My woodworking hobby has recently been revitalized as I have had more time to do some things. I’ve decided to embark upon a bold initiative to update all the mounting base for the free standing tools that I own. One of the caveats to all this is the tools must be moveable because when I’m not using it my workshop moonlights as a garage for our two cars.
Table Saw
My first foray was the table saw. I have a 50’s era Sears Craftsman 10″ radial saw that my grandfather used to build Lafitte Skiff’s from cypress. It was handed down to my Dad when my grandfather died, but my Dad really doesn’t understand the use of the table saw, so it sat many years in his garage until he gave it to me. I completely disassembled the saw and replaced the bearings and some missing bits and pieces. The parts people at Sears are really missing the boat here. They didn’t have a clue and I wound up buying everything I need from other sources. After doing this, I discarded the rickety frame that someone had made to support the saw and decided to build one out of mdf. Nick Engler had recently posted a piece in American Woodworker about building a multiple cabinet base for a contractor table saw, so I fired up SolidWorks on the computer and started designing what I wanted.
This is what I wound up with:
The neat part of designing in SolidWorks is I had a drawing of all the individual parts, so this would be a cinch. Hah! I went off to our local Home Depot and was astounded to find out how much mdf weighs. Whew, this stuff is heavy! Well, I managed, with the help of an HD employee, to load 5 sheets of mdf into the truck. So far, so good. I started doing my cutting, but what I didn’t realize that mdf comes in 49″ x 97″ sheets. Naturally I made all my critical cuts 1″ wider than I needed so when it came time to assemble, nothing fit. Well, instead of measuring twice and cutting once, I measured once and cut twice. In the end it all worked out, and the base works great. The downside is the removable out feed table weighs more than I do and is a real chore to use. I have to design something that permanently attaches to the saw that folds down when not in use. As part of the process, I discarded the fence that came with the saw (actually I gave it to a fellow woodworker from rec.woodworking) and bought a Biesemeyer home series fence for the saw. I love the fence!
Ultimate Work Bench
I was reading Popular Woodworking (I think) when I saw an article for the “Ultimate Work Bench”. This was a carcase type of bench that would handle several of my “portable” tools such as the cut off saw, thickness planer, etc. The article can be found here . Again I fired up my SolidWorks and this is my version:
 |  |  | |
| Router Configuration | Chopsaw Configuration | Thickness Planer | Outfeed/Clamping |
The project was completed over the Christmas vacation and took 5 sheets of mdf and created a dusty mess in my workshop (aka garage). It took me a full day to vacuum up all the dust generated in the cutting. I definitely have a love/hate relationship going with mdf! I still have some details to finish like cutting the clamp slots in the tops, cutting the whole for the router plate, etc, but the bulk of the effort is complete. I made some modifications to the concept, such as the sliding top sections to accommodate my thickness planer, but overall it holds true to the spirit of the concept.
Workbench
I had a pile of dimensional lumber left over from when we built the house, and after ten years decided to do something with it. Yes, I can be slow sometimes. I planed it all down to consistent thicknesses and glued it all together to make a workbench top. Thus far, that’s as far as I’ve gotten. I’ve got to build a base and buy a vise to mount on it. I know it weighs a ton. Someday I might build something light. Hah!
Jointer/Planer
Next on the hit parade is my jointer/planer. It’s still on the rickety dimensional lumber base I made for it shortly after we moved in the house. I need to do some research on the best type of base for it.