It seemed like there were a few people here interested in my sawbuck build, so I took a bunch of pics to document the process. It still needs a couple finishing touches; I'll be rounding over all the sharp corners and putting some stain on it tonight. I took a couple different ideas I liked, and designed it to suit my needs. The "crotch" sits 2' from the ground, to match the height of my wood trailer: that way I can just slide the logs off the trailer, onto this, and chop away. I offset the center legs, and "built in" the firewood dimensions I commonly use: the short side is 18"OC, my preferred length, which can fit N/S in my stove; and the long side is 24"OC, which just barely fits E/W. I used half-lap joinery for extra strength. It's pretty rigid even without any fasteners - once it's glued and screwed, you'll be able to land a jumbo jet on this thing. You can see a couple mistakes I made here, that I didn't discover until the dry fit. I located the original hole in the wrong spot, and also I needed to make a relief notch in order to allow it to fold closed. So, onto the build. My chop saw station makes quick work of cutting the blanks to finish length: All layout lines plotted: To be continued (can't attach any more pics to this post).
Here I'm making a setup gauge so I can easily dial in a perfect 30 degree angle on my machines: Here's one of the trickier cuts I needed to make - the angled shoulder cut for the top rail. The top rail is beveled so the legs get full bearing against it while open. I wanted to make it on the radial arm, but the arm wouldn't lift high enough, so I had to do it on the table saw. Next step is cutting the dadoes. Couple hour session at the radial arm, with a 1/2" dado stack. Made a couple tall fences, made a fresh cut through them, and use that to position stop blocks for repeatable cuts.
Bore some holes at the drill press: Making a couple decorative cuts at the table saw. This Incra miter gauge is handy - I think I paid around $150 for it, on sale from Rockler, and it's worth every penny. It's super accurate - has a detente at every 1 degree, and a vernier cursor to dial in 1/10s of degrees. I was even able to use it as a tapering jig. That's it so far. I'll post some action shots this weekend.
Thanks! Most of my machines are refurbished CL scores, "souped up" with my own enhancements . I had a lot of fun building it. Haven't spent much time in the shop lately; I've been doing a lot of stuff outside. Almost forgot about the thrill of watching that wood just melt away into sawdust adjacent to my layout lines.
That was one of the best pic tutorials I have ever seen. You also have a nice work area and some great looking shop tools.
Lookin good Shawn I think the Radial Arm is the best tool for half laps. I like the Incra fences ,I have a 6ft one on the chop saw station , one on a router table ,a incra drill press table, and miter gauge
I'd like to replace the rip fence on the tablesaw. It stays put when you clamp it down, but the back end can wander from parallel. I have it adjusted so that it lines up nice when I push forward on the clamp end, but it's a pain in the neck. I've been drooling over the Incra TS-LS, but it's twice as much as I paid for the entire saw! I may go with a Vega Pro, unless I upgrade to a new TS first and send this one back to CL land.
I thought about a Incra table saw fence system, but I think a good T square fence is the best way to go. You could always clamp a block to the table in back for real sensitive cuts or rig up something better. Some T square fences have an add on you can buy to clamp down the back. I had a Vega fence they are good solid fences. Jet makes a good solid t-square fence. The Accu fence that came on my model 66 is solid, no flex. There's a lot of good solid fences to be had but none of them are cheap
The fence doesn't have any play when it's locked down, just when you adjust it side to side. The biggest problem I have is the way the motor mounts to it: kind of prohibits me from building a proper out feed table. There may be some more "old arn" in my future. An old PM66 or Unisaw could make a nice winter project.
I know what you mean some fences have nylon set screws in the front to adjust for that. I made a outfeed table for my contractor saw I had, now I just a have a short extension and then my main router table at the same height and sits right behind the table saw. I have seen some good unisaws at a decent price on cl
So I put all the finishing touches on and gave her a test drive - works great. I'm going to post those pics, along with pics of today's haul in a bit. Here are the remainder of the pics from the build. Here is my sketch of the plans: (PS - these are slightly wrong/incomplete - I can sketch up another version if anyone is interested in using this design) Setting the height of the router bit - used a 1/4 inch roundover bit to match the roundover on the 2x4s: Couple glamour shots of my Norm Abrams deluxe router station. Built this in March/April: Here's what I ended up with: Setting up to do some final sanding: Assembly: glue and screws into predrilled holes, because that's What Norm Would Do. Used Gorilla Glue: it's very strong, and waterproof (actually needs moisture to cure); and 2 1/4" screws. And here she is:
Job well done!! I wish I had the skills needed to pull this off! Very well built. Love your router table as well! Awesome! !
Turned out great Shawn I am heading out right now to try and make one outta cedar rails MIGHT post a picture when i'm done.
Man that thing puts my sawbuck to shame! Mines made out of old ratty looking PT 4x4s and 2x6s. Looks great I think I mentioned this last time I saw it but be careful cutting near the bolts. Ask me how I know
OK No laughing The next one i make will have a little more thought into it. Taking it out to its new home in the woods after lunch.
