# Rolling table saw/workbench



## Silvo (Nov 23, 2009)

I am currently working out of a one car garage and am looking to make a rolling workbench/table saw combo. I am wondering if anyone has any ideas as to how I can make this better. I've started with a variation of the Ultimate Tool Stand by Dave Munkittrick.

My main requirement is that it can roll out of the way against the wall when not in use. Other than that I am open to any suggestions or experiences. I am however concerned with leveling the station out once I have it in position. My garage floor is really uneven, it almost seems like someone played a racket ball match on it right after it was poured.

Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## Eagle1 (Jan 4, 2010)

Your photos didn' come out my friend.


----------



## JimDaddyO (Dec 20, 2009)

No pics for me either, but feel free to check out my blog on my 1972 craftsman restoration. I built it on to a cart for mobility. I have a garden shed for storage and work out on the lawn.


----------



## Sawkerf (Dec 31, 2009)

Neat setup, but I don't think that it would work very well in your situation. IMO, some type of outfeed table would be far more important so you have good support of long pieces coming off the saw.

I think that I would go with some kind of rolling stand for the saw, and a separate table/bench on lockable rollers that could be positioned as an outfeed table.

I also wouldn't worry a lot about everything being level. As long as the saw and outfeed table are stable - and the table supports pieces coming off the saw - being a bit off of level isn't a problem.


----------



## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

In general, I don't like the idea of moving a table saw - especially if the floor surface is rough. It seems like an invitation for the saw to get out of alignment. However, sometimes you have no choice.

If it is doable, I would look for a way to lay down some tracks for the wheels to run on. The tracks could be hardwood boards with grooves cut into them. The real challenge would be finding a way to set up tracks such that the car would not damage. However, you should be able to make tracks with hardwood that I car could drive over and not damage.

The other issue would be that tracks limit you to only moving in a straight line. Maybe its doable.


----------



## Silvo (Nov 23, 2009)

Sawkerf, I will definitely be adding an out-feed table, thank you it completely slipped my mind. Because my fence rail is so long it seems to be a waste to not use the space for something other than just a plane for my material to slide across. The ultimate tool stand was original conceived to be an out feed table as well. I just figured instead of putting drawers and cabinets under the support table I make it a workbench.

Richgreer, Unfortunately because of the size of my garage the whole system would have to be able to pivot 90 degrees from its storage place against the wall. I only have a space 36" deep to be able to store the unit, so I am forced to store it perpendicular to how I would use it.

I'm working on the photo issue. I hot linked them instead of posting them in the thread because when I did they came out huge and you could only see one tenth of the total picture. I am sure there is a post on photos on here, so I find it and fix this.


----------



## bigike (May 25, 2009)

wow that's gonna be some tool stand, very nice hope to see a build blog for it?


----------



## Silvo (Nov 23, 2009)

As soon as I figure out exactly what I am building I plan on starting a blog for it. Im going to add some changes to the design and re-post it.

I found the answer to image problem, simple html fix. I don't do much web stuff but if anyone else is interested this is how I did it. I don't know if there is an easier way but this worked fine for me.

(IMG SRC="http:IMAGE.jpg" HEIGHT="20" WIDTH="20" BORDER="0")
Replace the () with <> and it becomes code.


----------



## tedth66 (Sep 1, 2009)

Silvo,
I too work in my garage and needed to be able to roll my saw out of the way when I'm not using it. I bought a SawStop contractor saw and built my own rolling cabinet. My garage floor is not flat (most aren't) so I had to start with a design that would compensate for the unevenness. I also added a my router table to the end of my cabinet. The cabinet is nearly 88inches long.

I like the design that you're showing. are you going to add casters to this design? I started out with a hard wood base that was designed to hold 1200lbs (300lbs per caster). You can view it under my projects link.

You and I are battling the same issues… using the garage as a shop and a place to park vehicles.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

great drawing and plan


----------



## Silvo (Nov 23, 2009)

So after looking around I've decided that maybe there are some better options out there that I would like to try instead to get the most bang for my space.

I originally thought that a tool cabinet/table saw combo would work just fine for me. But the more projects I take on and complete the more I realize I need a workbench. I can not afford the space for both workbench and a table saw on the one wall, so I am going to attempt to combine them both.

This is a very rough drawing of the idea of what I am looking to do. All corners will be mitered and the legs will appear to be solid wood. I rendered this with 1" SYP only because I have a gift certificate to lowes and couldn't come up with anything else to spend it on. I will most likely get the lumber form an actual supplier to save me the time of laminating a billion boards.

The entire thing will be mounted to a 50-030 Heavy-Duty Mobile Base for Table Saw I am trying to use more plywood than board except in regards to the tail vise.

I would like a Tail Vise at a minimum but would also like to incorporate a glide leg vise. On top a router lift option would be ideal. Finding the appropriate distance for a miter track and the tail vise is going to take some tweaking. In the center I would also like to put some removable tool trays that can be covered when not in use. This allows for any other clamping option I may need.

Right now this is set up for the workbench to be used from the backside of the tablesaw. I was worried about the fence rail guide marring the work if I where to use a leg vise from the front. The other downside to the current setup is that I am right handed and all of the controls are on the left-side as I work. The tail rise is a right hand vise located in a left hand position. It doesn't really matter but I want the right hand vise because this workbench is only a temp option until I move. I will cannibalize this Gypsy bench and build a proper one when I have the space. This is also why I am building it out of birch and southern yellow pine. I don't mind spending the money on the hardware, but the wood is only temporary. This left hand setup is most likely going to be irritating at first but I may just get use to it.

I am going to render a right hand setup with the cabinet flush with the face of the tablesaw fence rail guide.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My insomnia is coming to an end so I think I am going to try to get some sleep the sun is coming up. I will come back and edit this later as I sure that most of it is in sleep deprived gibberish.


----------



## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

IMO, keeping the orientation of the wheels of your mobile base works really well. I put my G0690 on a ShopFox mobile base and have pushed 8/4×9" x 10ft hardwood through the TS WITHOUT any movement of the TS.

The only concern I would have is that the best/correct way to put the wheels on the TS is NOT conducive to how you need to store the TS against the wall. You may have to consider using rotating casters (with screw down legs) on ALL wheel locations. FWIW, on my setup only the two "center" casters are fixed. The outer four are lock-down-leg rotating casters. After a series of back-N-forth movements I can move this against or away from the wall.


----------



## Silvo (Nov 23, 2009)

I realized that earlier and I kinda have just settle on the base because I couldn't find any other options that would work. I would much prefer a base the can move in any direction but most bases are designed for the use of a just a single leaf and no drawers. I really don't plan on moving it every day so… I don't know.

I looked into have 6 dual locking swivel casters and perhaps some floor locks to make sure it didn't move. I've also looked into leveling casters but booth options are extremely overpriced. I only payed 380 for the saw so it kinda hard for me to justify spending almost double that on a base.

I do not understand the prices on the this stuff. The steel I can understand but the floor locks are nothing more than a horizontal toggle clamp.

If you have any other ideas where I can look or other options I am all about it.


----------



## RetiredCoastie (Sep 7, 2009)

That is one realy nice mobile work station. Good luck with the build.


----------

