My new saw station (router table cabinet/table saw extension)

[Jeff Huettner]

Ok, I've lurked long enough - time to jump in.

Some pics of the project I worked on over the Christmas break (and some other random shop pics):

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeffhuettner/ShopPics

I found a Jet cabinet saw for a good price on craigslist that I couldn't pass up, so I jumped on it and sold my Delta contractor saw. Then, I needed a mobile base for it, and that just logically led to building the router table cabinet I always wanted to add to my old saw. I had to buy 1 4x8 sheet of plywood - the rest of the plywood and hardwood was all scraps/leftovers I had on hand. Its still a work in progress (need to build a hinged outfeed table, plumb the dust collection, etc), but then again it seems like *all* my shop projects remain "works in progress" (witness the lack of drawer/door fronts on the cabinets under the CMS).

Comments welcome :)

[Kevin Kelly]

I can't get in to see the pics. Says they either don't exist or i don't have permission.

[Jeff Huettner]

Oops - my bad. Try again now?

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Looks nice, eh... Think I'd have done the router to the outside, but that's just my preference. Think I'd feel cramped working with it there.. :)

[Mike Cruz]

Very nice! Thought of doing something similar under my TS extension...now I have some ideas. Thanks!

[Dave Sharpe]

very nice work! Great job on the router fence setup - I'm impressed. My only concern is that it appears that using the router is a bit awkward, forcing you to lean over the bench-top at an uncomfortable angle. I did a similar setup but put the router closer to the right end of the bench, allowing me to stand at the end right in front of the working area of the router. It does require space at the end of the bench, but that's not a big problem in my shop.

Have you considered adding a length of T-track or similar across the bench for securing featherboards? This might help overcome the placement of the router and allow you to maintain even pressure against the fence as you pass wood through the router.

[keith micinski]

Do the locks on the bottom actualyl lift up or do they just put enough pressure on the ground that it doesn't allow it to move?

[Matt Day]

Very nice! I'm curious about those locks too on the base.

It looks like the top of your table saw is just higher than the top of your jointer fence? Very nice, I like it - you don't have to move your jointer every time you want to use the saw.

[keith ouellette]

#3 for the locks on the base and does it lift the base up question. Really nice idea.

I see you have the left tilt saw , I do also. Back when I had some extra money I was going to buy a router fence system similar to what you have but didn't because i didn't know how it was going to work out with the orientation just like yours.

have you had a chance to use the router much and how does that position with the fence being on the inside work for you?

Nice looking work though. good layout.

[keith micinski]

I am assuming he went with four swivel casters and those clamps are set to lock out after putting a little bit of pressure on the ground. I was going to do this same thing the other day but wasn't sure if they made those red clamps big enough to accomplish that. I went with two casters and two fixed legs so that I have to lift one end up to move the unit around. I like this idea much better. I hope it works because I might go and get two more casters and remove the fixed legs.

[Alan Bienlein]

very nice work! Great job on the router fence setup - I'm impressed. My only concern is that it appears that using the router is a bit awkward, forcing you to lean over the bench-top at an uncomfortable angle. I did a similar setup but put the router closer to the right end of the bench, allowing me to stand at the end right in front of the working area of the router. It does require space at the end of the bench, but that's not a big problem in my shop.

Have you considered adding a length of T-track or similar across the bench for securing featherboards? This might help overcome the placement of the router and allow you to maintain even pressure against the fence as you pass wood through the router.

The setup looks great! Similar to mine as far as placement. I've tried mine both ways and find it more comfortable and controllable the way yours is setup. To me its kind of natural that way since when I worked on shapers I never stood in front of them either.

[Glen Butler]

I am assuming he went with four swivel casters and those clamps are set to lock out after putting a little bit of pressure on the ground. I was going to do this same thing the other day but wasn't sure if they made those red clamps big enough to accomplish that. I went with two casters and two fixed legs so that I have to lift one end up to move the unit around. I like this idea much better. I hope it works because I might go and get two more casters and remove the fixed legs.

"Those red clamps" more appropriately known as toggle clamps or over center clamps can be had in a very large array of sizes and configurations. You should be able to find something so suit your needs.

[Stephen Edwards]

Jeff, Outstanding job! Looks like you thought this project through before building it! It looks really great. I'm sure that you'll enjoy it for years.

I would encourage you to upload the pics directly to SMC so that we'd all be assured that your project pics will always be available for people to see in the future. I can't count the number of times that I've visited older threads that link to pics on another site, only to see that the pics no longer exist. That would be tragic in this case because your new "station" is so well done!

Kind Regards,

[Jeff Huettner]

Thanks for all the replies! Some answers to comments/questions:

Router positioning: I have seen other designs/implementations that put the router on the end, and while that might be nice for some people, I didn't want to move the saw every time I wanted to route, and as you can see its butted up against a wall on that end. As such, I put a router plate in the extension table of my old saw in this same position (no base below it though), and used it that way for 9 years or so. I guess either being tall has its advantages, or I just don't know any better - either way, I find this position to work out very well for me. The only real complaint is that if I have a big enough piece to route, I have to remove the saw fence and blade guard. The bigger table of the new saw should help reduce the frequency of this.

T-track: I gave it some thought, but I haven't really found a case that I can't cover with this setup. If I need more downward pressure, I just clamp a featherboard to the router fence "box", and I just use push blocks or sticks for fence-ward pressure. Again, maybe I just don't know what I'm missing? I was also concerned that having another channel to clean dust/chips out would just make me regret having it - plus, its easer to add later than it is to take it out :)

Base locks: As someone pointed out, these are just heavy duty toggle clamps. I found these on amazon and they claim to support 800lbs each. While I'm sure this beast is quite heavy, I feel confident that I'm well below 3200lbs :) I did have to shorten them as much as possible, as thier "throw" is longer than I anticipated took 5/8 or 3/4 off of each of them. I had designed the base to add 3" to the saw table height, and in the end its closer to 3.75" with these clamps (bringing it just under 38" from the floor). Release all 4 and its about an inch lower and rolls on pivoting casters. In their locked position, they allow both clearance for the jointer (as Matt pointed out) as well as putting the eventual outfeed table height about 1/4" above the workbench behind it (which is needed when cutting 7' and longer material).

Pics: Will get a couple uploaded here when I get home - thanks for the advice.

Thanks again,
Jeff

[Josiah Bartlett]

I like your idea on the toggles. I'm using appliance feet for mine to lift it off the casters but it requires a wrench to crank it up and down.

I run my router in the same position as you and I dont' find it too awkward, mainly because of the way I use the router. I have a shaper as well, so the router is mainly for routing patterns or using bearing edge profiles. I rarely use the fence on it. I'm planning to redo my cabinet so I have room to put my lunchbox planer under the extension wing.

[Van Huskey]

Love the base, the toggle clamps are genius! I like the others would have a hard time with the router position but short of longer pieces it is really more of a mental issue.

Although, it would be a pain at times seeing the jointer sitting there made me think at first it was on the mobile base as well with the fence below the table height, then I thought what if a lunch box planer was in one side of the router cabinet and a bench top DP was on one side of the Incra positioner... a whole mobile shop.

[Jeff Nolan]

I was curious about that router positioning as well but if you've used it that way and it works, well that's all that matters.

When I had my unisaw I built a similar setup but always wished I had built it on a base like you did to accommodate putting my jointer next to the saw. Nicely done, it's quite impressive.

[Jeff Huettner]

As promised, attached pics:

[Larry Nall]

Jeff, I like your extension/router table but what I really like is the miter station in the background of a couple of your shots. Any chance of posting some closer shots of that. I getting close to building one and have been looking at various designs.
Thanks in advance

[Larry Nall]

Jeff, I like the extension/router table but what I really like is the miter station in the background of a couple of your shots. Any chance of posting some closer shots of that. I getting close to building one and have been looking at various designs.
Thanks in advance

[Brent Ring]

Thanks for all the replies! Some answers to comments/questions:

Router positioning: I have seen other designs/implementations that put the router on the end, and while that might be nice for some people, I didn't want to move the saw every time I wanted to route, and as you can see its butted up against a wall on that end. As such, I put a router plate in the extension table of my old saw in this same position (no base below it though), and used it that way for 9 years or so. I guess either being tall has its advantages, or I just don't know any better - either way, I find this position to work out very well for me. The only real complaint is that if I have a big enough piece to route, I have to remove the saw fence and blade guard. The bigger table of the new saw should help reduce the frequency of this.

T-track: I gave it some thought, but I haven't really found a case that I can't cover with this setup. If I need more downward pressure, I just clamp a featherboard to the router fence "box", and I just use push blocks or sticks for fence-ward pressure. Again, maybe I just don't know what I'm missing? I was also concerned that having another channel to clean dust/chips out would just make me regret having it - plus, its easer to add later than it is to take it out :)

Base locks: As someone pointed out, these are just heavy duty toggle clamps. I found these on amazon and they claim to support 800lbs each. While I'm sure this beast is quite heavy, I feel confident that I'm well below 3200lbs :) I did have to shorten them as much as possible, as thier "throw" is longer than I anticipated took 5/8 or 3/4 off of each of them. I had designed the base to add 3" to the saw table height, and in the end its closer to 3.75" with these clamps (bringing it just under 38" from the floor). Release all 4 and its about an inch lower and rolls on pivoting casters. In their locked position, they allow both clearance for the jointer (as Matt pointed out) as well as putting the eventual outfeed table height about 1/4" above the workbench behind it (which is needed when cutting 7' and longer material).



What size is most of that lumber? Did you dado and put the plywood bases in, or buld some small torsion boxes? Do you have plans?

[brian c miller]

The desing looks very much liek this one:

http://benchmark.20m.com/tools/Unisaw/UnisawMobileBase/unifence_mobilebase.html

There are plans there along with some design considerations.

[Jeff Huettner]

The desing looks very much liek this one:

http://benchmark.20m.com/tools/Unisaw/UnisawMobileBase/unifence_mobilebase.html

There are plans there along with some design considerations.

I did see that one previously, though this one was more my inspiration:

http://www.mobileworkshop.ca/

Of course, it seems to be more of a commercial product.

[Jeff Huettner]

What size is most of that lumber? Did you dado and put the plywood bases in, or buld some small torsion boxes? Do you have plans?

Sorry - no plans. Pretty much just winged it.

No torsion boxes were used in the construction. The base is all 6/4 maple (closer to 5/4 once finished), and the router table carcass is 3/4 plywood with red oak hardwood for corners/ends. All cross-members of the carcass are dado'ed into the sides, and both vertical/horizontal members are dado'ed into the back. The top is 2x 3/4 MDF laminated, white formica laminated to both sides, and again edge-banded in oak. Everything then has 2 coats of poly applied to minimize moisture changes. I used bolts and t-nuts to make a poor-mans leveling system to keep the router table top dead-flush with the table saw top.

[Jeff Huettner]

Jeff, I like your extension/router table but what I really like is the miter station in the background of a couple of your shots. Any chance of posting some closer shots of that. I getting close to building one and have been looking at various designs.
Thanks in advance

Kinda a work in progress - I'll see if I can snap a couple shots this weekend. I'm trying to finish up a "dust hood" to minimize the mess, loosely based on this idea:

http://www.thewoodnerd.com/workshop/mitersaw.html

[Don Morris]

Slick,

Nicely done! Wish I had the space you've got. Well designed to accomplish a lot of work comfortably. Dust collection accounted for, and that's a good sign. Happy wwing.

[Jeff Huettner]

Jeff, I like your extension/router table but what I really like is the miter station in the background of a couple of your shots. Any chance of posting some closer shots of that. I getting close to building one and have been looking at various designs.
Thanks in advance

Miter station pics attached:

[Keith Albertson]

How high is the saw table? I'd really like to get my jointer to the side of my saw, like you have, but I'd have to get my table up to about 39 inches to clear my jointer fence. Otherwise I'll have to make a different base for the jointer. If your table is up high, how do you like it?

[Jeff Huettner]

How high is the saw table? I'd really like to get my jointer to the side of my saw, like you have, but I'd have to get my table up to about 39 inches to clear my jointer fence. Otherwise I'll have to make a different base for the jointer.

The table top is just under 38" and has plenty of clearance for the jointer. I guess your jointer base is pretty tall? I like the jointer surface to be a little lower, allowing me to put more "down force" on the board being jointed.



If your table is up high, how do you like it?

I'm just under 6'2" and I like the table being a little taller. All the work surfaces in my shop are 37" or taller.