Brag about your workbench here!

[Vincerama2]

Hummingbird food! (ie; expensive red coloured sugar!)

I'm amazed you can pick that out amongst the clutter!

And to answer people who notice there are tools in there, I'll answer that in advance ...

- Ryobi BT3100 table saw
- Jet JSC6(something something) jointer
- DeWalt 733 planer
- Harbor Freight cheapo drill press
- various power hand tools

V

[BeanAnimal]

Ahh Scotts lawncare products in the corner as well....

Has the power switch mount broken off the HF drill press yet.. if not it will

[Vincerama2]

The drill is still intact. When it dies, I'll get an actual "good" press. When I bought it, I was just doing mostly acrylic hole drilling. It's actually not that bad EXCEPT for the time when the WHOLE CHUCK FELL OUT. Ah Quality!

Scott's Turfbuilder and some Miracle Gro. Nothing like polluting the earth with chemicals like the quest for a non-brown lawn!

Oh, and some comments about that workbench;

Pros
===
- Sturdy, it does not wrack (rack?) at all
- replaceable hardboard surface, for when it gets destroyed
- cheap - 2x4s, a 2x6, some plywood, some hardboard, some deck screws
- could mount an 'above surface' mechanics vise to it if desired (for, say, sharpening a lawnmower blade!)
- could build it in a weekend
- Attaching the power strip to it makes it real handy
- perfect working surface for many things

cons
===
- Not enough overhang for proper vise mounting
- Not enough overhang to allow clamping of flat pieces (wood or acrylic) to it's surface at all points (you can see the legs butt up against the back part of the bench)
- not wide (deep? Front to back) enough for my taste, it's only 24 inches deep, which is fine for acrylic, but sometimes you want to work with some big pieces of wood, or you want to put some big thing on it to work with.
- woodworking snobs will snub it cuz it's 2x4's and plywood.
- it has no vise or dog holes (at the moment)

meh
===
- ugly, but whatever. You can't even see it in that messy place!
- No tool tray. Good and bad. I have bad tool discipline and my tools end up on the bench itself or on the folding table behind the bench. A tool tray might just collect sawdust/acrylic shavings
- plywood, and not laminated hardwood top. As a utility bench, plywood is better and the replaceable top rules. Woodworking on it might not be AS NICE as on a nice bench.

It's a pretty good all purpose bench though. And heck, I can mount my Dillon 550B press on it for a nice sturdy surface (for those of you who enjoy the cartridge handloading hobby!). I think I'll make a nicer iteration with a laminated top, if for no other reason than to practice some woodworking, and to get a bench top with dog holes and can mount vises.

V

PS. come on, let's see some more benches AND workshops!

[BeanAnimal]

That HF drill press likely has an ODDBALL (standards based, but not common) arbor. I had to be an adaptor for mine so I could put a good jacobs chuck on it. If memory serves me it was BT35 taper and most everything else is Morse Tapered. So I got a BT35 to MT2 arbor and a good chuck. Or maybe the taper on the DP was fine, but the original garbage chuck was BT35 tapered and I needed to get a new arbor so I could put a good chuck on. Anyway if it is important I can go out and look... if not then...

I just got the "crazy ollies" tool sale vices for XMAS. I have yet to put them in place but will when I get home next week.

Consider the masonite for the top. It is easy to replace and cheap.

Bean

[cannarella]

I spy 4 Bessey K-Body clamps on the back wall along with some Jorgison F style clamps. How do you like the Bessey's? I love mine. Especially how they can clamp on the side edges.

I got a HF floor drill press. It works well for me. I have been quite happy with it.

[cannarella]

Oh I forgot to mention my switch broke after 6 months. Bean hit it on the nose.

I will post up some shop pics when I get out of Mexico... It is a disaster, but what's a mess among friends...

[Vincerama2]

Yep, Bessey K-body and Jorgensen clamps! Boy, you guys have eagle eyes! I haven't used them as much as I'd like to, but the K-bodys (K-bodies?) are great!

V

[piscivorous]

Problem I am running into is the fact that I need a bench to build my 1st bench on.....I guess a piece of 3/4" ply sitting on some sawhorses will have to do.....I love the "man" rooms.....nothing better than a workshop that has cable television, fridge and a couch.

[cannarella]

A solid core door works great. Very little flex and very flat.

Andy

[Norboo]

What is a good brand of table saw/router table combo?

My workbench is catered to tinker with golf equipments.

[chicken]

Norboo, it really depends on what you want to do with the saw and what is your budget is. You could easily spend 2k+ on just a table saw and then could convert the extension table into a router table on the saw. If you are looking for a nice quality table saw stick with one of the major vendors like Delta or Powermatic.

[cannarella]

1. Get a new or used name brand contractors saw.
2. Build an extension table for it.
3. Buy a decent router plate. Rockler hase some nice ones. Get an adjustabe one if you have the dough.
4. Rout out location for plate in extension table and drop in. Use table saw fence or build your own to suit your routing needs.

This is just my .02 pesos. Since I am in Mexico right now my advice is not that good because of the exchange rate...

I am sure Bean will chime in with his wisdom or borderline insanity.

Andy

[chicken]

Vincerama2 I think I can bet you when it comes to the messiest shop I have been moving a bunch of things around my shop and have 2 temporary tanks setup in my garage since I am moving fish between tanks. So all that combined have made my shop a complete nightmare of a mess right now. Hopefully I am going to get some time this weekend to clean it up.

So I have 3 work benches in my garage. Two are against the walls and one that I can move around. The problem is the one I can move around is supporting the skimmer for my temporary tanks in the garage.

My movable workbench (3'x7' maple butcher block top)


My main woodworking workbench with miter saw


My other workbench


My Router Table (Benchdog)


My Table Saw (Delta Unisaw)


My Jointer (Delta DJ20)


I'll post some more pictures when I get home tonight

[Mishap]

Here's some shots of mine, I'm in the process of cleaning it up at the moment, so excuse the ungodly mess

[BruiseAndy]

Clear totes are easier than labels

[Vincerama2]

Nice!

Chicken, how much did you spend on clamps! Holy Shmokes!

I'm loving those shops! Makes me feel like I'm in good company!

V

[cannarella]

Originally posted by chicken
Vincerama2 I think I can bet you when it comes to the messiest shop I have been moving a bunch of things around my shop and have 2 temporary tanks setup in my garage since I am moving fish between tanks. So all that combined have made my shop a complete nightmare of a mess right now. Hopefully I am going to get some time this weekend to clean it up.

So I have 3 work benches in my garage. Two are against the walls and one that I can move around. The problem is the one I can move around is supporting the skimmer for my temporary tanks in the garage.


I'll post some more pictures when I get home tonight

OK you get the award for Norm quote that "you can never have too many clamps"

Nice Trek 7000.

I also like the dust collector housing?

Andy

[piscivorous]

Yeah..I was just looking at clamps yesterday.....jeesh...you've probably got more into your clamps than I do in my 55 gallon setup.....nice setup though...wish I had that many clamps to chose from when doing a job.....

[Vincerama2]

Yeah, on Amazon, I can see that a 12 inch Bessey K-body is like $30 EACH, he must have 30 or more and most are much longer than 12 inches. Now, I'm ASSUMING that they are Bessey K-body clamps.
But from the looks of his shop, he's pretty darn serious about it! (Ditto the other shops, except mine, which is basically just a place to store my tool "collection", rather than a place where good stuff is made!)

On the other hand, considering how much some corals cost ... it's just a drop in the bucket! Though clamps don't die, but they don't multiply into saleable frags either!

V

[chicken]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Yah I have a few clamps, maybe you can call it an addiction I have about a total of 65 clamps with 55 of them being Bessy. If you look at the picture of the router table you can see my six 98" Bessy's I just picked up. I have bought most of them from amazon. They have had some amazing sales on them this last year. Here are a few more pics

Latest addition to the shop. 80 Gallon IR air compressor



My 20" Disc Sander




Kinda hard to see the back part of my shop right now as everything is covered due to humidity issues. I wonder why I have that? Anyways here is my 18" Jet Bandsaw and Dual 37" Drum Sander. Behind the sander is my Jet lathe which is hard to see.

[Vincerama2]

Hey Chicken, you married? My wife would execute me if I spent that much on tools and REEF SAND!

Next time I'm in San Ramon, I'm gonna stop by!

V

[chicken]

I am getting married in October. Trying to make sure I have everything I need for my fish and shop before then

[HarrsCars]

Hey thats a beauty of a disc sander. Does it have a adjustable table?? What brand is that Godzilla sander.

Do you have any issues with lots of moisture in your compressor tank.. I do a lot of auto painting put a dryer on my unit, great upgrade.

Nice shop...
Mike

[chicken]

Mike, Thanks for the compliments...

Yes the table on the disc sander is adjustable up and down and tilts both up and down. It is a woodtek sander which is just a knock off of the powermatic for less than 1/2 the cost.

As for the compressor it is new so I have not had much time with it yet. I plan on plumbing it through the garage with some up and down runs (with drains) to help with moisture. On top of that I am going to put some nice filters and regulators at each connection. So hopefully it will not be a problem.

Thanks

[gws294]

Chicken... nice vaccuum system, need that for the sander I suppose. I'm jeolous... as you can see, I've got no more room in the inn. LOL

IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r194/gwsheen/CabinetFrames.jpg[/IMG]

Note fishroom cabinets and overhead steel frames in foreground... off to powder coater. New Tankstand is next.

GREAT THREAD guys javascript:smilie('')
rollface

Cheers,
Geoff