Miter saw station length

[Marc Prudhomme]

Hello gentlemen and Ladies,
I am going to slap together a miter saw station for my rigid CMS.It will be going up against my wall in the basement.I figure I have about 8ft of length I can part with.I am debating if I should center the saw to get 4ft on both sides or offset it to the right about 2ft.
Decisions ,Decisions.
Any Advice or pointers would be apreciated.
Marc

[Jim O'Dell]

How do you normally cut? Do you keep your good wood to the right or left of the blade? I'd probably have more platform to the side of the keeper piece if I was limited to 8' of space. You might want to make this mobile so you can pull it away from the wall if you have something longer you need to cut. My multistation cabinets where my future SCMS will reside when using it is a 36" opening with 120" of shallow cabinet on either side of the opening. Jim.

[Jim Becker]

My miter station (which I only use for rough cut down of boards) is 8' long, but I have space on either side for "overhang". A lot of material I buy is at about 10' in length for some reason, so the extra space is quite useful. If you are limited to 8' total, I'd certainly consider offsetting the saw to the right for a little more flexibility.

[Marc Prudhomme]

Jim ,I will have at least 4 ft of room on either side,I was just wondering if there would be any other advantages for extra table lenghth on one side

My miter station (which I only use for rough cut down of boards) is 8' long, but I have space on either side for "overhang". A lot of material I buy is at about 10' in length for some reason, so the extra space is quite useful. If you are limited to 8' total, I'd certainly consider offsetting the saw to the right for a little more flexibility.

[glenn bradley]

I use Ridgid's MSUV which goes on sale for $99 off and on. It is generally against the wall as you describe but can be moved out to accommodate long boards on either side quite easily. Another advantage is if I am not doing a lot of x-cutting for awhile it folds up into a footprint about 2' x 2'.

[Jon Bonham]

Normally, with a miter saw, you're "handed". I'm left handed, so I mostly work with the material on the right side of the saw. I'm just finished putting up the carcasses and top for the miter saw bench from NYW (my own version, ended up not buying the plans). I actually had about 13' to work with, so I went 5' left, 3' in the middle where the saw resides and 5' to the right. I also have about 4' past the table on the left where I can overhang even longer material.

[Lee Koepke]

I just finished mine ( will send pics soon )

i have dedicated 6' to the left .. 3' for the saw ... 4' to the right. I have the ability to extend that about 3 more feet on either side.