tdkkart
Well-known member
Moved into our new(to us) place back in Oct.
My portion of it is a 30x40 pole building, unfinished except for a 16' heated and insulated workshop in the rear. So far my shop activities have been mainly re-organizing all my **** so I can actually get something done.
A couple pics first:
View looking north............
Yes, the lift is for my Harley, but it makes a damn fine workbench, welding table and sawhorse when the bike isn't on it.
Heating system, in floor radiant using a 40 gallon electric water heater:
View looking south:
In the above picture I hung some old kitchen cabinets that we had in the basement of our old place. These cabinets immediately reminded me why I hate kitchen cabinets for shop use. The doors are too narrow, and the cabinets are only 12" deep which means nothing of consequence fits.
I had built 16" deep cabinets in my old place which are much easier to deal with.
The workbench was existing from the previous owner. Notice the notch in the middle. He was a woodworker, and a very good one at that, he had his power miterbox mounted in the notch which put it's bed at bench level on either side. Notice the "doggy door" in the left wall which allowed for long stuff to be slid in.
The bench is well built, sturdy and at a very nice height so I'm leaving it.
On to the new cabinets. I came up with a very simple design that uses a minimum of material and is easy to construct.
Please note that I am neither a cabinet builder or even a carpenter. My woodworking tools include a circular saw, a couple squares and a pencil.
Picked up some lumber and got started:
Just some simple 1x4 ladder frames attached to the wall.
Bought 2 4x8' sheets of "Melamien"(sp?) board, which is basically partical board with a hard white facing on front and back. Home Depot sells it in precut pieces for shelving. This product is much less likely to warp than plywood. I cut the doors out of the sheets leaving 3" around the outside and 6" in the middle. I cut them down to 42" wide which is the total heighth of the cabinets from the ceiling.
Bought 2 sheets of 3/8" plywood which I ripped lenghtwise to 16" widths. The plywood was laid on top of the frames in the previous pictures and screwed down, then the face frame was attached to the front:
Did I mention I HATE sawdust?? What a friggin' mess!!!
Doors were cut in half and hung on simple hinges, completing one section of cabinet:
Can you spot my fug-up in this pic??
More shelves:
Another face frame:
Did I mention I HATE sawdust?? I'll be cleaning it up for weeks:
16' of cabinets:
A bit of paint and door handles:
Populating the new storage:
They're not Gladiators, Craftsman, or Snap-On, but they came out pretty damn nice, with a total price tag of just $200. They'll fit my needs just fine.
Distractions out the window:
My portion of it is a 30x40 pole building, unfinished except for a 16' heated and insulated workshop in the rear. So far my shop activities have been mainly re-organizing all my **** so I can actually get something done.
A couple pics first:
View looking north............
Yes, the lift is for my Harley, but it makes a damn fine workbench, welding table and sawhorse when the bike isn't on it.
Heating system, in floor radiant using a 40 gallon electric water heater:
View looking south:
In the above picture I hung some old kitchen cabinets that we had in the basement of our old place. These cabinets immediately reminded me why I hate kitchen cabinets for shop use. The doors are too narrow, and the cabinets are only 12" deep which means nothing of consequence fits.
I had built 16" deep cabinets in my old place which are much easier to deal with.
The workbench was existing from the previous owner. Notice the notch in the middle. He was a woodworker, and a very good one at that, he had his power miterbox mounted in the notch which put it's bed at bench level on either side. Notice the "doggy door" in the left wall which allowed for long stuff to be slid in.
The bench is well built, sturdy and at a very nice height so I'm leaving it.
On to the new cabinets. I came up with a very simple design that uses a minimum of material and is easy to construct.
Please note that I am neither a cabinet builder or even a carpenter. My woodworking tools include a circular saw, a couple squares and a pencil.
Picked up some lumber and got started:
Just some simple 1x4 ladder frames attached to the wall.
Bought 2 4x8' sheets of "Melamien"(sp?) board, which is basically partical board with a hard white facing on front and back. Home Depot sells it in precut pieces for shelving. This product is much less likely to warp than plywood. I cut the doors out of the sheets leaving 3" around the outside and 6" in the middle. I cut them down to 42" wide which is the total heighth of the cabinets from the ceiling.
Bought 2 sheets of 3/8" plywood which I ripped lenghtwise to 16" widths. The plywood was laid on top of the frames in the previous pictures and screwed down, then the face frame was attached to the front:
Did I mention I HATE sawdust?? What a friggin' mess!!!
Doors were cut in half and hung on simple hinges, completing one section of cabinet:
Can you spot my fug-up in this pic??
More shelves:
Another face frame:
Did I mention I HATE sawdust?? I'll be cleaning it up for weeks:
16' of cabinets:
A bit of paint and door handles:
Populating the new storage:
They're not Gladiators, Craftsman, or Snap-On, but they came out pretty damn nice, with a total price tag of just $200. They'll fit my needs just fine.
Distractions out the window:
Last edited:

Open the door and let 'er rip.
