Weodsmith ShopNotes EDITOR'S NOTE L: ‘face it — just about every woodworker would like to have mone shop space. But for most of us, a large, open workshop is only a dream, So the challenge is to make the space you have work harder, This will make the time you spend in your shop more productive and enjoyable ‘That's what this book is all about Inside, you'll find exclusive project plans, space-saving tips, and easy-to ‘master techniques that will help you get the most out of ‘your shop. For starters, check out the One-Wall Workshop ‘on page 10. By combining pre-made cabinets with some innovative shop-buill upgrades, you can ereate the ulti- mote workcenter, We've also gathered our top picks for other must-have shop projects. Each one will help you add storage space or help you gel more out of your own power tools —and they're inexpensive and exsy to build. Finally, check out the extra tips and bonus project plans online, Youcan fine out more about these on page 99. GET MORE * Projects + Tips » Techniques. in Every Issue www. Woodsmith.com www. ShopNotes.com ORDER ONLINE see ShopNotesSpecials. com 4SMALL SHOP SOLUTIONS Best Spot for your Table Saw 8 Tha secrt to an effin chop begins with the locaton af your tbe sv. One-Waill Workshop 10 Customstorage and a ip-up workbench ako tis the ultmate work ener Pre-Fab Shop Cabinets 22 hhexpensve, manufaetued cabinets can make organzing your shop a breeze, Construction Details 24 These tke and tps guarantee great resus an builtin the ono.wall werlahop Shop Makeover Secrets 26 Reposition your workbendh and power tools maximize a lined space. Workbench Location Tips 28 Where you pur your worébenchis the key to goring the most out of your shop, Shu Sie? SoturioneModular Clamp Storage 32 Mesrted to awallors mabe cat, = cep sacks ponide grat storage Pegboard Storage 36 See na compact space. Thats the Se ths vesatle peghoad aston. 'Sieing-Door Shop Cabinet 40 be amaze at how rach yu can and outside tis sim cabinet. Lumber Storage Tips 46 knber doesr'thaveto be fustratirs Hees now togetit onder cnt Small Tool Storage 48 Dscover few new nays toorganize the aol you reach fr evry dy. svn ShopNotesSpecials.com Lary Onery Wanebinsents SZ This weekbonc has a seks base and lage top. Pus, ireapensve bull. Qiraeasiirn Filing Fedele 5S Strong, sturdy construction does keep thistable on being ight ane porte one Kavelnoren 64 Every shop needs apa ofsamhoses. ‘These a astable and include storage. ‘Wore asterand mone accurately wih those must-have erch accessories. Roll-Around Shop Cart 74 Noed an entraworksurtage ota Randy ayto move workpicces? Ty this ca. Stow-Away Router Table 80 Heres «compact outer tae the stores ‘ey, ut sil has igetme feat Table Saw Outfeed Support 86 End the haste of ping long workpieces vwth the hep of ths easyc-tull suppor. Flip-Top Tool Stand 90 Wh i rotating top, thiscant makesit ppvsible tomcunt two tons n one sac, ‘Small Shop Too! Tips 94 Find solos to awe ange of too “soraqe problems wth these nove tipsUltimate Shop _ Makeovers _ Sometities a few layout changes are all takes to get the most out of yeut sha soace, Or you Can taisfom a sngle wall inte 2 fullfexured ‘yorishep wih plenty of storage and workspace, BEST SPOT FOR YOUR TABLE SAW....8. ONE-WALL WORKSHOP... PRE-FAB SHOP CABINETS... CONSTRUCTION DETAILS... SHOP MAKEOVER SECRETS. WORKBENCH LOCATION TIPS.......28 FEU ua Ua pe eeULTIMATE SHOP MAKEOVERS SMALL SHOP Gav SEF RE OR eu TI Best Spot “yY anete sau OREO es for your Table Saw Locating this essential tool properly will go a long way toward making your workshop more efficient and enjoyable. When it comes io power tocls, the tablesa i my shop. lfSused for everything Eom b down sheets of plywood to cutting jeinery. So find ing thebest place for tistool ean have abig.impact en how well your shop works. Shops come in all shapes and sizes. But there ate a few strategies you can use to help find the best place for your saw the result will be getting the most from your saw and maximizing shop space. FADING THE SPAG. The first thing, ko think sbout is how much space youll need. Table saws take up a Tot of space. As vou ean see in the drawing above, I'm not jast referring to the size ofthe san: The amount of space a saw needs depends on the size of the stock you're working with. For exam- ple, cutting full sheets of plywood and other sheet goods means you'll need to allow about 9 or 10' in front of and behind the saw to work safely. PIACING OTHER TOOLS. Where you place the table sow’ can affect other tools in your chop, too, For starl- rs, | try to koop my workbench near the saw: Since you'll spend a lot of time using both, you can save ‘Some steps (and work more afficiently) by position- ing, the workbench clese to the table saw. Talso like to keep the jointor and planer close to the saw, ‘These three tools see quite a bit of action Shis)) Scop SouuTionsat the beginning of a project wher I'm sizing stock. Just make sure that any twols on the outiced side are set at the same height or below the height of the saw table, like the jointer you see in the lower Fight drawing. [his will preventa workpiece from. geting hung, up in the middle of acu. The drawings you see on the opposite page and at the lower right show two ways to apply these ideas to common shop floor plans. SMALL SHOP Insmall shops, I’ve found the best place to locate the lable saw is smack dab in the middle of the room, Tike you see in the drawing on the opposite page. There's simple mason why this works sowell: The sai has the most ronm all around it to handle just about any size workpiece. It also means the saw isn't very far from other tools. If your shop space is small, you can // make the reom work “bigger” by angling, — the saw. This Jets you lake advantage of | Bisa AN ES} t the longer disganal dimensions of the ‘at hanel, This can save time and a few extra steps when changing the setup. “Asecond benefityou’ll motive shat hesew's power cord and dust collection hose willhavea shorter run to the wall (and be out of the way) GUANGE YOUR SHOR To help you got started putting your shop in order, check out Shop Te dounload RotesSpeciatsromy bo tivd sae drawings ati SCT common sip tocls With a oor plan of Your gayangs, goo shop and these cravings, you can rearrange ANU. the toolsand worksusfaces in your shop unl Sg Notes- ‘you find one that works — without actually having to move anytiing around. NARROW SHOP tee ] Oo Specials.com room, Another way to maximize space is to position the infeed side of the saw neara door so you can “porrawe” space from another rvom ‘when ripping long stock INAMINGIT WORK. Setting up Ihe saw in the mite of the shop sounds ikea great idea, Bu there are some other things youll nced to think about — power, lighting; anel dust control [o name a Few ‘Adaling another ight shouldn't be dificult. But the power conl and dust collection hose can cause some tuble. They may trail across the fleor and ‘get in the way occasionally. And the power cord for ‘ome saws might not feadh to the wall, s0 you may rnced tobuy (or make) a longer one NARROW SHOP Ina workshop that’s long ancl narrow, recommend taking a different approach, Instead of pulting the table saw in the middle of the floor, set it against cone of the long, walls, like you see in the drawing, at right. When you think about it, putting the saw. against the wall makesa lot of sense. ‘With the sew in this position, you aren’t Linit- ing the capacity of the saw because you can’t set the fence past the end of the rails anyway. Post tioning the saw an a long wall gives you plenty of space for handling large workpieces. And it ‘opens up the center of the workshop lor assern= bly space and easier traftic low. [ADOEDBEREFS. Theze are a compleatherbenetits of positioning, the table saw this way. The fist is you ‘an use the wall next to the saw as a handy place to keep extra blades, jigs, and accessories close www. ShopNotesspecials.com atl ey somes | Bel TI me ee ALE nome osencee | git opr GRRE SHAE ws eee | = Nores SS] meres cuor QUSERN ane |] oF FOE REARULTIMATE SHOP MAKEOVERS 0 One-Wall Workshop Turn a wall into the ultimate workcenter with these easy-to-build cabinet add-ons. The problem with most garage oF basement shops is that they end up looking like the one you see in the insot photo on the opposite page The challenges are finding enough storage, organization, and workst faces to work on projects. ONEWALL WORKSPACE "That's where the “one-wall workshop" you see in the main photo really fills the bil Ie starts with standard gamge shop cabinets, which you can pur: chase online or pick up frem a local dealee. You can find more informa tion about pre-fab shop cabinets in the article on prage 22. They allow out to concentrate: on omganizing your shop and working on projects instead of spending, time building basic storage cabinets and dour TF you look closly, you'll se that (ve *souped up” these cabinets wilh custom storage compartments, shelves, peghoard, and lighting WORKBENCH. What I like best about this setup Is the workbench. You «an see in the photo that this bench has everything you need for buill- ing projects, including vises and a row of bench dog holes. And when you're done for the day, the front of the bench drops down out of the way like the leaf of dining table. So, by starting with manufactured ‘abine’s and adding some custom features, you can turn a single wall into great shop area, i Wat Planned Organization. With a little planning, you can turn any wall into an ‘erganized workspace. Manuiactured ‘garage cabinets form the foundation, Then customized storage, lighting, and workbench options are added So Seturions-swww.ShopNotesSpeciats.comLUGHTING VALANCE ALSO Exploded — ekoner rane View Details - J HoLLow, HIDE wigs eis INVALANCE WORK AREA NOTE: eeree 70 28 ron zee FOR MANUFACTURED Tavtiwatt CABINETS serge cones eee Soiree ‘Suu Soe SouTions:Fogo suewes PROvDE Exar teat BEN SURFORT CABINET ADUONING cABINETS FOR res @) ert) To download cutting diagrams for this project, go to our website ShopNotes- Specials.com sow ShopNotesSpecials.com wox2ew xr" Dene a pees | Froese sous ‘ FLIP-UP WORKSENCH FLi-uP WORKBENCH WHEN NEEDED runt our sence __— SUPFORT LOCKS BENE 0 Siiibeane Boron aaa Su \ CROSS SECTION he (END VIEW) a woxcaenci. ~~ Fotbs Dow \ cena 06TI ‘The drawing in the left margin END, shows the heights used for vil mounting my cabinets Nees MainWorkshop Section Ei ‘To get started on your own one KL wall workshop, you'll need to choose ankl install a set of wall cabinets like you see on pages 12 andl 13. Then you can build the accessories to fit them. (You may have to modify a few dimen- 5) sions to fit the cabinets you use.) ‘You can start with the lower @e"at 701) section, as shown in the photo above. lo save space in my shop, used wall cabinets mounted as base cabinets. They aren'tas deep Nore ames SE = oO ® — RIGHTE rotrom (aut) END VIEW as standard base cabinets. Plus, | mounted them off the floor to prevent damage from moisture Er and to make it easier to clean rront BENCHTOP oD tuncterneath them, EDGING ‘OFBY-FEOMT STORAGE. The challenge Lard with a small week area ss find, _(OFPOING L ing a place to store tools like my i bench grinder, excular savy, and S|) routes Thar’ where an open is front cabinet comes in handy Dee gars tana 2 stot Mgge filer strips on the bottom. They are usest for all the joinery. Aflorghuingup thecase, adalthe give the sewws 9 place to grab Le ae 1 TOP SECTION VIEW) CENTER » O*StLe| 1 = Overhead Lighting. Fluorescentliht- | rng mounted inthe valances ightsup | oTTOM| the whole workspace pon Kes a aaiocen “Task Lights. Halogen lights mounted under the upger wall cabinets are ideal for detaied rast, FACE FRAME, The face frame serves ‘two purposes — it both protectsand hides the edges of the ease. You can simply cut each of the pieces fit and glue them in place, as n Figure 2, Proundead the outside edges of the ‘co end stiles before attaching them ‘After the face frame ts compiets, it time to work on thebenchtop. LAMINATED TOR The top of the eabinet cnsistsof two pieces of MDP that ane glued together (Figure 2). This makes 2 sold anulsmooth worksurface, Then it’s just a mat ter of gluing, hondwood edging on the front and left end, (The right ond will bull up against the work= bench section you'll build later) Now you can fasten the top to the cabinets with serows (Figure 2). Before moving on, go ahead and install the thie upper wall cabinets, as shown in Figure 3. You'll ssork on adding lighting and paghoanl storagenett. PARITY OF LIGHT. One thing, most shops never have enough of is adequate lighting. To solve this problem, a valance is added to the top of the upper ll cabinets to hold fluorescent fixtures, They easta bright, broad light into the work area. Then. for those close-up tasks on the workbench, uncler cabine! lighting is just the ticket (photos above). BUILDING THE VALANCE, IF you take a close Took at Figure3b, you'll see the valance is constructed bike FRONT LIGHT RAIL@ ewe) ror rane Gem) < fBSdedtw By Nove ames or rieneclee) ‘ erie) see NOTE: peceoneo a hollow box. This creates a raceway for running, the vlectrical wires for the fluorescent lighting. Jaded the front ral before attaching the valance lo the cabinets. Then it’s just a matter of mounting the ightsand making the electrical connections. LUDEE-CBINET UGHTS. Small, halogen fixtures provide task lighting, under the wall cabinets (Figuee 3). You can wire them fo a switch or plug them into recep- tales above the workbench. PIGBOARD STORIGE. “An casily accessible pegboard tool rack completes this section of the project. | sued thick stock to the back of the pegboard before mounting it to the wall, as shown in Hgure 5, This spaces the pegboard away fiom the wall to allow hooks to slip into place (margin photo). With this section complete, you can move on thecenter section with the workbench. ae Talon Hooks. Regular pegboard hooks tend to move ‘aroured and fall out easly, But elon hooks stay pul for secure storage.Workbench Cabinet ‘The henchtop and storage on the previous page are gteatadditions loany shop. Ratthe centerpiece ofthis projectis the workbench you see in the main photo. For the flip-up design fo stand up to woodwork ing tasés, it ncexls to have a stout support system. This cabinet does the job with the two pullout sup ports shown in the inset photo above, g cuRE csttion SEBO) goriom, —_ raKTITION OBE xBey | (ete) ee") ep Building the case slarts with its partitions, then addi the sliding supports and top. To help support the bench cabinet, you'll need to install another cabinet on the right end. Later, you san build and, inslall the fold-up workbench. But first, you neect to build the bench cabinet. BULDING THESE IF youlook at Figured, you'll sce the construction and joinery of the case for this cabinet is similar to the open front cabinet on page M4. The only difference is the adeltion of the vertical dividers for the siding supports (Figure 4b). After you assemble the case with glue and serews, you can go ont to build the two slide- ‘out bench supports, 2 care T eee = oceceY SONG SIPORS. The bench 5 See HD eGBEPORTS supports are pretty simple, - ae ee = shown in Figures and da @ STS They're pines of MDF cut x ae (b._ FRONT EW fit inthe slots created by the a t partitions in the cabinet. A a4 handy finger hole makes i ! . cesy fo slide thm in and ut 5 Once they complet, you ~ Regaron can finish the case by adding, | ae ee Norean See the caine fase ame ARESG'MDF VERTICAL PLAY J) Shor SOLUTIONS| GE FRAME. "This face frame ie a litte different than the one on the storage cabinet you built earlier ‘There are only three pices to make (Figure 5) Lou! the two-end pieces rst. You'll need to cut these alittle shorter than before to allow for a wide filler strip under the bench- top. Round aver the outside edge ‘ofeach before gluingthem in place. Then i'sjusta matter ofcutting the bottom piece to fit between thom. evaHTER The benchtop is made from two pieces of MDF. Bat there's a filler strip that you'll reed to add to the front (Figures 3 and 5a). This will help support the front rail winere the folding bench section is attached witha set of hinges. FRONT RAIL There's not much to attaching, the front rail to the benchtop. It’s simply glued fo the laminated MDE and filler strip. But MIDF tend’ to soak up glue, +9 Ifirst applied some gluco seal the ediges of the MDFand waited a few minutes, Then 1 applied more glue and clamped the rail in place. ATIRHING HNGS. Now's a good Lime tocut the mor tises for he hinges and attach the hinges tothe front rail, To sxe how to make the mortises and geta nice, tight fit, tur to the construction deiails on page 2 ANCHORING THECABNET The bench fssureto sea lot of weight and pounding in use, so you want to make sure the cabinet is solidly anchored all around. In Figure 6, you'll sce how the cabinet fits between. the storage cabinct you built earlier and another smanfactured cabinet. (Now is the time to mount the endl cabinet, if you haven't already.) You'll wanttobesure to leave room to fit the work bench cabinet smugly between the two end cabinets WORKBENCH CABINETS ‘SECURED fOWaLL HELPS SUPPORT NOTE: roo 16 “TWO WATERS OF MOF \ Tor) FROME eal. ves aoe \ (we voor Iino Surroers Le WSReeztcn FRONT EDGE (aura) Go ahead and fasten the workbench cabinet to the bwo end cabine’s with woodscrews, For extra strength, I also screwed through the back of the cabinet and into the wall studs. ‘SMALLTOPSECTON. Before working on the bench exten sion, there's one final pieas to complete: the top for the cabinetat the end ofthe bench. I'sjast two pieces of MDP and hardwood edging (Figure 6a). A few screws are all you need to attach it 10 the cabinet. Then once thebench support cabinet s securely fastened in place, you're ready to work an the handy thip-up workbench, SOWALL CABINET FOR ODED WORKEUREACE FRONT ey EDGING! A Sim — Nowe: WALLCASINET heli OF StoRAGe NOTED wun TREFERTO PAGE 1D ue) co ES eRe | wore us OTE | eee 7 Sa" THICKFlip-Up Workbench With the bench support cabinat anchored, you ean getstarted on the fipaup ech. A face vise, tit vise. and dog holes make it ident for woodworking: projests. (To | build plain workbench withont [iM these features, take a ook atthe construction details on page24) There’sa lot going on here, but if you take it one piece at atime, you woa’thaye any problems. THREELAYE, LAMBTON. Figure 7 sives you an idea of how the bench is pul together. It corsisis of two main sections, There’s a large MDF worksurface and a hardwond vise section along the front edge, T siaried by gluing up and sizing, the MDP section using three layers — of MDF. Eventually, the whole bench will be wrapped in hazdwood. But for now, 1 just atiached the back ral and the inner rail aN ADDING THEVISES As I mentioned, the vise section is made of hard= wood and features a face vise, tal vise, and clog, holes. These really transiorm this from a simple ‘worksurface (o a true woodworker's bench, WIL VIS ASSEMBLY. Huilcing the vise section begins with laminating three harisood picees (Figure 7) | mace this section the fill length of the bench. One Pact will hold the bench dog holes and the face vis Another pact ofthe glucup will be cutoff to make a 7 a roseame aaa Notes Paete mee a thick tor GH EBD ie NOTE RUS HRE eine c00 my ex" KR) VISE DOG RUN NOTE: Au taxnonoon anibuid Petar) Face Vise. bolt-on face viseig 3 handy addition to a bench. Wond jaws protect the workpiece. mounting block and traveler for the til vise, as you see in Figures 8 and 9 on the opposite page | crillel the dog holes afte the bench was assem- bied (see Construction Details un page 24). 50 you can gozhend and gluethedog hole stip to te inner front rail, making sure the top face is lush with the benchtop, as in Ligure 7a, MOUNTING 10cK. After gluing the dog hole steip in place, you can build the working, parts of the tai vibe. The mounting block is the “anchor point” for the vise screw, so I began with that (Figure 3) Once it's cut to length, you can mark and drill the mounting block for attaching the vise screw. FRONT END | roateern |UD tien END FACE EDGING WootStiel Sobse EDGING cash S555 epeNG (Omen ‘a. TOP VIEW | (FD noon oo 4 FRONT/BACK EDGING SeySeesounone |Floor Plan Options * coe a a Frontloading ‘culbbies” add — orexexont plenty of storege STORAGE CAINE, in a small ree, Ww Zz 13!x 59-34 MDE 1174 x 151-34 MOF Back (1) Partitions (4) | www.ShopNotesSpecials.com ‘Simple Bench. Short ‘on wall space? You can build asmaller ‘version of the one- wall workshop, complete witha flip- up workbench, ! [sagen Corner Wrap. IF your shop has the space, you can aud commer pieces fo wrap around and add more ‘workspace. ‘op Supports 2). 1134x 1844-44 MOF ‘AA Face Frame Rail(1) 34 x 1-57 4 p11) 16x71 -%4MDF BB Face Frame Stles(2) ax 1¥h-17%% = Botiom (1) 1Slax7i MDE CC Tops) 185 x 60- 3a MDE © LefuRight End (2) 13% 16-4 MOF_DD_ Front Edaina (1) ax 2-60 D Diides(2) 17x 154% MDF EE filler Stip (1) 4x 2h -60 = Back (1) 13x 71-U MDE FF Tops) 18!) x24 % MOF = Botomfilers(2) ax 1'i- 10% GG Front Edging (1) Wax Uh 24 G face Frame fails(2) 44x 1'b-69 HE Top) Tex 54% % MOF face Frarme OuterSties 2) 2 x1!-13% Ml fails (3) Ye x2in- 54% © face frame CenterStes2) “x14 10% J) LefURIcht Ends (@) 4 x2Me- 12% ec) Tels x72 WMD? KK Vise Deg fun (3) Vx Bh -A2 Ke Fron Edging (1) xi-72h UL Vise Guide Stips@) 44x10 Lind Eegirg (1) HexT 2194 MM Vise Traveler Block @) 31x 2%4= 3 200m Pana (1) 12x 72-4 MDF_NN. Vise Mounting Biock (3). %4x2% 215 A Pare! Blocking 2) 1x 1%-72 00 Support Wedges 2) Vax h-9 © ParelEdcing(1) Wx 72-% MDF PP Top(1) 22)» 24-4 MDF > TopPanel 1) 18x 72-44 MDE QQ Sides 2) 2p x 24% MDF © Font light Rail 1) 24x 72-44 MOF RR Front Face(2) — 2'ex23%- % MDF = Pecboard(t) 18x 72-laPgde. S$ arge(2) 31 24% MOF Honzontal spacer (2) %x 1%4-72 TT Sheves 2) 7.59% MOF F VericalSpxces@)—%x1'4- 15! UU Frontfack Edging (@) 44x 114-60 © wep) 16x59-%4 MOE WW. End Edging (4) Sx tlk-8 Bottom (1) 18ihx59-% M2 WAN/Botiom Panel(1) 123.84 -h MDF W LofeRight Ends 2) 1356115 -% MDE XX. Panel Blocking (2) 1x 1-84 yx 84-34 MOF 18x 84-4 MDF Panel Edging (1) op Panel (1) Batnch toe eoroncrats: 24x 84-34 MOF 581 24 Ys Pabd. Bux 1h 24 Ax 1-154 18x60 - lf Fab. ex T= 0 wx 1h 15! Sig x 5% 22 4x 6-22 4Ux6-6 ‘AINA Front Light Rail (1) BBB Pegboard (1) CCC Top/Bottom Seacers 2) DDD End Spacers (2) EEE Pegboard (1) FFF_ToosBottom Spacers 2) GGG End Spacers (2) HHH Shehes 2) i Back Panels 2) Ends (4) + (75) #8.» 11%" Fh Weodscrews + (42) #8 x 115" Fh Wcodkcrews + (#8 x3" Fh Woodscrens + (2) #8x 18 Fh Woodscrews 8) #6 x4" Fr Woodscrews + (6) #8 x34" Panhead Screws + (3) 3" Usiity Hinges (1) Face Vise + (1) Vise Screw + (9) 48" lucrescent Light Fistures + () Under-cabinet Halogen Light Fixtures + (08) Wire Pulls #Q) 1" L-hooks + (3) 16°0 x 24°W x 173644 Wial Cabinets © (@) 12D x 24 » 1734" Wall Cabinets © (1) 1510 x 24° x 31°H Wall Cabinet © (1) 24°D x 24°W x 72H Storage Cabinet aULTIMATE SHOP MAKEOVERS Finished Look. Moduler cabinets can be configued for just about any look or laycut. Pre-Fab Shop Cabinets Get the shop of your dreams without the hassle of building from scratch by using modular, manufactured cabinets. ‘The one thing never have enovgh afin my shop is ist of projects waiting to be when it came time lo got things organized and build storage cabinets or the shop, | decided to, save some time and order manufachined cabinets, L’sa tough cheicefora woodworker tomake, but when you look at the cost of building shep cabinet (including labor in the equation), you'll see there are good reasons to corsicer this option For example, the cabinets for the one-wall workshop on page 10 cost about $660 (plus ship- ping). To build the cabinets from scratch would fe FlatPack. PRP Asucestu P~ instatation desins bby inspecting the materials and hardware in the packages. have cost around $350, but would have added a. couple weeks of shop time to the projeet. Llaving, the paris cut and pee-drilled for hardware alloweet me ty put them together in no time: Desca, tance ‘many suppliers. AL your do is identify the space you h silable and your requirements for the cabinets, and a designer will pull logether a custom package for you, The checklist on the opposi point to help when shopping fora supplier: a stortings nt figure out what questions to ask What's in the Box? é Hardware. Kits include hinges, handles, and the screws . required for assembly. . Shall SHo® SaxmanIVEMORE IVs a good idea te take a quick inventory Cabinet Checklist M1 of the cabinet parts and REQUIREMENTS Hanging vdware to make sure Do youhave weight requirements? Maa cabinets, everything is included. If Do youneed melamine surfaces? any of the pieces are miss- DESIGN ASSISTANCE To avoid maisture damage andto make cleanup easier, + ithelpsto mount © the base cabinets just off the floor. Does the manufacturer provide custorn- built or modular unt to ft your space? CONSTRUCTION QUALITY What are they made of? Phwood, sheet metal, particleboard, or MOF? ‘What hardware is used? Will you need to upgrade handles, latches, or hinges? SHIPPING & DELIVERY ‘Ave the products delivered to your door, local vendor, ora warehouse? WhatS the policy on replacing pleces ing or damaged, now isthe time to notiy the supplier and orier a replacemeat. READ THE NSTRUCTONS. Once you're sure you have exervthing, the next slap is to familiarze yourself with the assembly and insalla- tion, If’ best 10 thoroughly understand the whole pro cedure before you begin. ‘STONE YOUR Hor Saving time means you can = up the cabinets with a few customized details je build yourself, Ln the one-wall workshop, T Secided to add a flip-up workbench witha vise and Sczboard panels between the cabinets. Talso added You may also want to that aredamaged inshioping? Se open “cubbies” above the lower cabinets to hold paint the piewes before you INSTALLATION. sme of my frequently used tools end other items T begin the installation. The | What methods used to hang them? anied to have easily accessible. And in the photo box belowhas somehandy Does the compary olfe: instalation? “ove, you can se [used hanging wall cabinets to painting tips. ‘CUSTOM MODIFICATIONS. How easily can you add) your own features or upgrades to the cabinets? Seep the storage up off the floor THE RESUS, Liven counting the arsembly and painting time, with pre” fab cabinets i still much INSTALLATION When your cabinets orrive, you'll be tempted to workin, cart ascombling and hanging thom rightaway. But sheroare a few things to do first. quicker than building cabinets from scratch. And that gives me the time lo tackle a few other projects Final Touch: Painting ‘The cabinets {used were made’ of pertideboaid, They'e plenty stong, but can be a challenge to paint. Fill the Edges. The fist step in the finishing, process is filling and smoothing the edges. For this, | used drywall joint compound, You can start by eppiying the com- pound with a plastic putty knife, “srw ShopNotesSpecials.com as shown in the left photo below. Tryto push the compound into the ‘edaes as much 5 possible anc then een it out with the knife. Primer Coat. The nest sien isto put ‘on a coat of primer You can use either 2 brush or roller for both priming end fainting. | lke to use gray primer because one coat covers the brown particleboard very welt also makes it easier to see eny spots you've missed before adcing a final cdor coat Apply the Final Color. When you select the paint for the finish coat, one thing to keep in mind is the tyne of paint you'll need. Remember that there will be a lot of sawdust flying arcund and you'll went to be able to clean the cabinets easily For that reason, | recommend a good-quality, interior paint it's 2asy to wwige clean with a damp doth and rug: ged enough to stand up n the shop. ih you've chasen for your cabinets, 2ULTIMATE SHOP MAKEOVERS Construction Details Routing sia Mortises te. Fused a trim router svi aclear plastic small size and excellent v block while routing away the waste. The block also helps prevent chipout on the lower pis tochan up the edges with ). The seore marks you macle to locate the (ge th Takai or lises using the same techniques as before } encntor | Secor 2 Bane oe pene! 4 ert REMOVE REMAINING >= fh ‘ prenatal 1s | 7: SRE ot Ke Bas es. teweree || f || Ranis (ae See, || gh (i | ; | x Sed SpectroAccurate Dog Holes ‘The size and weight of the benchtop extension fen page 18 make it too unwieldy to drill bench dog holes at the drill press. So, [used my band "Grill instead, To keep the hole spacing consis- ent, as well as to guide the dill bit square to the ‘enchtop, I made the simple indexing jig that you “see in the drawing at right ‘A cleat registers the jig along the edge of the extension. A" dowel in one hole maintains the ‘spacing while the next hole is drilled. Finally, rout JeeteeoRice for ALL SRREE Tous wiiriN 5 Aor REACH at BAND SAW sovew-ShopNotes$pecials.com YOUCAN Angus Now you might think this arrangement Jooks awkward. But unless your jointer is very wide, you sii have good accessto both tools, or accessories while I'm working al cither the dll press or banel saw. You can abo lower the height of the diill press table when working with large pieces, andl use it as an infeed support for the router table, Depending on the size and shape of your tools, you may need to tweak this setup. Fer example, I repositioned my router table away from the wall slightly to gain some clearance space. IMOBLE 4515, There may be times when this three ina-row arrangement doesn't work, So L added a mobile base to my band saw. You can see how to do this on page 95. this way, 1 can create more tom to work. soe | Sethe dni pressor rater able weewee | or for working with long survakt | stock at the band saw. ‘When setting, up shop, think: about how your toolscan work together with more elficieney, lus the enc, you can save space, lime,and trips across the shop, "WALL FOR ACCTSS 2WY faa ui = © jar 4 ze = ine oO fim ivy ts =a = Le = 28 The first step to getting more out of your shop is choosing the best location for your workbench, AMPLE SPAcr iSrronoen, Or ence tf AGANGT AWALL OPENS Ue FLOOR SPACE N THE (Gentes OF THE SHO LOCATE BeNc1 TOOL STORAGE NEAR WALL OUTLET Bea as FOR CONVENIENCE rot OR Uc LOCATING BENCH Aside from the table saw. 1 don’t think there's a mons imporiané “ool” in my shop than my workbench, Somotimes [use it during each pp of construction on a propet and other times only for layout or assemhly. But i's pretty safe to say that every project that comes aut of my shop passes across my workbench at some point. And that’s why deciding where to put your workbench is something that deserves a litle extra thought — particularly if you have a small shop. TWO GIOKES. When you get right down to it, there are really only two chivices whon it comes to locat= ing a workbench. You can either position your workbench against the wall or out in the middle of the shop. Which of these two locations you choose has todo with the way you use your werkbench, OTHER FACTIORS. Regardless of whether you decide to Place your bench againsta wall or in the middle of the shop, there are some other factors you'lIneud to \CWaw casiner eo Workbench \¥: Location Tips ~ consider as well. To get the most out of your work: bench, you have to think about things like lighting, electrival outlets, and tool slornge, 4 Acainst the Wall For many woodworkers, a workbench sorves as a “staging arco” for setting oat parts while using, the lable saw ot other pieces of shop equipment. IF thisis the way you use your workberch, accos- sibility may not be as important as having, the bench clese to your major power tools. So, you ay be able to locate the bench against a wall Take a look at the sample floor plan at left 10 got an idea of some of the benvfits of locating your workbench against a wall 2 Ftontand Center ‘Some woedlworkers see their workbenches asmore than extra storage space. It'sa too! in itself, Itean be: used to hold a workpiece while sawing, planing, or working an joinery. IF you use hand tools regularly for do a lot of hand-cut joinery, you may wanl to give vour workbench a place right in the center of the shop. This way, you ean have vasy access io the bench from all four sices, which is a great advan- lage when it comes to assembling a project, The: sample floor plan on the opposite page shows some Of the advantages of this type of layout, Sev) St Sotutions:3 Adequate Lighting 4). Electrical Outlets Lighting is one of the biggest 1 do a lot of sending arxl routing onsiderations when it comes tal my bench, se having, electri ‘positoning your bench, 1fs hard cal outlets handy is important. If ‘spbext ratutallight, which is why {ike to locate my bench near a ‘window if possible. Ihe window ‘Sbehind the bench or to one scl, see don’t have to worry about eating shadows across your ‘work as you stand at the bench, OF course, if your shop is in a Exsement, or if you do most of ‘sour woodworking in the eve- fing you'll need actficial light Seg As with natural lighting, sore want to make ste the lights ‘are Ineated so that you den’tere= “axe shadows across your work This may mean that you'll have spadd some additional overhead “Get fixtures or task Lamps, ‘you'te plosing yourbench along, fa wall, yon can make life a lot ccasier by selecting a spot near an outlet, Ihis way, your won’thave to walk across the shop every timo you want to plug in stool If you locate your woridbench inthe middle ofthe shop, finding a spot near an outle! is more oF a problem. Unless yon want to do sume rewiring, you'll probably have to rely on extension cords. But they can be suspendeal over head to keep them outof the way. 5} Tool Storage Unless your workbench has built Ui serage th We hos: athey selecting a bench location is sheryl Keep your ols Shany Supe i © pot the werkbeach agai wal dep ian poe wood a oct oo ihe well sah.shore tne bench Ths is emventent fesne a yore nels ete dower hath tod STANDING — caver Proves woo. STORAGE Notural Lighting. t's hard to best natural ial UsEDCENsON cggo3 Ok ROP CORDS 10 BRING POWER 10 BENCH Loca Nove BENCH INTHE CENTER oF YOURSHOF sive5 YOU Mone riomeiury WHEN DEALNG WITH LONG WoRePIEcT cabinet can get in the way. And if you have a deep workbenclt (over 20), it can be a stretch © reach a hanging tool cabinet ‘With a workbench located in the center of the shop, your toot storage options are even more limited. You can still stove tools ina wall cabinet Osherwise, ‘ean build a short too} eabi place rextto your bench, CESTRALLOCATION. USUALLY OFteRS MORE ‘EVEN LIGHTING LOCATING ence I-ceNTEROF etIOP ALLOWS ‘YoU 10 USE sence FROM Jisring in a shop — if you're lucky enough SS havea window, But mest of us haveto ely RicrouRelbes: fee overhead light fixtures. Make sure that _Ssiocate the fitures so you den’t block the ssf when standing at your berch, sone ShopNotesSpecialscomSpace-Saving Shop 1), StGrae |, Organization isthekey toan afcint workshep. Here are a few compact, shop-tuilt storage piojects that make it a quick, easy task to find al your tols and supplies. MODULAR CLAMP STORAGE ........32 PEGBOARD STORAGE ....-.seo0 036, SLIDING-DOOR SHOP CABINET .....40 LUMBER STORAGE TIPS......nt : ie [esl [@) oa a © Z2 x TT Gg a way Clamp. Storage All you need to get your clamps organized is some scrap plywood and an empty bit of wall space. ‘Ther’s an old saying that a wood worker can never have loo. many clamps. know thal over the yearsT've acquited quite & few. In fact, finding space to put my evergrowing collec tion was becoming an issue. What I needed was a better way to store and ongonize my clamps. And the new “system” had to be casy to build and quick to add on to, That way, as T got more clamps, Vd be able to make additional racks for them. SWPLEDESEN. What I came up with is a rack that can be made from four small pieces of plywood — and it fits justabout anywhere. A series of these racks cant be customized to hold all types of bar and pipe clamps And as you can see in the photas below, Teven made a couple of extra racks to hold ‘slaing supplies and Clamps. different sizes of clamps. (One thing all the racks have in common is that they're designed to screw to the wall. $0 you eau fit clamp siorage in any open bit of wall space. ROL-AEOUND CARL If you'ce Short on wall space, don’t worry. The racks can also be attached to a handy rolkaround ear, like the one shown en page 35. Bven if you have plenty of wall space, you may. want toconsider building the cart. It holds all your clamps in one place anil makes it easy to roll them rightnext to your project. 17 Storage Box. This box keeps glue C-Clamp Rack. This imple, easy-to. Grip Clamp Rack. These camps can ‘and accessories organized, Mounting build rack can be custamized to fit Itmear your clamios makes it handy. bbe cinched down on a rack, ready to ‘grab and he put to work Shel So» SoLuTIonsTHE RACKS a | ae The heart of this clamp. stor ‘Screwno.e Neate Bester is.an L-shaped. cack } oS 1 Sesced at each end by a triangur ‘> support. Fach rack is the same =. but the slots are customized ‘= cifferent types of clamps. Allofthe pisces are made from plywood (although hardwood © i c sould workas well) lused scrap gusfort — 16F . Seces that were loo small for P wore: Sepecisbut too big to throw out DAR < | Mikeeroane | | | = | | ll > kewp things simple, | made CLAMP. cuprort S| Lee och rack 1255" long, That way @ > NOTE: cur Kap on TOP CORNERS OF sibES NOTE:cagr size, NPD rb FArKS OR Boies SinsBr SDE Shere Nome: curssows Berane apse OSG <7” EH sonsuern a ai oe = Takeit for a Spin. The four castors on this cart make it mabale, so you cen, wheel it over lo an assembly and have your clamps (and accessories) sight at hand Plus, she cart spins for quick access to the clams all four sides. 5ae 2 ® pa Ww |) Qu oO ay wa | |2 = br Lu Q a Lv ——" ~s —— a ; = ce Pegboard —- Storage Open the doors of this compact rack and you'll find plenty of hidden room to hang tools and accessories. ‘Saati S10? SOLUTIONS‘Gest glance, it’s hard to imagine that you can ‘20.3 wall full of foolsin this compact storage prea, But a closer look reveals the “hidden” stor upRigHT AOABIE © SEE ecbon tute RE | BEE A, ind on both the front amd the back, And to ide easy access to the tools on each side, the 4 uanarel =s swing out in opposite directions, as you can AWA. Bf ciocorte totem epee omer ee iReaceacnprmedtyaserijten from “two-by” material (used Douglas fr) 2%" plywood top and batiom, as shown in Fig- 1 'sheld together with simple {yet strong) lap ots that are made by cutting.a series of interlock notches in the frame pieces. “A pair of stretchers used (o attach the rack to the fare rabbeted on each end (Figun:2}. These rab= os fitin dadocs cut inthe back ol the two uprights. “sesther pair of dadoes on the inside face accept cctarms thatare rabbeted on one en Before assembling the frame, its easiest to drill TRIM STRIP in each arm fora pin that will allow thedoors —— *8°-9 pivot (Figure 3). Anda shallow groove is cut for top and bottom pieces that are added later ASSEHBLL. Now you can assemble the frame, as in Figure 1, The stretchers, uprights, onl ssare held topeiher withglue and sees. To ox ry tothe fame, the plywood op and bottom “see cut to fil between the grooves inthe arms. But sore gluing and scicwing them in phe, Tadded wood (rim strips to cover the front edges ‘P exen, STREICHER, aie eo FRAME DETAIL (HAE THO) ae “Sidden Storage. Two doors open in oppesite dre |, CCROOMES. 5) usiradt "Se°s,50 youcan hang tools onbboth sides of each onc. eoneoraN Gihce TH) Ais, you have access to the wall behind the rack a 7 RewwShopNotesSpecials.comDoors Once the frame is complete, your're ready to add the twa coors They're just simple ‘ond frames with pegboard on eachside, like you seein Figure. The overall height of both doors is the same. But the back door needs to be 1" narrower, so it can swing past the front door when you open it (Figure 4d). Dotermining; the length of the frame pieces is easy. The stiles on each door are identical in length, (To provide an |g" clearance at the top and bottom, Feat them 36” long.) But the front rails are 1" longer than theback mils. (This takes into account the ovecall width of thedoorsand the joinery thatholes them together With the frame pices cut to length, matching rabbets are cut on both sides to hold the pegboard panels, as shown in Figure 4a. And a notch in the ends of the stiles accepts the rails (Figure 4b). PANELS. After screwing the Frame pieces together, it’s ust a matter of cutting, front endl back door pans to fitand serewing, them in place (Figure4e). And aserap pull in glue to the front ofthe back door ATIAGH DOORS. All that's left is to attach the doors, They pivot on two hex bolts that fit bronze bushings installed in the top and bottom celgos oF each ane, as yousee in Figures and 50, These bolis poss throng holes in the arms (drilled earlier) and throad into ‘Tuts in the “opposite edge of the arms Finally. to lock the doors in place, dri a hole in cach upper arm for a spring- loaded catch, as shown in Figure 6 Note: One catch mounts to the back of the front door, and the other is on the front of the back door (Figure 4) PO RRBs NOTE: Back cone PAST ARENT 200 BRONZE AUSHING: ew eve LRisline a8 $A Suor SOLUTIONS:Talon Pegboard Hooks “Yihen it comes to minor irritations, metal pegboard Jhooks rank right up there with mosquitoes, telemer- eters, ane getting » pebble stuck in your shoe. The Sroblem with most hcoks is that when you take 0 sol off the pegboard, the hook usually comes slong svt it and then drops to the floor After this hap ens a few dozen times, youll {nd yourself cringing fever time you reach for 2 too But awiile back, iciscovered appegboord hook that -sctuallysteys out They'e called Talon hooks anc they “ust may be the greatest thing to hit your shop since the invention of sandpaper. In fect, you may want 4 replace every segbeard heok in your shop with a Talon hook. They're really that good. Here's wy LocicOn Design. Talon hooks work on asimnple, yet “agenicus, principle. Onthe backof each hookisa spit pea that fits though a hole in the pegboard, aschovn in the lt photo below, With ‘the hook in place, al you do is dive in 9 yen screw that’s ‘on the front ofthe hook (ight photo below). This expands the wings of the split peo Fbchind the pegboard, locking the hook 1 the pegboard. No matter how hard you tig don the hook, it won't come ‘out (The pegboard will break fist] To remove a hook, just back out the screw. Tre expand ing wings wit spring back and you can pry the hook out of the holes in the pegboard Than it’s easy to reposition the Hook Styles. Available ‘© seven different styles, elon hocks are designed tit i" pegboard Sev ShopNotesSpecials.com ae Insert Heok. With the white, nylon screw backed out, slip the hook into a pair of holes in the pegboard, ae oe 9] hock and reattach it with ‘ the same screw. Strength. If youre used to metal hooks, you might be kind of skeptical the fist time you pick up a Talon hook. ( . knows Iwas.) At frst glance, they look like as ines they're made out of cheap plastic. But theyre =A actually mace from a tough, urbreakable rylon material ve found that they can easily handle just as much weight asmy old metal hooks could. Styles. Talon nooks come in seven different styles to handle a variety of tools, as you see in the photos. You! ‘can purchasethemin packs of al one typeor as an essort- ment. Thay range from about 60¢ to $1.00 apiece.) For Sources, turn to page 98 or vist wwaw-talonhookscom. Spread Your Wings. Drive the screw. in to spread the wings behind the peaboard ard lock in the heok, |Sliding-Door . Shop Cabinet Sliding doors and a flexible design allow you to pack a lot of tools into little space. Sau SHOP SOLUTIONS:ecaonno enc orsene pissy Exploded View Details ‘OVERALL DIMENGIONS: BOP x BlatD x45 %5"H Auusravte guetves Seaviae oanee roe PER uNe On regeonsn SoeHs Ripeon To download cutting dagrams for this project, go 10 our website: ‘shopNotesSpec (cee s0hers mer 94) i terials & Hardware pes yess. rom BN SIOF 6 ° P Ends (2) Hax5lh- 5M “Too/Battor (2) Wx A% 804 —Q__Bviears (15) 4x5 ah Sides (2) Yxstb-39% RK Stops (16) Ye nate = Mi Hdd, Seen Dividers 2) Hyx3%-37%% ——S—Spacer (1) yx 1 78, MOUNT To Case Back (1) 38% x 80" ~ "4 Pabd. CABINET Beck Cleats (2) 4x 31-80% +* (46) #8 x 115" Fh Woodscrews Face Frame Rais (2) x 12-7% + (16) #8 x" Fh Woodscrews Face Frame Stiles (2) 4x 1 -39% + (4) Sliding Screen Door Rollers wiscrews Side Shelves (6) Hx 3h -21% #(1) Ye" x 34" Aluminum Bar (79%4" long) Center Shelves (6) yx 32 - 34a * (2). 4" Drawer Pulls w/Screws: ‘Door stiles 4) Wx2%4-37 + (36) Shelf Pins Door Rails (4) BW x2H- 18 ++ (4) #8 x 1" Rh Woodscrews Door Panels (2) 18 «32 - \f Pgbd. + (4) Idia. Fender Washers Side Door Stops (2) 3a 21% + (10) #8 x 2" Fh Woodscrews: Genter Door Stop (1) x %h-34Ye ——_—# (16) 414" x54" Plastic Storage Binsa0 the stack of lumber. Stacking; lmbor vertically “Sncause theboards tobow inthe middle, By clansp- “es the boards together, their combined thickness “Seips the stack stay flat and keeps the individual _seaxcsfrom sagging, And just ta boon the safiosil, “Sept the vertical stacks every so often, 3 Ceding with Cutofis Seou're a packrat like me, you hate throwing, away. “Sead. even small picces. You just never know when “seu might need that 2-longy strip of ree oak: The problem is that stacking small pioces verli- cally doosn’t always work very well — they ‘cen get lostbehind longer boards, And storing, them horizonéally just clutters your brackets, The box below illustrates my soiution to storing cutorts Storing Cutoffs One answer 70 storing cutoifs is to place them in trash cans or 5-gallon buckets. The pieces will stand vert cally, they'll be in 2 single location, and they'll be off the floor For langer pieces. | prefer a hea duty 33-gallon plastic trash can The metal ones can be oisy when pieces are thrown in and are all to0 easy t0 dent. For shorter pieces, a smaller trash an or empty buckel works great. It deosn't take much board you really wan ear the bottom of you're actually lookin This brings up an Tumber acros the en els. When you have extra space will give you don’t want, so yo Dor off the floor. In m: moisture can seep wp more boars you'll have tp move lo get to the board 5 Offthe Floor No matler which storage method yeu choose, an Important thing to remember is to got your lim A. Horizontal Rack Storing lumber horizontally, oF lot, & a good option if you have enough wall space: in yeur shop. Commercial storage systems are avail able, as well as lots of plans to make one yourself — just think of shelving. systems without the shelves. The two drawings at left show you a couple ideas for building your own hori- zontal storage system using, either 24s or pipes for the supports Just make sure to secure the storage system adaquately to the wall studs, Jumberto makea hoavy load. Another good reason to avoid stacking a lot of lumber on this particular storage eystem is thst the: nt will almost always be on or slack. The higher the stack, the ng for other point, Don't stack your tire depth of your shelf brack- tw move boards around, the you place to put the boards our can get lo theane you do, any garages anel basements, p through the floor and soak sito youkwood ata ena through the end pain, If pes foarsade. joan! bebe? eee vertically, try te got the boanis off the floor by using some sort of pht: form. like the one shown, in the drawing at right cra OF course, if you stone vine your lumber on shelf exe OWNS brackets. you've petty much eliminated any moisture concerns REEPS LANDES GFF FLOOR KSPACE-SAVING SHOP STORAGE as Small Tool Storage These handy, shop-made tool racks and pegboard solutions will keep the clutter off your workbench. i From Holos: ele MAGNETS S| RARE EARTH osm | ao various | Ne | ie (@ mwst commersial versions have A wall-mounted magnetic stip By a convenient way to store she an exposed metal sip that can wr a hold the af cork to | “DOLE FROM started witha 2% Wethiek stock. Thelength is based 7 WaelHMounted Magnetic Strip rer of fools you Want ip. Then yeu can oles with a Forstner bitto hold "tia, magnets, After epoxy ‘magnets in place, you can glue a %s"-thick strip of cork over them. You coulel onthe nun voston till ce also usea pleceor rubber from an old bicycle Inner tube Nov all that’s leftist» mount the strip on the wall. Or you ean, mount IU to pegbuard using the technique shown on the opposite Sy. SO" SOLUTIONS:SSsing a designated place to exch indivicinal nol ean be a “Senge. This wolrack is a good fo keep tools off the worl 2a but within ency roach, The ack isjust a piece of hand- “sed with holesand slots to hold Se ols. I saried by ripping a “SSeiwood blank into two pieces Pe with 2 dado blade, T cut ches for chile andl squares: encan ako drill single holes for cdrivers, And aseriesofhokes seeothed with a chisel makes a =x0wo0p SEEKEEPS FOAM FPeshoard is a handy storage “sfution in any workshop. Bul “== frustrating when you grab a “Seland the hook: comes aff, too, Se [made separate tool racks Sswunted with I-hooks. All of See recks can help you oe Sze your shop efficiently Attaching a frame to the ‘Sack of the pegboard provides Songh clearance ty maneuver Se hooks. It also keeps the pege ‘rand siable on the swall. After you attach the hooks, Se them in the holes of the ‘Sezboard and lower the holder Seainst the peginard, as shown “oe the tight. The weight of the “Sekder locks the I-hook in place “© almost impossible for the “eke fo falloff, but you canstil “seenve ShopNotesSpecials.com goed dot for pliers. Finally, gine the two strips back together Tocrentsa mounting strip sor the ck, cuta groove ina second piece cof hardwood, Then secure the rick ‘tho strip with glue and screws, PADOESCREATE NOTGIIES — si0TS HOLD | FORCHIBELS O& SAME —"VPLERS 3 {nifeBox For a safe place to store tools that have razor edges like utility knives, marking knives, or Avy blades, I've found thet a piece of foam insulation works well ‘The low box that filsaround the foam keeps it stable, as you «an sve in the illustration at left. The box can be stored on your work bench or easily mounted to pug board. And to store the knives all younced to do is push the blades Al Pegboard Storage into the foam insulation move them easily if you want to reconfigure the racks AS you sev at right, a variety ‘of tool racks can be mounted fo pegboard wilh I-hooks. You can hold bar dampe on a simple L- shaped rack, oF cut a slot in the top to hold squares. If your add dowels to the front of a racks it will hold C-clamps. And to hokl chisels and serovedrivers, you just reed to drill holes in a strip of wood and cutslots in the front Papoes cur Tonow SQUARE TOOLS WI. oxoor UMOUNTING: ANY RACK CAN Be | MOUNTED TO SECBOARD | UsNew nooKeAdd-Ons Finding en available worksurface can be a hassle ina smal stop. Our heavy-duty wokhench may bbe what youneed We've alsoincided sawhonses and a table that you can bring out as needed HEAVY-DUTY WORKBENCH ........-52 LIGHTWEIGHT FOLDING TABLE......58. TOOL TOTE SAWHORSES ....--.n64 WORKBENCH ACCESSORIES... 68Workbench With about $100 and a weekend, you can build a large, rock-solid workbench that’s sure to last a lifetime. What goes into a greatworkbench? Most ofus would ‘agree it hes to havea number of key features. For starters, the base must be sturdy — no wobbling allowed. And it must have a large, flat worksurface that’s rugged enough to stand up to years of hard use. Storage would be holp- Tul, too. And to keep the cost down, it should be built out of materials that you can get anywhere. Finally, if would be great if you could put it logether in a short time, like a weekend. All these must-have features are built into the: ‘workbench shown above. Not only is it simple anc quick to build, but it’s solid, too. Using glucand- screw joinery; each piece buildson the previous one to create a rock-solid bench. Plus, yout can make it even more versatile by adding a bolt-on vise Seatt Suop Souumionsmarae | Exploded Shit iene | View Details ‘OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 32" x BBW x 36H uma Lp Bue ADDS RIGIDITY AND RET SE SORASE END SECTION VIEW owe eat mee, To download cutting (gees dageaes for this project. tee Asser” 9 to our website: ShopNotesSpecials.comUPPER FACE, BLOCK ones | wee, BLOCKS IN PLACE, LOUEREACE MOTE: Cotes Hare proce “WADE FROM Ta" STOCK A Solid & Sturdy hy ‘| AOE geese, “ASSEMBLED — com Face i BSE Asyou cansev in Figure Labove, the base of = the workbench consists of two end assem= biivs that are connected! by four rails. To keep things simple, the base is bull in sections, I started with the end assemblies first. [END ASSEMBUES, Linlike a traclitional workbench with four legs, the two end assemblies act as the bench’s legs. This does two things: First it gives the bench a rigiel base, and second t makes thejoinery simple. if you take alook at Figure 2, you can See that exch end assembly is madle up of a pair of corner posts ‘connected by an MDF panel. Each rm | | V0] | | “post” consists of two identical pieces that wrap around the MDE pancl. To make the pests, all you have to dois line up the partsalong the edge and glue them together | | Wie te gure oer pres Saco Soadingutpeetie goal iioleemanoieti: TL The wan come he poe ascimblies fo erate a sturdy Dace. S895) After cutting them to size, bine up the rails flush with the edges ofthe end assemblies. Some glue and a pair of cariage bolts hold each tend of the rail to the end assemblies, as shown in Figures 1 and 1a. To provide a flat, sold surface for the benchtop, the upper railsarceven with the tops You can see this in Figure 1b vec Bxeh oe oP VIEW ® END Post ae Soy Sum Shieh SouwrronsFACE HOCKS, Carriage bolts reinforce the joints pretty well, but for even more stability, | added face blocks between the sails (Figure 1), The Blocks act like the shoulders of a mortise and tenon joint (0 give the samework more stability end pre- vent it from racking side to sid, With the base assembled, you can soften the outside edges by routing 2% chamfer, as you ean see in the Jower right photo, When you get near the carriage belts with your router, you should take the bolis out temporarily. This way, they won't interfere with your router eats, AC this point, the base is slmostcomplete. So now’ the time to add Une dest tha! will hold the benchtop and lower shelfin place. After cutling the cleats to size, [ drilled and countersunk two sets of holes in them, like you sce in Figuze 3. he frst set of holes is for the screws that hold the cleats to the rails. The second. sctis used for the serews that attach the benchtop (sdded later) andl shelf to the cleats. “The top cleats align flush with the rails top ‘edges. But the lower pair of cleats is set below the & Hardware ‘A End Posts (4) 1314-33 B End Post Faces id) 19434) - 33 © EndPanels(2) 20x 33-3 MDF D Upper Rais 2) Mx 3-58 E Lower ails 2) ex 5-58 F —UpperFace Blocks 4) 11hx 5- 16 G LowerFace Blocks(4) 1h x5-9 H Cleats (4) Vip x Vh- 48 1 shelf 23 x53! - Ya MOF J Top Layes (2) 29x 85 3% MOF K Top EdgeFillers(a) 6x 85 7 MDF L Top End fillers @) 17 x 17 -%a MOF M_ FrontBack Edang(2) 1px 3-88. N_ End Edging (2) 3x 3-32 © Vise Spacer'1) 4x9 4 Hb. P Vise Faces 2) %rx4y-9 (71) 8 x.1%9" Fh Woodscrews #24) #8 x2" Fh Woodscrews # (40) #8 x15" Fr Woodserews 9 (16) 4e" x37)" Cariage Bolts #1) 9” Bolt-on vise *(4) hie" x3" Lag Screws 9 (2) 34" x 1° Lag Screws ++ {2} Machine Screws (For Vise Face) (4) he" Flat Washers sv thopNotesSpecials.com Te cea SaPsoe Rall top edge of the lower rails This allows the shelf to Sit Tush with the lower rails andl helps protect the ceigos of the MDF shelf. You ean soe this in Figure 3b. To get the cleats positioned correctiy along the rail. Lused ascrap piece of MDF asa spaces ITO HEE "Thexe's one final task before moving onto the denchiop. The bottom shelf has tobecut to size, and thecomers notched to fitaround the pasts {Figure 3a) Then, you can allach the shelf by install ingseresss through the cleats into the shel. eae ieee er Srnec 55Build Up the All the effort put into building a strong base for the workbench would be waste! lid’ havea sturaly flat benchtp to h. If you takea lookat Figure 4, you ean see how I did this. ‘The first thing to note is that the top is made from “hwo-by" stock and MDF. Why MDF? Vor carter, it provides a smooth, flat surface. Sevond, it's heavy, which neds to the stability of the work: bench. And finally, MDI is alfordable. UMTERS. As yout can see in Figure 4, four layers of MDT are used to create a thick top. Not all the layers are fll piccws of MDE, however. Only the two top layers are fall size. The bottom two laye: are large frames mace of MF By using pisces, Iwas able to gel these extra “lay= es” from a single sheet of MDF, Installing, the Pieces just along, the edges af the benchtop provicles the extra thickness right where it's necced the moat for clamping workpieces or adding accesories. BENCHTOP ASSEMBUY, Just Like I built the bose inn sec tions, I also assembled the benchtop in sections gegen | WESCREEIa | ns ciekaes) eter ir ‘The top two layers were cut to size and then luted and screwed together. The bottom tivo lay= ters (assembled from pieces) were completed the same way. Once that’s done, you can assemble Uw entire benchiop. The only thing to watch here is that you keep all the edges flush BANG. MIF eciges avert all that durable, So to protect the edges of the benchtop and ty give the workbench a more finished look, [attached edge ing made from “hwo-by” stock, as illustrated in Figumes 4 and a. And to give the workbench Nore suanere Seon HB"