Rockler Band Saw & Scroll Saw Cart
In the fall of 2022, I decided that I wanted to get myself another band saw for making mostly curved cuts, so that I could dedicate my larger saw for only resawing and other straight cuts. The curve-cutting band saw would not need to be a full-sized one as that simply wasn’t necessary, plus I didn’t have the room for that anyway.
In addition to the smaller band saw, I had an upcoming Christmas project that would necessitate cutting sharp curves and making cuts in the middle of pieces, something the band saw simply can’t do. That would mean getting a scroll saw.
For the small band saw, I opted for the Rikon 10-3061. I already have this saw’s big brother, the Rikon 10-326, and I’m very happy with it. As for the scroll saw, it’s been ages since I used one, and that was a bit of a budget Craftsman machine my dad had some 30 years ago. I wanted to make sure I got something that would make scrolling fun and mostly take the guesswork out of setup. I opted for the Pegas 21” scroll saw. It was a bit pricey, but based on what I could find for reviews of this machine, it was well worth the money. Once I’d used it the first couple of times on some scrap material, those reviews turned out to be correct.
I needed some kind of small shop cart to house these two machines. I have limited workshop floor space, so I used my existing garage Sketchup drawing to figure out what I could do. I had a bit more room than I figured…NICE.
My plan from the get-go was to use nothing but scraps from around the shop for this project, but I simply didn’t want to make another set of cabinets. My previous attempts at all-plywood shop cabinets haven’t turned out the best. I decided to go the same route as the previous year’s workshop cabinets…Rockler shop stands.
By the time this particular project came about, the shop stand parts I’d previously used had been replaced with Rockler’s new Rock-Steady Shop Stands instead. It was the same basic principle (custom-sized shop stands), but they were redesigned a bit to allow better functionality/flexibility with their construction.
I was going with a smaller height of 24” for this cart (which included some 5” locking casters). For the top, I was figuring 2’ D x 4’ W would be perfect. The 16” legs would be my best choice, along with the 20” and 44” stretchers.
One other nice upgrade with these shop stands were the center support brackets for use with longer stretchers. One thing about my older Rockler shop stands is that the really long stretchers have a tendency to defelct a bit without any added support. These brackets would address that problem…PERFECT!!!
In addition, Rockler now had much better drawer/shelf brackets meant for mounting drawer slides to the shop stands. The stand I designed had room for two pairs of small drawers for storing the saws’ accessories.
Because I simply didn’t have enough materials (or room), I opted to forego installing back and bottom panels on this cart. Just the two sides would be enough to prevent tons of dust from getting inside the drawers. With plans for the cart to sit against a wall most of the time, a back isn’t really necessary anyway. Plus, it’s mostly going to be replacement saw blades in the drawers…not exactly worried about any dust getting on them.
When it came time to install the drawer brackets, I was reminded of a few of the reviews from Rockler’s website. Users stated that the brackets simply would not fit into place with a shop stand that was already tightened down. I went through the motions and noticed the same problem. The drawer brackets were just a shade too long for the stand (about 1/16” or so).
I decided to loosen ALL of the nuts on the legs and stretchers and give it another try. The drawer brackets were able to fit in nicely, with little to no play, and I was then able to square the shop stand and tighten everything back down again. A simple note of this in the brackets’ instructions would have been nice, but it’s something that any user should be able to figure out in the end.
The drawers were nothing special. I made my usual pocket screw drawers with dadoes for the 1/4” bottoms. I didn’t glue anything together as it simply wasn’t necessary. These drawers are NOT going to be loaded with much of anything.
When it came to the drawer faces, I needed to make a small modification to them so they would close flush against the frame of the this cart. I simply cut a shallow 1/4” wide grove into the inside portion of each drawer face, and this accommodated the legs and center braces.
After installing the same drawer pulls I’ve used throughout my shop already, this simple project was complete.
The top is made from a combination of a piece of scrap 3/4” plywood and 3/4” MDF. The MDF came from the Rockler Table Saw & Router Cabinet I made in the summer of 2021. I needed to change out the casters on that cart for larger ones and the MDF had to be removed as, even with its adjustable top, it was simply too tall. The MDF was only slightly bigger than this new cart needed, so only a small bit required trimming.
I’m quite happy with this project. It only took a couple of days to complete, and its function is perfect. It sits against the wall when not in use, and when it’s time to use the scroll saw, I simply pull that side of the cart out from the wall so I can pull up my stool and start scrolling. Unless I’m working on a long piece on the band saw, I don’t have to move the cart at all, really.
The height of the scroll saw may change in the future. I’m debating on adding a small riser to it, but for now it’s not needed. My shop stool seems to be at a good height for where the scroll saw is currently.
I don’t have either saw secured to the table top at this point. If vibrations seem to be a problem, causing them to move, I’ll address that issue at that time.
***UPDATE: June 2024***
Well, that didn’t last very long. After using this cart for a little over a year, I decided that I wasn’t all that fond of it. With having to move the one side of the cart away from the wall to use the scroll saw, I might as well just have the saw on its own dedicated stand so that I could move it around the shop wherever I want. Also, I wasn’t all that keen on sitting in its specific location while scrolling to begin with. The small Rikon band saw is pretty much fine where it is, but having this cart JUST for that wouldn’t make much sense and I can’t afford the space.
Instead, I decided to go with a Rockler mobile base hardware option for both of them. As for a stand for each one, I simply bought the specific stand designed for each saw (Rikon and Pegas). Both stands were easy enough to assemble, and the mobile bases were simple as well.
As for the things stored in the drawers, there wasn’t a whole lot there to begin with. The band saw things I can simply store below the big band saw, and I might make a simple shelf for the scroll saw stand to hold the blades and manuals.
As for the old cart, I took it apart and stored the parts on one of the long-term storage racks on this same wall (above the wood storage). Should I need them in the future (or I change my mind again), they’ll be relatively close by.
