Finally built myself a cart - HUGE improvement!

[KCSteve]

I had my saw mounted on a cheap stand from Harbor Freight.  It worked, but it was bit flimsy and hard to move.  I could only use certain speeds on my saw because others would resonate the stand and cause way too much vibration.  I got tired of it and made myself a cart very loosely based on the one Steve recently posted a video about.  That gentleman sells plans for his but his is for  a Dewalt and I have a Jet. I did use 3/4" plywood and drywall screws, and it sits on 3 lockable casters so the basic idea is there.  Three casters is better than four - three points will always sit nice and stable on a surface while four may not.  Two in front for stability and one in the back.  I colored the 'on' ends of the locks red to make them easier to see.

One of the first things I did after taking these pictures was upgrade my 'hunk O' 2x4' blade storage rack to the one Steve posted here:
http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2017/01/scroll-saw-blade-holder-pattern.html

At some speeds there's just enough vibration that things on the bottom shelf can walk.  The cup holder was added after my drink walked off during a long cut.  I put some shelf paper under my blade rack to hold it in place.  Other minor tweaks may come over time.

As you can see, I don't have a lot of space to work in.  I don't have a workshop, I have 'some' space in the garage (sometimes I move my car out to the driveway).  The nice thing about scrolling is that it doesn't take a lot of space.

The cart is just a rectangular base with supports front and back for the top.  The back cross piece goes all the way down to form the back of the storage area.  The front one only goes half way so I can get at the storage area from the front.  I used some scrap boards to make a few compartments.  The one in the front is for stuff I use all the time.  The one at the back bottom is for stuff I want with the saw (like the manual and such) but don't need that often.   The ever-indulgent wife bought me both the Scroller's drill and Seyco's small dust collection system.  The compartment at the back on top holds the little vacuum (that thing is scary powerful!).  There's a hole for the hose (another one you can't see gets it through the center support).  The system is designed to mount to their stand but it only took a little work to adapt it to my setup.  There is no sawdust, other than what comes off the top of the board (which is why my drink is on the left side).

The cart is so nice and solid it's actually an upgrade to my already great saw.  And, as the weather gets warmer I have the option of moving outside and giving the neighbors something new to talk about. 

Due to attachment restrictions I'll just put one/post

[KCSteve]

First side:

[KCSteve]

Second side:

[KCSteve]

Back:

[Danny]

Hey Steve....  Danny here.  Been away for some time now.  I looked at all your pictures
And Wow!  You have a Wonderful set up.  I Envy you..................Danny  :+}

[rfielder]

Very nicely done!

I take that is the 16" scroll saw?

I took a different approach to a stand for my Excalibur EX21.  Will post some photos, and will see if I can steal any of your ideas!! 

Biggest differences is that I went with drawers, and my saw is too old to have the dust collection part on the bottom of the table.

[KCSteve]

Thanks guys!

As I said in the initial post, I took the idea from the video Steve posted and edited from there.  I have the 18" Jet.
I have gone back and lowered the top by 3" - I based the height on the chair I was using then and then later went to a better chair.
I recommend getting your chair just right and comfy for all day, then figuring out where the top of your saw needs to be for comfort.  Once you know where the top goes that minus the height of your saw tells you how tall your cart is.  Don't forget to include the height of your wheels when you do the math - I think I did but I wound up cutting my cart down by just that much.

It's so nice to just roll the cart out of it's storage spot, lock the wheels, plug it in and lay down the foot pedal and be ready to cut.  Well, I also set a small table up next to me to put stuff on and arrange a trash bucket and a few other things, but really it's about 5 minutes from stored to sawing.  And just about another 5 to shut down when I'm done.

And remember - you made it, you can change it if you want.

[Rodney]

KCSteve, very nice setup. And thanks so much for posting pics. It gave me some ideas for my cart.

I started with a WEN just sitting on a bench top. I had to keep pulling the saw back into place as the vibration would cause it to dance one way or the other. I built a basic stand but only had half inch plywood for the top. This seemed to magnify the vibration but at least it didn't dance away as I sawed. I found a large slab of two inch material, cut it to size and used it for the top. Now there is hardly any vibration at all. As I said in another post, properly mounted the WEN could actually pass the nickle test.

But seeing your shelves and cubbies, it has given me ideas to add to my cart making it more useful. I use a shop vac with a homemade cyclone system that works very well but places to store blades, tools, etc. would be great.

Thanks again for the ideas.