Rockler Workshop Review
It’s been a VERY long journey from the start of these three projects until the finish, and I’m still not completely done (trim is still needed, but not a functional necessity, really). I started this trio of projects in the beginning of March and, here it is, the middle of July, and I’ve FINALLY finished the last one, the Rockler Miter Saw Station.
While I didn’t have to build everything from the ground up with any of these projects, it was still a lot of work, starting with the design of everything. Basing every off of the Rockler Customizable Shop Stands took a lot of the guess work out of some things.
***NOTE: Rockler has since done a redesign of their customizable shop stands and made some improvements (one being addressing the sagging issue with the longer stretchers). The new stands can be found here.
Not everything went according to plan, which was no different than pretty much every project. The 60” metal stretchers were actually an inch shorter than anticipated, necessitating altering some measurements. This didn’t turn out to be a huge deal, but it could have been had my tolerances been a lot tighter.
Another unknown consequence of using the long 60” rails was the fact that they deflected when subjected to a larger load. This was first noticed on the Rockler Workbench once the planer and sander were attached to their respective drawers. It was a simple enough fix with the addition of a couple of leveling feet that I already had on hand. Knowing that this might be a problem with the subsequent projects, I was prepared to address them when they arose.
Along those same lines, I did not anticipate the long 60” stretchers that support the top of the miter saw station to suffer from the same problem (I should have, but I didn’t). Given that I had already installed the drawers, this presented a bit more of a complicated problem. After sleeping on it, it wound up being a fairly simple fix.
The Rockler Workbench, aside from the deflecting stretchers, went together fairly easily and somewhat quickly (aside from my two-week bout with shingles causing a delay). The same can be said for the Rockler Table Saw & Router Cabinet. The most difficult part of that project was the router bit drawer and its construction. Even the top, and its unorthodox setup, wasn’t to difficult or time-consuming. Actually, when I think about it, the most time-consuming thing on the table saw & router cabinet were the three vertical drawers. Overall, though, I just took my time and they came together quite nicely.
By far the most drawn out project was the Rockler Miter Saw Station. It was no surprise that it would take longer than the other two projects combined. It was a far larger build, and a lot more complicated. I made a couple of errors during the design phase which caused some small hiccups with the drawers for the 36” stand and the need for a different-sized set of drawer slides.
The right-side stand, which housed the drill press, was definitely a pain in the ass. Nothing seemed to go correctly when doing that portion of the build. Eventually, I got it all sorted out and the upper cabinets and open storage were not much of an issue, aside from my gaffe when doing the large upper drawer faces.
The miter saw shelf/dust hood was the part that showed my lack of forethought when designing the miter station as a whole. I neglected to factor in moving the saw to the furthest extents of making miters and I cannot do that now. Again, I rarely make mitered cuts on this saw, so it wasn’t too big of a deal.
Overall, despite the length of time spent on all three projects as a whole, I’m very happy with the end results. I got much better at construction and installation of drawers and drawer faces. This was partly due to taking the extra time to ensure everything was as square and straight as possible, and largely due to the use of my crosscut sleds (those were the best jigs I’ve ever built for my shop). I was able to have continuous grain throughout all of the drawer faces (minus the one error). Also, I got to brush on a finish for the first time too, but I definitely need some work in that area.
The thing I’m most proud of was my ability to think on my feet to solve an unexpected problem, like the sagging stretchers. In the past, that might have frustrated me to the point of giving up. This time, I simply took a step back and looked at the problem a little more closely until the solution presented itself.
Another important thing I learned was my limit as to how far I can push myself in a single day. I really overdid it on the day I did all of the drawer faces for the miter saw station, and it showed with the errors I made. I’m 44 years old now (2021). I’m, by no means, an old man, but I’m no longer a young man either. On top of that, I need to be cognizant of how hard I work myself. While my MS is in a good place right now and I’m not suffering from any long-lasting effects of fatigue, that could change at any time, and I need to be prepared for that.
Aside from the few small hiccups I’ve mentioned, the projects came together almost as planned. The flip-top drawers for the planer and sander were my favorite, as they worked EXACTLY as envisioned. Most importantly, I removed two carts from the shop footprint, while increasing the amount of storage space with all of the added drawers in the Rockler Workbench and Rockler Miter Saw Station.
I’m glad that I’m finally done with these projects. The trim will eventually get applied, but not for a little while (I’ve got a different take on how to attach it that I’m still working on). In the meanwhile, I’m going to bask in the aftermath of a job well done. After three-and-a-half months of working on the same things over and over, I’m going to take a bit of a break from the shop. Once I’m done resting, I’ll be starting on the handful of Christmas presents I’ve got slated for this year. I know it’s kind of early for that, but I don’t want to wait too long, just in case I have any major setbacks (me…NEVER).
