Miter Saw Height

[tim walker]

On my new miter station, I am planning on the below vs a platform on top of the cabinets. This way if I ever replace the current saw my platform will be adjustable. My question is how wide to make it to accommodate all the potential angles? I know those that build a platform on top of cabinets, cut angles out to accommodate the swing, but when placing an adjustable platform between two fixed cabinets that is not a possibility. Am I overthinking this or is there a solution I am missing?smc8.jpg

[Kane Bragg]

Definitely not overthinking it. It needs to be considered. If you can’t angle the space to the left and right, make sure you space the fixed cabinets far enough apart for the full swing, left to right. I just finished my miter station, but had the option to angle the top base. My saw is at 38”, top base is 42”. A bit tall, but I find I can see the cuts better and it easier on my back. I got my RTA cabinets at an auction, all for $75, hard to beat the price so I made them work.

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[Andrew Seemann]

I'm in the process of upgrading my miter station, using the Norm New Yankee one as a rough guide. I did mine at 36" high, as I have standardized most of my shop furniture to that height. I mounted it over a cabinet with pull out shelves (only one shelf is installed right now). I set mine on a couple of sleepers, both to allow for different saws, and to be able to get at the underside of the saw. My previous miter set up had the saw mounted on plywood, and it was a pain to get at the underside if something fell under it.

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Despite having made at least 4 miter stations, I forgot to take into account the clearance necessary for angled cuts when I designed it originally. Fortunately I realized that before I assembled the the cabinet it sits on and was able to widen it. I just set the saw at its maximum for left and right and measured the total width.

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I made a sight "adjustment" to the table to allow for the saw to sit more central and have better clearance for the knob in front.

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I still need to build the dust hood for the saw, which is why everything is covered in sawdust right now.

[tim walker]

Thanks, looks like conventional rails which is what I have but on a Bosch. Mine is also a compound beveled so I have to take that into account. How far out does your table extend to account for the rails in the rear? I have mine designed at 33" from wall.

[Andrew Seemann]

The cabinets are 30" deep plus 1 1/2" for the supports for the wood rack and I will add another 1 1/2" for the trim in front, so roughly that same 33" total. The knob does stick out a little past that, but not so far that I am going to run into it. I originally tried to put the saw as close to the wall as possible, and even considered making a "box" opening in the wall to put the saw back a few more inches, but I realized that I needed to have the fence at least 18" from the wall to clear the router table fence and oscillating edge sander that are to the right of the miter bench. The 30" depth also worked out good for the pull out shelves to allow a little more storage.

The current fence is a stopgap from the old set up. The new one will be 1 1/2" square steel tubing with a yet to be designed mounting system that will be easier to remove and adjust than the old/current one.

[Bill Dufour]

I would make the shelf top about 1.5" lower then needed. Then set your saw on 2x lumber to bring it to the correct height. This way if you ever replace the saw you can easily use one taller then your existing one.
Bill D