What kind of top for a combination work/cutoff bench?

[Greg Urwiller]

In the layout stages for my new shop. I want to put a combination work bench along one wall. I also want to build in either my PC 10" SCMS, or, if I can ever find one, a good older RAS. This would mean a fence down the middle (approx.) of the table. Since having one of these built in, the table would have to be a little deeper than normal. So, I thought about a 2 tier bench with the "riser" as the fence, but that seems like it would limit the surface usage. I'm thinking now that a removable fence would be better. Anyone have a good idea for something like this? Just an "L" shape with either dowels or pins to insert into holes in the bench should work, right? Also, what would be a good top for this? Doubled up 3/4" ply, or a torsion box? Whatever I use, I'd probably want to glue some laminate on it. Thanks. Greg

[Kent A Bathurst]

....... I'm thinking now that a removable fence would be better. Anyone have a good idea for something like this? Just an "L" shape with either dowels or pins to insert into holes in the bench should work, right? Also, what would be a good top for this? Doubled up 3/4" ply, or a torsion box? Whatever I use, I'd probably want to glue some laminate on it. Thanks. Greg

#2 - double layer ply, glued and screwed [screws up through the bottom] is what I've done. Three times [one at my previous house - left it behind, one at my current house, one at my buddy's house]. That's my recommendation. Park a vee-dub on it, if I had one.

#1 - ooooooo, buddy........you type "removeable" and I read "slop in the alignment". Just dropping the fence with pins/dowels into holes in the bench - ouch.

ASSUME - a piece of 2 x 6 - 8', with a fence that wobbles enough to allow one-half-degree out of alignment [ie - not very doggone much]. Trim the end of the 2x6, and you are off square by 3/64" over 5-1/2". EEEEEEEEE-YIIIIIKES. You'd prolly do better than that with a speed square, a mis-calibrated pocket tape measure, a dull pencil, a dull rusty hand saw, and a six-pack of Old Style [going cheap all the way :D].

I spent almost as much time aligning my fence and CMS as I did aligning my planer to eliminate snipe, or aligning my jointer to get tables and cutterhead in the same plane. I check the squareness on the CMS v fence/table probably quarterly, and have to recalibrate maybe annually.

Two thumbs down. Unless you want to use machinist-grade tapered alignment pins and receivers [don't know the correct names].

[Jim O'Dell]

If you want to glue laminate on the surface, then do the torsion box design with MDF. I have built 6 of these in my shop, 5 of which have laminate tops. The MDF, while junk for most things nice, is the best flat stable wood product for a top. Build the torsion box on a flat surface, you'll end up with a flat table top. Build it on a surface that's not flat, you will end up with a mirror image of that surface on your table top. Don't use the water based laminate glue, use the real stuff. Roll it on to a consistant thickness on each surface, put 2 coats on each. You'll have a nice surface that glue comes off of easily. Jim.

[Greg Urwiller]

Kent: I'm aware of the accuracy issues with this type of fence. I'm still considering how to make the alignment spot on. But I also feel if I can get a permanent fence aligned, there's no reason not to be able to get a removable one aligned either. The bad thing about a permanent fence, in this case a 2 tier setup, is that you lose the usability of a lot of the bench surface. What I'd probably end up with is just a lot of clutter laying on the top tier. I'm just trying to get away from that. And this is why I'm asking for ideas here. If anyone has set up their bench, building in a cut off saw of some sort, I'd like to hear what worked and what didn't. I've seen a lot of pics of this setup, but seems like they're all dedicated to just that. I'd like to have a dual purpose if possible, mainly so I can utilize any/all space possible. Greg

[Thom Porterfield]

Because of space constraints, I had the hot idea to build a two-level fence for my SCMS. The lower level is like a shelf with a raised rear edge that pulls forward in order to allow running longer pieces out the door. The saw is on its own cabinet that rolls forward on 4" casters. I made alignment stops and such to insure reasonable accuracy. The saw itself has about 20 inches of accurate fence--I use the raised back of the shelf only to support a Kreg precision fence track. The scales on that are accurate from the blade left and right even if the shelf fence isn't precisely aligned with the saw's fence. It works fine.

There are, however, two problems: 1) Kreg's production stop has a huge knob on the back side that interferes with closing the shelf. And 2) stuff falls into the space between the shelf and the raised back part of the work bench. (Or maybe it's because I put that junk there... the jury is still out on that one.) As for material, I used 3/4" melamine mainly because I was in a rush to get it built and didn't have things set up to do full plastic laminate.

My father ran a display shop long before there were such things as SCMS's. He used a RAS. His fence was a 1x4 set into a notch in the side tables which were 1x2s spaced about 1/4" apart (so stuff like chips and sawdust fell through onto the floor). He had a stop system that was a short length of aluminum channel and thumb screw that went over the top of this fence. The portion of that fence right at the saw was always full of random cuts, but it was separately removable so it could be replaced when it got too ugly. I was a youngster when that fence was in production, so I can't vouch for its accuracy, but I never heard anyone complain. In any case, the bench/side tables were not multi-purpose.

Attached is a view of the SketchUp model I used to lay out my setup.

[Dave Houseal]

I'm actually contemplating the same thing right now. Removable vs. accuracy.

One of the ideas I came up with was that instead of making it removable, that I would make it a fold up. So I would build a the fence as maybe a 12" wide box secured with hinges mounted to a rail that is bolted to the bench top through slotted wholes that would allow me to align the fence, and if I ever wanted to for some reason remove it entirely.

Another thought on alignment was that I might not care that much about the fence. I have the main miter saw fence attached to the saw, which I wasn't thinking I would remove. The main purpose of the big fence is repeatability with a nice stop.

[Don Jarvie]

Couple of comments..

If you go with a RAS you only need the fence that is part of the RAS which will be around 2 ft wide or so. As long as you have the bench long enough on the left side (assuming you feed from that side) to support the piece and its completely level with the RAS table you won't have any trouble getting the piece square to the fence.

Only reason for a long fence and I thought about this when I made mine was for some sort of stop block like Norm has. If you want to have some sort of stop block consider putting a track in the table and have a stop block running in the track.

My bench has 3 ft to the left of the RAS and 2 ft to the right. The wood has plently of support and if I'm cutting long piece I use a roller stand on the end to help support it.

[Van Huskey]

Because of space constraints, I had the hot idea to build a two-level fence for my SCMS. The lower level is like a shelf with a raised rear edge that pulls forward in order to allow running longer pieces out the door. The saw is on its own cabinet that rolls forward on 4" casters. I made alignment stops and such to insure reasonable accuracy. The saw itself has about 20 inches of accurate fence--I use the raised back of the shelf only to support a Kreg precision fence track. The scales on that are accurate from the blade left and right even if the shelf fence isn't precisely aligned with the saw's fence. It works fine.

There are, however, two problems: 1) Kreg's production stop has a huge knob on the back side that interferes with closing the shelf. And 2) stuff falls into the space between the shelf and the raised back part of the work bench. (Or maybe it's because I put that junk there... the jury is still out on that one.) As for material, I used 3/4" melamine mainly because I was in a rush to get it built and didn't have things set up to do full plastic laminate.

My father ran a display shop long before there were such things as SCMS's. He used a RAS. His fence was a 1x4 set into a notch in the side tables which were 1x2s spaced about 1/4" apart (so stuff like chips and sawdust fell through onto the floor). He had a stop system that was a short length of aluminum channel and thumb screw that went over the top of this fence. The portion of that fence right at the saw was always full of random cuts, but it was separately removable so it could be replaced when it got too ugly. I was a youngster when that fence was in production, so I can't vouch for its accuracy, but I never heard anyone complain. In any case, the bench/side tables were not multi-purpose.

Attached is a view of the SketchUp model I used to lay out my setup.



Very cool, interesting ideas.

[Jerome Hanby]

Unless you end up with a RAS that needs a stand (for example if you come down to Trussville and get my extra), I think I would copy Norm and have the RAS standalone at one end of the bench and the bench height such that the RAS table is the same height.

[Kurt Cady]

Why not drill an over sized hole in the table - say 3/4" - and use a 1/4" bolt with 1/4" holes in the fence?

Put the bolt through the underside of the table (with a 2x2 block of wood to keep it from going through the hole) and tighten down the fence using a little knob

The oversized holes will you give you a little play to make adjustments when putting the fence back on. Just square it up to the original fence with a straight edge and tighten it down.