Received an email from a fella in Oregon who wanted to know more about the A-frame wood storage/compound miter saw station with dust collection I built and posted here awhile back. I think the file was lost when the forum software change took place. The file upload limit on the site required me to remove some pictures and text, the zip up the pdf file.
I figured others might benefit from this, so I'm reposting:
Part of my inspiration for this project came from Ken Weaver and others who have
posted on the BT3Central site. The other part came from work. Our shipping and
receiving area has tons of used plywood from shipping containers. If you cull through
them, and are willing to remove nails, screws, and staples, you can find some very
useable pieces at no cost.
What I was looking for was a way to store sheet goods. The roll-around “A- frame” also
has places for cut-offs and longer pieces. I had room for it if I could relocate my compound miter saw (CMS). Then it hit me-what if I combined the two? After a little CAD design, I realized I could have a long fence, dust collection, and room to store more tools.
I detailed out my CAD drawings enough so that anyone could follow the construction
method. Please note that there are some small details on the CAD drawings that are
different from what I did. In almost all cases, improvements were made in the CAD
design over what I built. If one were to go out and purchase standard 4X8 sheet goods, it
would take 5 sheets to make. Alternatively, scrounge around to see what you already have, and purchase what you don’t have. Since the sheet goods you use could be ½”, 5/8, or ¾”, you can adjust the design to meet your needs. A key design element is the
torsion box base. I used a dado set, air gun, and lots of glue to speed construction. The
quality of the sheet goods isn’t really important. You could use plywood, OSB, or MDF .
Another important thing for me is dust control. My wife hates me tracking sawdust into the house (my workshop is ½ of our garage). Allergies forced me to rethink my commitment to
good dust collection some time ago. A few years ago I discovered that standard 4” plastic
hose fits snugly over the outside flange of 3” ABS pipe fittings. I picked up a fitting at
our local big box retail outlet and took it over to the sheet metal ducting area to find a
potential mate. A square to round register box with a 4” round opening worked perfectly.
Since everything is a snug fit, I didn’t bother using any screws or glues. Disassembly is
simple in case you drop anything into the opening that shouldn’t be there.
One thing the CAD drawing doesn’t show well are the fence extensions. I've attached a picture so you can get the idea. I haven’t made an adjustable fence stop yet, but that’s on my list. Since the power cord on my CMS is rather short, a two outlet receptacle was added, and a 12 ga 25 foot long extension cord was hardwired to the outlet box. I cut the female end off the extension cord, and used a ½” strain relief to mechanically attach it to a weather tight metal out let box to mechanically attach it. The box is rugged and is specifically designed for surface mounting. Since the extension cord uses stranded wire, you can’t attach it directly to the outlet without tinning it first. Alternatively, you can wire nut it to insulated solid copper wire then attach the solid end to the outlet. I had some spare 12 ga Romex, so I went the wire nut method. (Thanks to Don Hart for his feedback on doing this properly).
I know of a couple of people who have built this and added their own "interpretation". Feel free to email me with questions, I don't log onto this site as much as I used to as 5 year old twin girls taking up most of my attention nowadays.
I figured others might benefit from this, so I'm reposting:
Part of my inspiration for this project came from Ken Weaver and others who have
posted on the BT3Central site. The other part came from work. Our shipping and
receiving area has tons of used plywood from shipping containers. If you cull through
them, and are willing to remove nails, screws, and staples, you can find some very
useable pieces at no cost.
What I was looking for was a way to store sheet goods. The roll-around “A- frame” also
has places for cut-offs and longer pieces. I had room for it if I could relocate my compound miter saw (CMS). Then it hit me-what if I combined the two? After a little CAD design, I realized I could have a long fence, dust collection, and room to store more tools.
I detailed out my CAD drawings enough so that anyone could follow the construction
method. Please note that there are some small details on the CAD drawings that are
different from what I did. In almost all cases, improvements were made in the CAD
design over what I built. If one were to go out and purchase standard 4X8 sheet goods, it
would take 5 sheets to make. Alternatively, scrounge around to see what you already have, and purchase what you don’t have. Since the sheet goods you use could be ½”, 5/8, or ¾”, you can adjust the design to meet your needs. A key design element is the
torsion box base. I used a dado set, air gun, and lots of glue to speed construction. The
quality of the sheet goods isn’t really important. You could use plywood, OSB, or MDF .
Another important thing for me is dust control. My wife hates me tracking sawdust into the house (my workshop is ½ of our garage). Allergies forced me to rethink my commitment to
good dust collection some time ago. A few years ago I discovered that standard 4” plastic
hose fits snugly over the outside flange of 3” ABS pipe fittings. I picked up a fitting at
our local big box retail outlet and took it over to the sheet metal ducting area to find a
potential mate. A square to round register box with a 4” round opening worked perfectly.
Since everything is a snug fit, I didn’t bother using any screws or glues. Disassembly is
simple in case you drop anything into the opening that shouldn’t be there.
One thing the CAD drawing doesn’t show well are the fence extensions. I've attached a picture so you can get the idea. I haven’t made an adjustable fence stop yet, but that’s on my list. Since the power cord on my CMS is rather short, a two outlet receptacle was added, and a 12 ga 25 foot long extension cord was hardwired to the outlet box. I cut the female end off the extension cord, and used a ½” strain relief to mechanically attach it to a weather tight metal out let box to mechanically attach it. The box is rugged and is specifically designed for surface mounting. Since the extension cord uses stranded wire, you can’t attach it directly to the outlet without tinning it first. Alternatively, you can wire nut it to insulated solid copper wire then attach the solid end to the outlet. I had some spare 12 ga Romex, so I went the wire nut method. (Thanks to Don Hart for his feedback on doing this properly).
I know of a couple of people who have built this and added their own "interpretation". Feel free to email me with questions, I don't log onto this site as much as I used to as 5 year old twin girls taking up most of my attention nowadays.
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