New Members: Please Introduce Yourself!

[KregRep]

Welcome to the Kreg Owners' Community!
 
This thread is the best place to introduce yourself and let other Community members get to know you. Please include your name, where you're from, your experience building with wood, why you joined this Community, and any other interesting facts about yourself. Also, feel free to share links to your blog, personal website, etc.

Once you've introduced yourself, be sure to check out Helpful Tips for New Members.

We hope that you find great use and enjoyment from the Kreg Owners' Community!

-KregRep

[Jeff D]

Greetings everyone

just stopped by to say hello and introduce myself, I am a home hobbyist living in Las Vegas, NV. I purchase my first Kreg Jig K4 Master kit with plans to build my own version of Ron Paulk's Total Workbench, I plan to build two benches 24" x 96" and put them in my garage in an L formation. I am doing a different base though since mine will be mostly stationary, I am looking to build a nice predestal base on each that have casters so if I do need to move them and place together to handle larger sheets of plywood etc I can. mostly though they will be the main focal point of my garage redo.

So, hello and look forward to learning lots here..

Jeff

[Gmar74]

Good morning everyone. I'm Glenn, from Massachusetts. I'm an unpolished woodworker with a lot to learn, but the best intentions, and basic skillset. My projects for the future will include building pantry cabinets in the kitchen, and adding storage solutions in the laundry room, like shelving and cabinetry. Never tried building cabinets before, but looking forward to seeing how they turn out. Planning for springtime install. Currently have K4 master system. Wish me luck!

[Jan W. Nahorski]

Best of luck, Gmar, I am also a newbie with the Kreg jig and am building the Kreg Work bench first. It is a learning curve and I've viewed enough Kreg Jig videos and read enough comments that said there will be some mistakes that need to be made so you can learn the lessons-I am not going to let that dissuade me though.  i will consider it a badge of honor.

[Wendy Ratcliff]

Welcome Newbies!  I'm somewhat of a 'newbie' myself having just joined the group a few months ago.  Jan, my first project was also to build my Kreg portable miter saw station (see pic).  Jan, if I had to do it over again, I would make the overhang two inches instead of just one to make clamping to the table easier.  Not a huge issue because you can also clamp to the underside of the top rail which is very strong.  Let me know if you need help Jan.

[Jan W. Nahorski]

Wendy,

What is the height from the floor to the top of the work bench and then what is the height from the top of the workbench and the cutting deck of the miter saw? Very nice!

[Wendy Ratcliff]

Jan - the height from the floor up to the top of the table is 35" and the height from the top of the table to the top of the miter saw cutting deck is 3".  The legs that come with the stand are height adjustable, but the casters are not.   You can also get a shorter leg, but that would be more for an assembly table as they are only around 15" long I think.

[Wendy Ratcliff]

Hi Jan - what I meant to say is that the legs are height adjustable, but if I had gone with the included feet instead of the casters, the height would have been about 3 inches lower.  I have the legs on the shortest assembly point, but because of the diameter of the casters - the table ends up being about 3 inches taller than it would be if one installed the included feet rather than the casters.

[Jay Boutwell]

Hi not trying to butt in but I have been in the shops for many years both as a mechanic and as a cabinet maker and a good rule of thumb is to build your bench top to be at or above the belt line as that is your center of gravity.  You want the top to be located at a height that it is comfortable to work at.  Bending over is not a good way to work for any extended period of time.  Another reason of having the height of a bench above your center of gravity is that it is safer there.  An example is a table saw where you are pushing wood through the saw blade.  This action can sometime cause you to slip and the direction would most likely be towards the saw blade.  Having the saw table at a height above your center of gravity will give you an extra measure of safety as you have the table surface to stop your fall into the blade. 

Companies build items too low for a tall guy of say 6 foot but it would be too tall for a person who is say 5' 6".

In building cabinets the rule of thumb is that kithen cabinets are standard at 36 inches finished height and bath cabinets are 32 inches. 

Building kitchen cabinets I have found that may customers are happier with heigher cabient top surfaces and especially the bath room cabinets as anyone around 6 feet tall will feel like they are standing on their head to brush their teeth or washing their face.   Since I build custom cabinets I build them to fit their height.

 

In my opinion, gained from experience,  it is best to build anything that has a level surface like a counter top is to build it to fit he person who is using it.  My table saw surface and bench tops surfaces are 38 inches.  The big router table I build is 43 inches above the floor and the one I replaced was 38 inches and I like the height much better.   My height is 6' 1".  Good luck as building benches is a great project,  Another thing is that the extra height gives you more room to build storage under the deck where it is drawers and or open shelves.

Jan W. Nahorski said:

Wendy,

What is the height from the floor to the top of the work bench and then what is the height from the top of the workbench and the cutting deck of the miter saw? Very nice!

[William McNeese]

Hello all, my name is Shane. My girlfriend and I had been talking about making some shelving around the house and one thing led to another. We live in Ooltewah, just outside of Chattanooga. After making some garage storage, we decided to make a rolling work bench. Considering I am a teacher and she is a guidance counselor, our wood working skills are definitely in the beginner stage. Even though we are learning, we are always excited to get out in the garage and work together. I am thinking the next project I am going to try and tackle will be a t.v. console, she has one in mind she pinned on Pintrest (although I say we need chairs and a table for the front and back deck). Oh well, glad I found the community website, I think it will be very helpful to read and share. Have a great day. 

[Ken Darga]

Shane,

Being a teacher, you know the importance of books.

I'd suggest perusing books; such as, wood joinery, building shelving and book cases, then onto cabinets.

Select books for the beginner, so as to learn the basics, before getting into furniture making.

Also, important is a book on "Pocket Hole Joinery".

Peruse Amazon, they offer a huge selection, and provide the necessary info to make your choice(s).

Enjoy your wood working.

It can be addictive.

[William McNeese]

Thanks Ken, I might even hit my local library for some books.

[Joseph A Ryan]

My name is Al.  I live in middle Georgia.  Have been doing woodworking on and off for awhile.  I am still in the mode where I need plans, so any projects posted with plans are always welcomed.  My latest pocket hole project.  I disassembled a cheapo curio cabinet bought years ago and rebuilt it with poplar, stained it and put the original glass back in it.  Looks great.  I also just finished building a torsion table to use as a free-standing workbench