Miter Saw Station Ideas

[clerens]

Hy

Since my KS60 is standing on an old table for over one year, I've decided to build some cabinets to put it on. I know that there are tons of videos, plans, threads and so on about this particular topic but somehow I don't know what route to go. These are my ideas and I hope someone can give me some tips or show me the true path to miter station heaven:

-) I'm living in Austria/Europe and am using the metric system. So, imperial plans are a pita for me
-) I own a TS55, OF1400, KS60, a jigsaw, a planer, an orbital sander and some other general tools. So this is what I can use at the moment.
-) What I really would like to do is to use the system32 for this. I can't find any miter station plans using this system. I've watched the festool build series on making cabinets but there are no plans or rough dimensions available and I would really want to build it frameless (the base cabinet in the series is built with face frame).

There may be some other details but first things first. This will be my first cabinet bulid and I would be happy to hear from you.

Greatings
Clemens

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Once you move from a mitersaw "stand" into a full-on "station", things get more complicated.
Stands are primarily about the saw itself and probably portability. Stations are more of a built-in, with storage in mind. That is likely why you are finding plans to be difficult to find. Everyone's space and storage requirements are different.
Mine started as Systainer storage space, in a former location. It has been modified into drawers for other items since the Festool gear has been moved out of it.
Another category is simply size, whether that is about the storage aspect or the need for support for longer material. By most standards, mine is pretty long. The stops can adjust to 108" to the left and 65" to the right. Counting the base of the saw itself, that's over 17 feet, probably going to have to scale that back some when I retire and move it home.

The two pics show some of the modifications over a period of time.

 

[rvieceli]

You might want to take a look at Pinterest. There are several hits for CD miter saw station and plans.

Mainly you’ll want to cabinets, stands, supports etc one on each side with a drop down section between to hold the miter saw. That way the surface of the base will be even with the tops of the cabinets.

Determining factors will be how much storage you want, how long is the stuff you are cutting and how much space you have.

Height should depend on making it comfortable to use for YOU while you are standing. So the height depends on your height.

Ron

 

[4nthony]

David Picciuto has a pretty simple and easily built miter saw station that is also easy to expand with drawers, etc. There are plans but it's not to hard to figure it out (and modify) just by watching the video.


With a follow-up:

 

[clerens]

Thanks a lot for the answers!
Lengthwise i could fit 3 meters (= 10 foot) into my shop. I honestly dont't think I'll meed that much). My projects are mostly small but cutting rough lumber of approximetly 2 meters should be possible.
Height is an easy solution. 900 mm as my MFT, works great for me.
I really want to make it without a fence so that I can use the space when not cutting wood. Then I can still install wall cabinets.
The Wood Whisperer has plans for shop cabinets that I think he uses for his fence-less miter station. Unfortunately they are not build with the system32 I'd like to use. I have read the pretty long system32 cabinet thread here on fog but this is done for wall cabinets.
Is there any advantage to build the toe kick into the cabient as oppesed to a seperate one?
[member=8542]David[/member] I've looked into these plans but there are some concerns. No system32, no base cabinets and a fence.
If the fetool build series would just provide some rough dimensions for the base cabinets  :

 

[bobtskutter]

May I suggest this series of videos=PLGbeXl4WLOiKsIsmh_td7XAUg11NOfhuk
He has some other great videos on his channel as well.

Regards
bob

 

[Packard]

I’m ok with my current miter saw setup, but my efforts at dust collection have been largely futile.

I am using a non-sliding, 12” Dewalt.  The dust collection on my chop saw and my radial arm saw are thorns in my side.  They contribute probably 75% of the dust in the shop.

 

[Mortiser]

[member=75693]clarens[/member] , take a looks at this one. While not primarily featuring the station, you'll get the gist of it. Really nice!

 

[clerens]

I will watch the LR32 video and try to extract infos. I have to admit taht I am hesitating buying the LR32 set because I think shop furniture will be the only cabinets I will ever make.
One possibility would be to build the Wilmots/benchworks benches and mount the KS60 on a shelf that is obviously lower than in the plans.
Has anybody built cabinets from MDF. Plywood is very expensive at the moment over here in Austria.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I will watch the LR32 video and try to extract infos. I have to admit taht I am hesitating buying the LR32 set because I think shop furniture will be the only cabinets I will ever make.
One possibility would be to build the Wilmots/benchworks benches and mount the KS60 on a shelf that is obviously lower than in the plans.
Has anybody built cabinets from MDF. Plywood is very expensive at the moment over here in Austria.

Yes, I have built cabinets with everything from solid hardwood, Plywood, particle board, MDF and MRMDF, even phenolic sheets. It can definitely be done, it's just a question of finishing the surfaces/edges. Some don't bother with that for shop furniture. It's totally up to you.
The one thing I would suggest is that separate toekick is the way to go. It simplifies nearly everything about the process. You don't have to cut the notches, in the first place, but mostly is saves material. You can get 6 base cabinet sides out of a single sheet that way.

 

[Packard]

And if you install the separate toe kick first, it makes leveling the cabinet very easy.  Just level the toe kick and then add the cabinet.

 

[clerens]

That's great info. If I would build the benchworks benches the edge problem is solved because there are special frames (for clamping) on them. Only the sides would be visible. What kind of finish can you suggest for MDF? If I have to paint them anyway I think I'd do it in grey (Festool RAL). Timothy Wilmots, the maker of the benchworks plans, suggest hardwood oil for the MDF tops. Would you use ist for the whole cabinets too?

 

[bobtskutter]

It's probably not in the tradition of the FOG, but have you considered buying kitchen cabinets from one of the Bog Box stores?
Regards
bob

 

[Mini Me]

I’m ok with my current miter saw setup, but my efforts at dust collection have been largely futile.

Careful design and a Lot of DE capacity will get you there, the large capacity being the most important thing. I have a CV 1800 running at 70hz & utilising 6" ducting extracting from a carefully designed hood and while not catching all the fine dust it catches the vast majority of it including all the debris.

The photos of mine show a curved plenum with air entry into the plenum at the bottom and the air, dust and debris are drawn up to the top of the plenum into the ducting and contrary to what a lot of people reckoned it works very well indeed but a smaller extractor would have no hope with this design.

 

[Mini Me]

A few more photos, sorry about the duplication in my first post. The saw sirs on a sliding base and can be moved back or forwards depending on if I am using a zero clearance so it lines up with the Incra fences on either side of the saw. The movement is accomplished by a threaded rod turned by a cordless drill.

 

[xedos]

MM - what is the "sliding table" for ?

 

[ChuckM]

To adjust for the use of the zc fence or for not using it (to gain a little bit of cutting capacity). I've seen a set-up where the saw owner moved the table/aux. fences to align with the fence on the saw instead of moving the saw if he needed to use his saw without the zc fence.

I rely only on the saw fence to register stock -- long or short -- and do not install any auxiliary fence on either side of the saw at all. Stop blocks are clamped in place when used.

 

[clerens]

I really want to have a length stop moving in a groove for dimensioning (so no fence).
[member=76043]bobtskutter[/member]: I hope you won't get banned for this blasphemy  [big grin]
As I wrote in my first post I didn't want to give too much details but yes, dust collection is very important to me. I've spent quite some money for the CT26 and a dust collector before even getting other machines. However I am very pleased with the dustextraction on my KS60. I am using the CT26 with 36mm hose and it works great.
Somehow I thought this thread would clear my cloudy thoughts about this shop upgrade, but options over options are flying in. I will post a plan of my shop in the next days so that my situation gets more clear. Maybe I should really integrate the miter saw into one long workbench  :

 

[Mini Me]

MM - what is the "sliding table" for ?

As Chuck has explained, if a sub fence is used the saw can be moved the thickness of the sub fence to align with the static fences on the bench. I have found that using a sub fence in this way definitely affects the amount of dust & debris that is collected so I have largely gone away from the idea. The Incra fences are removeable if bench space is needed but I think I will go to the digital system mentioned earlier and sell the Incra fences. The other way to go is use some bench dogs instead of measurement fences which can be removed or pushed down to clear the bench top but I am a sucker for technology so the digital might get the nod anyway.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

You can't tell it by the pics I posted of mine, but it has a curved back too. It doesn't help much though because of the length of the rails sticking out the back of the saw. It also starts too far behind the saw in general. It was an after-thought that was really more of a catcher than actual real attempt at dust collection. The volume of the hood area is just too great, even for the good pulling power of the collection system. The Dewalt's extraction port is abysmal at best, so I just added an extender to the end of it, which mostly keeps the dust inside the hood area. I do have to "help" it occasionally with a brush. There just isn't enough air speed to get it all. I haven't bothered to try to improve it, not a priority at this point.