[Handtooler]

New Miter Saw Station - Construction Details

I have been working diligently trying to get this phase of the makeover finished.
Here are some pics of the construction.

Case work with drawer slides ready for drawers or trays.

Top of the cabinet. The miter saw portion will bolt on to the top of the two cabinets.

Laying out the templates for the sides and ends. Dang that MDF makes a lot of dust.

Rough cutting the openings so I can route 'em smooth using the template I cut from MDF.

Two routers are better than one! Here I was routing the pieces for the sides and ends of the miter saw stand. When I finished routing a piece, I would use the other router to do a little round over to ease the sharp edges. Then I would move to the next piece and repeat.

Time to drill a few pocket holes. Check out my air filtration unit in the background. Don't laugh, it works great.

Dry fit. I cut the two tops for the stand and set the saw in place to see how it would fit.

More construction pics coming soon including the final assy and the installation of the Kreg Precision Trak. Rockler had a 20% off sale going so I couldn't pass up saving almost $25 on the Trak.

Great Blog! In-depth info/instructions and super pics. It gave me some much needed knowledge on adding a pedestle unit to a previous desk I constructed years ago. Thanks for your efforts.

 

[Handtooler]

New Miter Saw Station - Construction Details

I have been working diligently trying to get this phase of the makeover finished.
Here are some pics of the construction.

Case work with drawer slides ready for drawers or trays.

Top of the cabinet. The miter saw portion will bolt on to the top of the two cabinets.

Laying out the templates for the sides and ends. Dang that MDF makes a lot of dust.

Rough cutting the openings so I can route 'em smooth using the template I cut from MDF.

Two routers are better than one! Here I was routing the pieces for the sides and ends of the miter saw stand. When I finished routing a piece, I would use the other router to do a little round over to ease the sharp edges. Then I would move to the next piece and repeat.

Time to drill a few pocket holes. Check out my air filtration unit in the background. Don't laugh, it works great.

Dry fit. I cut the two tops for the stand and set the saw in place to see how it would fit.

More construction pics coming soon including the final assy and the installation of the Kreg Precision Trak. Rockler had a 20% off sale going so I couldn't pass up saving almost $25 on the Trak.

WOW! What a wonderful piece of shop equipment! You'll really enjoy that. VERY nicely done, Sir

 

[Handtooler]

Face Frames and Drawers, Oh My!

I finished up the basic construction on the miter saw station and put it in service. I am loving it.

Using pocket hole construction, I built face frames for both of the lower cabinets.
Note: All of those clamps might be overkill but they kept my stuff where it was supposed to be.

Next it was time to build the drawers. Actually, there are two trays and three drawers.

I set up a dado blade on my table saw for a 1/2 inch cut. That allowed me to do two operations:

1. Rip the drawer pieces for the 1/2 inch plywood I used for the drawer bottoms.
2. Cross cut the ends of the front and back pieces only.
   I set up a stop block on the table saw fence so the boards would have some space between the end and the fence.

Don't laugh at the painters tape. It worked well as an "almost zero clearance insert".

I also made a simple tray for one of the drawers. It is holding the hardware for my next project.

And then i ran out of paint! :-(

If you remember, I wrote about the Kreg Precision Measuring System in my last entry. GAWD that thing is the cat's meow. I quickly cut the pieces to build a cooler. Then I realized I had lumber left over, so I cut most of the pieces for the next cooler. The first one is finished and out the door. I plan to start the assembly of the next one tomorrow.

I had to label the various pieces so I won't get confused.

And from that pile of boards POOF! Just like maagic, they turned into a cooler.

Next up in my makeover plans is to incorporate dust collection into the miter saw station. I will have room for the 1 inch belt sander and the oscillating sander.

I found a Fernco plumbing repair rubber boot at HD that is a perfect fit for my miter saw dust port. Inside diameter on both ends is 2 3/8 inches (for 2 inch PVC, I guess). That fit the dust port and the shop Vac hose is 2 1/4 inch diameter so it fits on that end also. Snug the clamps and it is a done deal.

...and temporary set up for my router table!!!

And last but not least, a new tape rack! I used a pallet board and some shaker pegs I had on hand.

Did I mention I am having fun? Well, I am.
Mike

Mike you are doing some awefully nice and very useful work! Your organizational skills are taking over as you improve your shop. Very nice router table also. Your plans or some you obtained? And did you blog the construction?

 

[Handtooler]

Under Table Wheeled Tool Storage Drawer

I was sick and tired of my clamp situation. There is not really any wall space available for a clamp rack. So I decided to clean out under my work bench and build a drawer with wheels that I can roll in and out.

I used whatever I could find to make the tray. The front and rear pieces and one side are 3/4 inch plywood. I had to use a piece of 1/2 inch for the other side. The bottom is 1/2 inch CD plywood glued and stapled to the frame. I used a piece of 1/2 inch plywood to make a separator for the drawer to keep the clamps separated and somewhat organized. I wish I could have fabricated some slotted pieces so I could let the clamps sit straight up, but there isn't enough clearance to do that.

I made the wheels out of more 1/2 inch plywood. I used a 5 inch hole saw which made the job a snap. All I had to do was sand off the fuzz and install them with 1/4 inch bolts, washers and lock nuts.

As you can see, this is not high end cabinetmaking, but dang this sure is handy and helped reduce the clutter I was dealing with.

I still need a handle. Next trip to town I will get a handle to match the two drawers.

After seeing what a big difference this drawer made, I looked around realized there is more room under my big tool box. so, looks like I will be making several more of these drawers in the near future.

Hope you like it.
Mike

Note: This was not my idea. I ran across it in a magazine a while back. I forgot which one.

Very inovative. And I really like your Drill Press Table and your assembly blog Thanks for showing us you shop improvement projects..

 

[Handtooler]

Mo Power!

Yea! The electricians have arrived. They are going to run a dedicated 20 amp circuit for my 2HP HF Dust Collector. Last week I fired up my new Grizzly 18 inch drum sander and tripped the breaker.

So, I decided to call out the experts. Now the drum sander will be on one circuit and the DC on a completely separate circuit.

AND…they are also going to run a new 15 amp circuit to the dining room and kitchen. We have had problems in the past tripping the breaker in the kitchen especially during the holidays when the microwave, toaster oven and one other appliance is being used. Now the new circuit will solve that problem. Also, I am fixin' to start building a new set of cabinets in the dining room so two outlets will serve the counter area for them. That will make my wife a very happy girl…and me too.

I'm sure you will enjoy the extra power availability, as will she. Congrats on you new addition of the sander. You'll likewise enjoy that.