# miter station and work bench



## smitty1967 (Feb 24, 2008)

Here's a couple pics of what I've been doing inside, during hurricane season here in Central Illinois. From Mon. Sep. 8th through Sun. Sep. 14th, I have received 9.9 inches of rain. 

The miter station as you can see is painted plywood with MDF face frames. Drawer fronts and door are plywood. Simple box joint on the drawers. The door cabinet is large enough to store my shop vac in. 

The workbench was a fun project...came out just like I expected, only better. As I explained in another post, the top is 42" high, a perfect altitude for my slightly-bent forearms. I used 4x4 posts for the leg frames and married two 2x4s together to span the length. I then carried the top with perpendicular 2x4's, approx. 12" on center. The top is one layer of 3/4" ply, one layer of Melamine. I screwed the top to the substrate from the bottom, so I can remove it in the future if necessary. I plan to add another 9" Pony vise to the end in the future, but one will have to suffice for now.

The sanding drawer rides on cleats and aluminum channel. The legs are held in the stored position with magnetic catches. I still have to get the drawer connected to the d/c drop (above the end of the drawer) in a way that's convenient to use but to disconnect and store, too. 

comments welcome, as always.
regards,
smitty


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

Smitty1967 That is something to be proud of for sure. I like all the benches and the clamp rack as well. I think I would have put the clamp rack on the other end of the bench though. If your table is out it will make it hard to get to the clamps. I am wanting to convert my 18ft work bench to a miter table like you built. Very nice work. I must say you have quite a nice collection of pipe clamps. I have maybe 4, but i am up to 24 bar clamps now. Every time HF puts them on sell I go load up.


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## smitty1967 (Feb 24, 2008)

Handyman said:


> I think I would have put the clamp rack on the other end of the bench though.


Well believe me, Handyman, I definately gave this more than a little passing thought. The thing is, the sanding station won't be used at the same time as the bar clamps, the way I operate. And the other end of the bench wasn't pheasable. What you see in the pics is the resolution of a bunch of different scenarios and 'what ifs' that suit me and my operation.

regards,
smitty


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## Geoguy (Feb 22, 2008)

Very nice, smitty. That's a fantastic bench. And I can't quite make it out in the photo, so I'll ask - what's the method of dust collection behind the miter saw? 

I see you're putting those new tools to good use. Keep it up!


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## smitty1967 (Feb 24, 2008)

Geoguy said:


> what's the method of dust collection behind the miter saw?


I cobbled together a quick dust shield out of 1/2" plywood just to make an attempt at gathering chips into the d/c plennum. It doesn't do a great job, but from what I've read, the miter saw is the most difficult station to gather chips from. I'm still getting a lot of chips and dust off the top of the table saw, too....

smitty


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## Terry Beeson (May 29, 2008)

OK, Smitty... enlighten me... The sanding drawer... Is that pegboard? does that have something to do with dust collection?

Very nice table and miter station. I'm getting visions of a clamp storage of my own now...


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## Tweegs (Sep 8, 2007)

Hey Smitty,
Don't you know that a clean shop is the sign of a sick mind?

Seriously though, looks great!

The benches too! :laughing:


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## smitty1967 (Feb 24, 2008)

Tweegs said:


> Hey Smitty,
> Don't you know that a clean shop is the sign of a sick mind?


Wow, I'm one _healthy_ woodworker I guess...you should see the piles of crap I'm tripping over today....offcuts, dropped screws, the lazy dog snoozing on the cool concrete floor....

Hey Terry:
Yeah, the idea is the peg board will allow air to answer the vacuum created when I hook a 4" hose up to the front end of the box and start the d/c. I put the rough side of the peg board facing up, so there should be enough surface tension on the drawer that I can sand without clamping. Another alternative is drawer liner, that extruded, semi-rubbery material you can buy in rolls at WalMart. I'll let you know how it works out, but I can't wait to try it and see if all the trouble was worth it.

regards,
smitty


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## jdixon (Nov 21, 2007)

Smiity,

Hey the miter station turned out great! The bench looks awesome too. I like the pegboard idea for a downdraft table. I'll be interested in how that works out for you. Good use of space for the clamp rack. Hey will you get the Grizzly lathe unpacked already!!! :laughing:

John


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## smitty1967 (Feb 24, 2008)

jdixon said:


> Hey will you get the Grizzly lathe unpacked already!!! :laughing:
> 
> John


Hey Pal nice to hear from you....you must have been working out of town huh? 

Yeah, I'm close to opening up that lathe and the mortiser. I spent today building drawer boxes for my built-ins in the NW corner, if you remember me showing you. The cabinets were done yesterday. I built a bridge of 2x4s and two pieces of 3/4 ply to act as joists to carry the MDF countertop. It will be covered with hardboard. I put up cleats for two shelves for stereo and TV in the corner. Tomorrow will be drawer glides, drawer fronts and doors. I plan on using my new shaper that has only been run under no-load test conditions.....can't _wait_ to see this thing eat through some lumber, you know? 

I'll send pics when I get the corner unit done.

stop by anytime
smitty


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## djonesax (Mar 3, 2008)

I love the how you incorporated the down draft table. very nice. the pipe clamp storage is very cool too.


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## Bruce B (Oct 1, 2007)

Smitty.
I have to agree with everyone else nice job however I must be the only one that loves the color of that blue makes your shop look very clean.


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## red (Sep 30, 2008)

The work table looks great. And the drawers! Red


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