Posts Tagged carpentry

For this project, I built a miter-saw table and work-station in the barn. The miter-saw table has a long counter top to the left and right of the saw, level with the work-surface of the miter saw. This allows long boards to be cut on the miter saw without having to fuss with any additional support. The counters double as work-surfaces.

Materials:

• Sheet of 4×8′ plywood, with a veneer top so it looks and feels nice. I
• 2×4x104 5/8″ studs – 8x
• 3″ coarse-thread drywall screws – many

Tools:

• Ryobi BTS21 table saw
• DEWALT DW716 Miter Saw
• Carpenter’s Square
• Black & Decker 18-volt Drill
• Irwin Industrial Tools 12-Inch Quick-Grip Bar Clamp
• 48-Inch Level
• Black and Decker 18-volt Jigsaw (link is to the corded version)
• Two sawhorses (homemade, no link)

Above, you can see a photo of the finished project. I didn’t take many build photos, but the process is basically the same as the work-counter I documented previously. For this one, I didn’t use the technique of screwing a 1×2 to the wall as a level guide. Instead, I set the framed counter top onto a pair of adjustable-height sawhorses and pressed it against the wall where it was to be affixed. I made sure that one end of the countertop frame was at the right height and put a screw through it into the wall. Then I set a 4′ level on the frame and adjusted the other end until the back of the countertop was level. Then I put in another screw so that both ends were attached. Now that the counter top was level side-to-side, I put some more screws in across the back side to complete the attachment of the counterotp to the wall.

I took the sawhorses out from underneath the counter top frame and used a clamp to attach the front of the frame to the side of the sawhorse. This gave me some up-and-down leeway to adjust the front-to-back level of the counter. I moved the clamps up and down until the counter was level front-to-back.

Once I had the counter frame affixed to the wall and level, I measured and cut the legs. I would rather have used vertical legs, because they would be stronger than diagonal legs, but the floor in the barn is simply sheets of plywood over wooden joists. As a result, its’ got a lot of flex, which would compromise the counter’s level. Additionally, the plywood may need to be replaced some day, and I don’t want to be pulling out the counter’s legs when I do it. diagonal legs will allow me to connect back to the floor joist that’s against the wall. This will provide more support than a piece of plywood floor, and will mean that I can replace the floor if I need to without tearing apart the counters.

I put the 4′ level in place where a leg would go and used an angle-measurement tool to determine that the leg would be at a 23 degree angle from the vertical. This was actually the same angle as my basement work-counter. Mental note: counters of approximately 24″ deep at heights of approximately 33-35″ have a miter of about 23 degrees on their legs. That could come up again! I mitered the end of a 2×4 to that angle and then set it in place. I then used the top surface of the table’s frame as a straight-edge to mark where to cut the 2×4 off to make the leg. This method was crude, but it avoided any complicated measuring, and ensured that each leg was a perfect fit. I actually cut the top end of the leg a little short, to keep it from protruding above the table’s top and deforming the plywood.

I screwed the legs of the counter into the floor joist on the bottom and clamped them to the frame at the top. This being done, I removed the sawhorses so that the countertop frame was entirely resting on the legs. I double-checked the level and then screwed the legs to the countertop frame and removed the clamps.

Finally, I cut the plywood to size using the table saw and affixed it to the counter top frame.

Above, you can see the miter saw in its station. The miter saw’s work-surface is exactly 3.5″ above its base, which is the height of a 2×4, making it easy to align the work-surface with the two countertops to the left and right. It’s almost as if they designed it that way! The miter saw has two sets of mounting holes, one for larger bolts and one for smaller screws. I have bunches of 3″ drywall screws, so that’s what I used.

Just behind the miter saw, to the left, you can see the 6×6 vertical building support that got in the way of the left-hand counter. The counter top has been cut out to allow the 6×6 to pass through. Rather than try to build the frame of the counter around the 6×6, I simply attached the counter to the wall just to the left of it and then left an extra 12″ or so of plywood hanging off the right side of the counter top, so that the plywood would come up against the left edge of the miter saw. I cut out an opening for the 6×6 with a jigsaw and then put in just enough 2×4 framing to support the end of the plywood that hung off of the counter top. This meant that working around the 6×6 could be done in an entirely cosmetic manner, since the structure of the counter was already secure.

In the photo above, you can see how I attached the miter saw station to the two counters. I simply screwed a couple of lengths of 2×4 to the underside of the counter, one for the front of the saw and one for the back. My 3″ screws wouldn’t go all the way through a 3.5″ 2×4, so I mitered the ends of the boards at a 50 degree angle (the max angle for my saw) to give me a few inches of board where a 3″ screw would penetrate into the counter above. I drove two screws in from beneath at each attachment point, and then drove a third screw in for good measure. The boards were a little too easy to twist, so I put some cross-pieces in, running front-to-back, for good measure.