A welded base provides tons of strength for a versatile platform.
My shop is a 1224-square-foot, one-car garage. I have worked hard to maximize every square foot of this space and create a shop that I love to spend time in. I’ve been working in this area for just over a year. Recently, I made major layout changes with a new miter station.
The purpose of the change was to find a place on one of the long walls, preferably in the middle of my shop, for my jointer. It was the last large powertool that didn’t have a home. For the last year, Ive parked it against the garage door, and I had to drag it out to the middle of the shop when I needed a decent amount of infeed and outfeed space. That process wasnt awful, but one that I dreaded enough that I wasnt using my jointer for quick tasks because of the hassle. My solution was to park the jointer under my miter station.
I created a cantilevered stand to allow my jointer slide under the miter stations for storage, and then back out under the miter stations into my long walking path through my shop. I have at least 8 of infeed and outfeed by placing the jointer in this location. After researching available options for cantilevered worktables, I decided to build my own.
I sketched out the design for the stand in a few minutes based on some measurements of my jointer and the miter station top that I already had on hand. With wood stock less than 8×8 cm I would not have been able to build the frame I wanted in the way I wanted. It would have made the frame bulkier and taken up more space. So I made a quick decision to use tube steel. Ive used 5 cmx5 cm before and liked the aesthetic of it. Because I use flux core wire in my MIG setup, I prefer to use 1/20cm wall material. That gives the tube enough meat that I wont easily blow through the material, and theres plenty of material to feather in any welds that need extra grinding. A shop project is a great opportunity to learn welding skills.
Exploded view and cut list at bottom of article.
Totally Tube Frame Cantilevered frames are usually very simple. These frames are essentially a regular table, with the front legs being pushed toward the rear. Some forgo the four legs and will use a wide piece of material in their place. The front of the table acts like a lever on the legs so it must be strong. Ive seen commercially available cantilevered tables for as low as and for more than I am happy to report that the steel for this project clocked in at just north of A bargain for a custom tool stand that will accommodate my needs perfectly. There are many metal suppliers in my area that will sell individual items and provide cutting services at a nominal fee. Although online vendors can do the same thing, shipping can be expensive.
For this project, I purchased two full pieces of 5 cmx5 cm tube with a 1/20 cm wall thickness. A full piece of stock from the supplier is 24 pieces. I decided to have the stock cut to 420 cm pieces for this project so I could take it with me on my lunch break. Youll also need some 5 cm wide flat stock-I had some leftover from my last build.
I had my stock rough cut to 420 cm sections. This was convenient for transport and an acceptable rough size for the project.
Start with the Feet
The bottom feet and the horizontal top supports receive a 45 cap on the front end for aesthetic purposes. The idea is to relieve some of the chunkiness of the tube frame. Both the top supports and feet measure 61 cm in length. You should therefore fit all four parts into two sticks of precut, 425 cm stock. I made the angled cut on my cold cut miter saw and then cut flat stock for the caps to
Capping the square tube is not necessary but it makes it look much better. Heres the cap, the part with the 45 cut and the finished product.
Every edge that will be welded should be ground down. The caps are likened to sitting on top of the angled cut. After the cap has been welded on, it will take a lot of grinding to get everything in place. If I had cut my cap to fit within the tube, there would have been less grinding. But with the 5 cm flat stock on hand, I decided to put it to use.
Tack the top corners of the cap and then quickly tack the bottom two corners. If you allow the top tacks to cool before the bottom of the cap is tacked on the cap will pull up as the tack welds contract. This issue should be addressed when assembling the frame.
As I was welding the caps together, I discovered that thicker beads were best for the top & bottom. This was to compensate for the angles of the surfaces. Because there isn’t much space for other things, the sides of the cap require a smaller bead. You should be careful about what you grind when you grind the welds.
Grinding welds can be dangerous. You can easily grind the surrounding areas once the weld has been flattened. Your part will look terrible after the paint is applied.
Here I am working the bead until it is flush with the tube.
Its easy to get carried away and to attempt to make everything smooth, only to find out you changed the shape of the whole front of the tube. Focus your grinding on the bead itself and work it down until you are essentially flush with the surface of the tube. You can then gently smoothen everything together.
Tap Your Levelers
You’ll quickly learn drilling and tapping when you begin working with metal. For the leveling feet, I am using standard 1/10 cmx20 boltsnothing fancy. Taps are paired with a specific drill size. This is a #7 drill. This drill bit is closest to the size of a #7 but will still work in a pinch, especially in an application such as this. Make sure you drill the pilot hole for your tap as close as possible to the workpiece when drilling. A drill press is ideal, but I did it with a hand drill.
A 1/10 cmx20 tap and #7 drill bit. These are often sold as a pair, but if you lose the bit, you can use a 13/163 cm bit in place of the #7.
You will quickly get a good feel for drilling holes in metal tubes. I mark my location with a center punch because unlike drilling in wood, your bit will wander before it engages with the material. Once you are fully engaged with the drill bit, you can progress quickly, but there will be feedback in the hand drill as the bit nears the backside of the tube. Itll almost feel like the material starts to give and thats when I back off of the downward pressure and punch through slowly.
With the hole drilled, you can start tapping. Add a little oil to the tap’s tip and begin tapping slowly. The tip of the tap has a small amount of cutting surface, widening as you move deeper into the tap. The tap should be kept as parallel to the work as you can. It is easy for the tap to pull to one end and create threads that are 90 degrees off.
Tapping by hand is slower but has a lower chance of the tap cracking. Taps can be difficult to remove if they are broken in the middle of a cut. After some practice, you will be able to run a tap in a hand drill.
Make sure that the chips are broken every turn when the tap is run through the pilot hole. A short counterclockwise movement will cause the chip forms on the cutting edge of the tap to break off.
Leg Assembly
Cut the next four pieces of your leg assembly, two 91 cm sections for each side. This project was completed on a small folding welding bench. You can clamp the feet or the top supports if your work table is not flat. This will ensure that everything is square. I really appreciate the quick action of the Bessey lever clamps for this work, theres very little metal in their construction and theyre bite is ridiculously powerful. Once engaged, your work isnt going anywhere.
Make sure to fix each corner where the supports and legs meet. I once heard that you can think of this process akin to tightening lug nuts. You want to move around the work in a star pattern. If you tack everything on one side, youll end up warping the frame and youll have to grind every tack off and start over.
I didn’t cap the backs of the feet or the top supports. These will never be seen when the miter stand is backed against a wall.
A tack weld will pull as it cools. This is what happens if your part is not tacked correctly or you don’t use strong clamps.
A full weld is not necessary on every single edge. For this frame, I didn’t weld the corners. This allows for a clean corner, and you are not compromising the strength of this stand.
After you’ve got each piece glued together, it’s time to grind the welds off each leg. You can repeat the process, but you might need to feather your grind into the radius at the tube’s side to get a cleaner look.
Avoiding inside corners is one way to save time and create a clean looking joint. These welds havent had the flux chipped off yet, but the inside corners are visible. The bead should be carried all the way around the corner.
When you apply your paint, pay attention to how your feathering and sculpture looks.
StretchersIts unlikely that your welding table will be big enough to bring the final assembly together, time to move to the floor. If you are able to, make sure that youre only working on one slab and not across an expansion joint. You will need to move your ground clamp to the part you are working on when you work on the ground.
Both legs standing on their own. It’s time to attach the stretchers.
Wrapping your beads across all four sides would be nice, but two full sides are enough for this build.
The upper stretcher sits flush with the top of the stand and is 112 cm long. I used a clamp below the stretcher to support the weight while putting the tacks welds on. Again, as long as you have full beads on at least two sides, youll be in good shape.
The ground’s bottom is 15 cm above the stretcher. This will provide the necessary rigidity for the miter station.
Final Touches
Once youve degreased the stand, you can spray the frame with a can of spray paint. A simple rattle can works well on tube steel. Add your 1/10 cmx20 bolts to the feet and make sure the frame sits level. I drilled straight through the two-inch tube to attach the miter station worktop to the frame. If you have a solid wood benchtop, you may want to create larger holes in the frame to allow for wood movement or weld tabs to the inside of the top supports. Then, you can get to work on kitting out the top.
The finished stand, freshly painted. Now its time to work on the platform, drawers and whatever other storage you want to include.
My first iteration of this stand was just my miter saw on a benchtop. Eventually, I added supports on either side, flush with the surface of my miter saw. I noticed empty space in those supports and added drawers. I found a lot of space behind the mitersaw, so I enclosed it and added ports for dust collection. Then, I made a series shelves.
It’s plywood, butt joints, and screws, just like good shop furniture. This small space can hold a lot of utility. I was able to put a solid base in place. My jointer is easy to use and takes only a few minutes to slide out.
Planning Your Saw Station
Cantilevered steel bases are the real key to this miter-saw station. This was the key to unlocking the design: the ability to store both a jointer or a mitersaw in one spot and make them both easily-accessible.
Building the cubbies, drawers and shelves on top of the stand are what took this idea from good to great. Its also very specific to my needs in the shop, the footprint of my 15 cm jointer and my specific miter saw.
Before you get out the welder, think about your needs. More storage is almost always useful, but pay special attention to what youre actually going to be storing. Maybe more drawers make sense for you, maybe you only need open shelves. Perhaps you would like doors on your shelves. And if you change your mind later, removing some screws and making modifications isnt the end of the world.
Shop projects like these really push my design skills, and often Im iterating and designing as I go. Maybe thats why some of my favorite builds are from scrap sheet goods and cutoffs. Building shop furniture is one the most rewarding activities for a woodworker. If my wife asked, I said that I had to finish this piece so I could start building the next piece.
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