Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Woodworking for Wargamers: Miter Saw Bench Change of Plans, Post 6

 The more observant of you may notice that the Miter Saw bench is a good bit shorter than last time.  In fact it's reduced from 96 inches long to just 50 inches (I think that's like 9,278 mm's for you metrics out there - or close to it...)

Why the radical change?  At 96 inches the bench would "just" fit into the space I allocated for it but would be hard to maneuver in and out.  Rather then contend with hard to move beast, I decided to shorten the bench so it pops in and out easily - kind of like a sports car.  The tradeoff for ease of use is more build complexity as I need to add some foldable arms on each end to support longer stock.

A note on shop organization - I'm awful at it.  Look how cluttered my assembly table has gotten in a few days.  It's a mess and makes finding things hard - especially tape measurers which appear to burrow under the debris to hide.

So do as I say and not as I do when it comes to shop organization.

Newly Discovered Youtube Channel

RedneckDIY - This guy reminds me of home (I grew up in the deep south of America).  What I really like is his pace - it's deliberate but really informative.  A lot of woodworking you tubers skip over some of the tedious details - this guy really walks you through them.  The out-takes at the end of each video are fun to watch also.  The presenter made a three part set of videos on a miter saw sled which maybe the inspiration for my shortened one.  A note of caution here - he can sometimes be a bit coarse, not really vulgar but not always prim and proper Yankee style talk.

One last point - why build a workbench as part of a series called "woodworking for wargamers"?  Well a couple reasons:
- I needed one (that's a pretty good reason)
- The most important tool in a workshop is the bench so learning to build one is a very good starting point
- It's just a workbench, so doesn't have to look like heirloom furniture
- There's not that much difference between a top end game table and a work bench structurally




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