New workshop build progress

[workahol]

We recently built ourselves a new house, and I have been spending my free hours over the past few months building out my new workshop. Compared to my old cramped garage workshop I have an embarrassment of floor space, since out my new house is attached to a 50'x40' airplane hangar. The hangar has a small workshop annex attached to it, which is what I'm showing here.

The air compressor and floor-standing drill press are just behind me in these photos, which is the back wall of the hangar. My plan for the bench-top power tools is to mount them on mobile bases so I can move them around the space as necessary.

I borrowed a lot of ideas from this forum for my workshop. The stationary L-shaped bench is 14' by 10', with three 44" HF cabinets built-in below. There's a 3 1/2" toe kick beneath the cabinets, which puts the top surface at around 39 3/4" off the floor. A little high for a bench, but comfortable for me personally. The surface is 3/4" ply over two-by construction, with poplar trim and a sacrificial surface of tempered hardboard. The left side will be for (probably) electronics work, and is also where I'll place my little Sherline tabletop mill and lathe. The right side has a Yost vise with extra support to give it a rigid mount.

The rolling bench is around 32"x60". It's a basic 2x4 frame supporting two layers of 3/4" birch ply laminated together, with maple trim around the perimeter. I used dual-locking casters from Rockler (picked up a bunch during a sale) which are very nice. I still need to apply a protective finish to the worktop to help with glue cleanup, but it's difficult because this thing is constantly in use. In fact the only bad thing about this bench is that I need to build another one, because it always seems to be covered with junk! The second one will be built at a height that allows it to be used as an outfeed for my table saw.

The shelves are cheap plywood trimmed with sticks of cheap hemlock to hide the ugly edges. I used metal shelf standards and brackets, which I probably wouldn't do again due to the expense and the frustrating variability in fit between individual brackets; it took a lot of swapping brackets around to get the shelves to hang level. I didn't want the shelves to sit proud of the wall, so I made a little router template and cut pockets in the rear face to allow them to fit around the supports.

Next: A second rolling bench, mobile bases for various power tools, a cabinet for small parts storage, and some kind of contraption to hold all this scrap wood I seem to be accumulating. Oh yeah, and eventually I need to get back to my "real" projects, but for now I'm having fun building a place to build other things in.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Nice clean work. Sub'd.

 

[zx6rrider]

Looks great! Lets see the hangar! Got a plane to put in it?

 

[el monte slim]

You're doing good work there, with nice attention to detail. Thank-you for sharing the negative aspects of those commercial shelving support components. Based on your experience, I've decided against using them in my workshop.

 

[Kburk09]

Awesome Start. Great Attention to detail!

 

[workahol]

Thanks all. Yes, there are one-and-a-half airplanes in the hangar, which does rather cut down on the available space in the wood shop!

Not a lot of visible progress recently, but I have got the tool drawers mostly organized. I still need to clean up and rearrange a few things, but I'm happy with them so far. I've only occupied about 2/3 of the drawer space, so there is still room to expand, even though things are much more spread out now than they were with my old setup. Hopefully easier to find things now too. I have been trying not to replicate the same cluttered mess from the old shop in the new space, so I'm trying to be more disciplined about creating specific places for things to live in.

I still need to devote some wall space for hanging tool storage (probably french cleats), build a cabinet for small parts storage, finish my assembly/outfeed table, mount the remaining power tools on mobile stands, build a clamp rack... still a lot to do!

 

[zx6rrider]

Very nice! Where did you get the tool organizers? I could use a set like that for pliers. We just moved into an airpark in April and I'm trying to figure out how to get my hangar and shop organized as well. What are you flying? We have a 182

 

[zx6rrider]

One other thing to consider, move the compressor out of the shop and run pipe to it so you have a little space freed up and don't have to listen to it run. Mine is at the front of the hangar and the previous owner ran pipe all over the hangar/shop with connectors in different places.

 

[workahol]

Where did you get the tool organizers? I could use a set like that for pliers. We just moved into an airpark in April and I'm trying to figure out how to get my hangar and shop organized as well. What are you flying? We have a 182

A Cessna 140 and most of an RV-7 (project on extended hiatus). I'm really an amateur sheet-metal guy slash machinist, even though I'm currently on a carpentry kick trying to get the house and shop in order!

The pliers organizers are from MLTools. I bought them in pairs from Amazon - slightly cheaper than the manufacturer's website, and free shipping. I ended up with six units in the pliers drawer and another two in a separate drawer that contains all my electrical crimpers.

As for the rest of the drawer organization, it's Schaller boxes, Hansen socket trays, and Lista grooved trays for drill bits. I also have some Ernst drawer dividers for the screwdriver drawer, which I have yet to install.

 

[kitchenTablesaw]

Looks very clean. Nice job!

Note to self: I should not click on those links. No, no, no.

 

[zx6rrider]

Thanks! Great Christmas ideas for the wife......

 

[workahol]

I decided to make an investment in Sortimo boxes to store the majority of my small hardware. Feels good to get rid of all the old drawers, bins, boxes, bags, and food containers full of parts. I built these simple cabinets from birch ply and poplar, which gives me a place to keep the parts boxes and also adds some valuable countertop space to an otherwise awkward corner of the workshop.

 

[964haus]

Glad I found your thread!
I'm currently planning a new bench (wooden) that incorporates 2 HF toolboxes. I really like the slick look of yours - are you able to send me more detail shots, particularly the support for the work surface? Looks like you've got 2x4 supports turned 90degrees which keeps them nice and close to one another.

Anyway, any pics/drawing/tips on building it would be awesome.
Cheers,
Matthew

 

[cvairwerks]

Which series on the Sortimo’s did you end up with? I need to do something similar since I have a couple hundred line items of hardware for the shop. I’d like something a bit more shop friendly than the Akro bins like we have at work.

 

[workahol]

I'm currently planning a new bench (wooden) that incorporates 2 HF toolboxes. I really like the slick look of yours - are you able to send me more detail shots, particularly the support for the work surface? Looks like you've got 2x4 supports turned 90degrees which keeps them nice and close to one another.

Sure, here you go. No drawings, but here's a brief description:

The red toolboxes are sitting on a ladder-shaped base made of long 4x4s and shorter 2x4 stretchers. The base is less deep than the boxes, which gives me a toe kick area.

The upright support frames are just square structures made from 2x4s and pocket screws. They're slightly taller than the top of the toolboxes, so the boxes don't have to bear any of the weight of the worktop. The frames are attached to the base with pocket screws. The toolboxes are bolted to the support frames using some convenient holes that happened to already be there. The support frame on the right-hand side is doubled up to help support the vise that's mounted there.

Behind the toolboxes I attached a couple long 2x4s to the wall studs, level to the floor and even with the tops of the support frames. The frames are attached to the wall rail with more pocket screws.

On top of all that is a layer of long 2x8s and 2x10s, which are screwed to the support frames and the wall rails. I didn't do much work to flatten these boards, I just tried to pick fairly straight ones from the bin at the big orange store. Since the bench is 12+ feet long and I can only fit 8' boards in my vehicle, the joints between boards are placed so they each hit the top of a support frame.

On top of all that is a layer of 3/4" plywood, which is screwed to the 2x layer below.

The workbench on the left side is typical 2x4 ladder-frame construction, with a single layer of 3/4" ply on top. On the front is a 2x2 lip to give me a place to attach the trim. The tops of the plywood surfaces of both workbenches are the same height above the floor, and in fact the piece of plywood in the corner flows from one bench to the other with no break.

Then on top of all that I put down some 1/4" hardboard with a few bits of double-stick tape, and dressed it up with some 3/4" poplar trim strips. These are attached with screws, no glue, so I can more easily replace the hardboard someday down the road.

It's all a bit crude, but it works for my needs. I wouldn't use this as a proper woodworking bench, nor would I set an engine block on top of it, but I have other workbenches for those tasks. Mostly this is for tool storage, and for collecting whatever tools and parts I happen to have out during a project. The area on the left is my mini machine shop area, and is plenty stout enough for my sewing-machine-sized mill and lathe.

 

[workahol]

Which series on the Sortimo’s did you end up with? I need to do something similar since I have a couple hundred line items of hardware for the shop. I’d like something a bit more shop friendly than the Akro bins like we have at work.

These are T-Boxxes. Annoyingly, they've since changed the design from grey boxes with multicolored inserts to black boxes with black inserts, so if I ever add to my supply of Sortimo boxes it's going to set off my OCD. Luckily I have several empties stashed for future expansion.

The stuff in my Sortimo boxes is mostly aircraft hardware and electronics parts. I do plan to add a cluster of Akro bins above all this, for bulky hardware like nails, wood screws, wire nuts, etc.

And I need to put up some kind of pegboard / slatwall / french cleat system... and build even more shelves... there's always more to organize!

 

[gilr]

Sounds like you may live in a neighborhood with a private airstrip. That is a dream of mine, would love to have my RV-12 in my hangar at home! Looks like you have the makings of a great shop.

Gil

 

[workahol]

Sounds like you may live in a neighborhood with a private airstrip. That is a dream of mine, would love to have my RV-12 in my hangar at home! Looks like you have the makings of a great shop.

Thanks! And yes, we are on an airport - really a dream setup for me. Although the RV-7 and the Cessna do tend to fight for space with the workshop tools!

The RV-12 is a great airplane, I have about 30 hours in them and once got to ferry one halfway across the country.

 

[gilr]

Other than being somewhat small, it is a great flying airplane, very stable, easy to fly. The avionics available today are amazing. When I started to fly in the 60's, having something like the Dynon D1000 was not even in anyone's mind. Now having full GPS, flight planning, engine monitoring, and flight information and Autopilot on a large screen at a reasonable cost is just incredible. With the pending weight changes coming for Light Sport category, I think a plane with more space and weigh carrying capability is on the horizon. I'd love to be able to carry a few passengers on trips, which isn't possible with the limits now.
In any case, keep your updates coming.

Gil

 

[Apeatwo]

I need this type of organization in my life. I'll be moving to a new house/garage in weeks and getting my tools reorganized is at the top of my to do list. Nice work!

 

[Popeye.]

Clean work, love the organization!

 

[Jeffh40]

Nice, I like what you are doing here. I'll be stopping by frequently to see your progress.

My house is just getting started so I won't be putting my workshop together until next year sometime.

 

[Jayman17]

Workahol, wow, great looking shop very neat and organized. I'm subscribing to this for sure. Looking forward to more updates, and thanks for posting. What state are you located if you don't mind saying?

Jay

 

[T-handle]

Very nice and clean work Looks like a dream workshop

 

[workahol]

This is something I did a few months ago, but forgot to post here. The size of my workspace varies based on what else is parked in the hangar, so my tools have to be able to move around. The bandsaw, bench grinder, 12" disc grinder, and 2" belt sander are all very useful for aircraft work, and are often used together in sequence when fabricating parts, but by itself none of them is really big enough to justify building a dedicated mobile base. So instead I put together a 4-in-1 rolling cart that's got one tool bolted to each corner:



The three tools with vacuum hookups are each placed with their port facing in a direction that allows the hose to be connected easily, and without interfering with the operation of any of the other tools:



Everything is plugged into a hidden power strip attached to the bottom of the table, so wherever I roll the cart to I only need to plug in one cord and go to work. I tried to keep the wiring neat and tidy so nothing gets in the way:



I put a couple of simple drawers underneath to hold various accessories and attachments:



Since I am still bootstrapping my way into having a functioning workshop, I haven't used this much yet, but so far it's been nice to have all these machines in one place and yet be able to drag them elsewhere when I need to.

 

[cvairwerks]

Thanks for the info on the boxes. I think I'll go with the Akro bins due to cost. Enough of the Sortimo's just to do the smaller bolts is over 250$....Akros with covers run me about 2$ each and I need probably 400 of them....

You've got to take a couple of minutes soon and show off the -140 and the RV....

 

[workahol]

Thanks for the info on the boxes. I think I'll go with the Akro bins due to cost. Enough of the Sortimo's just to do the smaller bolts is over 250$....Akros with covers run me about 2$ each and I need probably 400 of them....

You've got to take a couple of minutes soon and show off the -140 and the RV....

Oh yes, the Sortimo boxes are outrageously expensive by DIY standards. I am only using them for aircraft parts, and will almost certainly put up some Akro-bins for generic stuff like nuts n' bolts. I view my Sortimo boxes as an investment, plus they're actually sort of reasonable by aviation standards.

The RV you can see in the background of some of the previous photos, and here's the 140:

 

[cvairwerks]

Good looking 140, I’ve got to get my tail in gear and get back current. Understand the investment on the boxes. The Akro bins are only for aircraft hardware too. AN bolts, drilled and undrilled up to -25 length in bulk, Washers in 3 bolt sizes, two materials and three thicknesses add up in a hurry. Common stuff resides in bags on a shelf for the most part.

 

[workahol]

I built a rolling stand for my sliding compound miter saw. The design is a mixture of several different plans I'm sure everybody has seen, with one or two little tweaks:



With the folding wings extended, the span about eight and a half feet:



Instead of a vertical fence, I embedded a length of Incra T-Track Plus into the surface of each of the extension wings. Having the track flush with the top surface makes alignment of the saw to the table much less critical, plus I can use the wings as an ad-hoc work surface, albeit a very light-duty one. The wings are each a piece of 3/4" ply laminated to a piece of 1/2" ply, with a wide dado to fit the track. (I might use a different construction method next time, but I only thought of this detail when I was already halfway through building the cabinet)



The stop block is just a piece of scrap poplar with some knobs and T-bolts:



My Makita saw swings a little past 60° in both directions, and its locking knob sticks way far out, which means its overall footprint is very wide. The little angled filler pieces to bridge the gap between the saw and the side of the cabinet is an idea I borrowed from somebody else's design:



Using the scale on the T-track, I can make accurate cuts of any length between 18.5" and 54" just by setting the stop block on the correct number. For shorter cuts, I made a spacer block that's exactly 20" long, so all I have to do is add 20 to my intended cut length, set the stop block there, and put the spacer between the stop block and the workpiece. There's a 1" hole on either side to hold down the spacer block, using the same type of clamp I use on my MFT-esque assembly table.



Details of the extension wing supports - a block of poplar with a threaded insert, an extra-wide and flat-headed bolt I found in a bin at the hardware store, and a wingnut. The swing stop is nothing but a piece of paint stick with a notch cut in it.



The cabinet is deep enough to fit a small shop vac and a dust separator (Dustopper). There's also an automatic vacuum switch which stays permanently connected, so all I have to do to use the saw is plug in the orange extension cord and make the cut. It really helps to have dedicated dust collection on a mobile tool, especially one that otherwise produces a ton of dust. The dust collection on this saw is better than others I've used, and the Dustopper does a good job of saving the vacuum's filter from clogging all the time.



I also wanted this thing to double as a place to store all the random cutoffs I can't bear to throw away - hey, good quality wood is expensive, and this six inch length might come in handy someday! I was able to get rid of numerous ugly scrap piles I'd been hoarding in my workshop, which is a real relief.



The three shelves are angled upwards 10° to keep all the scraps from falling out when the cabinet rolls around:



And my favorite new addition to the workshop - this Bluetooth speaker so I can listen to tunes while I work. This particular one was annoyingly expensive for what it is, but it works pretty well, seems rugged, and I'm already invested in Milwaukee battery packs and chargers anyway:

 

[workahol]

I set out to put up a couple of French cleats for wall storage of tools and materials, and ended up getting carried away and building a whole set of French cleat walls all around the workshop:







I trimmed the parts cabinets to the wall panels to make them look built-in. I also installed a couple of USB power outlets, which are very handy for keeping the tunes going while I'm working:



And lest anyone thinks my shop is always this clean, here are a few in-progress photos of this project:



Using the laser level to lay out the cleat locations:



I made a little jig to help me center-punch the screw hole locations accurately, again with the help of the laser. Lasers make everything better.




Now to build a bunch of tool hooks, clamp racks, shop cabinets, storage bins, and anything else I can hang on here that helps me finish getting the shop organized.

 

[Brian R]

Great, just great. Another guy that does outstanding work, is organized and works with airplanes.

I'm green with envy and thanks for posting.

At least I've also got a decent Bluetooth speaker.....

 

[workahol]

Great, just great. Another guy that does outstanding work, is organized and works with airplanes.

I'm green with envy and thanks for posting.

Thanks! Between you and me, before I post these photos I try to tidy up and hide the mess just out of view, so it doesn't usually look this nice in real life.

 

[QwikKotaTx]

For someone who has only recently started woodworking you do an amazing job.

I use the Stanley organizers and for $15 ea are very well made and tough. From Israel, not China.

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

[WarrenJ]

Nice progress on what will be a great place to work,

 

[Jayman17]

Glad I checked back in to your thread. Very nice additions to your shop. Love the French cleat wall idea, after seeing it in lil' scorpion's and your shop I think I will use it in my shop makeover later this year. Really like the flexibility of it...

Jay

 

[workahol]

Quarantine woodworking... you can never have too many workbenches, so I built another one with an extra twist. One end doubles as a router table, which is a tool I only occasionally have a use for, but there are times when nothing else will do the job. With the fence stored out of the way underneath when not in use, the router feature doesn’t impair its use as a table, but it’s easy to install when required. The workbench is also the right height to work as an outfeed for my table saw.

Construction is simple plywood and pocket screws for the most part. The top is two sheets of 3/4" ply laminated together, with maple trim. The first thing I plan to build with it is some storage drawers for itself - meta construction?!

 

[Gentleman Adventurer]

Nice shop and hanger. We are looking at acquiring a similar set up.
If you don't mind me asking, what airpark are you at, and are there other lots available?
A PM is ok if you don't want it public.
Thanks.

 

[workahol]

More quarantine woodworking... finished off the new workbench by giving it a big storage drawer and some cabinet doors for the router compartment. I didn’t want to leave the house just to go buy drawer pulls, so I made my own out of scrap hardwood - for which having a router table was quite handy!

 

[turbowoodworker]

Very nicely done. Is there a finish on that wood? It looks great.

 

[workahol]

Very nicely done. Is there a finish on that wood? It looks great.

Thanks - Most of the time I leave my shop furniture completely unfinished save for a quick application of wipe-on poly on the working (top) surface. This one has no finish for the most part, just regular old birch ply from the orange store. The table top happens to be prefinished maple ply, which I bought without thinking and wouldn't do again (because being already finished makes sanding the edge trim more difficult).