Thread: Ideas needed for SCMS bench

The width of the lowered portion that your Kapex sits on needs to take into account the total amount of travel of the saw head at the maximum cutting angle. ie if you are set for a 45 degree cut (if that is the maximum angle), measure how far the head travels past the saw base on either side and make sure your base plate is wide enough to accomdoate this travel with out hitting the raised "wings" on either side where the long piece of timber is supported. DAMHIKT

Also, make sure your bench has enough depth to allow for the saw head travel at 90 degrees and room for dust collection at the rear.

The "average" docking bench has the in- & out-feed fences set up flush with the SCMS fence.

On my old one (which I miss sorely) I had both those fences set back by the thickness of some MDF, so I could screw on a sacrificial face. This served several purposes:

• I could screw in stop blocks without worrying about damaging the main structure. I hate using clamps as stops 'cos they always seem to creep on me. If a piece of MDF got too ratty, 'twas cheap & simple to replace.
• When cutting bowed lengths, I could set up a shortish sac. piece close to the blade and another at the far end of the timber, near the stop. This meant I could cut the end square without worrying about the bow affecting the cut. (Otherwise... if it bows to the front, the blade can jam if it pulls the board to the fence as you finish the cut. If it's bowed to the back, then the board "rocks" and you can't be sure it's square.)
• Most of the time I had the sac. pieces mounted with about 5-7mm vertical clearance from the "bed." So if any crap got caught between the timber and the fence I could still go ahead with the cut without having to eff around pulling the crap out of the way. Just laziness, but it made life easier.