Miter Saw Bench Revisited - Plus a Reader's Version
Big Ass Miter Saw
It's been a year and a half since I posted about my Economical but Beefy Miter Saw Bench. In that time, I've put mine to heavy use. I've hacked through bamboo flooring, ripped through poplar for drawer fronts, chewed through plastic crown molding, and many other sawdust inducing projects. Yep, together my B.A.M.S . and I have torn through some lumber.
Overall, I'm still really happy with the design. It's tall like I prefer, it's huge, easy to move, has plenty of storage, and is a tough, stable workhorse.
I've only had a few minor issues:
- I used hot glue to tack some guides for sliding crown molding into place. I learned the trick from Tom Silva of This Old House. It worked really well for nice repetitive cutting. However, when I pulled them up, I tore off some the face of my melamine coated MDF that I had used for a top. I thought it would be fine, dang it. Not the end of the world, I'll just flip it over, but I wish I hadn't glued to it.
Crown Molding Assembly Line
- The racking I used to hold the bins in place looks great, but I left a little too much slack in my measurements. Sometimes when I'm sliding a bin back into place, it falls slightly off the rail and gets wedged for a second. It's a pain in the butt. I'll just have to replace the rails at some point with something a little wider.
Ye Ol' Clamp Bin
- I still haven't built a fence yet. I have some ideas kicking around, but for now, I've been extending the big DEWALT's built in fence out to the max. It does the trick, but it's less than great for long boards and setting a stop block for repetitive cutting.
Another Version by One of My Readers:
Since I published it, I've had several of my awesome readers mention that they were working on their own version of the design. One has completed his. I'm really pleased to share this project by Evan of College Station, TX.
image: Evan B. - used with permission
Evan describes his version:
"Here's a pic of the bench I built mostly off of your plans. The giant box holds a dollhouse that my wife's been holding onto - it's too big to store anywhere else in the house so I had to build the bench around it. Once we have a kid I'll move stuff around to create room for a toolbox and more storage.
The bench has been great so far - I've built a bed and a Leopold bench for the front porch, so much easier to cut with the miter saw than my old circular saw."
I like how he modified the design to meet his need for bulk storage. Notice how he placed the lower vertical supports wider, to fit larger items. I also note that he used a thinner plywood for the top instead of the melamine MDF. This should save weight and cost. It looks like he's using a DEWALT DW713 10-Inch Compound Miter Saw , a quality, yet affordable tool. I'm sure it does beat the stuffing out of the old circular saw!
image: Evan B. - used with permission
Nice job Evan. Thanks for sharing your masterpiece! If anyone else builds one, I'd really love to see it.
If you'd like to rewind and see the original project:
Explode!!!
Good luck!
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Laugh it Up Fuzzball