Miter saw station height?

[James Baker SD]

I am trying to design a miter saw station for a CSMS. I want storage shelves under it, about 3 feet of extension to one side of the saw and about 8 feet of extension to the other side.

My question is what is the ideal height? Within reason can it be too high? I am leaning toward the saw's table being about 42" above the floor. Seems on paper to be a little high, but it gives me the storage I want and I won't have to bend over much and squint to see the laser.

James

[glenn bradley]

This will depend a lot on personal preference and your height. I like to be rolled at the shoulders just a bit when using the CMS. Although I clamp my material for safety, a "leaning into the saw" posture allows me to use my body weight to position my material and hold it in place till clamped. What feels more comfortable for me might be a backache for you though so, I would set your saw up on some type of elevation on a bench or saw horses and see how it feels. Just remember you have to lift your material onto and off of this thing. The cut takes a lot less time than the prep.

[Bill LaPointe]

This will depend a lot on personal preference and your height. I like to be rolled at the shoulders just a bit when using the CMS. Although I clamp my material for safety, a "leaning into the saw" posture allows me to use my body weight to position my material and hold it in place till clamped. What feels more comfortable for me might be a backache for you though so, I would set your saw up on some type of elevation on a bench or saw horses and see how it feels. Just remember you have to lift your material onto and off of this thing. The cut takes a lot less time than the prep.

+1 on this. I raised the height all of my machines except my CMS. Easier to see markings and allows me more comfortable and solid control of both the material and saw.

[Jay Allen]

Mine is pretty high too, just over 43" IIRC. It was all made from scrap/drop from around the shop over a few lunch periods. It started with the "legs" which were left-overs from anouther project. They were already assembled and 39" tall, I think. The 3/4" top and the height of the saw itself add the rest. I use the Kreg System for most of my cuts, so I don't even have a lazer, but it works well for me. My fence uses 4 feet of track to the right and 6 feet to the left. Since they start just over 20" from the blade, I can use the stops to measure nearly 2 feet more than the track's length.
This shot is from the day it was moved into it's new place after we had to move the shop. It has very little "piled around" it at this point. Now, just over 2 years later, it has quite a few jigs and patterns leaned against the wall under/behind it.

[Mike Harrison]

Like Jay, my bench is right at 43", three inches below my elbow. I built it 6 or 7 years ago. The bench is 8' long and both saws share a common fence. Since this pic was taken I've replaced my old trusty CM with a 12" Delta turret RAS.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv62/mikeinkcmo/WW%20tools/RAS%20Miter%20bench/P10100042.jpg