Amazing what can hide...

[steven c newman]

Down in a Tool Well on a bench...
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Besides a few pounds of sawdust and shavings. Framing square has been laying there awhile, keeps small stuff from bouncing off onto the floor. Rest of the squares.....tend to hide whenever I need them
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Yep, these were hiding down there as well. Near the end with a vise on it..
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Just the tape measure, and the mallet. Kind of hard for them to hide. They seem to be asking the planes there to cover them up:D
Had to sharpen one up, then maybe a few MORE shavings:eek:
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Maybe it will do a bit better work..
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Now, I had better find a new home for all of this stuff. Projects are done for awhile....not sure when they will start back up, either.:(

[Stew Denton]

Hi Steven,

I am pretty amazed how much stuff can go in a tool well. I appreciate the warning!

Since I have brought disorganization to a very high level, if/when I build a bench it won't have a tool well. I can loose stuff too easily without a tool well, so if I had one it would be frightening to think what I might loose in it.

Stew

[Ray Bohn]

I am seriously thinking about removing the tool well on my bench. I would like to hear from anyone who has done this. Not only would it encourage me to put tools where they belong, but I would gain some much needed space in my small shop. Good idea or not?

[steven c newman]

I might just keep mine, but, I'll will add a tool holder on the outside edge. maybe to store all them chisels? Trying to work out a way to keep things from rolling off the bench's top, concrete floors tend to be a bit rough on tools that fall down there...

I also use clamps across the bench, to help hold things I am working on. There is still more to clean out, too. Might as well do it, since there isn't any more projects on the schedule right now...

[Jim Koepke]

My plan has been to include a tool well whenever I get around to building a bench. Part of what I think will make it work for me is my propensity to put tools away. Some times an accumulation of tools will build up on the bench. Then a decision is made to which stay and which go back to their assigned resting place.

jtk

[Chris Hachet]

My plan has been to include a tool well whenever I get around to building a bench. Part of what I think will make it work for me is my propensity to put tools away. Some times an accumulation of tools will build up on the bench. Then a decision is made to which stay and which go back to their assigned resting place.

jtk

Building a bench right now without a tool well, if I ever build another one I think I will include a tool well.

[Terry Beadle]

I have a LN dowel plate. I put it in a better safe place the last time I used it. It's still there and very safe as I can't find it.
I've tried 3 ~ 4 times to find it. Looked in every drawer etc.

I've still got it safe.... ;-)

So I made another one out of soft steel and it works. Not nearly as well but will do.

Bummer ! Loosing a LN anything is grounds for a strong silent groan dont-u-think?

Hoot!

[Chris Hachet]

I have a LN dowel plate. I put it in a better safe place the last time I used it. It's still there and very safe as I can't find it.
I've tried 3 ~ 4 times to find it. Looked in every drawer etc.

I've still got it safe.... ;-)

So I made another one out of soft steel and it works. Not nearly as well but will do.

Bummer ! Loosing a LN anything is grounds for a strong silent groan dont-u-think?

Hoot!

I am missing a woodworking book I need....

[Tom Vanzant]

Chris, me too, but it wasn't in the tool well.

[Jim Koepke]

I put it in a better safe place the last time I used it.

I am very careful about where I put things. I am even more careful about moving something from one place where it has been stored to another "better place". It seems every time something is moved to a "better place" that is the last time I see it.

My only exception is if I can't find something in the first place I look on repeated occasions, it might get moved to that first place I looked for it.

jtk

[Robert Norman]

I am very careful about where I put things. I am even more careful about moving something from one place where it has been stored to another "better place". It seems every time something is moved to a "better place" that is the last time I see it.

My only exception is if I can't find something in the first place I look on repeated occasions, it might get moved to that first place I looked for it.

jtk

For the really small/bizarre/rarely needed items I scribble a note on painter tape to stick to the box/drawer I put it in. Hinges and things like expansion bits and reamers etc....

[steven c newman]

All cleared off, not sure IF I will use it for awhile..
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rather a bit sad to see..
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Just an empty bench....

[steven c newman]

Decided to add some stowage, just to keep things OUT of the tool well ( hand planes can hide in there, now)
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Mainly for the chisels and squares I would use all the time, nothing real fancy
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Just scrap wood. Old tray. glued and screwed to the outside of the tool well.
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Slots for the squares was just some narrow blocks, nailed and glued to a scrap 1x6. I think there is even a place to stash a pencil
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Might come back later with a small gouge, and plow a pencil groove?
Added a "rest" to sit boards on, while they are clamped into the leg vise.
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No more clamp marks. I also have an old railroad spike that I can use. Put it in there, with the "lip" sticking up?

[Jim Koepke]

It looks good. I am always worried that I will be whacking my tools while swinging a board around.

jtk

[Lenore Epstein]

All cleared off, not sure IF I will use it for awhile..
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rather a bit sad to see..
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Just an empty bench....
Silly question: why the lip along the side of the tray?

[steven c newman]

Just the way the tray was built. That is both a "cleat" to attach the tray's bottom, and a filler to close that side of the tray. At the time this bench was built, I didn't have anything wider to use, that was that thin. Top is just 1-1/2" thick, after all.

[Chris Hachet]

Empty bench looks lonely....

[Pat Barry]

I think the convenience of the tools on the back of the bench in easy reach is a plus but the downside is that you lose a lot of usable bench space. Maybe if all you do is small projects they will fit on the bench top but it always seems I have stuff overhanging the front and back. It might be nice if you could lift off the entire tool rack and hang it on a wall if need be. Some sort of french cleat maybe??

[george wilson]

I hate benches with that infernal tool tray built in. So did the furniture conservators. They would make nice plywood inserts with legs to sit in the bottom of the tray, to fill up the tool tray,and leave the bench top flat all over.

[steven c newman]

No wall access down there. The way I've been working on projects lately most of those tools would wind up down in the tray.

[steven c newman]

I actually use the tray a lot. I will also have one end of a clamp IN the tray, to clamp a part to the bench. Like when they are too short to reach from the leg vise to the Crochet, AND have a curve to them.

[Chris Hachet]

I hate benches with that infernal tool tray built in. So did the furniture conservators. They would make nice plywood inserts with legs to sit in the bottom of the tray, to fill up the tool tray,and leave the bench top flat all over.


I think I like the idea of building a bench with one just because every bench back in the 80's when i first started woodworking seemed to have one. The real value in them seems to be in the reduction of Hardwood needed for commercial bench makers to make benches. Sjobergs ahs savced themselves a good sized forest of tress....

[steven c newman]

A little history on this bench...
It was built one sunny, Sunday afternoon. The vises and Crochet came later, but the "main" parts came from a dumpster dive. I found parts from an old waterbed frame. 2x10s. One became the top, other parts became legs. I found some other useable parts for the tool well, and the feet. I needed a "bench" to build the bench with. The saw bench I did have, was a bit too small for this work, other than ripping things down to size for the legs. I used a plank clamped to a stepladder as a workbench for the build. a Patio Table held the tools until I needed them.
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Cost? 6 hours of a sunny afternoon on the back patio, and $7 for a box of screws.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Steve, I once read that "there is no such thing as a clean, flat surface in a shop". Looks like you have proved that to be wrong.

I know that in my shop these are really hard to find. It seems like every time I am on the brink of having some down time to focus on shop cleaning/organization something compels me to start up another project, and before I know it, lumber is piled here, clamps are scattered there, parts and pieces start to take over, and I've never met a scrap that I didn't like so these wind up being all over the place. Congrat's on having a clean bench!

[Chris Hachet]

Steve, I once read that "there is no such thing as a clean, flat surface in a shop". Looks like you have proved that to be wrong.

I know that in my shop these are really hard to find. It seems like every time I am on the brink of having some down time to focus on shop cleaning/organization something compels me to start up another project, and before I know it, lumber is piled here, clamps are scattered there, parts and pieces start to take over, and I've never met a scrap that I didn't like so these wind up being all over the place. Congrat's on having a clean bench!

I love pics of workshops where a lot is going on...would probably feel right at home in your shop, Joe!