Woodworking

From J:

My wife was recently gracious enough to park her car in the cold, cold driveway and give me some space to build a workshop, something I've always wanted. My job involves a lot of tools and plenty of workspace to build things and tinker; I love doing it and I wanted to be able to do it at home. She's already blogged a little bit about this, but I want to add my perspective.

First things first: I needed tools to build the workshop (but I needed a workshop to properly use the tools! A conundrum.). As is my nature, I did extensive research online before buying exactly what I needed. In this case, there's really only one saw on the market that met that spec, still accepted a dado, and had a solid build. Hellloooo, Bosch GTS1031.

I also bought some other smaller tools: circular saw (cheapo Ryobi), miter saw (decent Ridgid), brad nailer (cordless Ryobi), router set (Skil plunge + fixed kit). Most of these I bought from CPO Outlets, an awesome website that sells refurbished tools for good prices. Highly recommended. Every tool, including the new table saw, needed some calibration and tinkering to get things to cut straight and in the dimensions I wanted. I also bought clamps...as I've learned, you can never have enough clamps.

Tools procured, it was time to build something! I went to Home Depot and bought a couple hundred dollars of birch plywood (3/4" and 1/2") to make a workbench. Birch plywood, specifically, because it's harder than normal plywood and takes a finish really well. Nice stuff, even the cheapo Home Depot variety. I also bought flowers.

Time to build something! This was cramped and dusty since everything was so disorganized and the plywood sheets are so big. Breaking down sheet goods is not much fun! Cutting complete, I started to build my work bench. It consists of three cabinets mounted onto a torsion box (for rigidity) on casters. The cabinets are built so the table saw will sit in the center flush with the rest of the bench to give some more stability and working surface around the saw, important since this particular saw is so small (it's pretty much the smallest on the market).

Torsion box assembly:

(skips a few steps for brevity)

Complete workbench! This thing is stable as a table, rolls nicely, and fits the saw great. I had to go back and do a little shimming and planing to get everything level to my satisfaction; no surprise, I got better at making accurate cuts as the project proceeded. Learning curve! The nice thing about custom making furniture like this is that it fits my stuff exactly how I want it. The table saw fits perfect, the little extension arm of the table has a nice well to fit in (that doubles for accessory storage), the miter saw fits in its cabinet perfectly, etc. None of these things were by accident, but I'm still amazed that it worked out that well.

Next step was to add some cabinets above the bench. I used some wide Southern Yellow Pine we got from our local hardwood dealer to build the frame, backed it with 1/2" ply I had leftover from the workbench build, dadoed in some adjustable shelf slots, and hung it with a French cleat (AKA 2x4 cut at a 45 degree angle).

For the doors I wanted to get a little creative. My shop is small and I didn't want to waste any surface area, so I built a mitered frame and inset some pegboard into it. The entire door is backed with 1/4" plywood for strength and the hinge is a continuous piano hinge, again for strength. No fear of hanging tools on these, they're solid! Two cabinets, with some shelving in between. I subdivided the shelving to give it some interest and help with my organization. Shelving is pine, again. Nothing fancy here, though I did add some facing to hide the shelf mounts. Utilitarian doesn't mean ugly. Clamps are hung on a 2x4 mounted to the wall. I've also added some pine trim on the workbench to hide the 2x4 framing and protect the plywood edges from chipping.

Final step (for now) was to add some tung oil to the work bench to pretty it up and protect the surface. I cut the first two coats 50/50 with mineral spirits to help absorption and drying time and did the last coat full strength. It seems to be curing nicely, we'll see what else I have to do to finish it off.

 (side note: you can see the 2x4 framing I used to build the tops in this photo. Very cheap and sturdy, hat tip to Norm Abrams for the method)

I still plan to add doors and drawers to help with dust protection and add more storage and organization but this is not necessary. I want to see what my work flow and needs end up being before I modify further.

Final cost for the bench and cabinets: ~$475 ($250 plywood + 2x4s, $200 solid pine, $25 tung oil + finishing supplies), including finishing supplies. Considering the cost becomes a funny thing. On one hand, I could go buy a basic 2x6 table-type workbench for a couple hundred dollars, but it wouldn't fit my saw or other tools like a glove. I could also buy some cabinets for a couple hundred dollars, but they wouldn't have the neat pegboard facing. In the end, custom furniture it awesome because it's, well, custom! I would pay 10x the price to get something like this made. Add in that this is fun and (strangely) relaxing for me to do and it doesn't feel like work at all. Next up: the first thing that I made that won't live in the garage!