[moonie]

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.

nice build so fare but Im waiting to see how the track is installed.

 

[moonie]

Assemblying the Miter Saw Stand

As promised, here are some pics of the construction of the miter saw stand. If you remember from the first entry, I am using the plans from Ron Paulk to go by. However, I have made some changes to fit my situation. So this stand is kind of a cross between his workbench and his miter saw stand.

Onward and upward…

In my last entry, I made a couple of templates out of mdf to use when cutting and routing the parts for the stand. I forgot to include pics of them, so here are the pics of the templates after they had been fabricated.

To make them, I laid out the dimensions and cut a 5 inch hole on each end with a hole saw. Then I used a straight edge to mark in between the circles. I cut just inside the line with a jig saw, then attached the guides with double stick tape and ran the router along the edges with a flush trim bit attached. They actually turned out pretty good.

With all of my parts cut, I started the assembly by building each side of the stand. I turned the top upside down and attached the front, back and side pieces with pocket screws. I used some glue but pretty much abandoned it after slicing my finger wide open when I was in a hurry (glue setting up) to drive the screws and literally drove the screw past my index finger on my left hand. Dang that hurt…and I bled like a stuck hog. First Aid to the rescue. Thank goodness for a caring wife.

I managed to get both pieces of the top together without further incident.

I sat them aside and concentrated on the base of the stand. It is a single piece of 3/4 plywood 80 inches long by 22 1/4 wide. I positioned it on top of the two lower cabinets and bolted it to them with 8ea 5/16 inch bolts.

Next, I glued and screwed the two frame stiffners to the bottom. I scrounged up some 2×4's to make some simple caulls.

I gave the glue about an hour and a half to dry then turned the bottom over and drove the rest of the screws.

With the bottom complete, I turned it over on top of the two top pieces and screwed through the bottom into the frame members of the two tops. I used a lot of drywall screws for this operation.

These pics show the stand completely assembled and bolted together.
Yep… it's dead level. Guess I lucked out this time.

My next entry will cover the construction of the fences and the installation of the Kreg Precision Trak System.

nice build you have used alot of ply wood on this one.

 

[moonie]

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

nice work thats thinking outside the box.

 

[moonie]

Drill Press Makeover

I have been really busy lately building a couple of my coolers. The miter saw station is working out great. I still have to make drawer fronts and install them and finalize the dust collection system.

So, I looked around and realized my drill press was just in the way with no easy way of moving it without literally picking it up and moving it onto the work table.

So, I devised a plan. After browsing the internet and checking out projects fellow LJ'ers have posted, I decided to build a stand with several drawers to hold all of my stuff.

Stuff:

• Drill bits of varying style, size - some of which are in cases and some are loose in the drawer.
• Forstner bits - some in a case, some loose and a couple are really big.
• Hole saws - up to 5 inches in diameter.
• Assorted accessories like key chucks chamfer bits and other misc stuff I have collected over the years.

Here is what I started with. A bench top drill press from Northern tool with 3/4HP motor sitting on a B&D Workmate. I had previously built a table for the drill press but it is going to be replaced by the one described in ShopNotes Issue #94.

I didn't have enough plywood so I bought a sheet of Maple at Lowe's. I had a $10 discount card so that helped.

I cut two sides, a top and a bottom piece and a couple of pieces for the back. Also, I attached a 1/2 inch wide piece across the top and a three inch piece across the bottom in the front. The two raw edges were covered with some 3/4 inch maple I had in the scrap pile.

I cut the sheet down to rough size with a track saw. I doubled when I cut the sides.

Before doing any assembly, I decided how many drawers and what size I would need. That turned out to be fairly easy. I will build all four drawers 4 inches deep. That means the bottom drawer will actually be a tray to hold my two vises and whatever else I can pile in there.

Next up was assembly of the mobile base purchased from Harbor freight. Twenty percent off made it $31 and some change. I have the same base on my band saw so this should have been a breeze. Right? Not hardly.

I followed the directions and milled a 2×4 into 1 1/4×1 1/4 pieces. Then I cut them according to instructions. A trial fit showed everything was too short. So I cut the long ones shorter and made two new long sides. I guess I was just goofy because the instructions are correct . The side boards must be cut so the rear wheels can fit into the frame. :-(

After putting this thing together and taking it apart several times, I finally got a good fit. The only problem is the front casters weren't high enough to provide enough ground clearance for my very unlevel concrete garage floor. So, I took them off and added a couple of washers to each one (front casters). that solved the problem and it moves easily around the shop.

One additional step I took was to drill a hole in each of the corner brackets so I could bolt the cabinet to each piece. A 5/16 inch bolt/washer/nut has the cabinet securely mounted in place. I marked the holes with masking tape and drew an arrow to each one. I drilled these. They weren't part of the kit.

I made a top for the stand from part of a solid core door which was left over from when I built my work table. It is 1 3/4 inch thick. I trim it slightly to get the sides even, then I attached an edge band made of 1/2 inch Baltic Birch. Still making use of the stuff I have available to use. since the door has a particle board core, I used a goodly ( ) amount of glue, countersunk screws and lots of clamps. Hopefully it will stay together for a long time. I covered the top with some white Formica I had on hand. After all was said and done, I trimmed the Formica, then ran a chamfer bit around the top to ease the sharp edge.

Here is the cabinet painted and installed on the base.

And VOILA! My job here is complete! Well, almost. I still have drawers to build and the table. Note that I mounted the drill press to the stand by bolting through the top and the plywood top of the stand by using 3/8 inch x 5 inch bolts/ washers/lock washers and nuts. BTW, this setup is really stable. That had been my main concern from the very beginning.

And I just devised a plan to make an adapter so I can bolt my bench vise to the drill press base! I sent my buddy a note requesting for a piece of plate to make an adapter. He usually has all sorts of stuff laying around his shop also!

Hope you liked this post. i will post pics of the table build when I get it going.

nice work

 

[moonie]

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.

good idel on the wheels