The Workbench Works

The next phase is complete, the workbench works. Eight drawers, eight cupboards, and three roll-a-rounds, 27 inches deep, and 14 feet long. The top is made of two, 3/4 inch thick MDF lined with a 3/16 inch piece of hardboard. The edges are trimmed out with two and half inch boards. The entire bench is red oak, it has nice wood grain, cheap and hard enough to take a pounding. I used dark spring hinges and made my own handles. I guessing the entire project cost about 300 dollars for the lumber, hardware and glue. Of course that doesn’t include the new table saw and shaper I purchased.

The roll-a-round cabinets are great for hardware. It allows me to roll the hardware I need right to my project site. The roll-a-rounds do not work as smooth as I hope for. The issue concerns the slopping foundation. There is about a 3/4 inch drop in the foundation from the front of the bench to the back. Therefore I had put a riser in the back of each opening, it keeps the front flush with the rest of the bench front. Plus I used straight rollers instead of casters, so the roll-a-rounds would pull straight out which also prevents them from rolling away from whatever project I am working on.  The far left will be used to support my table saw and shaper. The center has two sides, one for nails and the other side supports my wood screws. The right cabinet is for hardware not commonly used and contains bends.

The entire workbench project has allow me to experiment with unfamiliar  methods for creating drawers, and cabinet doors. The most important thing is Donna likes them has ask me to take a break from building shop furniture to building her a buffet table for the dinner room. Of course it will not look like my workbench, but it will have drawers and possibly lower doors for storing her nice table decorations.

My inlaws (Del and Arlene Johnson are coming to visit this week. Del is going to help me install 220v in the man cave to run my larger air compressor and my father’s radial arm saw.  We will also install 4 additional 4 foot lights closer to the walls which will put more lighting over the center of the shop. These 4 footers will not replace the LEDs I have placed over  my power tools.

I will also mount three more over the workbench, under the wall cabinets after I complete my buffet project. To justify the existence of the man cave and all its addition tool requirements I have to make something for the house. This keeps the little woman happy and the man cave donations up.

Drawers & Doors

The drawers went together well though I had to make a few adjustments to allow for smooth rolling. An empty drawer may work well but putting weight in one adds stress for testing.  This week I began to put the fronts on the drawers and doors on the shelves.

I found a couple easy handle plans and decided to make my own. A drawer/door handle can cost between 2 & 4 dollars. The bench is going to take 19 handles and the upper cabinet will take another 8. I save about 60 dollars making them. It only took 5 ft of 1.5 inch Red Oak and 2 hours of labor. I made 40 identical handles just incase I wanted to make more cabinets.  The next  step  is to fill the spaces between the cabinets. These I haven’t design yet but the idea comes from kitchen cabinetry. For kitchens with no pantry, the builder usually puts in a pull out where cans and boxed foods are stored. Instead mine will be used for hardware, screws, nails, hooks, etc.

Now for some cool stuff, I’ve updated yet another major tool in my shop. My old table saw (Craftsmen) has been a muscle in my shop but like many things has begin to show some wear. Lately my cuts have not been as exact as I like. I did some shopping around and found three saws that were within my price tag. Lowe’s had two, a Hitachi and a Delta, both good saws, price at just below 600 dollars. Home depot had a Ridgid with in the price range. I choose the Ridgid for two reasons, 1) A good consumer reports rating, 2) a 2 inch marble table top, sweet! All three were belt driven which means super quite operation, that combined with easy adjustments and with the ability to cut at 30 inch verses 18 makes it more conducive to cabinet work.

Drawers Ain’t Easy!

My 30th anniversary was awesome, the photo says it all. Donna and I have been blessed with a marriage that has sustain despite the secular world’s wisdom. We have two great kids and a wonderful grandson. Of course all these blessings has nothing to do with our actions but those of our Lord.

This weekend I began working on the workbench drawers. Drawers aren’t easy so I took a yet another simple design out of one of my wood magazines, one that is strong but not fancy. I haven’t purchased a dado yet so I have been using my router and my Kreg Jig R3, a awesome combination.  In the photo I build the front of the drawers with a frame and panel design. I use .75in x 1.5in red oak to build the frame and the panel is plain .25in oak. Building and install 8 draws took me about 6 hours. Your cuts have to be close to perfect and alignments right on or nothing slides the way it is suppose too.  I have a sense of satisfaction when it is all completed. More importantly than that I’ve added to my cabinet making skills. I built 4 shallow and 4 deep drawers for future options.

The next phase is to work on the doors. If you notice I did not put a center bar. This allows me a wider opening to put larger kits inside.

Work Bench Cabinets

 

My skills at building quality cabinets isn’t where it should be. I intentionally decided to build real cabinets under and above my workbench. My workbenches of the past have always been 2x4s with open shelves. I took some simple plans I found in my Wood magazine and of course like we all do adjusted them to fit my requirements. Each cabinet is 33 inches long and 23 inches deep with two draws and two doors. I used 3/4 inch birch plywood for the sides and oak 1.5x.75 to frame the front. Since I preinstalled the dust collection hoses on the floor, I had to cut a 4 inch square at the bottom back to give it proper clearance.

As you can see by this picture I have spaced my 4 33 inch cabinets out with 3 12 inch openings. This will serve two purposes. 1) Allows me to have a workbench 13 feet long. 2) I can now create 3 full size pull outs that will hold hardware and consumables. You can also see the dust collection hose coming to the top of bench.

The bench is 1.5 inches thick, I did this by gluing to 3/4 inch thick MDF. I intent put a 1/4 inch sheet of hard board on top and trim it out with red oak. This will allow me to replace the top once I finishing abusing it. The bench is 24 inches deep, once trimmed it will be just short of 25 inch.

I will be taking a break from my shop for a couple weeks. Next week Donna and I have a business trip to Fredericksburg, TX and next weekend we will be off to Hawaii, where we will celebrate our 30th anniversary. When I return I will continue work on the drawers and doors, yet another skill of many that I am weak on. It is a good thing I have so many weaknesses, otherwise I be extremely bored.

Inner Walls

I wanted my man cave to have the appearance of a productive, organized wood shop, I felt this could be done by using hardboard. I put 4x8 pegboard at the top to hang my tools and used solid hard board at the bottom. I put two six inch wide shelves on the walls where I intend to not put a workbench. The top shelf is to be used for display items and the bottom one is to place workstation tools and accessories. The shelf is also where I mounted my dust collection hoses. By limiting the shelf width to 6 inches no additional support is required and still allows room for drills, chargers, adjustment tools and additional attachments. There is still plenty of room for hanging items on the pegboard.

I had several problems with aligning the panels due to the slope of the roof and the cement floor, but isn’t that why they invented trim. It took some tricks to keep the shelves from appearing not level. Now that all the electrical outlets are covered I am able to call the city in to do one last inspection.

Adding Some Skin

I choose to use a composite materiel 16 foot by 1 foot. Not real difficult to install but a bear to get home. I have a 5 foot bed on my Tacoma and even with the extended attachment in my towing connector I had 5 feet still hanging off the back. It took two trips from the Home Depot using the back roads. I still have some painting to do, mainly on the corner trim and a couple nails to cover. The existing roof has a pitch of about 2 inches but it matches that of the foundation which also has a 2 inch pitch. This allowed the water to run off when the previous owners park their boat under the car port. I put a heat barrier between the studs and the siding. Texas doesn’t stay cold very long but it does stay hot for some time. I having decided to use a swap cooler or a portable AC unit. 

My initial thought was to use a double door but after talking with Rob, I decided to go with sliding door. Like old Norm has on his shop. I wanted to match the shop color and yet blend in with the house. My choice, Red Oak trim with Birch panels and Plexiglas windows. I modified the normal closet sliding door hardware and they seem to be working quite well. The door is only about 3/4 inch thick, but the goal is to keep some of the weather out. If someone want to really get in it wouldn’t take much. The door proved to be a winner with Donna, especially when it is the first thing you see while sitting on the back porch.

Sunday I spent most of my time installing the dust collection ducting and cleaning the place up. I have a 2 horsepower dust collection system. My plan is to install it in the garage so I can close the door and keep the noise out. My next task is to install the inner walls, 1/4 Panel at the bottom and peg-board at the top. But before that I have to invite the building inspector over to inspect the outside walls and the electrical wiring. Now the work will slow down until next payday.

The Continuation

After bidding Rob and Lori farewell I continue the work on building the remaining walls. I have all the sticks up now straight and level making Dad proud I’m sure. The unusual characteristics about this build is, the cement slap and roof have a down slope of about 2 inches. which makes the studs look crooked in comparison to the roof. Something I have to get over I guess. The next step was to get my building permit. Most of you may think that you should have a building permit before you begin a project like this but it isn’t really necessary, especially when you forget about it. The inspector forgave my senior moments and approved the building anyways.

Just a Little Help From My Friends

The next victim to assist me in my build was Donna’s dad, Del. A little background first: We went to Del’s family reunion up by Alton Missouri in the Ozark Mountains. Met some real nice folks. Afterwards Del & Arlene follow us back to our home to continue the visit. Donna and Arlene had always heard about Canton, Texas where Texas largest and oldest swap meet or flea market occurs before the weekend of the 1st Monday of the month. I believe it covered about 12 acres. We turn that trip in a camp outing. This was Del and Arlene’s first time in the new camper and it worked well for the four of us. The next test will be for 6 (Sam, Matt Del, Arlene) or maybe not. Again another enjoyable event ended and we came back home.

During the following week Del was getting a little bored especially when he is away from his garden in Englewood, CO. I wanted to make him happy so I talk him into doing a little work on my man cave. Del is a retired electrician, he was able to help me select the correct wire based on my power requirements, along with plugs and junction boxes. And sense I had to work, he kindly volunteered to install these items as well. What professional work! He did it in such a way that a Texan electrician could simply look at the labor install my fuse box and sign off on the work, saving me countless amounts of paid electrical labor and cost.

Next, I start the outer wall.