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Exit the workbench with shop renovation, sigh.....

3K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  doordude 
#1 ·
Exit the workbench with shop renovation, sigh.....

Four years ago I made a 'new fangled bench' as seen in Fine Woodworking. Since then my so called woodworking journey has been good and I think I've come a long way and done a lot of stuff. I'm always on my bench and work from it all the time. Thing is I rarely use any of it's features. Don't get me wrong. I think this is a great bench. It works well and when planing and holding things in place of all sizes in many positions it can't be beat. But, I find that 98% of the time it's an assembly bench.

After five years I'm going to be cleaning and remodeling a lot of my shop. It's 24×24 ft. and space is at a premium. I have a kick down outfeed table on my moveable table saw. I'm thinking of getting rid of the bench and building a movable table saw outfeed table/assembly bench. This would free up the space that the bench takes up now and combine the outfeed table with the bench as one unit with some tool and clamp storage.

No question, just blogging about my thoughts on this. The bench, maybe will be passed on to a family member or if not I might try to sell it locally. I kind of hate to do this as the bench and I now have a history, but in the long run I think it might be for the best.

 
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#6 ·
I built that same bench and my shop is smaller (16×10) than yours, and it is going to get a major rework. I have seen some small work benches but have not decided which one yet. FWW showed one that was two torsion boxes that could be put on special sawhorses. One idea to explore anyway. Like you said, this is a good bench but you need the room. To use it.
 
#7 ·
I am one of those who is bench less. Got rid of my workbenches years ago and use workmates and a Rockwell jawhorse with MDF on top. That way I can move these any where I want and then hang them up on my Gladiator wall hooks. It really does save a ton of space and I have never regretted it.
 
#12 ·
I think traditional benches are best for hand planing, chiseling, and handsawing. Otherwise a regular table will probably be sufficient for a shop where machines are the primary tools. I'm sure if you ever feel the need for a planing bench again you will simply build another.
 
#13 ·
Hi Dan, We have similar ideas. I'm about 75% complete on my Ultimate mobile Workbench. It's probably more elaborate than what you're thinking for your moveable table saw/assembly bench but I can tell you that it's working great already.

I'm very challenged on space and facilities. One half of a two car garage in a rented house. I like to do much of the work outside in the driveway. The UHMW let's me take most of my tools with me so I'm not constantly trekking back and forth into the garage. The open Paulk bench concept let's me keep hand tools handy without cluttering the work surface. I building a compact Thien style dust separator to fit under the bench now.
 
#14 ·
Frankly, I have been a little puzzled by all the attention that these kinds of benches get here. As Stefang said, they are limited in their usefulness and a lot of those limits are geared towards hand tools.

I recently redid my shop and I opted for more of an assembly table. I started with a 1 1/2" thick laminated top from an electronics bench that my company was throwing away, reinforced and braced it to keep it perfectly flat and then added drawers underneath it to keep the small tools handy - screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, etc.

This table is too low to use as an outfeed table, however. I prefer to work with the table saw at a higher elevation than is comfortable at an assembly table. I use the router table (also at a higher elevation) for outfeed.
 
#16 ·
Craftsman; just my two cents, I built the roubo bench from chris schwarze's book. not only was it challenging; but its been the best tool in my garage. two vise's, square bench dogs, the hold fasts; I think I use the most. while routing, carving and such. 3 3/4 inch thick top, you can clamp and pound on it till you wear your self out.
But I do like what you mentioned about the kick down out feed table for the table saw. I need to make one this coming year. Wish I had the room for an assembling table, but I don't; maybe someday…
 
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