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I'm thinking of getting the conveyor belt system from one of the old airports that handled baggage so that when I set a tool down it will always come back around to me...

Seriously, I am also getting ready to build out a small shop. I plan to have two rooms. One for wood storage, assembly and repair work that will be air conditioned. And second a room for my power tools (aka dust producers) and finishing.

My question also deals with benches. The conditioned room will be about 10' x 12' and I was planning to have work areas on each side. Would it be more advantages to keep one wall clear and have a center moveable island?

Each area will have dust collection and compressed air.

Thanks, and I hope this doesn't seem like a thread hijack,

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Steve Walden
Aspiring Builder,
Bartlesville, OK

I built my bench with a roof to double as a go bar deck and I can also store molds and jigs on top. I used a pair of 32 x 80 solid core doors i found at Home Depot that were damaged so I got them very cheap...

Here are some of my thoughts on work benches....

I have four benches in a cluster in one corner of my shop. I spend most of my time in the middle, surrounded by benches. This allows me easy access to all of them without having to put in a lot of mileage every day in the shop. Each of the benches is unique in design and serves a specific purpose.



The central bench is a classic cabinetmaker's style bench. It is nice to be able to walk all the way around it. The trestle stand serves as clamp rack and makes it easy to reach them form any of the other benches.



The bench under the window is made of thick angle iron. I think the framework alone weighs about 200 pounds. It is very solid !! I built two banks of drawers to fit it. Having a large number of drawers within easy reach is great for organization and a real time saver.



The third bench I made to provide storage for, and easy access to, my stash of radius dishes and other workboards and molds. It is open on both sides. A few drawers on each side provide additional storage for small things. The top is two layers of 3/4" particle board. It is solid and quite flat, a good reference surface. There is a large shelf unit about four feet above it so the entire bench is a go deck !



The fourth bench (no picture) is just a salvaged kitchen counter that I topped with a piece of particle board. The work surface is nice but the storage space it provides is not that great. I would rather have more drawers, big ones.

Perhaps these examples will give you some ideas....

Mark

excellent work shop Mark!!

Thanks for sharing. This gives me alot of ideas.

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Reguards,

Ken H

Mark, you've gotta have one of the nicest shops out there - great light, lots of room, traditional "feel" - love it!!

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Dave
Milton, ON

Gotta love the workbench threads!

Here's mine:



A lot of folks talk themselves into accepting a second-rate bench because "I just make guitars." What a silly thing to say. Anyone who does woodworking of any kind will benefit from a heavy, sturdy, well-made bench. You need a heavy, solid bench to use a handplane, regardless of whether the wood is going on a guitar or a cabinet. You need well-planed, flat benchtop to assembe things properly, whether you're joining a guitar top or a front door. You need well-made, solid vises to hold your material properly, regardless of what you're building with the material. Now, you may decide that your bench should have EXTRA bells and whistles because of tasks unique to luthiery, but don't accept for one minute that you can get by with a lesser workbench. Big, heavy, sturdy and flat, no matter what you're making.

How nice should it be? I respect Frank Ford, but I say if you're going to build something, then by all means build it right and let it display your craftsmanship, whether anybody bothers to look or not. That philosophy applies just as much to workbenches as it does to tailblocks, bridge plates and kerfed lining. I don't knock anyone who uses a sloppy workbench any more than I'd knock someone who has glue globs oozing out of their tailblock joints, but that's not my style.

Hey Fillipo, I hear you.

I will say, to everyone who hasn't ever taken the opportunity to build a first-rate workbench, there are few finer joys than walking into the shop and admiring your bench.

Hey Fillipo, I hear you.

I will say, to everyone who hasn't ever taken the opportunity to build a first-rate workbench, there are few finer joys than walking into the shop and admiring your bench.

I am rebuilding my workshop still, so I don’t have any pictures that show my benches yet.. However, I have the plans ready and hopefully I will get most of the building, painting and electrical work done in a couple of weeks (yes, I have said that for the last month, I’m doing everything myself and life keeps getting in the way). I am moving all the machinery into a separate (‘dirty’) room and reserving the old shop (the 'clean' room) for bench work.

It will have different types of benches for different types of work. I am ditching one of my Scandinavian style woodworking benches, but I like having one for general woodworking and planning tasks. As Todd knows, the Norwegian name for these benches is “Høvelbenk” (=planning bench) which is what they accommodate best, but they are also great for holding various jigs and fixtures. This is a low, heavy bench and totally utilitarian, not fancy like some of benches of this type shown in this thread; it’s full of holes and dings, wooden vises that work beautifully, and it’s over 100 years old. Everyone has them up here, so you can buy one quite inexpensively.

The long bench along the wall will have various router jigs, a fixed gobar deck under the wide shelf, sanding table and sharpening station. The work island will where I do most of the work on guitars, and it will have a versa vise, an ordinary front vise and a guitar vise. These benches will all be about 1000 mm high (about 39”).

Here is the new shop layout. The drawing is just for my own reference, so it does not show some things but you probably can make out what most things are. The dust collector (not shown) is going in the little room closest to the drum and belt sanders. There are lots of drawes, shelves and cabinets for all everything, hopefully this will keep me more organized and make it easier to keep everything nice and tidy.

Most of the windows are only 500 mm high (20") and up by the ceiling, so there is much wall space between them and the benches; I will try to reserve this space for plans and pictures and not storage. Time will show how that goes.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I really value this thread. I am getting ready to build my shop space in my garage. It is invigorating to see all that people do with the spaces they have and the resources. From Hesh's spare room in the condo (mighty clean) to Todd Stock's well laid out and also immaculate shop (you must be related to Hesh..... ) You do have a place for everything and everything in its place!

Arnt - What is shipping from Norway to Texas??????? Just kidding, but really need to consider getting a heavy bench.

By the way Arnt, are you an architect? That drawing looks great. You and Micheal Payne with the AutoCAD!

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Steve Walden
Aspiring Builder,
Bartlesville, OK

Yup.

Thanks for the compliments on the drawing, but it is actually a rather quick sketch that I did for my own reference, like I mentioned. It is done in Archicad by http://www.graphisoft.com/, I haven't used AutoCad in many years.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Here is the bench I recently built for my temporary 330 sq ft shop. A good "U" shap is always handy! I will probably move this bench to the new shop when I build it and add an island bench with traditions vises.

Shane

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Canada

Guitar making requires a number of different bench set ups......one thing I can say is that those sexy European cabinet maker's benches don't fill the bill.............
The first requirement is a heavy steady bench for the more traditional woodworking aspects of the process....including a good vise. I bought one of those industrial laminated top things with the metal legs. The second is a surface large enough and clear enough for assembly procedures, with clamp storage nearby. One of the cheapies from Woodcraft filled the bill here and is just the right size to get around for clamping and other procedures.
I avoid hanging stuff, tools etc. over the benches, anything you hang on the wall may fall off and damage your work. I also have benches devoted to sanding with a vented sanding table inset into a hollow core door top with metal legs similar the the heavy bench as well as a carpeted table for French polish and finishing.
Carpet pads are used on all these benches when dealing with the final stages of building. Here are some pics:

Heres my small work area.It is so much better Since I added the island bench.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755