Miter saw Jig to save lots of room

[Chet]

Submitted on the old forum by bushwacked

If you don't have tons of space, like Kev  ... I found this video this morning that is genius if you have kinda the same setup. 

[Chet]

Follow up posts

1) I tried watching but he seemed to ramble on to much. A miter saw is just to much of a space eater in a small shop, reason why I took mine out of the shop. At least with a true MS station, you can get a tremendous amount of storage, which is also a premium in a small shop.

 

2) He does ramble too much...lol

 

Ok, let's get into the meat and potatoes he was going on about and that's the fence. He obviously has pretty much the same views as Marc about fences. Marc simply omitted the fences and put stop blocks in the table, problem solved. I disagree with not having the fences as I like the extra support. I'm also a firm believer that if you can't reference flat against you miter station fences ( he could in this video) that this is the wrong tool to be using to make this cut. For the record, my set up has adjustable fences for those rare occasions that they might be in the way.

 

Now let's talk storage. Again I disagree that they're ultimately space eaters that ruin storage options. If you build a silly fence as he discussed, then, yes, you'd lose all that space. If you recess it in your storage cabinets then, I'd argue that you gain much needed storage space in your shop. Even when I had a small shop, I had a station because of the improved storage space. Ultimately, it depends on your work flow when deciding if this is an important tool in your shop. Personally, I wouldn't have a shop without one.

 

So, where would this idea really work? If I were really in a crunch for space, I would still have a station for storage but, the saw platform would probably be a flip top so that I could get 2 machines in the space. At that point, I wouldn't have the extended fences that I like but, you could use his fancy support block to support your cuts 

 

3) Here I go agreeing with Bryan, Lord help me . If I were more organized and had the space, I still don’t think I would have a miter station unless, as stated, I had the Kev real estate. I usually break my boards down to rough lengths with the circ saw, in the yard with my eyes closed as I don’t like the sight of blood. Future readers, don’t even consider it. Then to the jointer, planer and finals at the ts. 

 

4) I have been thinking about this since it was first posted.  Yes some shops are just to small to give space away to something like a miter station.  But with a little planning a space that you think you can't afford to give up can be a real asset.

 

In mine pictured below, (click to make the picture larger) On the left I can use it as an outfield for the bandsaw as well as holding a dock station for my drills.  In the first drawer on the left is my sharpening gear. Then the cabinet of drawers - Top drawer is rasps and hand saws, next drawer down is chisels, drawer under that is measuring and making and the last drawer is my hand planes

 

Under the saw it self is my shop vac and a bucket for wood scraps to the right of that is a cabinet that I keep a couple of nail guns a hand grinder.  The last cabinet to the right has all my spray gear and the drawer has rags for finishing.  On the counter is my spindle sander and I use the surface to set things during glue ups on the assembly/outfeed table in the fore ground of the picture.  The right side surface is can also act as outfield for the drum sander when needed.  The fences for the station are removable, the one on the right is off most of the time.

 

This is a long way of saying that everything in my miter station needs a place in the shop anyway so if you stop and think about it my miter saw is actually only using 36" X 30" area of counter space and I have one of the larger saws.  My shop is a two car garage.

 

Just another perspective folks.   

 

5) Certainly much smaller version of what I have but, Chet explains my point better than I probably did. If you're really in that "space crunch", you could change that to a flip top and mount 2 machines there. In Chet's case, he made great use of that space.

Sure seems like a long time ago that we did that Chet!

 

6)  I agree with what Chet said, and if I had the room, I would have a miter saw in the shop and have a complete station. My shop is 10' X 18' so taking out is the best option, I have mine in the basement, if needed, I can bring out.