Passing on information 11

[tablesawtom]

I started the project to be covered in this post about three months ago. I took time out to build 14 foot of cubbies about 40 inches high for my daughter's nursery. And also took l time out to finish the drill press cabinet.

In the mean time, Woodsmith sent me a book, The Complete Small Shop. It is full of storage cabinets tucked along a wall and cabinets that have panels that swing out so you can get to stuff behind it that stuff so you can swing another panel out of the way and so on.  One picture has wall mounted shop bins with a work bench under it also mounted against the wall. The bins are open and what is stored will soon be covered with dust and shavings.

Now what I am not doing is badmouthing WoodSmith. I have been a subscriber to their magazine since issue 22 I believe. And I will continue to be one until I am laid to rest. They have a great magazine and have published, and I hope, will continue to publish great books also. Not to mention a TV show aimed at helping woodworkers build many fine products. I would also be remiss if I did not mention this forum in particular.

In this book they had all kinds of shop storage, cubbies, shelves and drawers and what ever and the only problem I saw is what is stores needs to fit the size allowed in stead of sizing the unit so I can store what I want.

 When I first started woodworking I had a work bench against the wall but that limited what the work bench could be used for. I soon built one I could get at from all four sides. I have room now but for 20 years I had a shop that was 12 wide and 25 feet long  It had a table saw with a 52 inch Biesmeyer fence  in there the saw was raised 3 1/2 inches so I could feed it over my work bench and the planer was higher so the wood coming out exited overt the top of the table saw. I also had a 8 inch jointer, floor drill press and a router table.
My next shop was better it was 20 x 20 , It had wall cabinets 12 inches deep and stuff in front of stuff and stuff on top of stuff and so on until you no longer know what is in the cabinet.

I now have a very roomy shop with all kinds of stuff setting on top of every flat surface.  And in this post I hope to pass on what I have learned in at least 45 years of wood working.

 As I am writing this I am also looking at my last issue of Woodworker's Journal. Which has of all things a work bench on it. The bench has a large shelf under the top so it can get filled up with all kinds of things so the stuff can get pushed to the back and get all covered up with dust and debree. It will be so far back that I will forget what is even under there. Not to mention I will have to bend way over just to see what is back there and again not to mention getting on my knees so I can reach in the back to get what I want. And at 71 bending way over or getting on my hands and knees is not high on my list of priorities.  It also has a couple of good sized drawer that look like they will be filled with clutter but it looks like a great bench to build on the cover and helps fill up an issue.

And all of the above information given above was just so I can make this point.

What I am doing is revising my assembly table pictures below. Actually I have two tables just alike that I built about 10 years ago I am planning on revising both over time. The table is about 42" by 42".  The real problem I found is the one big drawer in the middle that is tucked back under the top.





My plan was to remove the center draw and drop the lower stretchers for more space but the lower ones won't budge so I decided to leave a sleeping dog lay. Now because of weight and being over 70 I decided to do it in two cabinets instead of one. I got a good deal on drawer slides several years ago so the 22" slides are not a problem as to cost . That only takes care of part of the room so I am going to put 16 inch slides on the other side. The bigger stuff can go on that side 

I started out as usual, I decided to put in 4 draws so I figures out how big to make them and I figured out that the deepest drawer should be on the bottom and the others of equal size. The drawers in the pictures are put together with fit and friction, not glued together yet. so don't read more into what appears to be than what is. At this point it is easier to visualize what the sizes they really need to be. Here is where I changed my train of thought.

Some of the problems have been rolling around in my head for some time. I am just now getting around to addressing them. One of the problems of my work bench is drawer two  It ended up having vix bits, center finding punches. screwdriver buts and they all ended up loose in the drawer. I had a piece of plastic with holes drilled in in so the bits could stay upright but as soon as they got to long for the drawer they had to lay down. Here is how It ended up and I hope it looks formiluar to some. Others won't admit it but. 







Next is my top drawer. It was  a little to deep so to get more in it I made a sliding platform over the top and no matter where it is it is in the wrong place  for what I want in the drawer.
See the next 3 pictures.







 And so since it is an assemble table what should go in in the drawer. ?Screw drivers vix bits  screws electric drills, battery operated drills , Etc., Etc.  Storage for other items might find a better place. An example of this might better be stored in a work bench like a marking gage, chisels gents saw scraper and so on. 

And so the following pictures are just me trying to figure sizes and what to put in them. I still have 1 1/2 times the area to so in the spring. With the wind chill at 45 degrees below zero today and my shop being unheated you can understand the word Springs unheated 





I am not sure how many pictures I can have so I will finish it in a reply

So In closing one size does not fit all and how I do things may not work in your shop. But I encourage you to think for your self. Don't take what someone else drew up and decided every thing  for you.

Tom

[tablesawtom]

So in closing I ask the question, does anyone realize how much actual storage that was created by spending a little time figuring out what can be put where and all of it has easy access to it. I haven't even started on the second half. And if I could have lowered the bottom stretcher without busting it apart, how much more I could have at my finger tips without having to walk from where I am working. And it only took 45 years or so to figure it out.

So again in closing the things I have learned.

1. Any flat surface will accumulate any and every thing.

2. If it is easy to put away it will get put away. If it will take sever steps it will gt pushed aside to get put away latter and latter come with a major clean up.

3. If stuff don't get put away one will end up with only a small space to work on whether it is a bench or an assembly table, because the rest of the space is full and one doesn't want to take the time to clean it up.

4. I hope I have caused some of you reading this to actually think and to plan ahead and not just follow a plan in a magazine or book

5. I hope I am not being to didactic for some

Tom