion for an outfeed table, build a work bench 1/2 inch lower than your table saw and have it backed up to the saw. I recently built a bench out of 30 2x6's for this purpuse and it has worked perfectly. I'm very happy with an outfeed table that extends 6.5 feet (or the width of the table if you rotate the orientation), can be as wide as you want to make it, and doubles as a rock solid work bench/assembly table, that takes a beating. Best of all, it doesn't cost much. I ripped 1/2 inch off of one side of the 2x6's to flatten them for the top, and then glued them up. The legs are two 2x6's with 2x6 spacers between them, and were glued/lag bolted to the top sections during the glue-up process . I then flattened the top with hand planes. No cross members were necessary under the table so I can use the entire space for storage.
Jon,
I am about to start renovating my daughter and son-in-laws kitchen. In my basement shop I have my table saw integrated into a 7' X 8' table. Last weekend I built 2 tables 2' X 8' X 2'h for assembly and finishing of the cabinets.
ASK
Jon,
Make a couple of zero clearance inserts for your dado setups and one for the single blade. Also if you have the money there are some after market splitters available too. Since you will be doing a lot of panel cutting there is a great potential for kickback especially with the thinner plywood such as 1/4". Also set up some good lighting and a safe area around the saw to allow you to safely maneuver sheet goods.
J.P.
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