Shop project planning... New Bench nearly complete

Ned Bulken

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Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
Now that the Shop is filling up with stuff I've been thinking on several shop related projects which are NOT construction related.
First up, I'm shy a router table, so I'm going to be adding one to the right extension of my table saw. I just lucked into a nice piece of laminated countertop which I am going to cut down to fit.

Another project is to fit the cabinet I put in with shelving. I added one quick shelf today, but I want to plan the rest out a bit, and make them nicer than just a piece of 1/2" plywood. Tonight's shelf did allow me to clear off my workbench of several containers and tools though, so it stays until I gear up for the shelves project.

Following those, I want to raise the 4 drawer cabinet a bit, as well as make a drill press stand out around it. Yesterday's counter top rescue netted three pieces, one large one which is now in Ralph's shop, and two smaller ones which I decided would be nice to have on hand here. One of which is a corner unit, I'm thinking that it would be pretty cool if I kept it as such and tucked the cabinet under it for drill paraphernalia and so forth.
The counter is approximately 24" square complete with back splash sections, which might just work out nicely, since I'm planning on putting it in the corner anyway, and just pulling it out when I need to drill something large.

and perhaps the largest project is that I'm going to modify one of my benches to be similar to the one which the fine woodworking shop manager designed:
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/Workshop/WorkshopArticle.aspx?id=28530 for a video of the bench, click there.

he uses pipe clamps instead of a tail vice. I''ve got my face vise, so I'm going to have that on one end, and then the pipe clamps either behind it, or beside it, depending on how things work out.

and for the sketchup clan :http://www.sawdustroad.com/Newfangled.skp and a second version with cutlist for 6' version http://www.sawdustroad.com/NewFangled-v2.skp

this one might just go to the top of the list.
 
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Today I headed up to Fulton and Grizz & I worked on my new-fangled workbench. We got nearly all of the boards cut to length, assembled a few of the pieces, & loaded the pieces back in my truck. I'm about 1/3 of the way through building the bench. I have to glue up three boards, & do some assembly. I also have to go buy 4 pieces of 3/4 in Galvanized pipe, as well as a sheet of 3/4" MDF. Once I do that, I've got to drill a couple of holes in two of the pipe clamps, to secure them to the end of the bench, then drill all of the holes for the pipes, the through holes for the main pipes, the 'trapped' holes to hold the vertical pieces, as well as the through holes to hold the eventual cross clamps.

Here's a completed shot from one of several new fangled bench projects over on lumberjocks:
attachment.php

I really like several aspects of this bench... #1 the price, it is made primarily from dimensional lumber and some MDF plus the clamps and a few lag bolts. #2 the versatility. I'm not much of a galoot, though I would like to try it, and the main lack that has stopped me has been a decent bench to work at. My workbenches up til this point have been useful for holding up projects, but not so much for doing hand work on.
I decided that for my small shop, I would go with a 5' long bench, the depth will be 26" plus another 5 for the planing stop, but that's something I'll be adding in the upcoming weeks. I won't be assembling until at least this coming weekend, I have to either tear down one of my benches, and/or store the stack of sheetrock in a different spot. If can move that sheetrock, I can move my bandsaw across the shop to the 'power' wall, and then get that wall insulated with the remainder of the insulation I have on hand, and put up a couple of pieces of plywood over it. I'll have to see if the budget will allow me to pick up another roll of 4' reflectix. I havent' checked prices since last fall, but with the state of the economy, I can't believe it would have gone Down in price.
 

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Shop project planning...

Ned,

That's going to be one nice bench. I'm keeping that idea for later, Thanks.

One piece of advice on your pipe clamps, DON'T use galvanized pipe. Use plain "black iron" pipe. The jaws of the Jorgenson clamps will slip on the galvanizing and you can end up chasing them all up and down the pipe. Black iron just lets the jaw bite in enough to hold. We used those Jorgy 3/4" pipe clamps in fabricating frames for big vibrating conveyors back home, and tightened them with a 1" box wrench on the handles. After a while the handles were bent out of shape, but the clamp never slipped. I tried using galvanized for some personal clamps and learned quickly that even clamping wood the jaws slipped on the galvanizing.

Just a word to a friend.

Aloha, Tony
 
Ned,

That's going to be one nice bench. I'm keeping that idea for later, Thanks.

One piece of advice on your pipe clamps, DON'T use galvanized pipe. Use plain "black iron" pipe. The jaws of the Jorgenson clamps will slip on the galvanizing and you can end up chasing them all up and down the pipe. Black iron just lets the jaw bite in enough to hold. We used those Jorgy 3/4" pipe clamps in fabricating frames for big vibrating conveyors back home, and tightened them with a 1" box wrench on the handles. After a while the handles were bent out of shape, but the clamp never slipped. I tried using galvanized for some personal clamps and learned quickly that even clamping wood the jaws slipped on the galvanizing.

Just a word to a friend.

Aloha, Tony


Tony,
thanks for the reminder, I would have gotten the galvanized!

I had a bunch of thoughts last night heading to bed, The plan of action is going to be:
build the storage for the sheet goods and reclaim the northeast corner of the shop, then shuffle some tools around and 'gain' some floorspace. that way I can put in the new bench and not be tripping over it.

At the moment, I'd say that should take me the rest of the month to accomplish, and most of April. LOL
 
Storage in progress...

Well it isn't long term storage, call it Mid term storage...

first a shot of my, er, Mark's ladder...
niceladder.jpg


general view of the shop

before.jpg


verts.jpg

2x4's bolted to joists

3up.jpg

2x8's bolted to 2x4's and screwed to support at the wall.

and the stuff to be stored... (minus the benchtop piece)
stuff.jpg
 
Nice looking Ned but I'd like to make one comment. I think that I'd move the 2x4 hangers up to the top of the joist and put in a couple more bolts. It looks like you'll have the ability to over load that size of an area very quickly. JMHO but I tend to over build when in doubt. Gee that sounds like Larry's line:D
 
Royall,

I'll do my best to not overload it.But if it comes right down to it, I'll happily run a 2x6 right across the shop to help support things. I'm not planning on putting that much up there in the end... 3 or 4 sheets of drywall max, the rest can find other homes.

And I will Not be putting any plywood up there, the stuff I have left over from the shop build will be put to use on the walls themselves, and any new sheet goods will be broken down as it comes into the shop on a per project basis.


ps. as for the bolts.. you dont' think 2 3/8" bolts per board will hold that much weight?
 
Some suggestions

first of all ned,, you should look at whats taking up the most space now in your shop and look where you want that to be at.. then make it go there if it means taking your lumber up in yourt loft area then do so.. you need to make room to work on your shop projects,, there is nothing worse than moving one thing form here to there to get that what your after... and another thing to look at is how or what can put under this to make all the space avaible used to its best potential. when you are restricted in space every nook and cranny needs to be utilized..
 
...ps. as for the bolts.. you dont' think 2 3/8" bolts per board will hold that much weight?

It's not so much the size or number of the bolts, but the fact that they are mounted low, essentially pulling only on the bottom edges of the joists. If they were moved up to where the top of the 2x4 was flush with the top of the joist, they would be pulling against a lot deeper cross section of the joist. You'll probably be fine, but I'd watch for cracking around the bolt holes in the joists.
 
another thought ned is to make your shelf at least 4ft wide so that you can have a ply cut off in there,, your gonna wish it was before long, and like vaughn says your anchoring postion could be changed to be more solide,,perhaps a thin flat piece of steel to the top and threw your existing area,, or better yet have a starp over the top of the joist and back to you two bolts then you got all the joist working for you.. think joist hangers...
 
It's not so much the size or number of the bolts, but the fact that they are mounted low, essentially pulling only on the bottom edges of the joists. If they were moved up to where the top of the 2x4 was flush with the top of the joist, they would be pulling against a lot deeper cross section of the joist. You'll probably be fine, but I'd watch for cracking around the bolt holes in the joists.
for the limited load I'm planning on, I'm betting I'll be good for now too. I will keep an eye on it however.


another thought ned is to make your shelf at least 4ft wide so that you can have a ply cut off in there,, your gonna wish it was before long, and like vaughn says your anchoring postion could be changed to be more solide,,perhaps a thin flat piece of steel to the top and threw your existing area,, or better yet have a starp over the top of the joist and back to you two bolts then you got all the joist working for you.. think joist hangers...

Larry, it is already 4' wide, plus some extra, as it is going to hold 4x8' drywall sheets.

cutoffs, hmmm those can add up quickly. One thing this has shown me is that I have a LOT of space available up high.. and I've got those two units on the short wall that are eating up some major square footage. I put them up to store some gear, but think they're really in Lathe Land, so they need to be emptied and repurposed. Might just be next weekend's project.

Oh, and I also found a pretty cool thing... another roll of Reflectix that I had forgotten I had. I knew I had more pink stuff, but now I know I've got the silver too. SO i'll be throwing up insulation and then plywood tonight after supper. I'll just have to move those few pieces of drywall that are left in the corner. Then I'll rebuild the rack, moving the bolts up on the joist and putting up plywood on the wall as well.

Looks like a busy evening.
 
Shop project planning...

Nice idea for the high storage, Ned. Just out of curiosity, and seeing as nobody else has asked, what is the dimension of the space below the rack? Is that going to be a head-banger? From the pictures, it looks pretty low to the floor.

Just sayin'.

Aloha, Tony
 
Nice idea for the high storage, Ned. Just out of curiosity, and seeing as nobody else has asked, what is the dimension of the space below the rack? Is that going to be a head-banger? From the pictures, it looks pretty low to the floor.

Just sayin'.

Aloha, Tony

I didn't measure it exactly, but I'd hazard It's under 8'. I've still got room to walk under it. I may not have a lot of floorspace, but I've got loads of Volume in my shop. The topsill of the walls is at 10' 4.5" (10' stud, plus bottom, and double top sills). Even dropping about 3' and I've got headroom. Not as much as the rest of the shop perhaps, but that's fine by me.

I'm afraid I loaded a bit more up there than I originally thought, there were quite a few more cutoffs than I thought behind the half sheets. c'est laviee

It seems solid, but I'll be unloading as much of it as I can this summer. We'll be starting on the house reno soon, and that'll eat up that drywall in a hurry.

full.jpg

there's the space I opened up.

Oh, and I did find one use for it that I hadn't thought of, it makes a great clamp rack!
longview.jpg


rackfull.jpg


self.jpg
 
pics tomorrow, but I put an hour or so in the shop tonight, working on my bench. I glued up the back of the top, and then started laying out for the holes for the front clamps. I'm not actually going to be using them any time soon, but figure I might as well drill the holes for them now. One small problem, my largest forstner bit is just a tad too small for the pipes to fit. SO I'm going to find a sears hardware (my best guess as to where I can find a bit that will work) and buy a new bit tomorrow. Hmmm I might just buy a half round file now that I think of it.
 
well I got the legs fixed with the help of Mark's impact driver:
iwantone.jpg


that stubborn bolt came right out last night over at Mark's shop. I still needed to get it all assembled though. He helped me get it put together, though I did make him a little nervous a couple of times. SOmething about not using clamps to hold down the workpiece when I went to drill holes in a 'small' piece of wood. :dunno::D

anyway, today I had a half day at work, so I came home earlier and got things to this point:
justtoolong.jpg

it was about here, when I was about to secure the two short pieces that hold the main pipe clamps that I realized I had the legs spaced too far apart... so, Impact to the rescue again, dissasembly and cut off a couple of inches from the main beam. Drill new pilot holes (yes Vaughn, I did think of you when I did that), sometimes backing up Does make for progress!

Then I had to rip about 3/16 off of the two cross pieces, they were too tall. note to self, time for a ZCI.

somewhere along there I decided to drill the holes for the cross clamps (two more short pipe clamps which allow clamping a long piece to the front of the bench. I don't have two spare' mechanisms so for now the pieces are drilled. That spade bit worked well still, and made a flurry of chips.

timeout.jpg

here's where I left things.

you can see the cross holes on the front vertical board of the pipe well. Another horizontal will get connected to that one, and both a vertical and a glue up of 3 2x4's makes up the back of the bench. I had a split in the back vertical piece, so instead of replacing it, I decided to glue and clamp it overnight.
repair.jpg



I've got to go meet the larry express tomorrow, and then my eldest and I will be visiting some friends, so I don't expect to get much done until sunday.

one thing I haven't figured out yet is where I'm going to fit it into the layout. I'm afraid something has to give... and at this point, I'm thinking the chopsaw station may be repurposed:
toomanyhorses.jpg

as you can see there just isn't enough room in there (again)
 
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Great looking bench Ned, thanks for the post I missed the beginning and got to watch the video. :thumb:

This is bench is a great idea. Do you by chance have the pdf of the original Fine woodworking unit? I could subscribe for the free 14 day period but just dont want the hassle of cancelling and ensuring I dont end up getting billed all the time.:(
 
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