Bench Top Cabinets for the Shop

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:43 am

You have all seen photo images of my shop and of my work bench across the back end of my shop. Therefore, you know that it is always a cluttered area that needs help. Well, I finally have plans to resolve that. No, I don't have plans yet - that is what this post is about.

I need help in determining just what is appropriate for on that bench.

I have a single kitchen cabinet (an upper) sitting on the bench now. It serves as storage for some shop items that I don't want out in the open.

At first I was thinking about building something on that order that would span the entire work bench. That might still be what I do but I would like some input from the forum. Heaven knows I could use the space.

Would cabinets that resemble kitchen uppers be appropriate or would you do this differently?

mbcabinetmaker · Post by **mbcabinetmaker** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:56 am

Dusty I think some fresh photos of the area would help in making the diagnosis.

garys · Post by **garys** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:39 am

I built cabinets for over the workbench in my garage. They are wonderful for keeping things off the bench, and they also serve as a good place to mount a light above the bench.

First figure out what will work for you, and then build it. That is the great thing about woodworking. You don't have to settle for something close. You build what you want.

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:20 am

I generally don't like cabinets... I am definitely going this route:
http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/shop/archive/2009/08/04/hyper-organize-your-shop.aspx
Even if I end up using a cabinet it will hang like this.

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mrhart · Post by **mrhart** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:51 am

That is an incredible storage system.

I copied and pasted it to a word doc so I could print it and dream about plywood dust. It needs to be tweaked for the SS goodies but still incredible. I made the material list already... 1 crap ton load of plywood, 3 gallons of gorilla mix, some tools I don't own yet, 1 week off work, 1 new table saw blade and 3 large pizzas so I don't have to come back into the house once I get started.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:53 am

garys wrote:I built cabinets for over the workbench in my garage. They are wonderful for keeping things off the bench, and they also serve as a good place to mount a light above the bench.

First figure out what will work for you, and then build it. That is the great thing about woodworking. You don't have to settle for something close. You build what you want.

Keeping things OFF the bench is probably a very good idea. Right now about half of my work bench top is occupied by things that could be elsewhere.

Figure out what you what. That is the problem! What I have is what I wanted at one time but it does not work well and never has. I figure I only get one more chance at doing this right - so, here I go again.

Hanging cabinets on that wall is a problem. That wall, for some reason, is terribly wavy. I would not have accepted it, when we built the house, but I did not notice it until much later.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:54 am

mbcabinetmaker wrote:Dusty I think some fresh photos of the area would help in making the diagnosis.

Photos to follow.

damagi · Post by **damagi** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:49 am

robinson46176 wrote:I generally don't like cabinets... I am definitely going this route:
http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/shop/archive/2009/08/04/hyper-organize-your-shop.aspx
Even if I end up using a cabinet it will hang like this.

.

I keep telling myself that I am going to go that route, then haven't pulled the trigger...maybe today is the day...

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:57 am

Here is my thoughts.

My neighbor redid their kitchen and replaced all their cabinets so I took the old ones. Tons of cabinets oh wow!!!!!! I have had them now for about 5 years and here is my thoughts. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!

First off shelf spacing inside them wastes a ton of room. Drawers storage is superior for utilizing space and convience.

Also unless the door are thick you lose a lot of hanging room because you can't hang on the door.

I can't tell how many times I have came into the shop with something that was 8 ft long and could not find a place to lean it, except on the cabinets which isn't a good thing.

I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to hang something up high but could not because of the cabinets.

Here is my idea everything on wheels and built up rather than wide or deep.

I would built frames that are 2 ft by 18 inches by 7 feet with saw kerf every inch on the walls. Then I would cut luan ply to fit the saw kerf and act as shelves. Make some drawers on the order of the those from Lee Hardware and you are ready to go.

I'm convinced vertical storage units on wheels is the way to go. You always move them slightly out from the wall to store stuff (sheet stock or long boards) behind them. The are on wheels so they can be move to where they needed and move out to clean the shop or remodel.

I have even played with the idea of putting a false back on my work bench which is mounted on wheels (greatest thing I have done in the shop) and mounting the cabinets to it That way all the wall behind my workbench has the potential to be used if I have a need.

I came to my opinions after finding wheeled steel cabinets in the Sears outlet store for a price I could not walk away from. I bought two. I use the cabinets to store so much and on top of them I have my power mitre saw on one and my lunch box plane on the other perfect. If I need to plane or cut molding I simply wheel them out. If I'm using the Shopsmith the one is filled with SS parts and accessories I just wheel it out to where I'm at.

Right now I have a fixed bench with cabinets above. I'm seriously seriously considering tearing them out and replacing them with four vertical units on wheels. One cabinet would be built to hold parts (screws through metal sheet stock) One would be supplies, another would be hand tools, and the last would be power tools. Then I would tear out the rest of my overhead cabinets replacing them with a wall anchor system up high around the perimeter so I could hang or store stuff up high.

My motto nothing mounted permanently on the wall unless it is a wood storage system.

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 2:23 pm

damagi wrote:I keep telling myself that I am going to go that route, then haven't pulled the trigger...maybe today is the day...

I keep looking at my walls in the new basement shop which are 12" thick concrete block. I have mixed emotions about insulating them. They serve as a huge heat sink and keep the basement at a very uniform temperature. A wood furnace is not like a typical furnace and the rules change a little. Even most professional heating guys do not understand the difference. You regular gas, oil or even electric hot air furnace cycles on and off by thermostat. The wood furnace does not. Its output is constant.
I do wish that we had insulated the outside of the basement walls with sheet foam when the house was built but in 1970 that was just not commonly done. I am considering hiring some hand labor to dig down about 2' around the outside and placing 2" sheet foam against the outside of the walls to insulate the upper wall.
I have already started insulating the sill-plate / rim joist area using roll FBBF which is super easy to work with and reasonably effective. I have 1/2" sheet foam sheathing that I am going to install around the top 4' of the wall from the plate down and I have 7/16ths OSB that I am going to apply over that horizontally which will basically hang from the plate to 4' down the wall. My slat system will be attached to the face of the OSB rather than attached to the concrete block. I am not planning (now) on putting any of the slat system on the lower wall below the 4' OSB. There I just expect to paint the concrete block wall.
I would like at some point to at least fill the block core voids from the floor to up at least 5' (or maybe full height) to stop the cold air in the cores from cooling the lower part of the wall. I have not picked the material for that yet but it will want to be completely waterproof of course.
Right now I plan to use a combination of 7/16" and 1/2" OSB to make my slat system rather than the 1/4" and 3/4" materials used in the article. For one thing I have 20 some-odd sheets of OSB on hand

and if I need more it is quite inexpensive (about $7 a sheet). This is the good stuff that I get from Lowes, not the low quality crap I will never buy again from a local lumber yard... What I have is smooth on both sides, not "rough deck" sheathing.
My east wall is a 40' long unbroken wall and if all I get done right away is that wall I think it will provide all of the wall storage I will need to start with.
All plans subject to change depending upon reality...

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