Retired the saw bench,,but what next?

[Stevekane]

“Elf n safety” buffs will be delighted to hear that Ive retired my saw bench,,after an amazeing amount of use Im seriously sad to wave it off,,,and with all didgets still present and correct,,,but what to do next? Since removing the saw Ive found the table extreamly useful,,and Im wondering if a new top (600 x 600) or slightly bigger with a few MFT holes for clamps and the like might catapult me into the precision woodworking game,,,
Any thoughts?

 

[Spectric]

Look at tracksaws which will handle sheets of man made material like ply but if ripping something like 2 by 4's then a table saw.

 

[Ttrees]

The only time I've seen MFT's being utilized well is when used with dominos, biscuits, or similar
assembly/fixing work.
Those folks who use them generally have machines to do the accurate stuff, so no accurate work
is done on them apart from the above.

If you want to catapult yourself into precision woodworking, then the most notable tools which will do this are hand planes, and worth noting you won't find many folks using planes on such a bench.

Anyone with any sort of experience will generally opt for something quite a bit longer than that, with a reliable surface which won't deflect, swell, warp, ect.
The more precise work one might wish to do, the better care they might take of their bench tops, and not saw or chisel into the bench,and use a bench hook or sacrificial plywood piece for chopping on, or for general things around the house.


Not saying i'd throw it out, that might depend on your space, if it's very tight, it just might be a bit large for anything else to sit on.
It'd make a good outfeed if it folds away though.

 

[Tris]

Hang a router under it, piece of 2x2 for a fence, bolted one end, clamped the other and you have a basic but effective router table

 

[rogxwhit]

For mft holes you often need space / access underneath to insert the legs of / apply locking knobs to the various forms of clamp. I can't tell from the pic how much the frame might be an obstruction.

An mft is good for work holding where you take the power tool to the work - in particular I think of dominoing and sanding. In that light the more flexibility of clamp positioning the better - lots of holes are good.

 

[Stevekane]

Many thanks everyone, Ive got a little router table and the saws been replaced with a Site style saw, Ive made myself a very heafty garden table out of 2 inch timber at around 7ft long and this doubles as a workbench, but I often find myself struggling to clamp a piece of timber down to say, router one edge,,my workmate can be handy in these situations as I can get in behind the piece and get a clamp or two fixed, but the old 600 x 600 saw table is proving very useful, its extra space and would not be the end of the world if I chopped into an edge,,so I was thinking why not poke a few MFT holes into a new MDF top and make up some hold downs? That way I still have the work table and it should also be easier to locate clamps etc. BTW I would love to see somone hand planeing on the poor old thing,,a couple a snaggy strokes before somersaulting over the whole contraption,,,
Elect plane though,,a whole different ball game,,
Steve (for whom Shabby chic and Rustic were a godsend)