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Combo Radial Arm Saw / Miter Saw / Drill Press mobile workstation

4K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  crmygdnss 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
All,

I'm looking to do something like this:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?156403-Miter-Saw-Radial-Arm-Saw-Cabinet

(project near the bottom of the thread)

But add a drill press station on the right side. A little detail about my shop - it's a 2 car garage with dual workbenches against the side and back wall. I share it with 3 kids, bikes, scooters, etc. I have a Rigid Table Saw on the mobile base, love it, works great (although I wish I had my Grizzly cabinet saw I USED to have) and I picked up a Delta Rockwell RAS last year for $50 off of Craigslist. It's this model:

http://www.vintagemachinery.org/classifieds/detail.aspx?id=2273&p=2

Mine's in WAY better shape and works amazingly well. I have this drill press:

https://www.amazon.com/WEN-4212-10-Inch-Variable-Speed/dp/B00HQONFWS/ref=sr_1_4?s=power-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1480786066&sr=1-4&keywords=drill+press

With the Woodpeckers DP3 Fence and table:

https://www.amazon.com/Woodpeckers-Precision-Woodworking-Tools-WPDPPACK1/dp/B0013KJNPO/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1480786127&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=woodpeckers+dp3+drill+press+fence

Also have a 10" Dewalt Mitre saw.

What I'm looking to do is combine all 3 into one mobile cabinet with heavy duty locking casters on the base so I can be mobile and move it around the garage as needed. Right now the drill press occupies a good chunk of one of the 3×6 workbenches and I need that space for other things. Plus it's too high on that workbench to be remotely usable as the table / fence is about shoulder level.

My top dimension will be about 6'x3' as I'll need 16" for the back of the RAS to clear the fence I want to build. The drill press table can swing out of the way, and I'd mount it lower on the upper right side of the top, so it's usable and not at shoulder height.

I'm compiling images from the web for various RAS and Miter Saw cabinets, and I've designed and built many projects, so I'm confident I can design / build this. Question is, should I? Should I combine these 3 pieces into a single cabinet, I think having the Miter saw and RAS saw such as in the picture above is a no brainer when they can share the same fence / extended fence. But putting the drill press on there as well, I'm thinking it might be WAY to heavy, or I'll lose functionality of the Drill Press some how. I've also thought about putting the Drill press on the end of the cabinet, turning it 90 degrees so you'd be working off of the end rather than facing the cabinet when you're using it. Really just trying to figure out how to make all of these wonderful tools fit in a smaller space.

Been a while since I posted here, but love all the advice and knowledge posted on the many threads here! Promise I'll post pictures of the build and final project once complete, I'm determined to make this work! Let me know what you think!
 
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#3 ·
Thanks - I'm in the process of drawing this up in Sketchup to meet what I think I'll need and want. The real question I was looking from from the group is should I. What are the potential drawbacks in doing a build / bench like this?
 
#4 ·
crmygdnss,

I see no reason that the radial arm saw and mitre saw could not share space on the same roll around or immobile bench. I would probably put the drill press on its own mobile table.

The chief reasons are that I would like to keep the drill press set up and still cut a longer board. There have been times when I break away from a project and, before returning to the project, needed to cut a board. If the drill press is in the way, the drill press set up would have to be broken down or cutting the long board deferred.

The second reason is that if some holes are needed in a long board, the drill press on its own table could easily be rolled out and the holes drilled. If its home is on the work bench with the saws, the entire workstation would have to be rolled out. Dust collection and power cords of the saws would have to be de- and re-attached.

The third reason is that the work surface for the saws could be a little too high for the drilling operation. If the drill press is mounted to the saw work table, adjusting the height of the drill press could be difficult or impossible without the saw work surface being in the way.

Lastly, the saw work table could be kept permanently in place. But if the drill press were included, the large table would have to be wheeled out to drill the holes in that longer work piece.
 
#5 ·
Great points JBrow! I think I'll go combo miter / RAS on one and do a cabinet base for the drill press. 2 projects are more fun to build anyway! I'll post pics when done.
 
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