Making the new mitre saw station out of reclaimed wood

When I set up the workshop I used an old sideboard and a Victorian pine chest of drawers as a simple base for the mitre saw, pillar drill and belt sander.

This has worked okay, but has several drawbacks especially when trying to cut long lengths of timber.

My pencil sketch of the new layout

I decided it was time to rearrange the workshop and build a proper mitre station capable of handling 10 foot lengths of timber. In order to do this, I would need to relocate the pillar drill and sander and incorporate my 10 inch band saw table into the mitre saw in feed table, so I got to work with pencil and paper and came up with the sketch above.

First step was empty all the tools onto the MFT bench

I wanted to keep the chest of drawers, as this provides storage for an assortment of tools and as it is a substantial piece of furniture, build the mitre saw outfeed on top of this. The pillar drill and the belt sander are both very heavy so I only wanted to move these as little as possible. I worked out that in the small space, these machines could sit on a shelf behind the mitre saw track, so the first step was to empty the cupboards of all their contents and move the chest of drawers 12 inches forward.

The chest of drawers moved forward into its new position

As the workshop is in a temporary location, I decided to use reclaimed materials for the build. This consisted of several part sheets of oil and cement stained 18mm exterior plywood which with a bit of work should clean up okay and a Douglas Fir spar from a boat for the track. The old MDF sideboard would be cut down to form a base for the mitre saw itself and I have a number of reclaimed pine drawers gathering dust and some of these looked an ideal fit for the new saw bases.

Opposing benches now level

I wanted this new bench to be the same level as the MFT so when working on larger projects I could use both benches for cutting and glue up.

Cutting down the sideboard with the TS-55

I made the band saw base out of the 18mm ply screwed together. For the feet some off cuts of 3 x 2 glued and screwed to the base.

Band saw base fitted built out of 18mm ply

Wedges were cut to level the saw bases

The workshop floor slopes in two directions! To correct for this I fashioned various wedges fitted to the back feet, which compensates for the uneven floor and both bases now sit level.

Building the out feed table with 48 inch (122 cm) cut

The outfeed table built out of the 18mm ply, comprises a bottom shelf, three support ribs and top. The saw has a 10 inch capacity, so I made the top 15 inches wide, to allow for the guide rail and the full swing of the 49 degree mitre cut. The top was glued with PVA and secured with 18 guage brads.

Titan 240v 18 guage brad nailer stapler

I had been meaning to order the DeWalt air nailer stapler to use with the old compressor I bought locally, but only having used a nailer once before I was unsure just how useful it would be and  the £140 air tool, kept slipping down my list of priorities. Then a project came along where I needed a 22mm stapler and after reading lots of reviews, I ordered a Titan nailer stapler from Screwfix for £35.
I did not expect much, but for the money it is okay and I will publish a review in due course.

The band saw table forms part of the imitre saw infeed table

In order to fit all the tools in the seven foot length, it was necessary to use the band saw table as part of the infeed. This took a fair amount of juggling to get right, but long pieces of timber are now supported on the band saw and on the Titan superjaws, which would allow for long planks to be processed. The band saw has an extending table which means that the blade is several inches behind the timber being cut and is protected at all times. The weight of long planks is taken by the superjaws and the mitre saw station and the band saw table, simply provides added support. There is sufficient length of cut behind the mitre saw, to use the band saw as I intend, so this way both tools can be used as required.

This doughlas fir sail track and spar came from a junk rig sailing boat

For the mitre saw track I used a sail track and spar that came from a junk rig sailing boat. I had bought a job lot of douglas fir battens, some with alloy sail tracks, from a boat yard years ago with the idea of converting a boat I owned, from Bermudian rig to Junk, but like so many ideas this one never got off the ground! I did not glue the track to the outfeed so that I could always adjust it if required. The alloy track, complete with sail slide, will offer potential for some sort of custom stop at a later date.

First marking the track with chisel cuts

Using the measurements on the saw, I made cuts with a chisel to represent set distances from the blade,

then came across a dress makers tape whilst sorting out a box of stuff and applied this to the saw with  the last of the double sided tape and with no more left, tacked the fabric tape to the rail with 4mm staples. A crude method of fixing for now, but one that works adequately well. In due course I will replace the fabric tape with an adhesive backed tape.

The final thing to do was build a shelf behind the new outfeed to carry the weight of the pillar drill and belt sander. This was made out of two sheets of 18mm ply laminated together and supported on 4 x 3 bearers and held in place with 75mm screws. This shelf also offers space for the 1250 mm Bessey clamps, fire extinguisher, etc. The space below the outfeed is just the right fit for my two large screw boxes.

The completed mitre saw station

I had been meaning to post this article for a couple of weeks, but I have been building a new run for our chickens and what I thought would be a fairly simple sprint, turned out to be an exhausting marathon. Consequently at the end of the day I was so tired, that I could hardly summon the energy to order my thoughts here. Thankfully, that build is now complete and so too is this post.

I was able to make full use of the new mitre saw station for the chicken run build, cutting down 14 foot lengths (4.27 m) of 2x2 (50 mm x 50 mm) and some lengths of 4 x 2 CLS (100 mm x 50 mm), which I then ripped down on the table saw and ran through the thicknesser to match.

Being able to make repeated cuts is a fantastic time saver. I set up a stop fashioned out of a douglas fir off cut, to the required length and clamped to the rail, then making repeated 110 cm cuts was a doddle. Very pleased with this build.