Hello all, I have been pouring through woodworking magazines and websites for ideas on a workbench that will fit in a small work area. I work out of a 12 x 16 shed which leaves limited floor space so everything has to be mobile. The rifing lawn mover shares the shed as well. I have some ideas from Shopnotes and their sites and magazines as well. Maybe I will just lay them out and pull from all of them and build one. Remember, a camel is a horse built by a committee. I would appreciate some ideas on this, a 21st century workbench in miniature would suffice. Thanks for listening.
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Replies
jj,
my space is not much larger. i just wanted to say that whatever design you fix on, be sure to include storage. storage would be cabinet space, drawers or both.
chances are excellent for a great variety of answers to your question.
eef
justjohn49,
Your first post here ! Welcome !
I could get all wound up but instead I will restrain myself ( for a change ) and merely ask what everyone surely is wanting to know:
What kind of projects are you looking at building in the next year or so and how much hand sawing ( dovetails ? ) and hand planing are you going to do verses table saw, power router ( dovetails ? ) power sanding etc.
roc
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Chris Schwarz's book, Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use, is a valuable reference. It won't show you every possible kind of workbench or accessory or how to get a workbench into your limited space; instead, what it will do is make you think (a lot!) about your workbench and what you plan to do with it, so that you have a better chance of ending up with something that fits your needs.
Two older books, Scott Landis's The Workbench Book, and Lon Schleining's The Workbench, are more encyclopedic, and discuss a broad range of workbench ideas and styles.
-Steve
heres my advice....coming from a guy who owns 6 benches,,,,,,built 2 of them. ( Im assuming youre going to build because if you buy.....you options are very limited for a quality bench for a small shop)'
1) the vise is the most important aspect of a bench and its versitility Id look at a patternmakers vise eventhough they are pircey but very versitile.. Very handy tool .
2) make the top thick and sturdy ...make it to take a ponding. In thickness.....1 1/4" hardwood ( no...not poplar although called a hardwood.....oak or maple preferably. You can buy thick oak slabs relatively cheap....maple too if you shop some.
3) Make the bench the right height for you. Generally speaking it should be the distance from the floor with you standing upright and your palms parallel to the floor. However, lower bench heigts are good for planing and taller good for things like dovetails
4) the idea of under bench storage is important but equally so is the idea of clamping to the top. If you add cabnitry make sure you have at least 3" overhang on the front lip.
The cheapest and best approach to me would be build a lap joint butt joint frame with thick planks ( doesnt have to be hardwood) Fasten the frame with lag screws. Leave the front open ( no lower stretcher but an upper one) to accomodate the caninetry youll have to build for under bench storage. Fasten a 1 1/2 " oalk top,,,,,,,,, maple is better but oak works well. This whol edeal should take you about a day.........now the patternmakers vise. Mount it....may take you another 2 hrs. Youre into this thing for maybe $700-800?
Considering its he the most inportant tool on your shop.thats not bad. Add locking casters if you think you need to move it......tha that adds another $50
1) make it the right height
Wicked Decent Woodworks
(oldest woodworking shop in NH)
Rochester NH
" If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"
Until a month ago I worked out of a 12x16 also. I did mostly home projects, resawing some fallen trees, hand planing the lumber flat, and little things up until this point. If i was staying in that shop i would build the plywood bench from FWW workshop solutions 2008. My dad just built it for about 100 bucks. from two sheets of maple plywood. It is rock solid as the article implies. You can easily make it any size. He urethained it and it looks pretty good too! I would think it would suit anything you would think about doing. I am planning to build one in my new shop.
Hope this helped,
Fredg
I think that the plywood bench is great. I have made a few in the same basic design, usually when helping a friend at their place and finding that there is no place to work.
I am in the same situation - helping a friend, who isn't an "active" woodworker, but does get "assigned" projects where this would be an excellent solution. Did you ever try to include a bench vise?
I didn't attach any vice. He likes to use quick clamps, and I don't think that he uses a plane very often.
I cannot believe that the newfangled bench videos on youtube haven't been mentioned. There are some freakin practical ideas in there....
Eric
fasten the back side of the table to a ledger bolted on the wall, after that the front legs require very little to no bracing and the bench will be stiffer than the best freestanding ones which take a lot of material and a lot of time to build. Consider laminating kiln dried 2x4s for a top . . .
Brian
Justjohn49,
Several years ago I was in the same place as you. I came across a workbench article that had a piece of advise that helped the process, and has stayed with me...."most people build 5 workbenches in a lifetime"
so get er done and begin to enjoy the benefits...
I would like to thank all those who have responded so far to my post. As of this writing my son and I went out and got some leveler and some sanded plywood to even out some soft spotson the floor. I plan to use some flooring paint to catch future spills (as if...). I salvaged most of all the 2 x 4's from the knockdowned bench. I am as close as this weekend to finalize what I am going to do. I will investigate the plywood bench from FWW workshop solutions 2008, sizing is right up my alley. I have on paper a 2' x 5' bench top fashioned from a sheet of 3/4 MDX doubled over and a piece left over for a 2' x 3' top for my benchtop drill press, to fit over a storage cabinet. I plan for as much storage as possible, for that reason I am scratching my head at how much I have to store. One never realizes how much you have until you move. My inclination though is to opt for a 30" top for clamping. I should have taken a picture of before to share, I will take one when I am up and running again. As far of the functionality I am thinking about what my niche will be in the next few years,(my other hobby is birdwatching and feeding) so from dovetails to routing have to be considered. My wife is good to plant seeds as she mentioned something about a sofa table. Thanks for listening
My shop is 11x18. I am building a heavy fixed workbench and moving everything else around it. I have not been too impressed with the drop down work benches. But I guess it's dependent on what you are building. If you are a pen and bowl maker, perhaps it will work. If you want to build furniture, you may need a traditional hefty bench design that won't move when you run a plane through the wood.
Greg
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Exo 35:30-35
I just watched a video that I saw a while ago on this site from getting started in woodworking. Asa Christiana and Matt Berger showed how to put together the 2' x 5' workbench I was talking about, hmmmmm.... I checked out my notes and found the plan I downloaded for this one and I think now that would be ideal for what I have space for and something sturdy for down the road. Wow, great site, I am a member of this site and I think now it is money well spent. Thanks everyone. Pictures are coming as promised.
Kiln dried 2x4s are too soft, they absorb any liquid that's spilled within 8 feet of them, they dent, they're not dry and they're too soft.Better to wait until you can make a proper benchtop than to use them.Fortunately, the biggest decision has been resolved!FWW weighed in just last month, and finally, they settled it!Square benchdog holes are more versatile than round!
Completely disagree. My first bench (I have built four) was laminated 2x stock and it worked fine. That same top is now in my auto/metal shop taking plenty of abuse.
FWW weighed in just last month, and finally, they settled it!
Square benchdog holes are more versatile than round!
You must recive a different issue of FWW than I do.
gotta disagree with that, my first bench had edge-glued doug fir 2X6's for the top, used it for about 20 years until I upgraded to a bigger shop. Built furniture, rebuilt a couple chainsaws, and a car engine on it. Used an old piece of canvas to protect the top during engine rebuilds :)
"Square benchdog holes are more versatile than round!"Gee, my copy didn't say which hole was better, except to say round holes are easier to drill. My copy did say, however, that round dogs are more versatile.Plus, there's still the question of square vs. rectangular holes and dogs (most appear to be rectangular), and the use of a round dog in a square hole, or the use of a square dog in a round hole. Not to mention the possibility of a square or rectangular dog having a curved face. ;-)
I couldn't agree more. Drilling square bench dog holes is very difficult...
My first bench was kiln-dried construction grade SYP. (I've built three) It's still going strong after a number of years. I occasionally just nail some plane stops or planing brackets into it which solves the issue of square versus round dogs rather nicely.
I was particularly impressed with how the bench KNEW what I was doing!If I spilled coffee, across the shop, it knew to absorb it. If I hit a piece of metal within five feet of it, it knew to dent. But if I laid a piece of expensive hardwood on it, it knew to give up all the coffee, grease, snot and oil it had been absorbing, and stain my wood with all manner of nasty stuff!My next bench will be of a less intelligent species. Like Maple, which is dumb as a stump.Hemfir is too soft.
I usually resurface, flatten, shellac and wax my "good" bench, which is made out of Douglas Fir about once per year. Same orange color as the flesh of wild trout from the mountains of Colorado and Montana - a color that I like. Otherwise my benches tend to take on a look like they've been beat with motorcycle chains. I guess I don't sweat it too much.I remember a story about some Scandinavian-trained woodworker who got charged the value of a small coin while he was under tutelage to one of the woodworking masters for every cut or dent or other mark that he made in the workbench. At the end of the coursework, or tutelage, or apprenticeship, whatever it was, he produced the required coin from his pocket, paid in advance, then took his handsaw from his toolbox and promptly sawed the bench in half with a smile. I thought it was a funny story,...Take care, Ed"Yes, but what's good for me ain't necessarily good for the weak-minded." - Augustus McCrae, Lonesome Dove
justjohn49 I don't know if I'll ever have a fancy bench. My bench frame is made of free Poplar that I glued up & the top is from the bottom up 1" plywood, 3/4" high density under-layment & the top surface 1/4" replaceable Masonite all wiped down with Watco fruit-wood Danish oil. The only cost I have involved is the Under-layment & Masonite & glue screws. The top is 36" x 60" & is also my off-feed table for my Unisaw. My shop is 13'5" x 24'5". Every year or so I rub the bench down with a coat to keep it looking good. I still need to build the case work for under the bench in the mean time I use an old chest that was free.Edited 6/7/2009 12:08 am ET by OriginalbartEdited 6/7/2009 12:11 am ET by Originalbart
Edited 6/7/2009 12:36 am ET by Originalbart
john,
For the top you might consider a solid core door. Can get them pretty cheap at a salvage place, sometimes the borgs have scratch & dents. I've been using one for over 5 years. Oh, and mebbe lag bolt the whole bench to a wall. SOLID.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
justjohn,
I heartily agree with saschafer about reading Chris Schwarz's book on benches while in the planning stages.
It clarifies the purpose of a bench built for my uses. Each bench has to fit into the woodworker's space and work habits and needs, and that gives each bench individuality.
There are tons of great ideas in Schwarz's book for clamping and holding and securing the wood to the bench. Many of these seem quite simple when seen in print, but there's no way I would have incorporated as many as I was able to without having read the book first. Also, it's based on a historical perspective of what has stood the test of time and what is, quite frankly, junk.
Another suggestion I have is not to be too intimidated by the high degree of skill involved in many of the bench plans you run across. I sort of overreached my nearly-novice skill level and I'm digging myself out now. Yet I've learned tremendously from the experience, in large part due to the fine suggestions here on Knots.
--jonnieboy
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