Shop Reconfiguration

Hey, folks,

You may remember I've just inherited a bunch of sweet tools from an old friend. But every silver lining has a cloud, and here's mine: the shop's too small. So I looked around and tried to figure out what to do. Biggest things first, right? Well, the biggest thing in my shop is my table saw / router table combo cabinet. It's huge: 4 x 8 feet. It's heavy as heck. Doesn't roll well any more. I built it so I'd have a full 48" to the right of the blade. But since I got my festool saw years ago, I never cut plywood on the table saw anymore. Time to downsize!

Got the saw off, and the router table, and everything:



Those are 6" casters, my friends.




No wonder it doesn't roll well anymore:




It's a torsion box. At least I can still tell where the baffles are:





Casters off:




Making sure the Festool won't try to cut concrete:




Laying out the cuts:







New platform: 24 1/2 by 48 1/2



Hurrah! It's still a torsion box!

Predrilling holes for the new (old) casters:



Those lag screws were pretty rusty. They needed a bath in WD-40




Casters installed. That messy area is a holdover from the old dust collection box.



Top of new platform




This is the piece the saw actually rests on (is bolted to). The dust goes through that hole, and gets sucked down into a collection boc, and then out to the dust collector. When I made it, I didn't have a plunge cut saw, and didn't understand much about dust collection.




A little time with the festool




Japanese saw for the very corners




And Bob's your uncle!




Hole for the blast gate. I needed to clean up the disassembled pieces. What a joy to finally have a vise that can hold work!




Dust collection box reinstalled. Those squared pieces laying there are edge supports.

Ended up using a plane to clean up the edges. Can you believe I glued them the first time around?



Back view of the saw installed, showing the dust collection box.




Setting thing back up.




While I had it off, smeared the top with naval jelly. Wiped that off, sanded the rusty top with 320 paper. Cleaned that off, and waxed it.




Something's missing? Oh, yeah. I need storage, and lots of it! What can I use? How about the doors of the old cabinet?




After I spent two hours on that saw table, I swore to myself I'd never use it as a work surface again. Within an hour, I used it as a work surface again:




If I weren't so lazy, I'd dado these shelves together. Oh, yeah: no working router table, no working table saw...




Finished just as the storm was hitting. A lightning flash ruined this picture. Because I jumped:




I actually ended up with more storage than I'd had before, with a much smaller footprint




Still need to attach the motor, finish the dust collection baffle, and (gulp!) cut the rails for the Incra fence. I'm glad I got the long ones! Oh, and buld a new router table. Sheesh!

Looking good, Bill. You're gonna regain a big chunk of floor space. I'm assuming you have a cut-out in the cabinet on the right side of the saw to access the bevel adjustment wheel?

looks great!

That will really give you more room

wish I was that productive and organized. good work. I would have gotten 80% done in the same amount of time and moved on to a different project

Poetry in motion Bill

I like!

Custom tailored to your needs. I love it.