Miter Saw Station
Amiter saw station I built for our June 2010 issue (see page 6) became our most popular shop project in Woodworker’s Journal’s history. But 10 years of regular use have provided a “punch list” of improvements I’ve been itching to incorporate into an updated design. For one, at 8 ft. long, it dominated wall space and was a battleship to roll around. This second go-around is much shorter, at 64¼", because I’m using my drill press table as the right-hand support surface for crosscutting long workpieces. There’s still plenty of shelf space for offcuts or general storage, plus two drawers that I’m planning to use for stowing valuable short scraps. You won’t find a long fence beside the saw either; it really isn’t necessary and sometimes can actually hinder safe crosscutting of distorted wood. That fence typically includes a work stop to make repetitive crosscuts easier, but here the feature is taken care of with an aluminum T-track and Corner Stop from Rockler. I’ve also come to the realization that miter saws need both active dust collection (via shop vacuum or dust collector) and a passive way to capture what suction inevitably doesn’t. So this station has a chamber behind the saw to help contain floating dust as well as a pull-out tray below that you can dump or vacuum out when needed. (It’s also a nifty way to recover those pesky little offcuts that can get trapped under a saw if it sits on a solid platform rather than on a couple of support blocks as it does here.) My first design collected a hodgepodge of shop clutter behind the long fence. On this “Miter Station 2.0,” I’ve integrated an upper cabinet with steel-clad doors to fill that space. It offers dedicated storage plus a way to hang your notes or plans within easy view, using magnets.
Even if these features have you nodding approval, definitely measure your saw to be sure it will fit the station’s 24½"- deep x 26¼"-wide compartment (most compound miter saws should). Sliders need to be a “rail forward” design to accommodate the back panel. If your saw fills the bill, here’s how to build my “latest and greatest” miter saw station for your shop.
Making the Carcass
Get this station underway by cutting the bottom panel to size (see , page 33). Then download our “More on the Web” elevation drawings so you can lay out and cut the four uprights to shape from 3/4" plywood. Label them A through D, to index them from left to right on the final assembled project. Carefully glue and clamp uprights C and D together so their edges and ends align to create a
