Introduction, and Questions about Shop Layout and Work Bench?

[Erich Weidner]

Hello All,

I'm in the midst of rearranging my garage/shop. One of the things I need to plan for is the workbench. (I presently have a very basic Sjoberg 46" long x 20" wide).

But first let me introduce myself here at the Neanderthal Haven.
I started out being drawn to hand tools and fully expected to be a Neanderthal. I really dislike the noise and dust generated by power tools, and an early table saw kickback experience as a teen left me wary of them.
Anyway, I quickly discovered that I didn't really enjoy sawing (and I never could cut a straight line), regardless of saw (I know this is a user training issue, but it just wasn't "fun"). From Tage Frid's books guidance I tried three bow saws. I also picked up two Japanese saws (Ryoba and Dozuki), I fared better with these and still use them for small cuts. I have however always enjoyed my chisels and hand planes. And these are primarily what drive my interest in wood working. I'm not very happy with my present workbench, but at about $400 it was the right price to get me started about 5 years ago. At present I primarily use it for jointing/planing and chisel work. A small amount of hand sawing, and for assembly work. (TS and SCMS for 95% of my sawing work) It fails to please in all of these areas.
I can't hold long stock for jointing or planing (dog holes don't go far enough along length of unit) the vices can't hold anything vertically, it is too light (moves/wobbles when planing). In the end, I will have a SCMS table, router table, table saw, and drill press.

I was eying the FWW plans for the Garrett Hack Bench, or the Monster workbench. I also have a book on traditional workbenches but am not really sure what sort of features I'm looking for. I do want to build it myself this time. I know what I don't like on the present one, but not what sort of tail vice for example to get.

Another thing I need to build sooner rather than later is a wall mounted tool chest. The ventilated shelves (three rows) with pegboard behind them/between them simply does not store tools space efficiently. 221374

Any advice?

Also, any comments about shop arrangement if one is using power tools for sawing with a portable dust collector? vs workbench location?

[Jim Koepke]

Erich,

Welcome to the Cave by the Creek.

Some things to consider on the path to making your own bench:

The space issue is right at the top. It will determine if you will be able to work around your bench on all sides or will it be against a wall to limit access to the back side. Also to consider is the ability to set up smaller work stations for sharpening, glue ups, old tool rehabilitation and all the other things that are secondary to working on wood.

Your bench looks incredibly clean compared to mine. That is why my bench will have a tool tray. A little under bench storage for clamps and other bench accessories is also planned.

The vises on the Sjobergs are not the greatest, but I have been able to make them work. My saw vise and metal working vises have been mounted on bases that can be clamped into the Shobergs vises. I find the biggest draw back is having to always counter the racking.

Having an apron on the bench face is appealing to me. My plan is to have dog holes for holdfasts and a few threaded holes for a makeshift multi-screw vise and other holding devices.

Remember the placement of the legs can be advantageous just as easily as it can be a hinderance. On the bench pictured, IMO the leg should be on the other side of the face vise. It was probably placed the way it is because of the shortness of the bench.

If the bench you have is of good height for your needs, then match it with the new bench so they can be used together when a bigger work surface is needed. If not, maybe the old bench can be adapted to match the new bench.

jtk

[Curt Putnam]

Your 1st step should be to read the two workbench books by Christopher Schwarz and then maybe the books by Schleining, Landis and others. Tracking down all the bench articles on the net will keep you busy for quite a while. How do I know this? Because I too have a Sjobergs bench that is too small and it too racks and scoots. But a bench is a pretty personal and task specific tool. No one bench will be perfect for all tasks so you need to have a handle on how you will be using it. Vise selection will occupy no small amount of time. The good part is that designing a bench and selecting its equipment is one of the more pleasurable activities that I can think of.

[Jim Koepke]

Because I too have a Sjobergs bench that is too small and it too racks and scoots.

I was able to lower the amount of scooting around by cutting a 5 gallon plastic bucket to sit on one of the leg bases and then filling it with cement.

jtk

[Steve Friedman]

I was able to lower the amount of scooting around by cutting a 5 gallon plastic bucket to sit on one of the leg bases and then filling it with cement.
jtk

I don't have that bench, but I do have one that is relatively small and light. It would wobble and scoot across the floor until I bought 4 One-Ton Glides from Lee Valley (I know they're ugly).
http://www.leevalley.com/US/images/item/hardware/slides/01s0801s.jpg

To be fair, I did also increase the weight of the bench as well - but instead of using Jim's bucket of cement trick, I decided to use the shelf under my bench for wood storage. Solid as a rock!

Obviously, weight is an issue, but I am convinced that the culprit is the garage floor. My theory is that on any concrete garage floor, there is very little chance of finding perfectly flat spots for your bench legs exactly where you want them to be. I believe the problem is solved by the glides because the contact points are much smaller, significantly raising your odds of finding those elusive flat spots. As an added bonus, you can move your bench and get it level and stable again in less than 90 seconds.

A new bigger and heavier bench would have been nice (it's coming some day), but for now, $25 and a few minutes of work was all it took to make mine workable.

Steve

[Erich Weidner]

A new bigger and heavier bench would have been nice (it's coming some day), but for now, $25 and a few minutes of work was all it took to make mine workable.

That is a good tip! Since I would like to actually get work done before the monsterous project of planning and building a new one is complete I think I shall see what I can do with these legs if they have some rubber bottoms, or with something like Jim did with simple weight.
I am fortunate in that the concrete crew who did my house did an amazing job on the floor. It is the flattest and smoothest concrete floor I've owned (or seen in person). Only trouble is they made it too smooth. No bite to it. so darned slippery when any water gets on it (which is a rare thing). But it is super easy to clean. Everything comes right up with the shop vac floor sweep.

[Steve Friedman]

That is a good tip! Since I would like to actually get work done before the monsterous project of planning and building a new one is complete I think I shall see what I can do with these legs if they have some rubber bottoms, or with something like Jim did with simple weight.
I am fortunate in that the concrete crew who did my house did an amazing job on the floor. It is the flattest and smoothest concrete floor I've owned (or seen in person). Only trouble is they made it too smooth. No bite to it. so darned slippery when any water gets on it (which is a rare thing). But it is super easy to clean. Everything comes right up with the shop vac floor sweep.

The concrete guys who laid my garage floors obviously did not go to the same school as yours!

I posted my issues (wobbly and too light) on another forum a while ago and got some great responses.

One suggestion was to anchor two legs of the bench to the concrete floor. I think that's a great solution, but thought it would be hard to explain the holes in the garage floor to a prospective buyer if I ever wanted to sell my house.

Another was to just attach some cleats to the concrete floor to prevent the legs from moving. For me, same problem as above and it would not have solves the wobbliness.

Yet another suggestion was to lay a piece of plywood on the floor and secure the bench legs to it, on the theory that as long as you stood on the plywood, the bench would never move. That may be true, but I never tried it. First, it would not have solved my wobbliness, but also it conjured up a vision of me inadvertently stepping off the plywood while pushing something on the bench really hard, causing the bench to slide across the floor with the sheet of plywood acting like a snowboard. Not saying that would ever have happened, but I just couldn't shake that thought.

I know there were other great ideas, but none as simple, inexpensive, or easily reversible as the adjustable glides.

Steve

[Salem Ganzhorn]

I took a pretty similar path. I first went with power tools and slowly added more and more hand tools. I enjoy chisel work, hand planing and cutting joints with handsaws. I don't care for ripping or doing rough cuts by hand.

I ended up putting my table saw and workbench in the middle of my "shop". I have my bench (24x82") behind and parallel to my TS. As it is a hand tool focused bench it is lower then the tablesaw. I was worried about this but it actually works quite well as outfeed.

Good luck!
Salem

[Erich Weidner]

The space issue is right at the top. It will determine if you will be able to work around your bench on all sides or will it be against a wall to limit access to the back side. Also to consider is the ability to set up smaller work stations for sharpening, glue ups, old tool rehabilitation and all the other things that are secondary to working on wood.

I was planning on locating it similarly to where it is today (I have floor plans posted in the Workshops forum), this is with the back side of the bench just a few inches away from the three rows of ventilated shelving I have on that wall (presently where I store my tools.

I have a metal topped Sears Craftsman worktable positioned perpendicular to this, this is where I do some of the things I don't want staining/marring my workbench (sharpening, gun maintenance, mixing epoxy, etc.). This may have to go to make room for the bigger workbench.

I like the tool tray (recessed in the table top at the back edge) I've seen on some benches, Given that this will be one of the few non mobile items in the shop I was planning on keeping it near a wall (so the back side consequently wouldn't be accessible for working from the back). Is working from the back something folks find themselves doing much?



If the bench you have is of good height for your needs, then match it with the new bench so they can be used together when a bigger work surface is needed. If not, maybe the old bench can be adapted to match the new bench.


This one won't be staying. Probably will be gifted to a friend, not enough room to keep it around.