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Setting up shop

7K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  bigike 
#1 ·
Where it stands. . . .

After doing a bunch of topical stuff (painting, drywall patching, etc.) my wife and I are about to start some major remodeling projects in our new house. Before I start projects like new cabinetry and some new furniture, I need to get the shop set up to work efficiently. Prior to moving into our new house, I cobbled together parts for my shop-a set of cabinets with a laminate counter top for a bench, a cheap dresser for a miter saw stand, etc. Well, I finally have some dedicated shop space (my shop will be in our garage along with at least one car), but nothing I currently have works well together! That means it's time to build a bunch of new shop furniture!

My first post to Lumberjocks was a rolling sheet-goods rack I made to park under my lumber rack. After that, I started on my current project-building a new workbench base. After that, I plan on building a rolling miter saw stand and rebuilding my drill press stand. If all goes well, I hope to follow those up with a "superstation" for my contractor saw, better incorporating a router table, adding some storage, adding a folding out feed table, and improving dust collection.

I have recently been buying some new tools for the shop and upgrading others, so I'll be posting several reviews to share what seems to be working, and what isn't. I'm not a tool snob! I am interested in results, rather than names, so I'll inevitably post reviews of low and mid range tools. I don't do woodworking professionally and I don't run a production shop, so I can't justify the expensive stuff! I try and work smart with the tools I have, and make sure they are sharp and well tuned. As was said by someone much more experienced than me, sharp, cheap tools will always work better than dull expensive ones!

So, that is the basic goal for now-get the shop set up so that we can do more interesting things in a few months. We have a 2 year old son, two dogs, and a bunch of other obligations, so time is sometimes hard to come by for shop projects. Progress will undoubtedly be slower than I would like, but then again this is a hobby, and process is just as important as the result! Hopefully, along the way, I will learn a bunch from the others on this site, and I can share some of the progress and mistakes I make along the way.
 
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#2 ·
Bench Top FINALLY Going Together

After not having any time to "make noise" in the shop lately, I finally sneaked in a few minutes to test out my new circular saw and break down some sheet goods for my new bench. The big result is that my bench top is finally starting to come together. The top will be a 1.5" thick MDF 2' X 8' sheet (two 3/4" pieces glued up) with a laminate counter placed over that. I am using the counter top by itself as a bench top now, and I absolutely love working on the surface, but it just isn't rigid or massive enough.

I am building the legs from 2X stock ripped down to 3" and biscuit jointed into an L. There will be diagonal supports from the legs to the outside edges of the bench for lateral stability, but also to allow a large open area under the bench for storage of a rolling assembly table which I hope to get around to at some indeterminate point in the future!

I'll post pics sometime soon, but things are starting to move along.
 
#3 ·
Work Bench Progress Pictures and Observations About Saw Horses

I finally got the pictures uploaded to photobucket, so here goes:

The legs showing the biscuits, just before glue up.


Here I am leveling the two MDF pieces on saw horses prior to glue up.


Shims between the saw horses and MDF at appropriate points brought the low points up to make a dead flat surface, at least according to my cheap aluminum extrusion straight edge! (I just noticed that the shadows from the flash make it look like there is a gap at the right end of the straight edge-that is just a trick of the light. It was uniform when I took the picture.)

One other thing I have realized during this process is that my trusty 2X4 saw horses are just too bulky and get in the way more than they help. Menards had a sale on folding plastic saw horses, 2 for $10, so I picked up a couple sets, and I have to admit that they are actually not too bad. They are surprisingly sturdy given their light weight, and for the price I don't feel as if I have to baby them. The big deal for me, though, is that they fold FLAT and I can store them easily when needed since space is at a huge premium in my 1/2 garage shop.

A side benefit that I just realized when gluing up this bench top is that they are all EXACTLY the same height! I put the 4 saw horses under the length of the bench top for glue up, and I barely had to shim anything to get things dead flat. Since I (unfortunately) rely on saw horses for temporary assembly table bases, this is quite a big deal for me. Alas, I think this will signal the end of my wooden saw horses since I can easily store 3 pairs of plastic folding saw horses in the space I had allotted for one pair of wooden saw horses.
 
#7 ·
Bench is finally done!

WooHoo!

I finally got some time to finish off my new bench, and it turned out great, if I do say so myself!

Getting the legs mounted was a little bit of a challenge since the diagonal braces warped a little since I first cut them (shocker, I know! Construction grade lumber warping? Never have I witnessed that before!). With a little coaxing, everything went together square, and with a little extra bracing under the open span, everything is rock solid.

For each of the diagonal braces, I used a cleat in addition to directly attaching the leg to the top to make sure it doesn't break out or have any movement.



I flipped the bench upright and double checked for flatness. The top was VERY flat, but there was the slightest of dips in one spot (didn't measure, but it barely let light under my straight edge) that I am going to ignore for the sake of my sanity. If it were hardwood, I could obviously just plane it back down to flat, but it is close enough for what I will be doing with it.



Finally, I put the old laminate counter top I had been using as a bench over the top of the MDF. After sitting on two cabinets with no support underneath, the counter top had picked up a little warping. I haven't attached it to the bench yet-I am going to give it a few days to see if those warps will fall out now that it is on a flat surface. If they don't, I think I am going to add another layer of MDF to the top and put a hardboard top on the bench. I love the durability of the laminate (especially when I get glue, water or oil on the surface!) but I am not sure whether I want to try and put it directly and permanently on the bench.

Whatever happens with the top, the bench base is VERY stable, and holds up well against a lateral load (like hand planing). Once I get the top surface squared away, I am going to add clamps/vices, but for all intents and purposes, this bench is done! Yea! No more wobbly bench!



Finally, for anyone wondering, I am planning on building a rolling assembly table to fit under the opening in the bench-thus no shelves or bracing in the center area.
 
#8 ·
I was gonna ask, but it makes sense now. Depending on the height, you might be able to slide a Table Saw, or Jointer under that design too… Would work great for a cramped shop…
 
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