Mobile Mitre Saw station - FINISHED

[LarryS.]

So in a fit of idiocy I bought the worlds largest SCMS to go into the worlds smallest workshop.

Its the bosch GCM12 SD :

It came with the free Axminster mitre saw stand which is about 6 feet long and two and a half feet wide (so was way too big to fit in the workshop). Therefore I am building a mobile mitre stand along the lines of this :

however I am probably going to change it in two ways :
1. Put drawers in instead of cabinet doors (for better storage which is critical in my workshop)
2. Possibly not have the extension wings, instead I am building the unit to the same height as my mobile table saw stand (on this thread : https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21814&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30
and it will also stand next to my pillar drill which has an adjustable table (so I can raise it to the same height as the mitre saw)

So I started tonight with some plywood for the sides and base :

had my first attempt at proper rebates joints :

the wood cut with rebates ready to go together :

from a previous build i have a bit of kitchen counter top which was sitting going to waste. I think it will be ideal for the mitre saw to sit on (its thick, strong and flat) but it was 3cms too short, so i've glued some wood to the side to widen it, tomorrow I'll plane that down and look to rebate fit that shelf into the unit.

 

[Gary M]

So in a fit of idiocy I bought the worlds largest SCMS to go into the worlds smallest workshop.

Its the bosch GCM12 SD :

Your not joking Paul :shock: :shock: that saw is an absolute monster !!

I like your idea for the mobile saw stand and might even pinch it myself :lol:
I will be following your WIP with interest (when i can)

By the way your router table is quite something :wink: Keep up the good work mate.
Cheers,
Gary.

 

[wizer]

You don't muck about do you MG?

I have that saw and was planning on building that same mobile cart. So I'll be watching with interest.

How did you cut the rebates?

 

[OPJ]

Glad to see one of us has at last made a start on this!

If you're not going to go ahead with the fold-up tables, or the adjustable bed for that matter, then you'll probably be well on your way to finishing this by the time you've read this message! :wink:

I want to ask about the dust bag on your saw though. Is it really of any use? Mine (eBay) came without one, so I don't want to spend £15 on one unless I know it's gonna be worth it.

Or, do you have an alternative idea for dust extraction hidden up your sleeve...?

There's just one thing missing so far... I'm assuming the router table/saw bench is finished so, where are the photo's showing us how you used it to cut the ply??? :wink:

Good job on the rebates - I'm guessing they were cut with a freehand router, WiZeR?

 

[LarryS.]

cut the rebates on my new router table with a heath robinson sacrificial fence :

this evening i've put extended the top a bit more, glued, and biscuit jointed, this is what a serious lack of clamps looks like :

for the shelf to hold the saw I used my new rebate jig for the first time :

amazed myself to find it worked a treat, if you need to cut rebates its definately worth spending an hour making this jig :

then put together the cabinet, found it really hard to get the unit to sit square so decided to cut the back and fit it to force it square. A definite learning point there because that fixed the squareness and did it easily. Glued and screwed up, here it is sat upside down with the castors laid on top so you get the idea :

the shelf is 10cm from the top of the unit as the saw base is 10cm high. therefore i can add side supports and it all should (and I mean 'should) sit flat, here's hoping !

 

[wizer]

good stuff Paul.

What Ply are you using?

 

[OPJ]

And I had to wait a full three-minutes for your reply, Paul!

I like the housing jig also. I've been meaning to make one of those for about a year now! Interesting to see you use it to cut the rebates also. I find bearing-guided cutters (with a selection of bearing sizes) to be my preferred method. But, each to their own.

Next time you need a longer clamp, you could try buying individual clamp heads and and mounting them on to a length of timber drilled with numerous holes, instead of the steel/aluminium bar.

 

[Karl]

Nice idea Paul - if it turns out anything like your hybrid table saw, it should be a cracker.

I think you need to look at the scale of your drawings. If your sketchup is to scale, that mitre stand will fill the garage :lol:

Cheers

Karl

 

[LarryS.]

Glad to see one of us has at last made a start on this!

If you're not going to go ahead with the fold-up tables, or the adjustable bed for that matter, then you'll probably be well on your way to finishing this by the time you've read this message! :wink:

I want to ask about the dust bag on your saw though. Is it really of any use? Mine (eBay) came without one, so I don't want to spend £15 on one unless I know it's gonna be worth it.

Or, do you have an alternative idea for dust extraction hidden up your sleeve...?

There's just one thing missing so far... I'm assuming the router table/saw bench is finished so, where are the photo's showing us how you used it to cut the ply??? :wink:

Good job on the rebates - I'm guessing they were cut with a freehand router, WiZeR?

Dust bag isn't worth £15, most of the dust it catches is on its outside as it flies past ! My plan is to attach a length of hose to it that comes round to the front of the cabinet so I can plug the hoover into it whenever in use.

Have to say that the router table makes life so much easier, for example cutting the rebates along the full length of the sides and base took 5 minutes of setting up, then 5 minutes to route giving me 3 perfect cuts.

I like the housing jig also. I've been meaning to make one of those for about a year now! Interesting to see you use it to cut the rebates also. I find bearing-guided cutters (with a selection of bearing sizes) to be my preferred method. But, each to their own

The best bit of the jig is that you pit it round the shelf edge and pull it tight, then tighten the bolts. Then when you transfer it to the piece for the rebate its always perfect with virtually no effort (makes me look like i have a clue what I am doing !)

What Ply are you using?

Its spruce ply from B&Q, I'm showing my ignorance here but is there much difference between the different woods in ply ?

 

[OPJ]

Its spruce ply from B&Q, I'm showing my ignorance here but is there much difference between the different woods in ply ?

It think it pretty much depends on where the timber came from, rather than the species. For example, any Finnish Birch ply is said to be of superior quality to that of the 'same' species grown in the Far East.

For something like a mitre saw station, I wouldn't say it matters all that much, to be honest. This isn't the kind of job where you are working for someone who's prepared to pay a substantial amount of money. It's in your workshop, it's staying in your workshop and it's got to be expected to take some abuse now and again.

Either way, it looks a lot nicer than shuttering ply with all those gaping holes.

 

[LarryS.]

Update on progress :

a failed attempt to prevent sawdust shooting out the back of the machine, need to find some other solution or always use it up against the wall !

 

[Waka]

Paul

Does the saw not have a dust extraction port where you can tie in a vac?

 

[LarryS.]

it does but loads of dust seems to shoot straight out the back. Currently on the port is the collection bag haven't got pipe to link it to the cleaner yet, but would that make a lot of difference ? Seems to come hurtling out the back of the saw !

 

[George_N]

I have hooked up my 'shop vac to my DW703 CMS and it only gets 50% of the dust (maybe even less). I'm thinking about a box at the back of the bench to catch the worst of it, like the one shown here.

 

[LarryS.]

I have hooked up my 'shop vac to my DW703 CMS and it only gets 50% of the dust (maybe even less). I'm thinking about a box at the back of the bench to catch the worst of it, like the one shown here.

that box is a good idea, won't work for me though because its a mobile stand which the box would make too big to shift around, if only this workshop wasn't so small !!

 

[Waka]

Now if only you'd gone for the Festool kapex :lol: dust wouldn't be too much of an issue :lol:

 

[OPJ]

Good work, Paul. I like how you've decided to store your other power tools inside the cabinet as well. I was only thinking of cutters and the like.

I notice you made the back of your cabinet slightly higher - is this to try and contain some of the dust your vacuum won't catch?

George, that's a good idea for a saw that's going to be left in a fixed position.

 

[LarryS.]

Good work, Paul. I like how you've decided to store your other power tools inside the cabinet as well. I was only thinking of cutters and the like.

I notice you made the back of your cabinet slightly higher - is this to try and contain some of the dust your vacuum won't catch?

George, that's a good idea for a saw that's going to be left in a fixed position.

yeah the higher back was a last minute addition, but it doesn't seem to help much as the dust shoots up the main brace of the saw which then propells it over the top !! :lol: