| Project by ShannonRogers | posted 193 days ago | 586 views | 2 times favorited | 9 comments |  |
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My theme as of late has been shop upgrades and I finally decided to tame my contractor saw when it comes to dust. I figured if I was going to close in the bottom, I might as well gain some storage as well. I have some MDF laying around that I wanted to get out of the way… and voila. I am really happy with setup and I had a surprisingly fun time fitting the drawers on the side to a perfect snug fit. Block planing MDF is interesting! The saw sits on a rabbeted hole with a store bought 10” dust port seated in it. The hose runs down through the central cabinet and is ancored to the cabinet with a piece of sheet metal bent around it in a U shape and screwed to the top. This keeps the hose out of the way and frees up more cabinet space for my dado set, tenoning jig, etc. The bottom drawer has all my cleaning supplies and manuals and room to grow. Side drawers are set up with all the day to day stuff, like table inserts, measuring bars, angle gauge, etc. I built the onboard storage for my miter gauges (rare earth mags) and the anti kickback fence as an afterthought. Finally, I closed in the back with a few pieces of plywood and some industrial velcro picked up at the HD. I do have to remove it for bevel cuts, but I figure that will allow me to crack it open once in a while and clean out any residual dust on the inside. I bought some cast iron extension wings to replace the stamped steel ones that came with the saw and I haven’t put those on yet. (See my forum cry for help)
Best of all… this setup sucks the dust like a dream! Maybe next I will do the same thing for my bandsaw and ditch the open stand it sits on!
-- Check out my new blog "The Renaissance Woodworker" at www.rogersfinewoodworking.com/blog
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9 comments so far
RobH
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264 posts in 501 days
posted 193 days ago
That looks great. You will really enjoy the organization around the saw. You will also LOVE not having to clean up the floor under the saw. I think that is the best part about these cabinet systems.
I made a cabinet under my saw back in the spring. In mine, the saw dust falls into a wooden bin that I throw into the back of the truck and take to the dump. I have been meaning to make a cover over the back of the saw, but I just have not gotten around to it. Put that on and hook up a dust collector, and I will be in business.
Not sure if you thought of it or not, but you will get a lot more suction if you stop up the holes between the top and the housing around the saw. Mine will be done with pipe insulation or something similar. A lot of dust gets out of those holes.
Good job on the shop improvement, keep up the great work!
-- -- Rob Hix, King George, VA
lclashley
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232 posts in 566 days
posted 193 days ago
Cool Idea Shannon. I need to add some dust collection to my TS also. Thanks for sharing your idea.
ShannonRogers
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219 posts in 240 days
posted 193 days ago
Rob, that thought did occur to me. I have also heard that you need some holes for air to get back in that is being taken out by the dust collector. Do you think stopping up the holes will effect the suction I get?
-- Check out my new blog "The Renaissance Woodworker" at www.rogersfinewoodworking.com/blog
Scott Bryan
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8585 posts in 274 days
posted 193 days ago
Very nice Shannon. I have been considering doing something like this to my saw as well. After seeing this I will have to move it up on the priority list.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
Woodchuck1957
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152 posts in 216 days
posted 193 days ago
Shannon, in your case with the back closed I’d leave the gap between the top and the cabinet open. You could however close off the slot in the front of the cabinet with a piece of magnetic sign material or whatever you choose. One word of caution about closeing the back off with something rigid like plywood is if you ever do forget to take the back off and start cranking on the bevel hand wheel you can throw the saw out of alignment from binding it, or worse case senario crack the trunion bracket.
-- If you can't find the time to do it properly, how will you find the time to fix it ?
Jiri Parkman
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552 posts in 265 days
posted 192 days ago
Good idea. Thanks for sharing.
-- Jiri
Mario
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697 posts in 503 days
posted 192 days ago
Great use of space, nice design and work.
-- Hope Never fails
John Gray
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602 posts in 337 days
posted 192 days ago
Great idea, thanks.
-- Only the Shadow knows....................
Bob A in NJ
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303 posts in 451 days
posted 150 days ago
Nice design and execution. Love all the extra storage ideas.
-- Bob A in NJ