Wasted $400 on a fancy miter saw stand before I learned the simple trick

I was convinced I needed that big folding stand with the rollers for my jobsite. Dropped $400 on it at Home Depot last March and honestly it was a pain to set up every time. Then I saw a guy on a job just using two cheap saw horses and a piece of plywood. He had his saw clamped down and it was rock solid. I tried it myself the next week and now I can't believe I wasted that money. Has anyone else found a cheaper setup that works better than the expensive stands?

3 comments

3 Comments

paul2512mo ago

Hold up on that plywood idea. I tried the same thing with a half inch sheet and it bowed under the saw weight after a couple weeks. You need at least 3/4 inch plywood or a solid 2x12 if you want it to stay flat. Other than that you're right, the expensive stands are mostly junk. I use a pair of cheap plastic sawhorses from Harbor Freight and a chunk of 2x12 I had laying around. Been using it for over a year now with no issues.

joseph_adams662mo ago

Wait, did you use construction grade plywood or the good stuff? Because a buddy of mine tried that exact setup with a miter saw, used some cheap OSB instead of plywood, and the whole thing sagged in the middle after like three days. He came out to the garage one morning and the saw was sitting at this weird angle. Ended up swapping it for a piece of 2x12 he found in a dumpster behind a renovation site and it's been solid for two years now. That dumpster wood is actually how I got most of my workbench too, funny enough.

nina_jenkins1mo ago

Oh man, the OSB thing is a nightmare. I tried that once with a cheap 5x8 sheet and it sagged so bad my miter saw was basically doing a permanent 2 degree tilt to the left. I ended up going with 3/4 inch birch plywood from a local lumber yard, not the big box store stuff, and I screwed two 2x4s along the bottom edges as stiffeners. It's been flat for over four years now even with a heavy 12 inch saw sitting on it. I also learned the hard way not to skimp on the cross braces underneath - just nailing them in at the corners isn't enough, you need them every 16 inches like a floor joist setup. What's your go-to for keeping a long worktop from bowing over time?