Shop Reconfiguration

Bill Lantry

Member
Messages
2,663
Location
Inside the Beltway
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:

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Those are 6" casters, my friends.


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No wonder it doesn't roll well anymore:


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



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Casters off:


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


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Laying out the cuts:


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

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Hurrah! It's still a torsion box!



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Predrilling holes for the new (old) casters:

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


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

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Top of new platform


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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.


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A little time with the festool


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Japanese saw for the very corners


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And Bob's your uncle!


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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!


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


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

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


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Setting thing back up.


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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.


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


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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:


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


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


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


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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!
 
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Looking good, Bill. :thumb: 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?
 
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