Workbench design question

[Irvin Gomez]

Trying to improve my woodworking practice a bit, making simple workbench. Is it a good idea to create grooves (say, a 3/4" dado) in the middle with the idea of cutting plywood without having the piece fall on the floor when cut is finished? I figure with a dado, I would place the material on op of the workbench and do the cut over the dado, not marring the surface. Maybe I could have 2 perpendicular dados for flexibility. I'm using a Makita circular saw with the guide rail. Don't have a table saw.

Good idea?

[David Eisenhauer]

I theory, maybe yes, but in practical use, I believe the grooves would "never" quite be in the correct location. If I understand it, you want to cut plywood on top of your workbench without cutting into the bench top, correct? I believe it would be more useful to use some type of temporary sacrificial cover like cheap plywood, hardboard or some type of foam insulation sheet good material to cover the bench when used for cutting. Hardboard does make for a good benchtop "protector" by keeping glue, finish, oil/grease, gouges, etc from the bench top and can be replaced when required, however it is slippery, especially when new. That may or may not be a problem. I would explore the foam insulation sheet good material option as it can be found in thicker dimensions that require less finicky depth-of-cut settings for your saw and is lighter to move and store. Also, it is easy on the saw blades.

[Jon Endres]

Google "plywood cutting table". What you are looking for is a grid of interlocking pieces that you lay on a workbench or sawhorses. You lay the plywood on it and set the saw depth to just barely cut into the grid. I don't have pictures of mine or I'd put them up here. It's basically 1x4 pine held together with some pocket screws.

Another good way to cut plywood is to just get a sheet of foam board insulation, lay the insulation on your floor, put the plywood on it, and set your blade depth so that you cut into the foam a little. Google "cutting sheet goods on foam".

The dado in the benchtop probably sounds like a good idea but you will drive yourself crazy trying to get your cut line to line up with the dado every time. Eventually you'll forget to line it up or you'll have your blade set too deep and there goes the benchtop.