Workshop opinions please (long)

Re: Workshop opinions please (long)

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>I have less than 30" and I'm fine. If you store stuff under your bench you need enough room to comfortably crouch and put it away without banging your back when you stand up. In a small shop lumber storage becomes the biggest problem. I quite often am forced to pile it up in the middle of the shop for larger purchases.

Re: Workshop opinions please (long)

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>Mike,

I'm afraid that we really won't be able to help you much with your delimma, especially without pictures, but even then probably not.

Setting up a shop is so very unique to each and every individual. Small things such as where the lights are, what type of lights are they, where the outlets are.......(for the coffee pot guys, for the coffee pot, sheesh) how do the shop doors swing, in, or out, wheres's this, where's that etc, etc, etc, etc, etc,.

All I can say is what I've experianced and done.

I've been trying to set my shop up for 18 months now. My workbench has been in three differnt locations, same with drill press, bandsaw, lathe.

Recently I acquired two new tools, one was a disk sander that I cobbled together, and the other was a benchtop sized, homemade bandsaw. I built rolling cabinet for each one, and filled them with drawers. I had x amount of space between the end of my bench and the opposing wall so that dictated the deminisions of the cabinets. Along the walls I have hung up plywood to hang tools off of all in an effoert to "make space".

Just today I was looking about for more space and have decided to to make a rolling cabinet to put my 14" bandsaw on and fill it with drawers, and to shorten the post of my floor model drill press to make it a little taller than a bench top model, and put it on a rolling cabinet, filled with drawers.

I also fiqured out a way to relocate the 3 plastic junk drawers that I on top of my workbench so that I can stow my bench planes there instead. Than, if I make the drawers beneath my workbench half as wide again of what they are I can greatly increase their storage capacity. I'll just go from having 12 drawers to 6, but that's alright as the 6 will give me more drawer space than the 12 do.

I've been giving my water heater the "evil eye" lately as well because it is taking up entirely to much real estate.

Bottom line is that there is no "right way" so to speak. Given the space and tools that you have, and trying to fiqure in a bit of future acqusitions try to set up so that you have what is known as a "working triange" the best you can.

Reminds me of the Seinfield episode where George said that if he put one more bit of paper in his wallet it would explode, and at the end of the show as he was walking across the busy city street on a windy day, he did, and it did.

Hope this helps.

Todd O.

Re: Workshop opinions please (long)

Chris Knight

>Don't put your face vise closer to the the wall than about two feet if you can help it. You may want to joint with a #7 or #8 and coming off the end of your wood you will hit the wall with the nose of the plane if not careful - and it's much better to be able to "sweep" off the end rather than choking up on it.

40 inches in front of the bench (face vise side) should be plenty unless you are very large.

constant revisions...

Michael Suwczinsky

>the changes to make the shop a better space are endless. I once pulled two studs from the wall of my 12x12 shop, framed in a header and cripples just to get the wall mount toolchest to stick out a little bit less over the workbench.

I was surprised to find it was worth it after all the work.

the face vise too close to the wall is a problem with longer planes. Currently considering a block of foam rubber on that wall.

Michael

Short version....

Steve Kubien

>1. Keep as many things mobile as possible (large machines, storage cabinets etc).

2. Do not permanently attach anything.

3. Plot your take-over of the entire garage.

4. Remember, the only constant, is change.

I agree with others about having about 2ft off the end of the bench (both ends!). 40" between the bench and your shelves/cabinets is probably enough.

Good luck,

Steve Kubien whose shop is still evolving after 7 years

Ajax, Ontario

remove the _9 to email

Back to the drawing board

Mike Lietzow

>Thanks everybody. As many of you noted, having the face vise against the wall will be trouble. I shoulda saw that. I was thinking that having the back side of the bench accessible would be a benefit but I don't see any way to make that happen; at least not until I build my heirloom bench (ala Jim Shaver's beautiful Shaker work bench) which will be the centerpiece of an indoor shop.

I've been through the "constantly changing shop" routine before. I moved everything out into the driveway of my previous home so many times that my neighbors thought I was nuts (they're right, but not for that reason alone). I use a floor jack to raise my bench and set it down on a couple of furniture dollies and it becomes relatively easy to move around. I have (or plan to have) most of the other stuff on casters so they will be easy to move too.

It looks like I'll be spending my Friday night with a pencil and paper, a tape measure, and a good supply of Guinness. Did I mention one of the obstacles in the new shop will be a refrigerator in the corner? (I guess it's not entirely a deficit)

Cheers!

Mike

Refriderator?

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>sheeeeeeeeeesh Mike, when did that become part of the equasion? Is it for your use only, or is it in additon to the one in the kitchen? How big is it? Well, the top is a flat horizontal surface if nothing else eh?

My wife tried to encrouce something into the garage, I forget what it was, but I told her that because of her, I'm living in a state I don't want to be in, I bought a house that I didn't want, and now you wanna take up some of my shop space? I DON'T #@$%!&* THINK SO!

Like I said everybodys situation is unique.

Todd O.

Re: Refriderator?

Mike Lietzow

>Well Todd, it does keep the cold ones close at hand. The bigger nuisance is the ~400 bottle wine cabinet that the previous owners left. It takes up the space of *two* refrigerators. I'm gonna call the local wine-sipping club to see if anybody wants to buy it (might be enough $ for an infill panel plane if I can find the right buyer).

Cheers,

Mike

Period workshop layout

Adam Cherubini, NJ

>Mike,

Scott Landis' "The Workbench Book" is one of my least favorite woodworking books of all time. Coincidentally, Landis wrote on the topic of period shops in a Williamsburg A&M journal. Like "The Workbench Book", it too was a great disappointment.

Amazingly, Landis failed to carefully examine the helpful pictures (paintings and engravings) of period shops published in "The Workbench Book". A close examination of this and other such pictures reveals the preferred shop layout of men who finally found the right location for everything.

There are essentially two flavors: home shops with two workmen, and commercial shops with many workmen.

In the smaller of the two, we always see the bench placed under a window against the wall. There should be ample space on either end. Tools, especially chisels are typically hung from the wall. A tool chest, if present, is usually to the right of the bench. Placing an open chest on the other side makes it a catch all for plane shavings.

We can assume sawing was performed directly in front of the bench on horses. I think this s helpful since long boards needn't be rotated to be placed on the bench. In my shop, lumber storage is behind my bench for this reason.

I think you should look at these pictures carefully and think about why things might be as they are. You may saw with a table saw, but the rotation of stock is the same. I hope you are getting my drift.

Its okay to put some things on wheels. Some things are really bad to put on wheels. I saw a FWW article about a "perfect" shop where this guy built this beautiful secretary and put it on this wheeled cart. The picture showed him standing next to this cart with a near finished secretay holding a chisel to a drawer. (anybody else notice this?) What a superbly bad idea!

Adam

P.S. I had FWW on the brain when I built my first workbench many years ago. I screwed UHMW to the feet so I could slide it around my shop. Slide it did!

To my credit, I had foreseen this problem and intended to put the bench on 4 neoprene mouse pads to both improve friction and quiet the bench. Easy to remove or replace when need be, was the idea. It was a real "FWW tips" kind of idea. Cheap, clever, and completely non-functional.

Re: Short version.... *LINK*

Jonathan Peck -N.Y.

>Wow! I nominate Steve's post for top 10 practical tips. You are so dead on target it's alsmost scary.

This pic is of the third evolution of my shop, and yup...some of that stuff gets plugged in. I really like a big bench in the middle of the room but it's gotsta be a heavy mudda so's it don't jump around on ya'. It seconds as an outfeed table for that sharp thing that spins around at thousands of RPM's (politically correct shot with blade guard in place. Surprised I could still get it on after it's last trip across the shop..zoinks). I like to think about triangulation when planning the shop layout, but mostly I keep moving things around until there's a good work flow.

shop time this summer...goose egg....sigh:-(

time spent doing stuff with the kids....priceless


Click me

Re: Refriderator?... *LINK*

Jonathan Peck -N.Y.

>YUP!! this is definitely a high traffic area... if you know what I mean. Really comes in handy on the hot days


Click me

Re: Period workshop layout

Paul in NJ

>I think placing your bench against a window is nice for the natural light and having your tools close at hand on the wall is very effecient. However, I always felt restricted when I had my bench against a wall and I think it advantageous and prefer to have my bench where I am able work from any side. My bench is almost in the center of my shop and it is the hub of activity. I have tool storage in a few drawers beneath the bench and they open from either side for easy access. I also have tools on the wall only a step away.

It took years of evolution but I am very happy with my layout. I plan to add a window or two for additional light and I see my shop as evolving and improving all the time. The important thing is to get set-up now and get to woodworking!

Paul Dzioba

My current solution

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>Mike

Like yourself, and many others, my workshop exists as the bottom section of a (here, double) garage. I share space with all the family toys (several windsurfers and related equipment), gardening tools, plus two cars. I have a tablesaw, floor standing drill and a bandsaw (no tailed thicknesser or planer is planned). All this needed to be accomodated with room for hand tools, which is my preferred medium. My jarrah bench is not the cabinetmakers dream. It is a compromise in size and orientation as it sits against the wall, where it is bolted for additional rigidity. However it permits me to comfortably clamp boards for planing with 2 face vises and an end vise. Alongside it is a fold away pine and MDF assembly bench. When unused, it folds against the wall and I can run my tablesaw up against it. What is not seen in the picture below is my sharpening bench, which runs for about 3 metres along the window wall to the right. This also holds all my braces and drills.

I should add that this is probably the third or fourth reincarnation of this particular shop over a period of the 10 years since we built the house. I wish I knew then what I now now (or what I will know in a further 10 years), since this would have strongly influenced my plans.

I hope that this gives you some ideas for your garage shop.

Regards from Perth

Derek

And mine, but no pic

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Like Derek, my bench is bolted to the wall. My shoplet is only 11x11, so I had few choices. My bench is on the wall that the door would open against if it swung in (I hinged it to swing out, for more space), so I can if needed run long boards out the door - an awkward arrangement when I have to leave the shop, but it's been helpful several times.

Never having had a bench that wasn't against the wall, I can't opine on how this would be, but I agree with others that I would NOT put the end of the bench against the wall. There are just too many times that you need the space beyond the bench either for work, for running-on space beyond the bench, or to get to work from the end. For one of my recent projects, I had to make a planing beam that extended beyond the bench and to the door, to accommodate stock longer than my five-foot bench.

Ideal, I suppose, would be a half-ton (that's half-tonne for those who speak closer to the Queen's English) bench in the middle of the floor, but THAT bench is in my alternate fantasy universe for at least the next several years.

This has been a useful conversation, because I've wondered how much room I should allow between bench and tool cabinet, if I ever do get to the point of having more space.

Re: Workshop opinions please (long)

Matti Kuikka

>As long as it is possible without emptying the whole shop, make a wooden floor. It's nice and warm to stand on, the bench is easy to move AND when you drop your favorite blade...

Matti Kuikka, still continuously congratulating myself of the floor in my 2/3 carage.

Re: Period workshop layout

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>I also have my bench away from the wall, but it is because I have too much stuff for the shop space I have. I have tool storage on the wall behind the bench. The ideal shop I think would have an assembly table to build the furniture in front of the bench, and the bench is simply used for working the wood, thus it is against the wall to conserve space. Today's home woodworker tries to limit the amount of stuff they need, thus most use the bench as an assembly table, and it needs to be away from the wall for that purpose.

HIJACK: Wait a minute...

Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, Florida

>.. is that your Stanley #1? Sheesh.

Todd, think BEER. (along with cyanoacrylate glue)

Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, Florida

>

Not my teeny weeny plane *LINK*

Jonathan Peck - N.Y.

>I downloaded that shot from someplace, probably ebay. I post it when I hear stuff like.....Yeah my #1's a user, fits a little snug in the hand, but I can still get a couple fingers round it. very useful..blah..blah...

Yeah..uh huh..right..user..got it..yup


Stanley #1

Re: Not my teeny weeny plane *LINK*

Jonathan Peck - N.Y.

>I've been looking for a cheap fixer upper for the GIT's. For a rare plane, seems to be many about to be had for a small fortune


The Foreman

Re: Not my teeny weeny plane

Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, Florida

>Is that the same little girl in the previous photo in which she is on the workbench with goggles and hearing protection? Growing fast! Has she decided what kind of car you are going to buy her for her 16th birthday? ;-)

Re: Not my teeny weeny plane

Rob Brophy

>Hi Jonathan,

I don't know where you are in NY state, but if you're anywhere near Niagara Falls and want to try out a "user" #1 before you condemn it, you're welcome to stop in for a shop visit.

The grip one uses on a #1 is somewhat different than you'd expect...it fits the hand rather well if you wrap your fingers around the frog instead of the tote. Actually, it's a lot more comfortable to use than some block planes.

Now if you want an uncomfortable plane...have you ever tried a Record 044c plough? It has to have the worst tote ever made!

Rob

Re: Not my teeny weeny plane

Jonathan Peck - N.Y.

>Yeah...you're probably right. I'm going to keep checking those rust barrels for one to fix up for the kids. Who knows...maybe I'll find two of em'..one for the kids and one for me too.

If I'm ever up North, I'd love to try it out

Regards

Jonathan

Re: Not my teeny weeny plane

Jonathan Peck - N.Y.

>Yeah...it goes by way to fast. The other day she asked who I liked better...Bush or Kerry? Not knowing...I asked who she liked...She says she likes Kerry cause Bush wants more math tests, but my favorite is when she told swmbo...Mommy, I liked you better when you were 39...you were more fun and beautiful