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Garden Shed - UK

nabs

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Herts, UK
hello all, I have recently completed a small but substantial shed in my back garden and am now busily scouring your excellent forum for ideas on how to fit out the interior.

I am hoping to use it as a space for small projects, but the children also have their eye on it as a place to hang out in. The room is pretty tiny - roughly 11' square on the inside - so it is going to take some creative thinking to make it usable for both activities.

I have already got some great ideas from:

What's on your walls? Neat storage ideas!

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of the building - I used Structurally Insulated Panels and worked alone on the construction work, bar some help with the heavy lifting.

I will post back when I have finished the design for the interior.

Cheers!

Nabs
design.jpg
sips.jpg
exterior.jpg
cheers
 
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Basher

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Welcome along, Nabs.
It will be interesting to see how you make best use of that space -
some of the most fascinating threads here are those for smaller volumes & the challenges involved.
Time for a bit of creative thinking!

Bear in mind that folks here are really keen for plenty of pictures, too
;)

Cheers,
 
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nabs

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thanks all, to give an idea of the diminutive size, here is a picture of the inside.

View media item 49733
one thing I will do shortly is to look into led strip lighting - rather than finishing the walls with skiriting (baseboards) I have left a small "shadow gap" as I think it will look good if lit from inside the recess.

I am really enjoying building my BIG PARTY garage but is is nearly exactly 100x the size of mine!

Any suggestions on threads describing (much) smaller builds gladly received.

cheers
 
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Martin F

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I like the look of that, looks like a nice place to escape to !!!

What wood is that on the exterior?
 
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nabs

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View media item 49854
first thoughts on the layout - given limits of time and dosh, I am thinking of using a combination of ikea cabinets and a hand-made workbench.

As mentioned earlier, I am going to try and make this a dual purpose entertainment and (small) project space, but this plan tends to favour the latter activity. Unless you count a bench as 'entertaining'.

So I am now thinking about how to incorporate a folding foosball table - probably the only place it can go is the bottom righthand corner, alhough this will mean sacrificing a big part of the storage.

I plan to mark out this layout on the floor at the weekend and see if I can think of a better arrangement.

Will post more on the workbench later - I am midway through the build your own thread, and getting some great ideas. In practice the final design will have to be reasonably simple on account of my lack of carpentry skills, but I think there are a few ideas I can 'borrow' nonetheless.

As you can see from the diagram, one idea I have is to store a portable workbench on a ledge under the fixed worktop - I don't actually own a festool ms/3 but it is good to think ahead!

I don't own a folding table football table either, but I may well splash out on one soon - mainly to have a reason for the room to actually be used - it has been basically unfurnished and unused for nearly 6 months since I finished building it :(

more later!
 
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nabs

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I am afraid I can't take credit for the building design, I actually copied a kit design offered by the sip manufacturer I used :
http://www.sips.uk.com/

They did not do a kit in the dimensions I wanted, so I did all the drawings from scratch - but followed the same basic layout of the kit - and they cut the SIP panels to my design.

As an aside, commercially available 'garden rooms' are very popular in the UK since our permitted development laws were relaxed such that we can build reasonably large buildings (by UK standards!) in our back gardens without getting planning permission.

The do all tend to follow a similar design pattern though (mini-plinth footings, SIPs, cedar cladding and EPDM roofs) and therefore all look pretty similar.
 
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nabs

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slightly off topic, but in a fit of impetuousness I got out my credit card during lunch at work and ordered one of these:
View media item 49882I had a mildly nail-biting trip home since I ordered it without being completely sure it would fit in the narrow alcove shown on the bottom right in the drawing above - I only had the drawings (which showed the gap between the SIP walls) , but I couldn't exactly remember the depth of the plaster board and battens.

I knew it would be tight and I was right - the table (which folds flat and can be stored upright) is 110 cm wide and the gap is 113cm!

The table weighs a fair bit - 80kg (180lbs) - and it will not doubt be a massive faff continually moving it in and out of what will be an inconvenient spot for storage, but it's too late to worry about that now.

It arrives next week and I am looking forward to having a go!
 
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nabs

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I have decided on the layout now - ideally I would have allowed for some more storage, but I think it will feel too cramped if I try and add much more.

View media item 49920
The cabinets will be Ikea Besta units , and as mentioned above I will design and build the workbench myself (the one in the picture is just a placeholder - it is the same dimensions I will build though).

The cabinets on the rear wall do not make the best use of space, but when I drew them as a solid block the room looked too full. I am hoping the gaps between them will make it feel a little more 'airy'.


The mandatory beer fridge is not shown but will be in the left hand corner at the forefront of the picutre. The units at the front will be covered with a cut down kitchen worktop used as a bench/storage - I pinched the idea from here:
http://www.ikeahackers.net/2012/11/besta-tv-stand-with-seating-option.html

View media item 49921
Comments/criticisms/suggestions welcome!
 
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nabs

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According to my missus the arrangement of the cupboards above was ridiculous so I have created a revised version, which I think is an improvement:

View media item 49972
I popped to Ikea yesterday and spent £360 on the frames, doors , hinges etc and £80 on the worktop counter for the bench. This was a bit more than I had hoped to spend, so to compensate I am going to try and create the workbench and shelving from three pieces of 8'x4' plywood + bolts and screws I have lying around.

I installed all the cabinets today and will upload some pics tomorrow.
 
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nabs

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Here is the bench:

View media item 49987
I was going to hang it from the wall, but I changed my mind at the last minute having realized it might be useful to be able to move it around. I used cuts from the worktop counter to form "legs" - these, and the top, are just screwed to the ikea units from the inside. I also added a hidden leg under the base to give it a bit of additional strength, although it does not really need it.

And here are the other cabinets installed:

View media item 49988
The kitchen countertop that I cut down to cover the stand under the TV and the bench is butchers block made of birch - not especially attractive, but cheap and cheerful and will match the birch ply I use for the worktable. There is just enough left over to form a trim around the worktable edge and I hope that will add to the sense that the various bits of furniture tie together.

One aspect of putting up the cabinets that was a joy is the fact that I have used fermacell plasterboard (drywall). These boards are very dense and if you use cavity fittings like the below, each one can suspend 50kg. No hunting around for studs to fix to!

View media item 49989(cavity anchor - as you insert the screw, the metal flanges extend away from the body of the fitting and grip the back of the plasterboard)..

The next job is to design the workbench and think through the task lighting layout - more on that later.
 
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nabs

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football table arrived on Monday!

View media item 50017
it does fit nicely in the corner and, despite being quite heavy, is relatively easy to move around - it folds flat in situ and can be rolled around on the wheels at one end.
View media item 50018
Having said that it would be a lot more convenient if I could just stand it upright directly into the space where it would stay, rather than having to shuffle it into the corner. I suppose this is just one of many compromises that are needed if you try and cram a lot of things into a small space.

I plan to make a simple plywood cover to clip over the top when it is in the standing position - It will be partly for aesthetic reasons, but I will also have other uses too:
  • act as a temporary worktop when i can't be bothered to store it away (which I suspect will be often)
  • form a level base to stand the table on when it is taken outside (which will be rarely given the British weather).
  • can be hooked to the wall behind the table to prevent it tipping over and squashing passing children

apologies for the grainy photos - I really need a new cell phone or to get a proper camera.
 

kjdhawkhill

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I'm glad you went with the updated cabinet layout.

It looks like the kind of place I would love to putter about. Its obviously not automotive storage or workshop but the kind of place where the recreational projects can drag on and you don't feel any hurry. So if the games are on, and you get something done, great, if not, no worries. Beer fridge?
 
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nabs

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My original plan was in fact to try to create a proper garage space for some small mechanical work (scooters) but as I began to think harder about the design I realized it would get far more use if I could do something that all the family could use, so I ended up with a making a posh shed. it was not really a great sacrifice as I'm as keen on having somewhere to chill out as the kids are.

As, you rightly say, it is a place for recreational projects and pottering around.

PS coincidentally I am in the middle of beer fridge research right now!
 
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nabs

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workbench requirements

I have just about finished my research - although I could easily have spent another 2 weeks reading and learning - and have a list of key features I would like to incorporate. As I am a very inexperienced wood worker my aim is to keep it as simple as possible, but to try and do the bits of work that I do as accurately as I am able.

  • 19mm marine plywood top and shelving (double layer for the top).
  • top layer of plywood will be screwed down so it can be replaced if damaged.
  • recessed area to incorporate a compound mitre saw
  • Dimensions - 90cm high (to match my new festool mft/3!) , 2m long and 80cm wide.
  • backsplash including small shelf for tools and bits and bobs
  • built in dust collection point
  • (nice to have) pole extensions (see link below)

inspiration
I have of course read all the workbench thread:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50406

and I also pinched some ideas from Peter Parfitt and his excellent youtube channel:

View media item 50155
... and got the idea of incorporating in a vacuum connector from the bench featured in Family Handyman
View media item 50154http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114685&showall=1

pole extension:
View media item 50153http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/dewalt-table-saw-mounted-paulk-workbench-56944/

Finally, I did not really want to have any exposed screws or bolts if possible, but I do not have a the tools to do biscuit joints, and lack the skills to do anthing apart from very simple woodworking joints. So I was most grateful to stumble upon a GJ post where someone used pocket holes joints to build some cabinets. I had seen these in shop bought furniture but had no idea they were possible for DIY with the help of a simple jig. I have ordered one of these from Axminster n the UK (the version in the US that seem very popular is made by Kreg). I am afraid I did not remember to bookmark the link to the original post and am now unable to find it again. Sorry!
View media item 50152I do not pretend to have the ability to do anything close to the level of sophistication as the aforementioned, but hope at least to include some of the features that make them so useful. I am working on the design this weekend and will post a draft soon.
 
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nabs

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workbench design

I have set myself the slightly pointless goal of trying to construct my workbench using just 5 pieces of 8’x’4 plywood and some screws/glue, and here is the design:

View media item 50263
Now I have finished the drawing I can see that there are a couple of issues that could have been resolved easier/cheaper by using timber rather than ply, but I am going to give it a go nonetheless:
  • There are a *lot* of cuts and it will probably look dreadful if I do not get them exactly right – I confess that my track record for this kind of detail is not good, but I think that I have the tools that should allow a good job – namely a plunge saw and guides - so we will see how I get on.
  • I am a bit concerned about the rigidity of the corner on the LHS – it would have been better from that perspective to have a leg going straight down to the floor, but the workbench is going to occupy a lot of the available floor space and I think it will look more spacious with the quarter circle support. I briefly toyed with the idea of having that part of the bench as a sort of free-floating overhang (suspended from the ceiling), but gave it up as a bad idea.
  • annoyingly I was not able to come up for a design that allowed for a big enough recess for the mft/3 table and my vacuum cleaner (a nilfisk) which will go in the alcove on the RHS. The only solution is to lie the vacuum on it's back - not very elegant, but it will work.

I haven't fully thought through the inbuilt dust extraction point - I have a vague idea that I will use plastic conduit to route the vacuum hose through to the small hole shown on the top of the bench.

I have sketched out a cutting plan on paper and should not have very much waste from the 5 boards – good from a cost perspective, but it leaves no room for error.

The eagle eyed will notice that the bench is exactly 2098 mm long by 900mm wide – the missing 2mm was unintentional, but I did not find they were missing until I was nearly finished the drawing. doh!

I am not an engineer or an experienced wood worker so I am having to rely on intuition as to whether it will all be stable/rigid enough – comments/criticisms welcomed!

View media item 50264
View media item 50265
 
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nabs

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oh yes, I forgot to show how I plan to accommodate the mitre saw. I currently have an el-cheapo sliding compound mitre saw (an evolution rage 3, which I got for the bargain price of £35 (!) from screwfix a couple of years ago when it was on sale) , this will fit but not be level with the surrounding bench. The design is to exactly fit a Festool kapex 120 (on my wish list, but probably will be a year or two in the future before I can afford one).

The idea is that the part shown in white flips over to form a recess that is 112mm high - same depth as the kapex saw. It will be pretty heavy, but I will try and devise some way of fixing it in either position so it does not move around.

View media item 50266
 
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nabs

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square

my plywood order arrived earlier in the week and I hope to get a few hours this weekend to start on the bench. In the meantime I have been trying to educate myself on some of the basic techniques, for example, how to cut things square.

To show the level of my naivety, it had never occurred to me that the things I had been using to measure right angles might not actually be true right angles at all.

It turns out there is a very easy way to check this - lay one side of your square against a flat surface that has a straight edge, draw a line along the other edge of the square; flip the square from right to left and draw another line. If the square is accurate the lines will overlap exactly - if not, they will diverge.

Nothing was square - rafter square, combination square, t-square , speed square, all were off. A bit disappointing, but it did lead me to read about two top tips, which I hope will be of use to others as inexperienced as I am.

1. don't chuck away your unsquare squares - if you use the testing technique above the mid point between the two lines is exactly 90 degrees.

2. You can make your el-cheapo combination square really square in a matter of minutes - use the test above to find out which direction it is out and then use a small needle file to take a little of one or other edge of the brass hook that secures the ruler until it is correct. Simple, and I now have a perfectly square square!

View media item 50609
 
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nabs

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Finished the cutting on Friday - I discovered an unfortunate error in my cutting plan (1998mm recorded as 1198, erk!) . Luckily I noticed before I got underway, but it meant I used 6 boards rather than 5.

I'll have to redo the cutting plan to see if it is possible to do it in 5 - there was more than a board worth of off-cuts left, but I am not sure it is possible to include all the main panels.

all the boards are gratifyingly square. I have started putting it together today and will post a few pics tomorrow.

View media item 50650View media item 50651
 
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nabs

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I have completed most of the base now. I'm most pleased with the pocket hole jig- it even comes with a vacuum attachment, which is very useful when you are doing a lot of them.

View media item 50676
the kit includes a corner clamp with a plastic dowel that inserts into one of the pocket holes to keep the corner tight when you insert the screw into the other hole. Very handy as the screw tends to push the corner apart otherwise.

View media item 50675
here is the base done - a proper carpenter would no doubt despair at the number of screws I've had to use, but it all fits and is quite sturdy.

View media item 50677
Annoyingly, for reasons I could not fathom, my hoover does not work when lying down. Luckily whatever was interfering with the suction when it is horizontal does not happen when it is inclined slightly, and there is just enough room to do this. I'll create a small ramp for it later. It is a bit of a faff not being able to stand it up, but as per my earlier post I could not think of how to make that work with my other requirements.


I have come close to giving up with the arc shaped support on the LHS, as I am not convinced it will be strong enough. I have a vague idea that I could use two of the plywood arcs just for cosmetics - they would clad a piece of wood braced at 45 degrees against the wall and another piece screwed to the underside of the plywood top. Not sure if that will be good enough - I will have to experiment and see what works.
 

404

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That is a very very nice looking shop/shed. You have done a really great job. :thumbup::beer:

Your Hoover may have a plastic ball inside the filter housing that is meant to rise up and block off when the unit is filled with water after use for wet pick up.

That is how we Colonials clean up after our Beer Orgies and the influence seems to have spread.
We then filter the beer through muslin cloth and re carbonate it for the next week end. :lol_hitti It is just American Budweiser so there is no perceptible difference no matter how many times reused.
 
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nabs

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thanks for the kind words 404, and you are quite right about the hoover. When I took the filter apart I found a plastic diaphragm that moves up and down, blocking the inlet when at the top.

It is tempting to jam it in place, but I think I will stick with my original plan to keep the machine at a slight angle, just in case someone uses it for Budweiser hoovering at some point.

If my brilliant plan to build dust extraction into the bench is successful I won't have to move it often in any case (one of the advantage of a tiny space is that a single 3.5m hose can reach every corner without having to move the hoover).

In other news I have given up on the quarter circle supports. I did cut them, but when I held them temporarily in place I did not like the way they looked. That, combined with the almighty faff involved in getting them to provide any kind of useful support, meant I have given it up as a bad idea. Instead I will use a straightforward leg running at 45 degrees from the intersection of the floor and the wall to the lip of the shelf.
 

udderlyoffroad

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Looks like a helluva lot of thought has gone into the this ‘space’ (as they will insist on referring to it in on TV) and I like the workbench…

One suggestion though, if the idea of the shop-vac is to extract saw dust, you may want to build a cyclone for it, and have the vac itself physically located elsewhere. Otherwise, the dust will quickly clog it up and you’ll find yourself cursing as you have to ‘nurse’ the vac out of the ramp. The fact that the vac is almost lying down means you have less ‘gravity assist’ to enable the dust to descend to the bottom of the collector. And, if you do build a cyclone, you can dimension it to fit the space you have under the bench. Search on youtube for some examples and you’ll see what I mean.

Matt
 
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nabs

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Thanks Matt, cyclones are new to me so I will do a bit of research. I have been moving the hoover in and out of the little cubby hole this weekend and it is indeed a massive faff and I would like to come up with a better solution if I can.

The bench is almost finished - I just need to secure the top (which I have not done just yet while I figure out what to do with the hoover) and do the finishing touches.

In the end I did the leg like this:
View media item 50765
It is good and strong and the bench is very solid, I left a void in the leg so I could install some LED lights for that cheap discotheque vibe.

View media item 50766
I am not sure what to do with the finish - I might stain and varnish the top at least. For finishing touches, I'm thinking of an upstand along the back and I will also cut a curve on the front left hand side top to avoid the sharp corner.

I might use a roundover bit on the edge of the top, but will experiment with some scrap first. If that does not look any good, I will glue on some trim.

One disadvantage of having the flippable section in the middle (to accommodate a mitre saw) is that even slight movement of the plywood will be very visible as the centre piece will sit slightly higher or lower than the adjacent edges. It is level now (or will be when I fix everything down) but I wonder how long it will stay that.

I might try and find some way of clipping the centre section to the neighboring sections, although at the moment I can't think of how to do that. Any suggestions welcome!
 
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nabs

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Vac connections
I have been doing a bit more research into dust collection and how to connect various dust extractions components to my vac. After a fair amount of investigation I had't found much useful information, other than it seems to be a well kept secret that the defacto standard diameter for the hose inlet for vacs is 57mm (2 1/4 inches).

Confusingly, when specifying hoses and connectors, manufacturers seem to use internal or external diameters at random, or they don't mention them at all, so it was not easy to find out what bits to get.

Eventually it occurred me to see what the excellent Peter Parfitt had to say on the matter, and it turns out he has some very good videos on dust extraction. As ever his videos are informative, enjoyable and well produced. In this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs2mL1wcfpw[
...about his ingenious 'dust hub' (to allow multiple connections to his vac) he explains that the machine end of a festool hose will fit nicely with the Axminster 63mm dust extraction kit (Axminster is a popular manufacturer/shop for tools in the UK). I don't have a festool hose to compare, but I did confirm that my nilfisk hose connector is 57mm so should fit also)

So, I now have a rough idea on how to connect the vac to the table, using one of these 'blast gates':

View media item 50974
I will copy Peter's idea and install a power point fed from the power outlet on the vac into the top of the bench and adjacent to the blast gate, so I can continue to take advantage of the auto-start feature on the vac without having to fish around under the workbench to plug things into the front.

Also following on from the suggestion above, and thanks again to Mr Parfitt, I now have some thoughts about how to include a cyclone in my shed - more on that later.
 
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nabs

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I've done a few more bits and bobs to the workbench.

Test fit of vice.

I ordered a Veritas face vice, but did not have any suitable timber to make the jaws (I was recommended maple - no doubt any hardwood would do). Partly out of impatience, and partly because I thought a trial run would be useful, I decided to temporarily fit it using some of the left over butchers block worktop from the bench.

It was a good job I did as I got the measurements wrong, and will be more careful next time.
View media item 51295
The vice is straightforward to fit and Veritas provide clear instructions with a lot of pictures. The only niggle was that the screws supplied to secure the front jaws have Robertson heads. This screw type is apparently popular in Canada, where Lee Valley (makers of Veritas tools) are based, but not so in the UK, and the correct drivers are hard to get.

The upside, however, was that this resulted in me finding this fascinating 'instructables' write-up on the history of screws and the baffling number of different types available. The article has an interesting explanation of why Robertson screws did not take off outside of Canada, despite a narrow scrape with world ********** after they were selected by Henry Ford as the preferred screws in his factory.

http://www.instructables.com/id/When-a-Phillips-is-not-a-Phillips-Plus-So-Much-Mor/step45/Robertsonss/

You need to make some reasonably large holes in the jaws to accommodate the vice supports and screw, and while scratching my head on the best/cheapest way to do this I came across this extendable drill bit, which was only 15 quid. Used with it a drill stand it did an acceptable, albeit slow, job.

View media item 51296
The bit came with two blades - one for 22-42 mm holes, and the other for 44-78
View media item 51294
There is a paper template to use to mark the correct location of the holes.

View media item 51293
Then it is simply a case of securing the base clamp to the bench with the supplied coach bolts (in my case I secured it to the top of the mid shelf , although in most cases it would be secured to the underside of the bench top.

Then attach and secure the jaws and done!
View media item 51292
 
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nabs

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dust extraction
I've added a simple dust extraction solution by using a 63mm plastic blast gate inserted through the top of the desk.

In order to attach the vac to the underside of the blast gate I used some flexible hose and a plastic 90° connection (both from the same range of 63mm dust collection parts from Axminster). I did not have a suitable connector for the vac so fashioned one from a flower pot and some duck tape. You can see the professional looking solution below
View media item 51356
I also installed a double socket that I have wired to some electrical flex and this is plugged into the front of the vacuum. this means that any tool plugged into the desk will trigger the vac's auto start feature.
View media item 51357
It all works like a charm. The next step is to get a cyclone so I do not have to continually reach under the bench to empty bags/clean filters etc.
 
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nabs

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After plugging the countersunk screw holes with cedar plugs, I decided to finish the top of the workbench with this:
View media item 51370
..followed by a coat of osmo poly hard wax oil clear, as per the instructions for the stain.

A couple of things I would have done differently:
1. I would not have left the cut ply edges exposed as they did not take the stain evenly. This is rectifiable by attaching a trim, but not very convenient as I will have to cut a small amount from the front edge to remove the roundover, and this will have to be done in situ now I screwed the top down.
2. I would have cut the top from the same piece of ply - the sections I used were from 2 separate pieces, and each took varying amounts of the stain so they do not match exactly

Still I think it will add to the durability of the top and at some point I'll paint the base which I think will improve appearances.


I also added a couple of spur sockets above the bench. Can you have too many sockets? No!

View media item 51369
 
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nabs

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I added an upstand. Thinking it would be useful to have a little storage area along the back of the bench I built it with a recess, but I had not really thought through the dimensions and the gap left is a bit narrow to be very useful. Still it will no doubt come in handy now and then..
View media item 51507
 
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nabs

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Herts, UK
powerline networking for your shed
The wifi signal from the house does not quite reach my shed - an alternative to running ethernet cable is to use powerline adapters, which physically extend a network connection by using the power cabling in your house

Although the version I have (from Devolo) is nominally rated at 500Mbps, this is a reference to the theoretical limits of the circuitry in the device and the actual bandwidth will generally be significantly lower.

Also, the signal is limited by the amount of cable it is going across, the longer the cable and the more electrical noise on the circuit, the less bandwidth you get. Powerline is also a shared medium meaning all devices on the network share the bandwidth (unlike a switched ethernet network).

So in my house I have a 100Mbs fibre connection, I will generally only get between 50-60Mbs downloads when using a powerline ethenet port.

When I was thinking about network solutions for the shed I had low expectations that powerline adapters would work - it seems the manufacturers won't guarantee the adapters work across consumer units (my shed has it's own CU) because they can't account for all the variations home wiring. So the only the way to be sure they will work in your house is to try it out.

I am pleased to say that, when I was finally able to test it, it worked fine. However, this did not help the wireless situation, so last weekend I bought another adapter from devolo with a built-in wireless access point

The device (on the right below) has a pass-through electric socket and can broadcast at 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz (but not both at the same time):
View media item 51753

I configured it to broadcast the same SSID and security settings as my main network so that any computers or phones being taken from the house will automatically join the stronger signal in the shed.

It all works very well, although performance is mediocre - I get 21 Mbs regardless of how I am connected (ethernet to the plug, or using either 5 or 2.4 Mhz wifi) so presumably the power circuit is the limiting factor - not surprising in my case since there is around 40m of cable from the consumer unit in the house to the shed.
 
OP
N

nabs

Active member
Joined
Jun 5, 2014
Messages
33
Location
Herts, UK
finally got round to researching and ordering a cyclone solution - should arrive tomorrow and I will write a post once I have it set up.
 
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