Miter saw station

I’m building a miter saw station and want to extend the work-piece stop to the left and the right. Currently I plan to use 18 mm plywood with some t-grooves with self-made knobs to be able to fine-tune the position and for the length position stop (see pictures). Does anyone have suggestions to improve the construction?

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Very nice.

Is aluminum T-track out or your price range? It would be easier to install than creating the T-channel in plywood and it would be more durable.

As for the fences’ forward-aft positioning, I would be inclined to not make them adjustable. You want them to be fixed in place so their position is dependable. If they need to be removable, put blocks or aluminum angle to guide in locating them.

I would leave a gap of a couple of millimeters under the stop so saw dust won’t collect in the corner.

Standard procedure. I usually chamfer the bottom that way I tend to find it keeps the stop square. You do have to keep an eye on it though.

Looking good Cotty

I’ve bought a t-groove milling cutter and would like to use it here. If it isn’t durable enough, I think I can replace them afterwards with aluminum tracks.

I’ve designed the saw itself to be removable (mounted on a shelf with height fine-tuning screws), because of this I thought it would be helpful to be able to re position the fences. Do you think 3-4 screws with knops per meter won’t give enough strength here?

Great tip!

Thank you for your thoughts.

Here’s an image of the saw part…

I would be concerned about them not holding the fence securely enough. Make the base where the saw sits so that the saw can only go in one location even if it is removed and reinstalled. Then the fence location can be fixed.

While you’re working on this project, make some replacement throat plates from thin plywood. Make them as single pieces and let the saw cut the slot so you have a zero-clearance slot. This will give you a better quality of cut. Make several so you have spares because they do get worn out.

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I made a large bed for one at work. I fixed the side fences permanently, and plywood is screwed to these which can be swapped out as they tend to wear with a lot of use. Might not need to remove them for Cotty’s purposes though. I have an idea for the stops, I’ll try to do an example.

Just an idea.
I made some like this that didn’t have this screw, I used G clamps instead. I just thought of the screw added it. Over time though, the screw will probably dent the permanent fence, making positioning difficult.
I think the idea at the time were that I didn’t fancy having to replace a grooved/ slotted front fence in the future. The machines at my workplace take a battering so I went for a heavy/simple approach, it does work.

Just my suggestion of course.

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Here’s another iteration with a foldaway stop and an improved support in the back…

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I would think that hinge would need to be of very high quality to prevent movement.

Shep

Yes, maybe a wooden tight box joint like hinge can be an alternative.
A quick animation of the stop part…

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I’ve always avoided hinges in the past. Even with just a little play, you can lose a lot of accuracy.

Some drilling drilling machinery use flip stops such as these quick things I did, maybe you could make something similar?

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Looking good. I would reinforce the value of having a flip stop or stops - that way, for successive pieces of the same length, you can flip up the stop to trim a rough end, then drop the stop again to cut to length.

The last drawing by IanT shows coach bolts. In metal T-track of the right size, those, or hex head bolts, can work well. But in a ply channel, they are likely to wear and/or bind in the slot. T-bolts would probably work better in wood.

If you have a table saw or bandsaw as well as the mitre saw, you would get cleaner edges if you build the slot up of thinner ply with dead straight edges, which you can plane clean after sawing, and adjust the position to fit your bolts exactly. 3/16 or 1/4" ply (or in Europe and UK, 5-6mm ply) should work well.

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I usually just use a good spring clamp and a block of wood :slight_smile:

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For the record, hex bolts would be better there. It’s just what I had in my components. I were just trying to convey the idea. Call me lazy and slap my wrist!

Actually, @IanT, I wasn’t thinking very clearly - saw the coach bolts, and was thinking you had used them in the T-slot too. Sorry. Un-slap wrist.

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I like the first solution with the “T” slot. I would suggest moving the measurement tape as close as possible to the t-slot to enhance accuracy.

I think this is a great idea although I am wary of the play that exists in the narrow “Stop/Hinge” assembly. I would modify this with a wider “Stop Block” using a longer “Hinge Bolt” to provide extra stability. Kind of combining your previous “G-Clamp” design with this hinging apparatus.

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I’ve done some tests and now I’m totally convinced that this will be the way to go…

My last images with the reinforcement in the back will be to deep for my project, so I will forego to create the fence adjustable, like suggested by @Dave already too…
(I will use the fence to adjust the saw and not the other way round)

The helpful suggestions for the stop block modification will lead to a new iteration, thank you all for those!

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Not particularly. A 2" or 3" steel butt hinge, or even better, a smaller cast brass one, has almost negligible play. I use just 1 1/2" cast brass ones for flip stops. They aren’t particularly expensive.