Introduction: Miter Station + Storage Out of 2x4's

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About: Making (and breaking) projects in my shop every 2 weeks (or so)

For the longest time, an entire wall in my shop was taken up by my miter saw and its stand. I wanted to build a solution that would give me the ability to do repeatable cuts, lots of storage potential and not cost an arm and leg.

This is what I came up with.

Materials

Tools

Step 1: Break Down the 2x4's

The entire frame was constructed with 2x4's from the big box store. I used my miter saw on its old stand to break these down to size. I'm building a series of boxes that will be screwed together to create the long stand that will go against the wall.

Step 2: Attach the Frame Together

Each frame is connected together using pocket holes with a Kreg Jig. I didn't use any wood glue since I might need to modify the the size/shape of the frame in the future.

Step 3: Assemble the Frames Together

Once the smaller frames were put together I attached them all into one long station with pocket holes and screws. I used clamps to help hold the pieces together so that all of the connections were tight once they were screwed into place.

Step 4: Cut the Top

The top was made out of 3/4in plywood. I ripped this down to size with my circular saw on the ground. A cheap piece of insulation foam is placed below it so that I can cut it out with the plywood laying down.

Step 5: Screw the Top Down

The top is screwed down to the frame along the sides.

Step 6: Attach the Drill Press Base

One aspect of this build was to have a work surface with as little on top of it as possible. An aspect of that is to get the drill press stand underneath the main work surface. To do this I created another benchtop a few inches below the main one. This was made out of 3/4 in plywood and attached with screws.

Step 7: Notch Out Drill Press Space

In order for the drill press to fit I had to notch out a section for the drill press to slide into. I cut this out with my jig saw.

Step 8: Build the Dust Hood

To keep the dust contained for my miter saw I made a dust hood. This was a few pieces of 1/2 in plywood screwed together with pocket holes. This fits on top of the miter saw right before the miter saw fence.

Step 9: Attach Dust Hood to the Work Surface

The dust hood was connected with pocket holes to the work surface. There were a few gaps around the hood from my initial frame and I sealed these with 1/4 in plywood and was brad nailed into place.

Step 10: Install Dust Collection

A simple 2 in dust collection port was added to the back so that I could hook up my shop vac to aid in dust collection. I'm going to modify this in the future and create a sloped section that feeds into the port so dust doesn't pile up in the sections that don't have a dust port close.

Step 11: Attach Dust Hood Front

I used 1/2 in plywood to screw a front to the dust hood around the miter saw. I made this easy to detach since the front will interfere with using the saw at an angle.

Step 12: Attach the Miter Saw to the Base

The miter saw was attached to the base with some wood spacers, washers, and bolts. I didn't build the frame to fit this saw exactly since the plan is the upgrade in the future. To get this saw to fit I placed a 3/4 in wood spacer underneath and dialed in the final height with washers. Everything is held together with nuts and bolts on all 4 corners of the saw stand.

Step 13: Attach the T-track

I'm not using a miter saw fence along the entire width of this stand. I find that the fence that is on the saw does a good enough job keeping my cuts square but I did want the ability to repeatable cuts and measuring directly on the stand. To achieve this I attached t-slot directly to the work surface. This was attached by first using a 3/4 in bit to route out a groove and then screwing the t-track down.

Step 14: Attach the Measuring Tape

I attached measuring tape along the entire surface of the stand. I even stuck the tape directly to the saw.

Step 15: Build Stop Blocks

I made stop blocks from scrap pieces of hardwood. Two holes were drilled directly in the middle on the drill press and I used bolts and t-nuts to attach them to the t-track. I have a stop block on the right and left side allowing me to create repeatable cuts from either end.

Step 16: Attach Drawer Slides for Multipart Containers

I'm going to be adding a lot more storage to the miter saw stand. My first addition was including strips of 1/2 plywood along the bottom of one of the frames so that I could slide in several multipart containers from Harbor Freight. I had to attach a new inner wall to the stand which was made out of 1/2 in plywood and screwed in with pocket holes.

The slides were attached with wood glue and brad nails and I used a spacer to ensure the same height.

Step 17: That's It!

And that's it! I've got a ton more space for the miter saw as well as lots of expandability for storage which will turn into future Instructable projects.

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