[Klawman]

I have decided not to buy a stand for my compound miter saw but build something but I have a question that may seem ludicrous to ask. Still, here goes.

I know I don't want a fixed miter saw station against a wall of my garage, as space is limited. There are so nice plans out here for stands with limited mobility (cabinet type on casters).

I am wondering if I will save a lot of time and hassle if I knock togeter something more mobile that can be set up in or just outside of the room I am working on, of which a half are upstairs. There is a landing with ample space to set up a saw, but fortet lugging a cabient type stand up stairs.

Watcha think. Cabinet on casters or saw horse style? I am leaning towards something like these.

There are variations and someone opined that he doesn't like stands that have solid fences beyond the saw becasue if if you are cutting a board that's slightly warped, you won't get a square cut. I wouldn't think that would apply to crown molding, which is what I will use it for, as the material will be held firmly against the surface of the saw's table.

Help?

 

[vsheetz]

I have a wheeled stand - move the saw to where I need it when outside the shop (usually on the patio when doing work inside the house) - when in the shop I pull it to an open area to use it. Against a wall would seem to be not a good place for it - need room to get wood to and around the saw.

 

[Klawman]

Wheeled

I really like the wheeled stand. More I think of it, I would only lug it upstairs rarely. Perhaps I will go with the wheeled. Especially if I design it to make it not terrible difficult to get up the stairs. Perhaps with removable wings. It can be configured to work with a wet/dry vac for dust collection. I may also design it to store my cheapo bench saw below. Thanks

 

[oh'mike]

The stand in the bottom picture!!!

Build your self a stand like NORM's-Same sort of thing I use.

A fence and a wooden table are so helpful with crown.

The crown will stay nested against the fence and not twist,Temporary crown stops can be tacked right into the outfeed tables.

You will like it--friends will copy your design--Go for it!!

 

[Klawman]

Accuracy

Thanks Mike. Besides portability, I can see where the fence and table extension on Norm's design would be more accurate. Anything that folds would be prone to being off. I would look into modifying Norm's with a dust control hose to a shop vac.

 

[oh'mike]

Over the years as a trim guy I built many of these.--I'll be making one soon for a saw I just purchased.

You are going to love the support on long and short pieces. The roller stands sold for chop saws are nothing but frustration,

You will be pleased---Not get to work!!!---HaHa-MIKE---

 

[Thurman]

I'm not doubting your capabilities, IF you build a nice stand like that- -post pictures. Those pictured are really nice. My compound miter saw is a very nice one, but I use it in my work which takes me all over town. One of those would be nice, but hard to move around for me. I use the DeWalt portable stand and love it. Thanks, David

 

[Willie T]

This one is built rock-solid. It will fit most any 10" saw, and some 12". I got mine from HD for 87 bucks, and it has been one of the best buys I've ever made.

Ryobi - A18MS01 Miter-Saw Stand

 

[stubits]

Hey Willie, does that one fold up at all for storage? Or is it fixed?

 

[Klawman]

Ryobi stand

Hi Stubbits,

That Ryobi is the one I almost bought and would probably buy if I didn't decide to build something for home use. The legs on the Ryobi indeed fold up.

Earlier I talked about a stand that I could set up in the rooms where I was working. Thinking about the mess and dust, that shows what a newbie I am. If it isn't going to be used in the house, I would probably opt for the garage and in that case the cabinet style with folding wings looks pretty, but the sawhorse mounted ugly sister is probably more accurate and serviceable. Something similar but even simpler is suggested by Gary Gatz. I alsways try to follow KISS.

Katz has an extremely simple, but solid, saw horse stand on his DVD. I won't post it as it is somebody's intellectual property. Basically, all you do is take a 2x slightly wider than the depth of your saw and about 7' long. Center your saw in the middle. Then you need 4 more 7' 2x. These are used to make two torsion boxes. Those boxes are made by cutting pieces of 2x to use as spacers and end pieces. Your cut those spacers and but pieces so that the height of the table is flush with the top of the table. The table rests on two sawhoreses. The saw and one end of each torsion box/wing rests on the table top to each side of the saw. Bolt the saw down and clamp the table top and you are good to go.

 

[PaliBob]

For DIY use the Miter Saw Stand's most important purpose is to get the doggone saw OFF the floor. I cringe when I see a DIYer or a remodeling crew setting up in a neighborhood garage with the miter saw or even a portable table saw on the concrete floor.

The first two pictured Miter Saw Stands I think are overkill for DIY use.
The pictured stands are great for production work from a fixed location but a DIY stand should be light, portable, and versatile as in being able to be used for other purposes.
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-...44?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1258714434&sr=8-2-catcorr

It's super to have extension wings to support the material being cut and permitting stops to be used to enable dead on, no measuring, repeat cuts of multiple pieces. For a DIY job without the need to make multiple identical cuts a roller stand can function to support the material.
http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=Roller+Stands&Submit=Go
.

 

[Willie T]

Hey Willie, does that one fold up at all for storage? Or is it fixed?

All four legs fold up, and the end supports slide in. The two pieces of base bolt to the saw, and you can remove them (along with the saw) in about three seconds.

The saw, on the base pieces, can be positioned anywhere along the rails that you choose. And it quickly locks in place with a flip of a lever.

 

[Klawman]

Thanks, Bob. I actually have been thinking of getting one of those Workmate benches for years and specifically checked one out at Lowe's for this purpose last week. I still think I want to make something, but perhaps I should knock something up to suit my purposes.

To begin with, I know have a somewhat rickety commercial built stand a neighbot gave me. Alternatively I clamp my 10" bench saw or the miter saw to it. It is fairly sturdy, but I don't feel comfortable pushing stock across it for ripping I thought about building a setup, which also sits on sawhorses, from which the saw hangs. Probably overkill for the little I use it.

I am thiking of building a simple dual purpose table to use as a table saw stand and miter saw stand. Nothing fancy but utilitarian.

It would have a well deep enough to accomodate my little 10" bench saw. I can make the bench top high enough to give me a little more material support for crosscut. I make a platform for the miter saw that raises the surface of the well so that its table is flush with the tup of the bench. I can build a shelf/leg brace to store the bench saw when not in use.

I had already thought of adjustable work support stands for material support. The reason I want some wings, and short ones work, is to give the material a bit better support near the table and to clamp a crown stop board to them. If the wings are solid, they also give me another surface on which to clamp various jigs.

My feeling is an experienced craftsman can use any old thing for a work support. I want something solid to work on.

 

[PaliBob]

To begin with, I know have a somewhat rickety commercial built stand a neighbor gave me. Alternatively I clamp my 10" bench saw or the miter saw to it. It is fairly sturdy, but I don't feel comfortable pushing stock across it for ripping

This HF $90 folding Tool Stand can be used for both a miter saw or a portable table saw and will support 550 lbs. The in feed & out feed rollers would just have to be adjusted when changing the set up from one saw to the other but you would gain a portable rig that would not take up a lot of storage space.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40612

Instead of clamping a Crown stop to extension wings you can use a DeWalt Crown Stop connected directly to the DeWalt saw.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00002231I...e=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B00002231I

Another nice thing to have is a dust hood over the miter saw similar to the ChopShop hood made by Fastcap and introduced here at the Long Beach JLC Live Show by Gary Katz in 2007.
http://www.amazon.com/Fastcap-FastCap-Chopshop-Saw-Hood/dp/B000VS4K7K
.

.

 

[Klawman]

NIce portable miter saw stand, Bob, but while it referes to bench saws, I think a bench type table saw would be sitting pretty high on that table, which is why I didn't get the Ryobi stand. The Ryobi, DeWalt, and some others permit you to bolt saws to quick disconnect bars that allow you to mount other equipment on another set of quick disconnect bars. Again, the problem is that the stand is too high for a bench saw.

The umbrella is a nice idea, but I am wondering if I am better off if I build a little dust collection box under the table and hook it up to a wet vac? I imagine some sawdust is going to get around, anyway, but guess that would be true of the umbrella.

As for DeWalt's crown stops, I have considered them and not totally ruled them out, but I kind of like the simplicity of clamping a board stop It looks to me as though it would provide a lot better support and if I have a bench/table for the saw, why not make it so I can just clamp a board to to the bench?

 

[PaliBob]

Klaw, Figure out how much plywood you will need and estimate the total cost before you start. If you make the wings as torsion boxes, I think you can get by with ½” Baltic Birch. You will need four wings, that is two wings for the miter saw height and two for the Table Saw height. That is unless someone can figure out a way to use one set of wings on two different height saws.

Design the wings to make the most efficient use of the panel size. To me that would mean a wing length of four or six ft, but make it what is best for you. When designing the width of the wings remember the space lost through the saw kerfs.

Here is a link on building a torsion box although this example is many times stronger than what you will need.
http://www.finewoodworking.com/Community/QADetail.aspx?id=26506
.

 

[shapeshifter]

We had an old metal-based computer desk that was no longer used. we disassembled the keyboard slide out tray, flipped it upside down and added 2X4s to the legs so they would accept casters. That also seemed to stabilize the table a good deal. We use 4" multi-directional casters with locks so it moves over terrain a little bit easier. We mounted the miter saw off center to leave a bit of a work area on one side. I added lenghts of 1X2s to the sides and back of the table and screwed in some hooks to hold stuff and mounted a power strip on the back edge of the saw. My work shop is 8X10' and I can move the table away from the wall and have plenty of room to manage whatever I'm mitering.

 

[Klawman]

Shapeshifter

Cool!. I like how some convert old gas barbeque frames.

 

[shapeshifter]

Totally off topic, but my hubby used a stainless steel 1/2 keg and an grocery store cart and made one of the best bar-b-ques ever. It lasted almost 25 years and the hinges on the stainless steel cover rusted :laughing:

 

[Klawman]

OT: South Texas Bar-b-que

Where do I file a complaint for cruelty. We won't have dinner for a couple of hours and you bring up South Texas bar-bque.