Miter saws can be used in a woodworking shop as a permanently installed tool or on the jobsite as a portable or semi-portable unit. I will discuss the construction of miter saw tables appropriate to both types of installations. The purpose of a miter saw table is two-fold: (1) to elevate the saw to a comfortable working height for the operator and (2) to provide a surface to the left and/or right of the saw for the extension of the fence and to provide support for long materials while being cut. If you have ever tried to cut a 45-degree miter at one end of a 2 x 6 x 12, you know why a miter saw table or roller stand is absolutely required.

Very often, miter saws are used to make repetitive cuts of the same length. Some sort of saw stop comes in handy and greatly speeds production time for this sort of application. A saw stop must mount to something to hold it in place, usually a fence. You can make your own fence out of a very straight piece of wood or metal or you can do as I did and purchase a commercially available moveable stop that slides along an aluminum track that includes a stick-on measuring tape.

PERMANENT SAW TABLE FOR SHOP USE

Since I buy lumber in lengths up to 14 feet long, I decided to build a very long miter saw table in my woodworking shop Dewalt vs Makita. You may not have the physical space for this in your shop so you may have to reduce my measurements accordingly. The longer you can build it, the better off it will be for you but any length of saw table is better than no table at all. My miter saw table measures 8 Feet to the left of the saw blade and another 8 feet to the right of the saw blade. This way, I can support the full length of a sheet of plywood on either side.