# Workshop Update



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

*Organizing Miter saw bench.*

Hello everyone,

For Xmas one of my gifts was a new Dewalt 12" miter saw. This bad boy is alot bigger thant he cheapo Ryobi that I have which has served me well for 6 years now but the brake has gone. So I had to make a new drop down table for the Dewalt to fit. Fortunately the miter saw station I built hangs on cleats on the wall. Well it just so happens that on the right side I had to extend the cleat about 10 inches past the bench to catch the next stud in the wall. So it was real easy to just pull the drop down table out make one 5 inches wider slide the right part of the bench down the wall 5 inches and bam miter saw station fixed.










I also made some ZCL's for the Miter saw out of pecan.



















While I was at it I decided to add some more wood storage on the left side in an open space. I orignially had my air compressor inside of a cabinet I built to make it quiter, but I never use this air compressor that much and the cabinet didn't really do its job well. So I tore apart the cabinet and faced the air compressor the other direction to gain more room under the cabinet




























I was able to get rid of the shelving at the end of the miter saw bench and move my OSS to this spot and clear up some floor space.









Sander was in this spot to the right of the Planer.










Today I am going to clear this space and move the lathe hear against the wall.

Bret


----------



## workerinwood (Jan 1, 2010)

bj383ss said:


> *Organizing Miter saw bench.*
> 
> Hello everyone,
> 
> ...


Great job! Like the way you have your cut offs organized, great idea.


----------



## Chipy (Apr 20, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Organizing Miter saw bench.*
> 
> Hello everyone,
> 
> ...


Nice 0 clearance insert for your chop saw! I have the same model and have been putting off making one of my own.I plan on using Corian a scrap I have laying around.I love my Dewalt chop saw this model is the next best thing to having a slider too many moving parts I am afraid I will cut my arm off with a slider.Keep up the good work shop looks great chipy


----------



## Viking (Aug 26, 2009)

bj383ss said:


> *Organizing Miter saw bench.*
> 
> Hello everyone,
> 
> ...


Bret;

This is a great MS Bench and good use of your space for your cutoff's. Also reminds me that I need to make some ZCI's for my miter saw also.

Chippy;

Corian ….. another good idea.

Thanks for sharing!


----------



## superdav721 (Aug 16, 2010)

bj383ss said:


> *Organizing Miter saw bench.*
> 
> Hello everyone,
> 
> ...


Great saw improvement. A very nice job.


----------



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

*Miter saw station upgrade part 2*

Made some more progress on Miter saw station today. I added 2 more shelfs below the miter saw for cutoffs and moved the shop vac I had hooked up to the sander on the bottom. The shop vac will now be hooked to both machines. I am going to make some blast glates at the top to shut off the other machine not in use.





































I also started a dust shroud box but ran out of time.



















Bret


----------



## wolflrv (Nov 28, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Miter saw station upgrade part 2*
> 
> Made some more progress on Miter saw station today. I added 2 more shelfs below the miter saw for cutoffs and moved the shop vac I had hooked up to the sander on the bottom. The shop vac will now be hooked to both machines. I am going to make some blast glates at the top to shut off the other machine not in use.
> 
> ...


Looking good!!


----------



## jerrells (Jul 3, 2010)

bj383ss said:


> *Miter saw station upgrade part 2*
> 
> Made some more progress on Miter saw station today. I added 2 more shelfs below the miter saw for cutoffs and moved the shop vac I had hooked up to the sander on the bottom. The shop vac will now be hooked to both machines. I am going to make some blast glates at the top to shut off the other machine not in use.
> 
> ...


That looks awesome - I wish I had room to do something like that but alas the garage is bulging already.


----------



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

*Miter saw station upgrade part 3*

Today I finished my miter saw station upgrade for now.

I added a hood around the saw and ran dust collection hoses for the saw and the OSS sander.

Dust Shroud


















T fitting with blast gate for the saw.









The blast gate mounts up underneath the drop down bench and then it extends to the edge of the bench so I can access it from the front



















The tee branches off throught the bench and to the sander.


















This is a bad picture but you can see at the top is the dust collector hose and the power strip has the vac tool plug that the saw and sander are plugged into.










I still have to make a blast gate for the sander. Almost done.

Bret


----------



## RyanHaasen (Oct 29, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Miter saw station upgrade part 3*
> 
> Today I finished my miter saw station upgrade for now.
> 
> ...


Nice job!


----------



## wolflrv (Nov 28, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Miter saw station upgrade part 3*
> 
> Today I finished my miter saw station upgrade for now.
> 
> ...


Very nice job!! I really like how the blast gate door extends to the front of the bench! It amazes me how much you can get into the spaces in your shop!


----------



## toddbeaulieu (Mar 5, 2010)

bj383ss said:


> *Miter saw station upgrade part 3*
> 
> Today I finished my miter saw station upgrade for now.
> 
> ...


Ha! You made your own blast gate. I never would have thought of that. Great job!

I'm researching ideas for my new miter station. Tired of working on the floor!

I also love your cutoff storage. Definitely going to include that in my plan.

There's a dust hood called the downdrafter for like $120 or so. I like it, but I think I'm going to end up making one like you did. How effective do you find yours to be? Are you happy with it? Would you make any changes?


----------



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Miter saw station upgrade part 3*
> 
> Today I finished my miter saw station upgrade for now.
> 
> ...


Hello Todd,

Thanks for the kind words. To answer your questions I think the dust hood works very well. The only problem is I have a small vacumn that doesnt pull a lot of volume so dust tends to accumulate in the hood. But that doesn't bother me I just vacumn it out ever so often. With my old saw I had no hood and the entire bench including all the stuff to the left and the pegboard on the wall were buried in dust. So the hood is very effective at containing the dust inside of it. I am very happy with this setup. I really don't want to change anything except I would like to hook it up to a DC when I finally get one. Good luck with yours. Some advice I might give you is you are going to have to cut more out of the top for clearance of the saw than you want to but it is a neccassary evil.

Bret


----------



## Ron0817 (May 29, 2017)

bj383ss said:


> *Miter saw station upgrade part 3*
> 
> Today I finished my miter saw station upgrade for now.
> 
> ...


So this is a great idea and the blast gate mechanism is brilliant. I am wondering though how you hook up the vacuum connection to your dust collection device.


----------



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

*New Lumber Storage Rack*

Well today I built another lumber storage rack. This one I put up in the far corner of the garage next to a larger rack I hung several years ago. In my quest to free up more floor space I wanted to eliminate this storage bin. I made for scaps that are too long to go under a bench but it just never worked for me.









Here is the new rack in construction. It was made from scraps.









Hung up in its new home









Here it is loaded up with all the stuff from the other bin.









Look at all that floor space!









Next up is building a new workbench for the lathe and a tool cabinet or pegboard to go on the wall above it.

Bret


----------



## wolflrv (Nov 28, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *New Lumber Storage Rack*
> 
> Well today I built another lumber storage rack. This one I put up in the far corner of the garage next to a larger rack I hung several years ago. In my quest to free up more floor space I wanted to eliminate this storage bin. I made for scaps that are too long to go under a bench but it just never worked for me.
> 
> ...


Looks great!! I'm amazed that you're still finding more ways to make room in your shop!! Squeezing every single inch out of it!!


----------



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

*Paint Can Shelf*

So this evening I threw together this simple 1×8x 6' shelf that I mounted up over the garage door. Been wanting to do this for a while. It holds 10 gallon size cans and 3 quarts. Didn't want to get rid of the paint as might need it someday but it was on top of a cabinet in the corner of the shop where I put the lathe. I am currently cleaning the corner out to make the turning station for the lathe.

Here is the new shelf


















Here is the corner I am working on and how it looked.










I took down the shelf that was on the wall it was 2 1×8's and I used one for the new paint shelf rack. The other will be hung on the other side of the front wall and I will put all the auto paint I have left from when I painted my hot rod Caprice.

Here is how the corner looks right now. Still have a lot of work to do. The white cabinet will come down. Haven't decided if I am going to cover the whole wall in peg board or split with a wall cabinet for the lathe tools and peg board to hand jigs and fixtures on.










I am enjoying this very much its like starting in a new shop again with a blank wall. I have always hated this corner of the shop it didn't look organized and fit in with the rest of the shop.

Thanks for looking,
Bret


----------



## wolflrv (Nov 28, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Paint Can Shelf*
> 
> So this evening I threw together this simple 1×8x 6' shelf that I mounted up over the garage door. Been wanting to do this for a while. It holds 10 gallon size cans and 3 quarts. Didn't want to get rid of the paint as might need it someday but it was on top of a cabinet in the corner of the shop where I put the lathe. I am currently cleaning the corner out to make the turning station for the lathe.
> 
> ...


Now you've gone and done it!! LOL! You'll be at this the rest of the winter..LOL! It is fun though!

Isn't that the last corner of household and car restoration stuff?? Once you clear that you'll be 100% woodshop. Quite a transformation from your original garage.

I have great faith in your ingenuity! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!


----------



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

*Lathe Corner*

So this is the latest update my "Lathe Corner" is what I am calling this.

This is how it looked before I started.









This is how it looks today.










I honestly did not get rid of anything. In my last post I showed what I did with the paint cans. And the bin full of wood on the right went to the new overhead storage rack I made. The planer and lathe switched places which made sense because I always rolled the planer to the same spot to use it. Duh why move it everytime.

All of the stuff on the shelf was tore down and worked into my wood storage areas.

The great thing about these cabinets is they didn't cost me anything. They are made from 2 old bookcases that were melamine and 2 melamine cabinets I got free from work. I also had the hinges, door handles and screws in stock. The face frames which are made of pine came from some stock I had sitting on the lumber rack for a couple of years.

Here is the cabinet construction.






















































The face frames have a coat of danish oil on them and the doors primed and painted with latex blue. I used a roller and for some reason this paint comes out with a hammered finish.

Next up is a workbench for the lathe to go on that will have 10 drawers. Also a smaller workbench to sit on the step right next to the lathe that will also have drawers. I have to make this bench skinnier so there is good access to the door.

Here is a bunch of wood I also got from work from some display cases that held wine. They are 1×8's that are 48" and 30". Plus the backs were 1/4" plywood 48" x 30".

I also got a 3 tiered display that was for cheese that yielded three sheets of plywood 36" x 36" some smaller pieces and some more 1×4's.





































I only have to buy 5 2×10x8' to have all the lumber to build both workbenches.

My dad is also giving me a solid oak desk top that is 1 1/2" thick and 30"x 72" that will be the top for the workbench. I love recycling wood.

Well thanks for looking until next time.

Bret


----------



## doordude (Mar 26, 2010)

bj383ss said:


> *Lathe Corner*
> 
> So this is the latest update my "Lathe Corner" is what I am calling this.
> 
> ...


nice job. now get to turning!


----------



## wolflrv (Nov 28, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Lathe Corner*
> 
> So this is the latest update my "Lathe Corner" is what I am calling this.
> 
> ...


That looks great!! I really like the blue door theme!! I can't wait to see the lower cabinets in!!


----------



## Blackie_ (Jul 10, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Lathe Corner*
> 
> So this is the latest update my "Lathe Corner" is what I am calling this.
> 
> ...


Looks good


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

bj383ss said:


> *Lathe Corner*
> 
> So this is the latest update my "Lathe Corner" is what I am calling this.
> 
> ...


Well done. This looks like a very Swedish solution.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/sweden/flag/Flag.GIF


----------



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

*Lathe Workbench*

Well I got the main part of my new Lathe workbench finished and installed today. I still have to make all the drawers for it.

The cool thing about this project is I scored all the wood from work for free. The bench top is solid oak 1 1/2" thick from a desk that was being thrown out at my mom's work. I had all the hardware in my stock. Only thing I had to buy was the 10 sets of drawer slides which were $50. I also got some small flourescent lights to mount under the cabinets from work for free.

Here is the wood. It was used in the garden center for hanging pots. I had to joint each face and run it throught the planer. I took all of them down to 1 1/4".




























Here it is all cleaned up.










Cabinet coming together. I used plans from Shopnotes #59.









Shopmade Levelers










Top









The top was too wide and too short. So I ripped 5" off of one side, cut that in half and glued each piece onto each end after I cut the round off. Then I glued it all back together to make it the right length.










Here is the top on and it is bolted to the wall.










And the Lathe mounted.










Well thats it for now. This weekend on Saturday after I get off work I am driving out to meet a member from another forum how is giving me a Squirrel cage fan from a HVAC. It is a big one. I don't know the CFM but I bet it is close to a 1,000. Going to make a Shopmade Air Cleaner with it. I have all the wood I need to build just have to buy two prefilters and a pocket filter for it.

Later,
Bret


----------



## woodymays (Jun 10, 2009)

bj383ss said:


> *Lathe Workbench*
> 
> Well I got the main part of my new Lathe workbench finished and installed today. I still have to make all the drawers for it.
> 
> ...


What kind of lathe do you have? I have thought about getting lathe just to tinker around on.


----------



## wolflrv (Nov 28, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Lathe Workbench*
> 
> Well I got the main part of my new Lathe workbench finished and installed today. I still have to make all the drawers for it.
> 
> ...


Looks awesome! I love the benchtop! Great work!!


----------



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Lathe Workbench*
> 
> Well I got the main part of my new Lathe workbench finished and installed today. I still have to make all the drawers for it.
> 
> ...


Woody it is 1939 craftsman with a 1/2hp motor. I've only had it since November so I am a novice myself still learning 
Bret


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

bj383ss said:


> *Lathe Workbench*
> 
> Well I got the main part of my new Lathe workbench finished and installed today. I still have to make all the drawers for it.
> 
> ...


Great work on the lathe bench and cabinets below.


----------



## Blackie_ (Jul 10, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Lathe Workbench*
> 
> Well I got the main part of my new Lathe workbench finished and installed today. I still have to make all the drawers for it.
> 
> ...


Nice work bench bret, you just gave me an idea of what to do with my old kitchen table once I replace it with a freshly built one, I plan on rebuilding a new work bench someday hopefully soon LOL and will use my kitchen table top for the surface. it's just a cheapy table I bought many years ago but has a hard wood surface.


----------



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

*Shopmade air cleaner*

I got a free blower motor from a member of another forum. Its from a house HVAC this thing moves some air. It has 3 speeds. I only wired the low speed and it moves plenty of air.




























I made a box to fit around the blower and the filters I bought. It measures 14.5" H x 25.5" W x 34.5" L.



















Im using 12×24 filters. The prefilter I bought from Lowes it is a 3M 1500. Not sure what the micron rating is but it filters 93% which I know is good. The second filter I bought is a multi pocket filter from here. http://www.filters-now.com/products/ir5.html#products It is a 12×24 x 15 5 pocket 95% filter.

On this side of the box I made to seperate sides with a piece of foam sealing them. The front side has the motor mounted to it. The back one is made to come off so I can access the filters to change them. Other plans I saw used a hinge on the side but I didn't think that it would seal well.










Spacers to hold the filters.










I decided to paint the blowers because it had a stink to it. The previous owner was a cigar smoker. I painted to seal in the smell. It worked.










Here it is finished and hung from the ceiling. I screwed 2×4's into the rafters with 4" lag screws and then I put 3" lag eye screws into the 2×4's. The S hooks I used are rated for 90 lbs each. I think the whole thing weighs about 40 -50 lbs so one hook will hold its weight. Overkill but I didn't want this thing falling on my head. I also had to lower the light I had in this same spot as the air cleaner was blocking all the light.




























I ran the power to a power strip on miter bench to turn on an off. I want to find a timer to hook up as well so I can run it for a couple of hours after I leave the shop.










In case you are wondering about the stain job this plywood was recycled from a display from work. I didn't put a finish on it because I wanted to see if it was going to work before I invested the time. It works great so now I need to take it down and decide on a finish. I want to paint it blue to match my new cabinets but it might be better to paint it white to help reflect light. What do you guys think?

Bret


----------



## JohnZappulla (Aug 15, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Shopmade air cleaner*
> 
> I got a free blower motor from a member of another forum. Its from a house HVAC this thing moves some air. It has 3 speeds. I only wired the low speed and it moves plenty of air.
> 
> ...


Looks great and thank you for sharing all the build info.

IMHO, I would paint it white to reflect the light and not to stand out too much. Blue would make it stick out too much.


----------



## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Shopmade air cleaner*
> 
> I got a free blower motor from a member of another forum. Its from a house HVAC this thing moves some air. It has 3 speeds. I only wired the low speed and it moves plenty of air.
> 
> ...


Nice job.

White is Bright!

I'm building one my self. It will be wall mounted, in a closet with ceiling level intake & floor level exhaust. I have 7' ceiling, hence no headroom to install it from the ceiling. I have all the ply cut. I still need to assemble the unit, paint it gray, wire up the variable speed & timer, then install it in the closet. I will then be able to breathe easier, both figuratively & literally!


----------



## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

bj383ss said:


> *Shopmade air cleaner*
> 
> I got a free blower motor from a member of another forum. Its from a house HVAC this thing moves some air. It has 3 speeds. I only wired the low speed and it moves plenty of air.
> 
> ...


That looks great. Those shop built filters do a little something for the shop air other than clean it…

If you must paint it, paint it white. Keeps it from becoming a light hog and darkening the shop up… I actually like the way it looks as is though…


----------



## bomisore (Jun 27, 2010)

bj383ss said:


> *Shopmade air cleaner*
> 
> I got a free blower motor from a member of another forum. Its from a house HVAC this thing moves some air. It has 3 speeds. I only wired the low speed and it moves plenty of air.
> 
> ...


Great job, I have a similar motor that I want to use to make one. 
How complicated was the wiring?


----------



## bj383ss (Dec 8, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Shopmade air cleaner*
> 
> I got a free blower motor from a member of another forum. Its from a house HVAC this thing moves some air. It has 3 speeds. I only wired the low speed and it moves plenty of air.
> 
> ...


THanks guys!

@Big Ben. The wiring was super easy. The neutral to neutral. Run the ground to the chassis. The Hot wire went to one of the speeds. I was lucky there was a wiring diagram on the motor telling which wire was what speed. I am going to wire a timer into though.

Bret


----------



## wolflrv (Nov 28, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Shopmade air cleaner*
> 
> I got a free blower motor from a member of another forum. Its from a house HVAC this thing moves some air. It has 3 speeds. I only wired the low speed and it moves plenty of air.
> 
> ...


Great job!! I'd have to agree that as much as I like the blue…I'd paint it white..keep the ceiling looking "neutral".


----------



## grumpy749 (Nov 22, 2011)

bj383ss said:


> *Shopmade air cleaner*
> 
> I got a free blower motor from a member of another forum. Its from a house HVAC this thing moves some air. It has 3 speeds. I only wired the low speed and it moves plenty of air.
> 
> ...


paint er white It will look great. When it gits dirty its telling ya what a great job its doing. I would say this is the second item every woodworker should acquire right after a table saw. It took me years to get around to building mine and every time I look at the dust laden filters it reminds me how much cleaner my lungs are. Very nice job by the way.


----------



## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

bj383ss said:


> *Shopmade air cleaner*
> 
> I got a free blower motor from a member of another forum. Its from a house HVAC this thing moves some air. It has 3 speeds. I only wired the low speed and it moves plenty of air.
> 
> ...


I also built an air cleaner along the same lines as yours, but mine was a 220 V blower. If you paint it, go with a high gloss white so dust won't collect on the surfaces so readily and be easier to keep clean.


----------

