Workbench Cabinet or no cabinet ?

[Greg Parrish]

As I finished putting the second and final coats of finish on my bench (homemade matte wipe-on poly on the base frame and vise chops and natural Danish oil on the slab tops) I can't help but wonder which would be best. My plans include a basic shelf for the bottom, but I also downloaded a plan set for a cabinet with drawers. My thinking was, if I'm going to build the cabinet, why bother with the shelf as its just duplicate materials for the most part.

So, how many people would find a fitted cabinet with drawers beneficial for their hand tools? I'd be customizing the plans to include drawer space for my planes, chisels, marking and measuring tools, etc. My shop is airconditioned, heated and dehumidified, so keep that in mind when advising.

I have around 2/3 of a 440 sq ft garage for space, but am limited in wall height due to a storage loft used for household storage. For this reason, every bit of storage helps and the shelf looks like a lot of dead space. However, if a cabinet induces other issues I'm not thinking about, I'd like to hear others thoughts.


Here's where it stands with the final finish coat applied. Wont be so shiny once it dries. Will probably give it until next week to dry before attaching the tail vise chop.

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[Richard Line]

I've got less space than you, just a small kook in the garage. So, I needed all the storage space I could claim. Deciding to put drawers on my bench was an easy decision. One thing I did that kept the bench more versatile was stopping the draws about 6 to 8 inches below the underside of the top. The main reason was to allow the use of bench hooks, but of course that space is a shelf as well and stuff is put there. I'm glad I provided that space, it has kept me happy with the bench.

[Scott Winners]

Been there, got the T-shirt, there is no one size fits all answer.

I ended up building this thing on casters since I am sharing a 2 car garage with my wife as well. https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?291473-Ugly-tool-organizer&highlight=

A couple finer points. Most of us here on this website are generalists that make say an end table, then a dining table, then a couple chairs, then a chest of drawers etc, etc. Not all. There is a pro level banjo maker that posts here occasionally for instance.

When I look at the Studley tool chest I see someone who was already a master piano maker who knew exactly which tools he would need to make the next piano. Then he built the box to fit what he needed. I can't do that, because I make more than one kind of thing.

The trouble with committing to fitted drawers is you might, in a few years time, find a smoothing plane you like better than the one you have now, and suddenly the entire chest is obsolete. If you proceed with the chest, I can think of two time saving things to do. One, first build the shelf under your bench and plan for the chest to be removable with minimum drama if you decide to move it, you will just take it off the shelf. Second, build a practice case from shop scrap to get a feel for making a chest of drawers. Maybe 12" deep x 9 inches wide by maybe 18" tall, put three drawers in it. Are you going to use metal slides with ball bearings, or wood on wood or what for hardware? How square is square enough? What crap laying around your garage suddenly has a home?

What I ended up doing, after I had my epiphany, was I paged through the projects section here looking at other tool storage solutions already made, and kinda mushed all the ideas together to come up with a thing that works for me.

Good luck. I am not voting in your poll because it is a disputable matter with no single correct best answer.

[Sam Goldsmith]

A few years ago I was anti cabinet, pro just a shelf underneath to throw things in an "easy to find" disarray. Now I'm both. I actually built my 3 drawer cabinet when I was temporarily in very large shop and wanted ease of access for a certain array of tools vs. maximizing storage. My tool chest could still house all of my large collection of hand tools and then some.
Now I'm in a very small space (one car garage), and I love my cabinet as my tool chest often becomes my assembly, glue up, or storage table, albeit a terrible habit and I can't open the lid most days. I can always access my drawers, I left out the custom fitting of tools into it, instead my current project dictates what I have ready access too. As you can see in the photos (sorry, I think they're stuck sideways) I'm working on chairs. So I like to keep my scorp, tenoning tools, sliding bevels, and other custom tools in the top drawer. My block plane and other daily tools have a permanent home there.
I kept it portable so I can change my mind someday, and I kept it away from the top of the bench so I can still use my holdfasts there. The shelf holds my larger jigs, occasionally my moxon vise or new hi-vise, random non-specialty tools, and lots of sawdust and shavings. I also like the cabinet not going the whole length because I occasionally like access to under the bench, and I rest my foot up there when chopping. Plus I know if I have too many drawers I just throw stuff in there and lose track.



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[Greg Parrish]

Thanks Richard. That's what I was thinking based on the plans that I purchased along with my bench. It would allow room for hold fasts to still be used.

I've got less space than you, just a small kook in the garage. So, I needed all the storage space I could claim. Deciding to put drawers on my bench was an easy decision. One thing I did that kept the bench more versatile was stopping the draws about 6 to 8 inches below the underside of the top. The main reason was to allow the use of bench hooks, but of course that space is a shelf as well and stuff is put there. I'm glad I provided that space, it has kept me happy with the bench.


Thanks Scott. I appreciate the feedback and hear what you are saying. I am prone to change things up a lot so it probably is best to put the shelf in regardless of a cabinet. As well, a cabinet needs to be built with flexibility in mind. PS - your Veritas Router Plane is still doing fine. I'm taking good care of it. :)

Been there, got the T-shirt, there is no one size fits all answer.
I ended up building this thing on casters since I am sharing a 2 car garage with my wife as well. https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?291473-Ugly-tool-organizer&highlight=
A couple finer points. Most of us here on this website are generalists that make say an end table, then a dining table, then a couple chairs, then a chest of drawers etc, etc. Not all. There is a pro level banjo maker that posts here occasionally for instance.
When I look at the Studley tool chest I see someone who was already a master piano maker who knew exactly which tools he would need to make the next piano. Then he built the box to fit what he needed. I can't do that, because I make more than one kind of thing.
The trouble with committing to fitted drawers is you might, in a few years time, find a smoothing plane you like better than the one you have now, and suddenly the entire chest is obsolete. If you proceed with the chest, I can think of two time saving things to do. One, first build the shelf under your bench and plan for the chest to be removable with minimum drama if you decide to move it, you will just take it off the shelf. Second, build a practice case from shop scrap to get a feel for making a chest of drawers. Maybe 12" deep x 9 inches wide by maybe 18" tall, put three drawers in it. Are you going to use metal slides with ball bearings, or wood on wood or what for hardware? How square is square enough? What crap laying around your garage suddenly has a home?
What I ended up doing, after I had my epiphany, was I paged through the projects section here looking at other tool storage solutions already made, and kinda mushed all the ideas together to come up with a thing that works for me.
Good luck. I am not voting in your poll because it is a disputable matter with no single correct best answer.


Sam, thank you for the feedback. Your response gives me something to think about here. A single stack cabinet with a shelf may be the best of both. Might not hold my jointer and jack planes, but certainly would be good for the likes of chisels, marking gauges, etc. Something to think about.

A few years ago I was anti cabinet, pro just a shelf underneath to throw things in an "easy to find" disarray. Now I'm both. I actually built my 3 drawer cabinet when I was temporarily in very large shop and wanted ease of access for a certain array of tools vs. maximizing storage. My tool chest could still house all of my large collection of hand tools and then some.
Now I'm in a very small space (one car garage), and I love my cabinet as my tool chest often becomes my assembly, glue up, or storage table, albeit a terrible habit and I can't open the lid most days. I can always access my drawers, I left out the custom fitting of tools into it, instead my current project dictates what I have ready access too. As you can see in the photos (sorry, I think they're stuck sideways) I'm working on chairs. So I like to keep my scorp, tenoning tools, sliding bevels, and other custom tools in the top drawer. My block plane and other daily tools have a permanent home there.
I kept it portable so I can change my mind someday, and I kept it away from the top of the bench so I can still use my holdfasts there. The shelf holds my larger jigs, occasionally my moxon vise or new hi-vise, random non-specialty tools, and lots of sawdust and shavings. I also like the cabinet not going the whole length because I occasionally like access to under the bench, and I rest my foot up there when chopping. Plus I know if I have too many drawers I just throw stuff in there and lose track.



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[Eric Brown]

I opted for a cabinet. I do have a shelf under the bench but it is just used for extra wood storage. My reasons for a cabinet include: I have room in the basement, and I'm getting older and don't like bending over as much.
Plus, as a collector/restorer I have more tools than needed, but like to keep them handy.

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[Greg Parrish]

Thanks Eric. Very nice. A wall cabinet is my other option. I’m currently using just some strips of board on the wall to sit planes on, but want to create something more secure and refined. A wall cabinet would work as well as a cabinet underneath. I don’t have floor space for a full cabinet like yours unfortunately. Something more to think about.


I opted for a cabinet. I do have a shelf under the bench but it is just used for extra wood storage. My reasons for a cabinet include: I have room in the basement, and I'm getting older and don't like bending over as much.
Plus, as a collector/restorer I have more tools than needed, but like to keep them handy.

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[Derek Cohen]

Greg, I am a recent user of an underbench cabinet and, while I do like it, I would not give up my wall cabinets. These are not apples vs apples.

The underbench cabinet houses chisels and marking tools only. Planes, saws and other hand tools are in wall cabinets.

Pictures of my bench are pretty boring as they have been used many times for illustration of something or other …

https://i.postimg.cc/kq6hNxD6/18.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xcsHPCp4)

https://i.postimg.cc/jsX8qc39/2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/zb1RfR3V)

Drawers with sliding trays to maximise space …

https://i.postimg.cc/8pzZ7vqC/3.jpg (https://postimg.cc/5YqQQNFp)

https://i.postimg.cc/Q8Y01t3J/4.jpg (https://postimg.cc/3084X5Xh)

Old photo with Aura the watchdog (sadly departed) …

https://i.postimg.cc/54j6cKj0/AWRentrysmall.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[steven c newman]

The one major gripe I have about cabinets under a bench...is the bending over to use them with this 70 year old back. Bench does have one...I might open one of the 2 drawers once or twice a year, if that....cabinet is there to support a shelf...where I keep all the "ready use" hand planes...

[Cameron Wood]

Under my bench is filled with pieces of wood. If i were you I would make drawers for half, like Sam Goldsmith. If you want, make the other half.

Derek- looking at your chisels and bench is still not boring...

[Ben Ellenberger]

I just made an under-bench cabinet. As some others have said, leaving space for holdfasts is a good idea. I keep my mallets on top of it. I like having the shelf, and would probably move the cabinet to a table next to my bench if I had a bigger space.

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[andy bessette]

OP--you really have offered too few options in your poll, so I will refrain from voting. My principle work/assembly bench has rollaway cabinets under it on one side, and a shelf on the other; that shelf is just high enough to store loaded milk crates beneath. Opposite that is an important work bench with drawers at the bottom with a shelf above.

[Bruce Page]

I think a lot depends on your needs, and maybe personal aesthetic. My shop is in a 525sqft garage that has both woodworking & metal working plus a CNC router – crowded! I wanted as much out of the way storage as possible. I built my bench accordingly.
Traditional? No.

[William Fretwell]

I have a tool tray at the back of my bench which holds a lot of tools, instantly available, set of chisels, rulers, squares, edge plane, and more small stuff. The bench shelf holds larger tools with the same instant grab. Mallets, wooden clamps, etc.
My large wooden chest with a large open drawer holds the rest. The deep lid has fitted saws. All open plan, quick grab approach. It also reminds me of what I have!

Seem to have reached an age where I open drawers and boxes saying to myself “wow I have one of those”.
Open plan is the way to go!

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[roger wiegand]

No cabinets, no shelves. Anything that gets in the way of finding the items, large and small, that I'm perpetually dropping would be too irritating for words.

[glenn bradley]

I'm all about the cabinet. Like some others shown I have a large gap between the cabinet top and the underside of the work surface for reaching through / under. Best of both worlds to me.

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[David Carroll]

My old Sjobergs bench came with a cabinet, a bank of five drawers on the right, and a cabinet on the left. I have always had small shops, so I do like the storage. You do have to think ahead, more than once I have had a large panel all set up in the shoulder vise and then realized that whatever tool I needed was in a drawer blocked and I had to remove it. But after doing this 30 or 40 times I soon learned to remove the tools I need before fixing things in the vise.

Practice, practice, 'til you learn, first to pillage, then to burn!

The cabinet is pretty much useless, there are no shelves in it, it's too tall and narrow for most tools, I keep my saw vise and a bucket of heavy clamps in it, the weight helps, because the bench isn't as heavy as would be desired.

DC

[Reed Gray]

One can never have too much storage space. If nothing else it helps with organization, well, at least for the times when I remember to put my tools back in their place. I got one of the Sjosberg benches because I figured it would take 5 years to get a bench made. I will remove the cabinet in the center and put drawers in. I will probably remove the drawers they supplied as well since they are on rollers which means I lose an inch of width for each drawer. Well made drawers don't need roller guides. I do need at least one more bench, and it will have drawers in it, maybe some shelves for wood. I don't have too much wood, no such thing....

robo hippy

[andy bessette]

In the cabinet beneath my small woodworking bench I store coffee cans full of nuts and bolts I've collected over the years (I use these for weighting glue-ups). On top of that cabinet I store two 60lb lead pigs. All that weight really helps stabilize the bench.