Welcome To Our New Workshop

Transcript

Welcome To Our New Workshop Your key source now and in the future for great ideas and projects by Jim Harrold THE WORKSHOP at a glance Size: 30 × 50' with a 9' ceiling I n this special issue of Woodcraft Magazine we are excited to introduce you to our new 30 × 50' workshop. Why? Because we now have a place that lets us generate a truckload of workshop ideas, techniques, and project plans for making your shop more organized, efficient, and—dare I say it—a pretty cool place to hang out. What you notice right away from glancing at the photos is that we have outfitted our shop with three distinctly different cabinet areas built on three budgets. These include the MDF workshop, the melamine workshop, and the birch plywood workshop. Here, price differences come down to sheet goods, hardware, and countertop costs. Where the cabinets do not differ is in their general construction. Everything you see is built from the same basic 24"- and 32"-wide base and wall cabinet plans. As you’ll discover in “Super-Easy Workshop Cabinets” on page 28, we took the mystery out of cabinet building by going with the simple 32-millimeter system. If you can count to 10, you can build these cabinets, though it helps to have an inches-tomillimeter measuring tape. Now let’s look at the three contrasting areas and our shop’s specs, overall features, and floor plan. 24 woodcraftmagazine.com June 2009 Construction: Concrete block and insulated 2 × 4 stud walls; double layers of 5/8" drywall or 5/8" drywall and 5/8" plywood (for screwing items to the wall anywhere along its length above 4'). Heating and cooling: Natural gas forced-air furnace and air conditioner; room thermostatically controlled. Lighting: Ten 8' fluorescent lights operated by a single on/off T-8 switch; 32-watt bulbs. Electrical: 200-amp service panel—fourteen 110 outlets and seven 220 outlets with two of each ceiling-mounted. Dust Collection: Oneida 3 hp Pro Series 1500 with cartridge filter, metal fittings, and spiral metal piping (6" and 7" main trunk with 4" and 5" branch lines). Air compressor: Porter-Cable 3 hp, 60-gallon air compressor. Three hardworking workshops from one great plan Whether you’re adding storage to the back of your garage or outfitting a dedicated workshop building, chances are, one of these cabinet choices will suit your style and wallet. As you can see we used a cleat system for hanging our wall cabinets and tool boards. 1. MDF Fast and low-dollar MDF—This handsome workshop could easily be built in a few weekends for under $700. Constructing the cases with Confirmat screws (recommended for MDF) speeds the work, as does cutting out and hanging the frameless slab doors. While one cabinet contains four quick-toassemble Metal Box drawers (Inset), all the others contain shelves. In other words, more simple slabs. We painted the cabinets with two coats of General Finishes milk paint (one part outback brown, three parts snow white), and topped the base units with a double-layer MDF countertop, edged with ¾" maple. This we finished with two coats of clear water-based polyurethane and a coat of paste wax. Maple pulls (purchased through the VanDyke catalog) provide a nice accent while matching the edging. 2. Melamine Mid-range, easy-to-clean melamine cabinets— Smooth, white laminate surfaces set this workshop apart. The ¼" Marlite panels in the maple cabinet door frames let you jot down dimensions, phone numbers, and more with erasable markers, while the thin sheet-metal-on-Marlite door panels let you pin up paper designs, receipts, and cut lists with magnets (Inset). Underneath the counter, drawers, shelves, and pull-out trays provide versatile storage in the base cabinets. 3. Birch Plywood Showy, premium cabinets with an all-wood look—Consider birch plywood cabinets for a touch of class and craftsmanship. We paid $15 more for a sheet of birch plywood ($43) than we did for a sheet of MDF. We outfitted the base cabinets with Metal-Box drawers as well as shelves and pull-out trays for storing portable power tools. Full-extension slides for trays let you take advantage of the cabinet storage room while the 165° full-overlay hinges on the base cabinet doors provide clearance (left). To further dress out this workshop, we topped the base cabinets with a hard-wearing, 1½"-thick by 12'-long laminated maple countertop. Framed glass doors for one wall cabinet let you view prized planes or collectibles. Finish for the cabinets consists of three spray-coats of General Finishes Satin High Performance Water-Based Topcoat, a tough, fast-drying product with acrylic and urethane resins. (See more on workshop finishes on page 54.) Opening photo: Doug Rowan June 2009 woodcraftmagazine.com 25 Creating a first-class woodworking environment Complementary tool boards For easy access to frequently used hand tools, we included perforated hardboard tool boards that you build to fit and hang on the beveled wall cleat. Unique to this system is that we did away with commercial metal hooks and hangers and made custom hangers from scrap. (You’ll find a variety of the hangers on page 42.) Small rectangles of perforated hardboard back the hangers, allowing you to fix them to the tool boards with plastic wall anchors and screws. This approach enables you to quickly relocate the holders as needed. Better still, they stay put when secured, unlike metal hangers which often fall off when tools are removed. Dust collection and healthy shop air Our whole-shop metal-pipe dustcollection system from Oneida provides swift and complete collection of sawdust and chips at every floor machine. The cyclone dustcollector unit (Pro Series 1500) features a 3 hp Baldor motor with an external cartridge filter. It sits outside the shop along one wall. To turn it on we use key-fob remotes which we hang at convenient locations. Blast gates terminate each branch duct line, allowing the system to effectively service any two major machines simultaneously. (See our story on whole-shop dust-collection on page 46.) Comfort and good looks underfoot The basement where we located our shop has a concrete floor that, as many of you know, raises havoc on your feet and legs. We wanted something easier on the dogs so we contacted the Southern Forest Products Association for suggestions. They recommended Southern yellow pine flooring and put us in touch with Grizzly Forest Products. As soon as the walls were up, we installed 1 × 6 tongue-andgroove vertical-grain flooring and finished it with four coats of General Finishes Satin WaterBased Top Coat . (See how to put in a workshop wood floor on page 56.) Floor mats in front of the major machines and workbenches add even more comfort. SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR WORKSHOP SPONSORS Putting a workshop together from scratch is no small feat, and we would be remiss if we did not include a special thanks to the sponsors who helped make our dream a reality. Here are the participants: Adjustable Clamp Earlex Bessey Tools Festool Assortment of Clamps www.adjustableclamp.com Assortment of Clamps www.besseytools.com Danco Euro Hinges, 110⁰ & 165⁰ www.woodtechnology.com Delta/Porter-Cable 2 Random-Orbit Sanders 2 Trim Routers Drum Sander 6-Gallon Portable Air Compressor 60-Gallon 240-Volt Air Compressor www.deltaportercable.com HVLP Spray Station Pro www.earlex.com Kapex KS 120 Sliding Compound Mitersaw Clean Tech Vacuum Domino Joining System MFK 700 Trim Router Plunge Router MFT/3 Multifunction Table www.festoolusa.com Forrest Blades Saw Blades www.forrestblades.com Franklin International DeWalt Glues & Adhesives www.titebond.com 26 June 2009 13" Thickness Planer www.dewalt.com woodcraftmagazine.com Freud Router Bits & Saw Blades Biscuit Joiner 31/4 HP Plunge Router Doweling Machine www.freudtools.com General Finishes Wood Coatings Water-based Finishes Oil-based Finishes www.generalfinishes.com General International Excalibur Scrollsaw Overarm Blade Guard Benchtop Mortiser www.general.ca Grizzly Forest Products Tongue-and-groove Southern Yellow Pine Flooring www.grizzlyforest.com Hafele Metal Box Drawer System Fixing Brackets www.hafele.com/us Incra Measuring, Marking, and Positioning Tools www.incra.com JDS Air-Tech 750ER High-Efficiency Air Filtration System www.jdstools.com Jet Portable Dust Collection Belt Disc Sander 14" Bandsaw 6" Jointer 12" Jointer/Planer Combo Drill Press www.jettools.com The Floor Plan Key to any woodworking shop is the arrangement of tools, storage, and workbenches. In many shops, everything revolves around the table saw. That holds true in our shop as well with the SawStop table saw front and center. A few steps away, however, sits the Jet jointer/planer. This tool combination needs to stand together for ease of milling project stock into parts. We made sure that we had ample space at the infeed and outfeed ends of these machines for running long stock through. The Makita mitersaw also resides near the middle of the room for sizing longer parts to length. Similarly, the Rikon bandsaw sits near the lathe work station for prep-cutting turning blanks, as well as resawing. In addition, we created tool stations where cabinets containing accessories are within an arm’s reach. We built a shallow 6¾"-deep cabinet for drill bits near the Jet drill press, and a similar cabinet hangs on the wall above the Pinnacle router table. A set of cabinets dedicated to sharpening features a countertop of plastic laminate to catch the drips and spills of oil and water. We located our workbenches to allow plenty of walk-around room for working on a project, and we dedicated one end of the room for storing lumber and sheet goods. A corner of the shop is set up for turning. While no shop is perfect, this one has more than enough bells and whistles to make working in it a joy. If you’ve been re-thinking your current shop or planning a new one from scratch, turn to page 64 for our pull-out Dream-Shop Planner. Then, plan your shop to complement your woodworking interests. By doing so, you will have taken the very first step in creating a bragging-rights workshop, one that finally and fully addresses your project-building needs. n Kreg Pocket Hole System www.kregtool.com Magswitch Universal Featherboard MagJig Universal Base Combo Kit MagJigs www.magswitch.com.au Makita 10" Slider Compound Mitersaw 18-Volt Cordless Drill Driver Trim Router www.makitatools.com Oneida Stationary Dust Collection System/Consultation + Installation www.oneida-air.com Padco Pinnacle Measuring & Marking Tools Router Table Premium Coping Sled http://www.woodcraft. com/featuredbrand. aspx?brand=pinnacle Powermatic 10" Table Saw, 1½ HP 18" Variable Speed Drill Press www.powermatic.com Rikon 14" Deluxe Bandsaw with Fence 12" Disc Sander www.rikontools.com Rockwell 18-Volt Lithium Tech Cordless Drill/Driver www.rockwelltools.com Compressor Mortiser Bandsaw MDF cabinets Belt/disc Scrollsaw Drum Sander Drill press sander Birch cabinets Workbench Mitersaw Dust collector Workbench Router table Table saw Mitersaw Jointer Planer Table saw Bandsaw Melamine cabinets Jointer/ Planer Workbench Sharpening area Assembly table Desk Chair Furnace Clamp rack Sharpener Lathe Lathe tool cabinet Clamp rack Lumber rack SawStop Cabinet-style Table Saw 52" Extension Table Assembly Extra Blade Cartridges www.sawstop.com Sjöbergs Elite 2500 Workbench & Cabinet Combo DUO Bench Cabinet Combo www.sjobergs.com Stanley Bostitch Teknatool International Nova DVR Lathe www.teknatool.com Tormek T-3 Sharpening System www.tormek.com Triton Oscillating Spindle Sander 2½ HP Router www.triton.com Whiteside Portable Compressor Pneumatic Nailer www.bostitch.com Router Bits & Bushings www.whitesiderouterbits.com WoodRiver Steel City 13" Portable Planer with Helical Head 5-speed Granite Mini Lathe 10" Granite Table Saw www.steelcitytoolworks.com Planes & Chisels www.woodcraft.com Woodhaven Metric Shelf Pin Jigs www.woodhaven.com Floor Finishing Tools www.padco.com June 2009 woodcraftmagazine.com 27