Howdy,
I thought I would start a thread and get some opinions to weigh in on the ultimate shop cabinet depth.
Just to get the conversation started, I’ll start with my pending plans.
The area I’m building in is approximately 9′ x 13′ or so. There’s an exterior door on the N side by the E corner, and a pocket door will be on the E wall as well. Eventually there will be a door on the S wall by the W corner. I’m planning on putting base cabinets on the W and N walls, and I haven’t decided on wall cabinets yet. I had originally thought of wall cabs above all of the base cabs, but I don’t think I need *that* much space yet.
So on the W wall, I’ll have 6 linear feet of base cabs, and about 8.5 linear feet against the N wall. Yes, there is overlap between the N & W wall base cabs there — think of those dimensions as just the pretty lines on the graph paper at the moment. 😉
For the N wall base cabs, I’m thinking a depth of 20″ ought to be good. That will:
a) cover my beverage fridge depth
b) (I think) provide space for the planer to be setup
c) not eat up too much floor space
On the W wall base cabs, I’m thinking about a depth of 16 – 18″. I see these primarily as storage instead of a work surface.
I haven’t decided on the corner cabinet yet, but was thinking about some lazy susan design.
For the upper cabinets, I was thinking something shallow — probably on the order of 12″.
And in my case, TS, workbench, large assembly is in the garage which is connected right next to this space.
In general, I don’t really like ultra deep cabinets where I have to dig four things out in order to get at the one thing I wanted. And I know that I tend to stack everything in front of everything else, which compounds the aforementioned frustration. 🙂
So what does everyone think? What would you do differently about your cabinets if you were making (or buying) them again?
Glen
Replies
Az,
You have not mentioned the machinery that will into this space, or the things you want to build, but that is a small space and making it smaller with fixed cabinets would seem to be the wrong thing to do. I have a small space and all my cabinets are either high on the wall or 8' tall stand alone storage. Perhaps you could clarify a bit further for us.
I don't want to completely bias this conversation regarding "just my (future) shop", but to get a variety of opinions on depth of cabinets. And if any other "gee, I wish I had ..." stories come out, I think that would be excellent.In my case -- the big stuff is done in the garage. Actually, everything is currently done there. But in the future, ripping panels down, major glue-ups, etc are likely to stay out there due to space concerns.In the smaller shop area, I see a couple of things. Primary is storage space which simply isn't there in the garage. But I also see routing & planing smaller pieces (less than 5' or 6' long), and mid to small size assembly. Drawers will be built there vs. in the garage I'd expect (hope). I suspect I'll have a lot of traveling between the "official" shop and my garage as tool storage is in the shop.When (if) the bandsaw comes, that'll be kept in the garage. DC will be in the garage as well.What depth are your cabinets and are you happy with them? How efficiently are they being used in your opinion?Glen
Az,
I think I'm a stickler for using cabinets efficiently, of course that may be in my mind only. My greatest joy is the large cabinet I have over the workbench. There are actually three componets to this large cabinet that provide great convience and utility. Overall it measures about 5'x3'x1'. The 1' depth is divided up into about 8" deep cubbie holes that hold power tools and 4" box doors that hold hand tools. The doors are piano hinged. Underneath the cabinet I added a shelf to hold hand planes. I really enjoy swinging the doors open over the workbench(the workbench is out a foot from the wall) and going to work. Everything is right there.
I have also found great utility in an 8' tall 2'x1' deep cabinet. This stores my finishing supplies. It's easy to see all that is there and sort thru quickly.
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