Cantilevered Miter Stand - Construction Pictorial

Many folks have asked for more information about the construction process for the cantilevered miter station I built in early 2001 for my shop. Below is a pictorial from start to finish. If you have the February 2001 issue of Fine Woodworking magazine, the “plans” are on pages 46 and 47 of the same. [Click on the thumbnails for a larger view of any picture]

	The vertical members and cantilevered supports in raw form...12/4 x 14" x 13' of white ash for the former and 8/4 x 13" x 13" white oak for the latter. At $1 per board foot, it was a bargain! The ash was a little green, but that would make for tighter mortises as it dried over time. Due to the weight of this lumber, I had to piece it prior to moving it into the shop for further “refinement”...the Tundra, hitch support and mobile work support held everything steady for crosscutting with a circular saw.
	These are the rough blanks for the horizontal supports, both for the bench and the lumber storage. Each was sent through the planer to insure a consistent thickness and then cut to finished length and width.
	Each of the horizontal supports is fastened to the vertical members via mortise and tenon joints. Here, one of the two table side supports is shown with the basic tenon formed.
	The tenons are further refined to provide a double tenon arrangement. In retrospect, all these tenons should have been created after mortising the vertical members...it’s more challenging to make mortises to fit tenons than the other way around. But everything worked out fine in this case.
	Here are the two table supports with the tenons completed and the dados cut for the plywood gussets. The plywood I used for the remainder of the structure is 18mm thick, so adjustments to the dado had to be made to insure a snug fit...and it was snug...required strong blows from a rubber mallet to seat the plywood into the grooves!
	Tenons on all the horizontal supports were cut on the table saw and band saw. Here, you can see the cheek cuts being made using a tennoning jig. Due to the height of the material, I had to completely remove the UniGuard from the saw to provide clearance for cutting the wider table support members.
	The band saw was used to finish up the tenons These machine cut tenons were all pretty much right on the money and only needed minor adjustment when fitting them into the mortises.
	The horizontal lumber support members were gang-cut on the band saw to provide a more pleasing profile. Double sided carpet tape insured that all four units were as identical as practical.
	Each of the lumber supports had the lower and front edges rounded over on the router table and then were sanded smooth. No finish was applied...and may never be, although oiling them is what I would do if I wanted to unload the lumber they are now supporting!
	The vertical support members were brought to approximately 3" square and 8 feet long. Since these were made from rather green wood, they had minor variations in straightness. However, this really wasn't an issue as they would be bolted to the wall and brought true in the process. Obviously, I wouldn’t do this if I was making fine furniture! Also, my installation uses four vertical posts instead of the two shown in the magazine article. I felt that I didn't want more than 24" spans for supporting lumber. I also eliminated the large drawer that is on the original as it would not have worked out due to my shop arrangement.
	Just to be able to say that I was able, I made the first two mortises using a forstner bit and chisels. Needless to say, this was not fun work...when I got to the chiseling part!
	Speaking of which...one down, one to go. These actually worked out fine and after cleaning them up, they were as good as the rest made with the mortiser.
	What can I say? The Jet mortising machine made quick work of the rest of the mortises. In fact, they took about the same amount of time that the first two took by hand...all six more, that is.
	Ah...that's a fit.
	It just so happens that the big picture window in my shop is eight feet wide through the casings. That worked out really well in spacing the vertical supports for the two table ends. (The whole table is supported by only two horizontal members that are 12 inches wide and 32 inches, sans the mortises) Lag bolts and long square-drive screws were used to securely fasten each post to the wall. The holes for the hardware were countersunk so that they could be plugged after final assembly.
	In this view you can see the table supports in place. These get installed prior to any other components...it’s very important that the spacing of the two outside vertical members be exact so that the table can be assembled in place. In my case, the finished size of the table is 96 inches wide, including the side supports. Obviously, the length of the plywood gussets needs to be exact...it's probably a good idea to size them after installation of the posts and table end supports if you take on this kind of project.
	The tenons are also pinned in place with maple dowels for a strong joint. These aren’t going anywhere! Between the final construction date and the date of this writing, the table has not sagged even a millimeter. That’s a blessing considering the combined weight of the table, miter saw and anything else setting on the table depend on only two oak supports.
	The two remaining vertical supports are spaced evenly between to two outer ones. These largely support the lumber overhead, but do have the rear plywood gusset attached for additional strength.
	There are five plywood gussets were cut to size for length and width. three of them also are notched for the tool area recess. This cut was done with all three ganged together to insure they would be relatively identical.
	The rearmost plywood gusset had to be notched to accommodate the duct work for the under-table collection arrangement. An additional piece of plywood was sistered to close the gap and keep the rear of the table stiff. This rear gusset was also screwed to the inner posts for strength.
	You can see more clearly in this picture the clearance necessary for the duct. The second gusset has also been installed at this point.
	In addition to gluing the plywood into the dados of the side supports, long square-drive screws were driven into countersunk holes from the outside of the side supports and into the plywood gussets. The holes were later filled with dowel stock and sanded flush. Tension was kept on the assembly by ganging clamps. You can also see a Bessey K-body clamp being used to support the end of a gusset during the “glue and screw” process.
	All five gussets are now installed and it’s time to move on to the next step--the tool support recess.
	The first piece installed is the bottom section and it completely fills the opening. This piece will serve as the base for all uses of the table system. Prior to installation, a six-to-four inch duct reducer was installed to accommodate the down-draft dust collection design. It’s important to pre-install this as cutting the circular hole would be difficult later on.
	Two side pieces are fitted to close off the recess and provide support for the table top yet to be installed.
	I purposely made the recess deep enough to more than take care of my miter saw. The MDF piece you see here is to raise the level of the base slightly so that the underside of the saw can be sealed into the dust collection system. More on that later...
	The slightly oversized 3/4" MDF top was then installed with square-drive screws into the plywood and oak under table system. A router with a flush-trim cutter was then used to remove the top from the tool recess area.
	The same router setup was used to trim the table top flush with the support system and deal with any minor variation in the same. Although not shown in these pictures, the top was wrapped with an oak edge band to protect it and give it a finished look.
	A view of the completed table prior to installation of the saw and fence system.
	Here you can see the shimming necessary to bring the top of the saw exactly level with the table top and the weather stripping to further seal the bottom of the saw for dust collection. This is important as you need to insure that the majority of the air being drawn into the duct is coming through the saw and not under it. The saw was also retrofitted with an oak “zero-clearance” insert with additional 1/4" holes to draw dust down through the machine. The combination of the down-draft collection with the standard dust port of the saws seems to get most of the chips created during a cut...but not all. I don’t think that is possible with a miter saw.
	The finished project with the temporary fence based on Incra track installed. My next project for this station is to enhance the fence with a little height and make it easily removable for flexibility when making crosscuts and dados of long stock on the table saw and so I can use the space for extra assembly space if necessary.
	One example of how I’ve enhanced the use of the miter stand is how I’ve installed threaded inserts to fasten jogs during use. Shown is my Kreig pocket-hole jig; the Leigh dovetail system is similarly accommodated.
	The “relatively final product”...only the oak banding remains to be installed in this picture. As of this writing, I'm very please with the miter system and it has worked out just as I anticipated. Without any legs to get in the way, it's easy to store additional lumber underneath as well as tools and other items.
	Close up of the miter station fence system. The 1/2" birch plywood base is removable and keyed to the table top with small dowels for exact re-alignment. The metal fence itself is channel from Incra. Because it's removable, the entire stand can be cleared for other uses.

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