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Thread: Workbenches and options for Tool Holding?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Location
    Spartanburg South Carolina
    Posts
    386
    Quote Originally Posted by chris carter View Post
    You CAN take the bench with you!

    Low staked portable workbench. Goes together and comes apart in 30 seconds and is pretty easy to carry.
    Attachment 468714

    The tool tote that goes with it.
    Attachment 468715
    I do have a Moravian so I can technically move it. I am always wrestling with whether to keep the bottom open or add a shelf. right now the underside is where all my clamps live. May need to go to a clamp rack.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    2,151
    Much if this depends on the type of work you do. I work on both sides of my bench so often that i need that access. So for me no walls or backboard. I am very much a single tasker. I have a tool box between my benches at the end. In that box are my most used tools. I keep the bench top clean for the most part and get out the tools for a task. When I switch tasks I try to brush off the tools wipe them down with oily rag put them back in the box. I then prepare for the next task. After working this way for years I’ve found several good things. My benches stay fairly clear, i always know where my tools are and my tools stay clean and ready to go to work. I do wear an apron with pockets for the essentials scale, rule, sharp pencil, marking knife and 6” double square.
    Jim

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    South West Ontario
    Posts
    1,502
    Yes tool readiness is a very personal thing. The important thing for me is that they really are ready. My stretchers are half way between the bench top and floor (where they should be!), this let me create a simple cedar slat shelf that is truly easy to reach for some larger tools, hold downs, etc. The tool well at the back has nothing sticking up, marking, measuring and chisels dominate. Nothing is crowded. Larger tools, planes, saws, more chisels are in a large fitted chest.

    783F355D-A783-4955-9669-4600A43ECE92.jpg

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    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  4. #19
    For those who could use a smidgeon of o.c.d. here is a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-CTkbHnpNQ&t=2s I used to work with a guy who was always knolling- the tools that were not in his hands were arranged neatly on a cart next to the bench. That is beyond me but I do try to keep things somewhat organized and at hand.

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    Last edited by Kevin Jenness; 11-26-2021 at 8:43 AM.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
    Posts
    12,120
    My WORK bench is just 16" wide, by 54" long..yet fits into the work area of my shop. IF I need a tool, there is a large tool cabinet, that all I need to do is turn around ( About...FACE) open a door, get the tool out, close the door. Bench has a vise on the end, and a leg vise at that end....as those two seem to work together. At the other end, there is a Cachet...been used so much, it needs to be replaced.

    There IS a shallow tool well (2" deep~) and a rack for ready to use chisels on the back of it. Been in use for over 7 years now. main part of the bench was built in a single Sunny Sunday afternoon, on the back porch patio.

    When doing most of the joinery work, I am sitting down on the Shop's Stool. Height of my bench? 34"

    Oh, BTW..I also have to share the basement with the Laundry Room, too.
    A Planer? I'm the Planer, and this is what I use

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Lafayette, Indiana
    Posts
    1,378
    My situation is completely different than yours. I have a hybrid shop - 22x22 building. I do not have enough space for the bench to sit away from the wall. I have a chisel rack and shelf on the wall behind the bench. Permanent home to small items - dividers, spoke shaves, squares, coping saws, gentleman’s saw, “utility chisels”, awls, tape measure, pencils, block plane, mallets. Some day I plan to build an under the bench tool cabinet as well similar to what Derek has, but I have a dedicated tool cabinet for planes, chisels, rasps. Saws currently hang on the wall, though I keep my carcass and dove tail saws in their original boxes when not in use simply because I’ve yet to build a saw till. I have shelves under the outfeed table on the table saw and under the SCMS station.

    I’ll confess, I had to look up Sloyd style benches. I came across Rainford Restorations Woodworking. That site has a portable tool cabinet from Sloyd” that holds full length handsaws. You should check it out if you haven’t already.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Michiana
    Posts
    3,047
    I like four side access to my modestly sized bench, so I built a shallow sideboard against the wall behind the bench for tool storage. It works ok. I’m continually refining it. The next project will be an improved chisel rack that orients the sharp end up and uses hidden magnetic retention.

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    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

  8. #23
    I like the idea of wall-mounted enclosed tool cabinets a little away from the workbench so I can work around the bench. The portable chisel stand also comes in handy. It installs in the tool well and is portable between 2 similarly configured workbenches. Norman
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    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Winners View Post
    My guidance is start making stuff, a birdhouse, whatever. As you start making stuff, where the tools should be in the space you have will come to you.
    i have to agree, you can't ask people to design your shop and your tool storage if you want it to work for you.
    Figure out what you reach for most and how convenient it should be, no one can tell you how to do this, you really need to come to this on your own.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
    Posts
    12,120
    Have found a use for un-used dog holes.....while I am sitting at the bench, doing a bit of joinery work....and don't want a chisel to roll off the bench onto the shop floor...I simply store that chisel in a close-by dog hole...as sometimes there might be 2-4 chisels in use...and they all want to roll, of course....Insert the chisels into a few dog holes, to wait their turn...yet are within easy reach when needed.
    A Planer? I'm the Planer, and this is what I use

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Mid coast Maine
    Posts
    477
    I made this for my bench about 8 years ago. There have been some changes and upgrades since then but no current pics. It sits on the back rail of the tool tray and can just be lifted off and set aside if need be.

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    Jim
    Ancora Yacht Service

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,347
    Blog Entries
    1
    while I am sitting at the bench, doing a bit of joinery work....and don't want a chisel to roll off the bench onto the shop floor...I simply store that chisel in a close-by dog hole...as sometimes there might be 2-4 chisels in use
    It works as long as your chisel is smaller than the dog hole. Some folks have had problems with socket chisels falling off of the handle. It can also be painful if you reach under the bench top for something.

    My chisel holder for bench top holding may be a bit crude but it is simple and works:

    Chisel Rack.jpg

    Other members have posted much nicer ones with a french cleat to hang on the wall. They could also have a small dog on the bottom to be held by a dog hole or two.

    Jim & I must have been posting at the same time.

    Wow Jim, ain't that the bee's knees!

    jtk
    Last edited by Jim Koepke; 11-28-2021 at 11:38 AM.
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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