Shopsmith Forums

8iowa wrote:Paul and Charlese:

The red Shopsmith cabinets, on casters, with one stacked on top of the other has a height of 37 1/2" and is 14" deep and 16" wide. There are four holes in the corners of the top that could be used to secure a tabletop. You could use another set of stacked cabinets and make a desk, although the top might be just a little too high for sit down work. The Shopsmith retail store had four cabinets assembled in this manner. For a more permanent location, without the casters, the stack is 34 3/4" high.

There are a lot of possibilities here to make a "roll around" tool station/cabinet. you could even make a top with leaves that would fold up and lock to create a larger top surface. I once had three cabinets stacked on top of each other, but this makes for a "tippy" top heavy situation. Putting three cabinets under the Shopsmith was not an option, because I have the lift assist.

8iowa
I noticed you have 4 cabinets. I was wondering which of the three formats do you find the most useful? Each cabinet style is varied on the size and number of the drawers. I have considered buying a set but I was debating which drawer number and size combination would be the best.

When you answer please give reasons such as the I find the 3" drawers just right or too shallow and the 6 3/8 drawers perfect for or too deep.
Ed

Ed:

Three of my cabinets are the 4 drawer type and one is the 3 drawer. To be perfectly honest, I bought them at Shopsmith's annual sale day in April '05 (unfortunately they no longer have those sales). Since I can't attach them side by side under my Shopsmith I figured the more drawers the better.

Actually, on that sale day I bought five cabinets. I already had three in the U.P. from an earlier visit to the retail store in Dayton, where they had scratched and dented cabinets on sale for $50 each. So I now have four cabinets at both locations. They are all stacked 2 x 2.

I find that the cabinets are great for smaller tools and accessories. They are not quite deep enough for lathe chisels. Also, saw blades mounted on arbors, and the 12" disk, and the conical sanding disk, do not store well in these cabinets. When I get up North I plan to make a 3' x 4' wall cabinet according to Nick's plans discussed in another posting.

The Sears "Craftsman" tool chest is the chest on chest type and gives me a total of 10 drawers, five are 23 1/2 x 15 1/2 and five are 23 1/2 x 18. I would not be able to do without this storage. I don't have a Sears tool chest in the U.P., but I think I will need to add one this Spring.