Shopsmith Forums

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This last shot gives a view of my overhead scrap/ lumber storage. The light hanging and washtub are some of the other things I share my shop space with. At this point it's 9 4 week old chickens (Dominiques for anybody who is curious)

I hope to build a dedicated space some time in the future, but for now this is home.

Reddog, I like that bench! That would look mighty fine in my shop. I'd call the color scarlet, and all my Buckeye friends would be totally impressed.

Are plans available? A proper workbench is my next big shop-improvement project, but is currently queued up behind an imposing list of honey-do projects.

BuckeyeDennis wrote:Reddog, I like that bench! That would look mighty fine in my shop. I'd call the color scarlet, and all my Buckeye friends would be totally impressed.

Are plans available? A proper workbench is my next big shop-improvement project, but is currently queued up behind an imposing list of honey-do projects.

Hey Dennis thanks. I'm pretty proud of the bench and real happy with it so far. It's a self created Frankenstein's monster. I'm pretty much a power tool guy and don't really need a hand tool bench, so most of the workbench plans I found just didn't suit. The Bench is made from torsion boxes and the biggest inspiration came from this.

http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/projects/archive/2009/03/04/tom-s-torsion-box-workbench.aspx

http://www.workbenchdesign.net/WeekendWorkbench_small.pdf

I didn't build his vice instead I bought a quick release Jorgensen and mounted that on the front. The pipes you can see on the back of the bench screw into the brackets just visible under the top on the back. With those extending out I can place the wood blocks (also hanging on the bench) onto the pipes and support 4x8 sheet goods to be cut. Or I can place pipe clamps on to give me a wide panel clamp. There's another set of the brackets attached to the legs on one end to let me do the same for longer material.

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The base pretty much follows the links above but the top is a torsion box with a second layer of 3/4 Oak plywood on it. That piece isn't glued down it's captured by the edges and screwed from below with 4 screws in the corners so that it can be replaced if it gets too marred up. Hope this helps, it's made a real difference in how I work in the shop to have a nice bench.

By the way the color out here is Nat's Red, Go Nationals!

Hey, thanks RedDog. You have changed my plans. My old 2x4 framed bench with a single-layer plywood top bench is going to get scrapped. My cool antique bench with cast iron ends (bought from OSU surplus some 30 years ago) is still going to get rebuilt, but as a fixed side bench now. The main workbench will be like yours, but I'm gonna put a glued-up hardwood top on it. Kiln-dried oak and maple can be often found for around $2 per board-foot locally on Craigslist, so why not? And nice big ash trees are free and plentiful around these parts, if you have a way to saw them up.

Sounds great! I want to see pictures when it's done. I thought about a hardwood top but couldn't swing the cost of milled lumber and didn't have a good way to start with rough sawn. One of the nice things about the bench is that you can upgrade the top later pretty easily.

Ok, here is my shop humble as it may be. The actual area is quite large, the building actually belongs to my father-in-law. He recently had a triple vessel coronary bypass graft in October 2012. A few months later as he is not able to use the garage he told me to go for it. The tools and equip are mine, just not the actual building. The pics were taken on my phone and are in order left to right to form a 360 degree picture when looked at in order.

Todd

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Looks nice, lots of space and a fridge for refreshment in those contemplative moments!

If I do say so myself, we SS owners know how to build our man caves. And the beer fridg. is a really good touch.

Oh to have such an amount of space to work in!!!! My shop is good sized but I've filled it up with so many toys, er... tools that working space is now at a premium.:D:D:o

I have really enjoyed having a look at the shop pictures that have been posted so far. Its great to see how shops are organized around the ShopSmith. So, in the spirit of share and share alike, here are some pix I took this morning in the shop. The current project in process is some tall cupboard doors and you can see the panels for the doors on the bench. The two vertical sticks near the SS are the result of an idea I had for portable light supports. The sticks were studded with nails along the bottom 5 inches or so and then cast in concrete in a couple of coffee cans. The concrete is still curing, which is why the plastic bags are wrapped around the coffee cans.

The work space is about 11 x 16, with a little alcove I use to store lumber and a closet I use to store jigs.