New shop tour.

[7milesup]

Very nice Harry.
There is a guy on youtube (Clickspring) that has a tiny shop and turns out amazing work. I wish my shop was half as organized as yours.

 

[Janderso]

I like how you built the bench around your tool boxes. Great use of space and very efficient.
Nice shop dood.

 

[HarryJM]

I like how you built the bench around your tool boxes.

Yep and that is how I ended up with a 10' long bench and it seems that you can never have too much bench top space.

 

[tjb]

I agree with you as clutter also seems to bug me. I try to keep things in their place although its hard to keep up with entropy as a year from now I will probably have several projects in various states of whatever waiting for whatever to arrive. I had almost 20 years of stuff that I had to sort through/toss/store and ended up with 4 used truck tool boxes for storage of gardening tool/etc and other stuff not used on a regular basis. Now I have to clear our under my shop again and make some decisions on what to keep/toss as that seems to be a never ending cycle.

In addition to loathing a messy shop, I have a more challenging problem that renders orderliness mandatory. I can 'lose' something when it's staring right at me. I can't count the times my wife has had to come down to the shop and help me find something. The conversation usually goes something like this:

Me: "Hey, can you come down to the shop a minute?"
Her: "Sure, I'll be right there...What do you need?"
Me: "I can't find my glasses."
Her: "Hmm. Well, when was the last time you had them?"
Me: "I have no idea."
Her: "Well, what were you doing the last time you had them?"
Me: "Don't have a clue."
Her: "Okay. When did you realize you didn't have them?"
Me: "When I started looking for them."
Her: "What were you doing when you started looking for them?"
Me: "Trying to find them."
Her: "Well, where were you when you did that?"
Me: "Here."
Her: "Where?"
Me: "Here."
Her: "Where's 'Here'?"
Me: "Here. In the shop."
Her: "The shop's big. Where in the shop?"
Me: "I don't know."
Her: "Ugh! Well, what's the last thing you REMEMBER doing when you had your glasses?"
Me: "Working."
Her: "On what?"
Me: "I dunno."
Her: "Well, do you remember where you were standing when you were doing what you don't remember doing when you think you had your glasses?"
Me: "I think so."
Her: "Would you mind telling me?"
Me: "Sure."
Her: "Okay, where?"
Me: "I think I was standing by the workbench, but I'm not sure."
Her: "You mean THIS work bench with 8 screwdrivers, a drill, 2 hammers, a shop light, 3 rolls of paper towels, a C-clamp, a pair of pliers and a welding torch on it?"
Me: "Yeah. What workbench do think I mean?"
Her: "Heaven only knows."
Me: "Well, are you gonna help me find my glasses or not?"
Her: "Alright, let me look."

Exactly four nano-seconds later:
Her: "There they are."
Me: "Where?"
Her: pointing, "Right there?"
Me: "Where?"
Her: "Just look."
Me: "At what?"
Her: "At the only 8 square inches on your workbench that doesn't have anything on it."
Me: "I still don't see 'em."
Her: grabbing my head, "Right THERE."
Me: "Oh. Thanks! See? That's why I married you!"
Her: "Shut up."
Me: "So what's for supper?" ... "OUCH!"

 

[francist]

Great job Harry. As others have already said, you’ve pulled off a super effort to get maximum use of minimum space. I love it!

-frank

 

[AGCB97]

Did you buy or scrounge the laminated bench top. I'd like to have one like that but not going to tear out the 3/4" plywood.
Nice job!
Aaron

 

[HarryJM]

In addition to loathing a messy shop, I have a more challenging problem that renders orderliness mandatory. I can 'lose' something when it's staring right at me. I can't count the times my wife has had to come down to the shop and help me find something. The conversation usually goes something like this:

Me: "Hey, can you come down to the shop a minute?"
Her: "Sure, I'll be right there...What do you need?"
Me: "I can't find my glasses."
Her: "Hmm. Well, when was the last time you had them?"
Me: "I have no idea."
Her: "Well, what were you doing the last time you had them?"
Me: "Don't have a clue."
Her: "Okay. When did you realize you didn't have them?"
Me: "When I started looking for them."
Her: "What were you doing when you started looking for them?"
Me: "Trying to find them."
Her: "Well, where were you when you did that?"
Me: "Here."
Her: "Where?"
Me: "Here."
Her: "Where's 'Here'?"
Me: "Here. In the shop."
Her: "The shop's big. Where in the shop?"
Me: "I don't know."
Her: "Ugh! Well, what's the last thing you REMEMBER doing when you had your glasses?"
Me: "Working."
Her: "On what?"
Me: "I dunno."
Her: "Well, do you remember where you were standing when you were doing what you don't remember doing when you think you had your glasses?"
Me: "I think so."
Her: "Would you mind telling me?"
Me: "Sure."
Her: "Okay, where?"
Me: "I think I was standing by the workbench, but I'm not sure."
Her: "You mean THIS work bench with 8 screwdrivers, a drill, 2 hammers, a shop light, 3 rolls of paper towels, a C-clamp, a pair of pliers and a welding torch on it?"
Me: "Yeah. What workbench do think I mean?"
Her: "Heaven only knows."
Me: "Well, are you gonna help me find my glasses or not?"
Her: "Alright, let me look."

Exactly four nano-seconds later:
Her: "There they are."
Me: "Where?"
Her: pointing, "Right there?"
Me: "Where?"
Her: "Just look."
Me: "At what?"
Her: "At the only 8 square inches on your workbench that doesn't have anything on it."
Me: "I still don't see 'em."
Her: grabbing my head, "Right THERE."
Me: "Oh. Thanks! See? That's why I married you!"
Her: "Shut up."
Me: "So what's for supper?" ... "OUCH!"

Cute story and how true, how true!

When I was a Honda motorcycle mechanic in the mid 70's to mid 80's I would sometimes loss my my favorite 10mm wrench which was a very poplar size for motorcycle engines, etc. So after looking all over the place, including my tool box, I would take out another one and then sometime later on I would look down at the motorcycle lift and see it setting their in plain sight. Just figured it was my brain having a little fun with me.

 

[HarryJM]

Did you buy or scrounge the laminated bench top. I'd like to have one like that but not going to tear out the 3/4" plywood.
Nice job!
Aaron

I had it made at a place called the Hardwood Store of North Carolina in Gibsonville NC. They sell wood by the board feet and have the experience doing glue ups.

On another forum that I belong to someone told me that they used E-Z Lok thread inserts in order to allow for wood movement, with an oversize hole for the bolt.

So I decided to use that method and secured the top to the 2”x4” base with E-Z Lok brass threaded inserts screwed into the bottom of the top spaced about 2 feet apart around the perimeter and one in the middle of the four cross supports.

I drilled a 1/2” hole in the 2”x4” base for the 1/4”-20 bolts that screwed into the E-Z Lok inserts. The bolts (with a washer) are just tight enough to keep everything sold while at the same time allowing for wood movement, which will happen in a non-climate controlled shop.

After a few days of sitting in my shop, while I made the base, the top bowed down the middle a little less than 1/8” so I sanded down the four cross supports to allow for that.

All in all I am very pleased with how it turned out as I have a very sold workbench that is a please to work on.

 

[HarryJM]

Thanks for the tour. Looks like you have all the bases covered. Really nice space. Mike

I did lots of pondering about what I wanted and then figuring out what was the best way to accomplish and then how to do it by myself except for the electrical installation. So all in all about 2-3 years of planning and building.

 

[7milesup]

In addition to loathing a messy shop, I have a more challenging problem that renders orderliness mandatory. I can 'lose' something when it's staring right at me. I can't count the times my wife has had to come down to the shop and help me find something. The conversation usually goes something like this:

Me: "Hey, can you come down to the shop a minute?"
Her: "Sure, I'll be right there...What do you need?"
Me: "I can't find my glasses."
Her: "Hmm. Well, when was the last time you had them?"
Me: "I have no idea."
Her: "Well, what were you doing the last time you had them?"
Me: "Don't have a clue."
Her: "Okay. When did you realize you didn't have them?"
Me: "When I started looking for them."
Her: "What were you doing when you started looking for them?"
Me: "Trying to find them."
Her: "Well, where were you when you did that?"
Me: "Here."
Her: "Where?"
Me: "Here."
Her: "Where's 'Here'?"
Me: "Here. In the shop."
Her: "The shop's big. Where in the shop?"
Me: "I don't know."
Her: "Ugh! Well, what's the last thing you REMEMBER doing when you had your glasses?"
Me: "Working."
Her: "On what?"
Me: "I dunno."
Her: "Well, do you remember where you were standing when you were doing what you don't remember doing when you think you had your glasses?"
Me: "I think so."
Her: "Would you mind telling me?"
Me: "Sure."
Her: "Okay, where?"
Me: "I think I was standing by the workbench, but I'm not sure."
Her: "You mean THIS work bench with 8 screwdrivers, a drill, 2 hammers, a shop light, 3 rolls of paper towels, a C-clamp, a pair of pliers and a welding torch on it?"
Me: "Yeah. What workbench do think I mean?"
Her: "Heaven only knows."
Me: "Well, are you gonna help me find my glasses or not?"
Her: "Alright, let me look."

Exactly four nano-seconds later:
Her: "There they are."
Me: "Where?"
Her: pointing, "Right there?"
Me: "Where?"
Her: "Just look."
Me: "At what?"
Her: "At the only 8 square inches on your workbench that doesn't have anything on it."
Me: "I still don't see 'em."
Her: grabbing my head, "Right THERE."
Me: "Oh. Thanks! See? That's why I married you!"
Her: "Shut up."
Me: "So what's for supper?" ... "OUCH!"

LOL LOL LOL
That was too funny TJB.