Thread: Long equipment bench & tool access

I agree that hauling heavy machines about is a pain in the @#$e. I guess it is one option and a lot depends on the kind of work you do. It will limit you to having all your machines sitting at the same height. I found the bench a bit high for the drill press for instance so it is on its own lower stand.Not sure it would be ideal for a lathe as a very solid support is best to avoid vibration. Your other option is a dedicated workbench that is no more than 2M by about 600mm for general woodwork and everything else on it's own wheeled stand. That way gives a very versatile work space. I can also slip wheels under my bench to move it when required as sometimes being able to work both sides of the bench is good. Bunnings has a wide range of wheels and locking castors. The wheeled approach seems to be the common method to make the most of limited space.
Regards
John

I suspect it'd cost you quite a bit in hardware to make slides that'll both handle the loads and be rock steady.

I'd also imagine that cleaning up underneath, so the slide don't jam, would quickly become a wearisome chore.

Another solution is to make the bench of varying heights, such that the tables of each machine are the same height and you can thus rest a piece along the top of all of 'em.

I've found that this works OK on a small scale, but in practise I'll often want to "skew" a long piece at an angle to either the fence-line or the table. Not possible with this sort of bench.

It also tends to be a headache to build right, to keep clean and you can't easily move the machines about. (Whether it to be to gain some bench space to work or to re-arrange to more usable positions.)

And this doesn't even begin to account for the hassles when you have machines with adjustable height tables.

Nevertheless, I've seen small workshops built this way and the owners say they're happy with the arrangement.

Personally I agree with Orraloon; mobile stands/benches for each of them. Again, a bit expensive on the hardware side (good castors aren't cheap) but far more user friendly in use.

Thanks for all the ideas so far!

I had thought about putting each on their own mobile bench, but that would come at the "cost" of a lot of storage space - the undisclosed (silly me) further idea to the long bench would be to build in a bank of (probably) 32 drawers around 500mm wide and 600mm deep under the whole thing to store away the absolute myriad of stuff that otherwise ends up on most (i.e. all) horizontal surfaces.

Given that desire for storage, the idea of an equipment bench was born, and thus the need to design something that allowed "individual" access to each tool.

Sorry for leaving out that detail!

OK - an afternoon of thinking has gone by with the input above (and everyone saying make separate stands for stuff).

Let's say I did that, making something along the lines of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE7JoFwlmrs but customising the dimensions to suit each of the devices...

Obviously, some of the devices are going to be too narrow to justify their own mobile cabinet, so in the following list, from practical experience, which devices could (maybe even should?) be paired up?

SCMS (700mm wide, 900mm deep)
Mortiser (400mm wide, 450mm deep)
Lathe (1000mm wide, 350mm deep)
Belt Sander (700mm wide, 700mm deep)
Drill Press (400mm wide, 400mm deep)
Tormek Sharpener (400mm wide, 300mm deep) - this may not get a mobile cabinet, it may go next to the sink)
Bench Grinder (500mm wide, 400mm deep)

Many thanks for some wisdom here!

Originally Posted by Midnight Man;2129217

Obviously, some of the devices are going to be too narrow to justify their own mobile cabinet, so in the following list, from practical experience, which devices could (maybe even should?) be paired up?

[COLOR=#ff0000

1/[/COLOR]SCMS (700mm wide, 900mm deep)
Mortiser (400mm wide, 450mm deep)
Lathe (1000mm wide, 350mm deep)
1/Belt Sander (700mm wide, 700mm deep)
Drill Press (400mm wide, 400mm deep)
2/Tormek Sharpener (400mm wide, 300mm deep) - this may not get a mobile cabinet, it may go next to the sink)
2/Bench Grinder (500mm wide, 400mm deep)

Many thanks for some wisdom here!

You have been given some good ideas there, have you thought about instaling some of them on a flip top bench/cabinet?
I've paired them up as to how they could go. As your DP and Mortiser are about the same size and probably similar height, they would go on a separate bench, not a flip unit as they would be quite awkward to flip.
The idea is that you mount 2 units of similar size and weight on the one platform, flipping them as required. Set up machines that wouldn't be used at the same time though.
Got that idea out of a book "How to Build a Great Homeworkshop" published by Wood Magazine.
Shoot me a PM with your address and I'll pop it in the mail, if you'd like to have a look at it, that is.
I'm in a similar situation, except I have about 8 metres of wall space on each side. I'm setting up my machines on benches that are on castors with brakes, under the benches there are drawers with the relative items, Drum sander on top and all the power sanding tools in the drawers as well as the rolls of sanding grit and papers etc. Another bench under constrution is one for the drop saw and benchtop thicknesser, all the rolling benches will be 600 wide and height of the working surface around 850 high, I'm not a tall person.
Above the benches will be cupboards, to hide the small stuff I don't want/need out, plus the glues etc.
All my fasteners, screws nails etc I have in used peanut paste jars, in a Clamshell cabinet, as shown below.
DSCF0127.jpgDSCF0126.jpg
Kryn

Thanks KB - there's a lot of food for thought in your post, and much appreciated!

This is all still in the planning stage - thankfully... the feedback on the single long equipment bench idea I had (which boiled down to "Think about individual carts") got me thinking more. Ensuing discussion scored me an additional 9 square metres of floor space (!) /happpydance

Your layout ideas, combined with mobile carts, are probably going to be the way to go

Now, where's my pencil and paper...

PM me your address and the book'll be in the post. No point reinventing stuff when someone's already done the design work.
kryn

With many thanks for an incredibly kind and generous offer - PM with further details sent.

Hi @MidnightMan

Came across this fella's sliding tool setup this morning and remembered reading your thread so thought I'd post it to possibly give you some more food for thought ...

https://www.instructables.com/id/Mit...Station-Build/

That's almost too prurdy to work on - I'm too rough for pretty shop furniture

Thank you Solyxius for thinking of this thread! The type of mitre station you show there is exactly what I had in mind when I first conceived of the equipment bench (it was going to be around the corner from all the other bits of gear so as to provide uninterrupted in and out feed as is with this design). What I hadn't considered is the very clever use of the space behind the in and out feeds on that in putting the other tools there. What an interesting concept!

My apologies too for not posting in this thread for a while, it hadn't been forgotten, I'd just withdrawn into my shell for a LOT of rethinking based on the great feedback and thinking from everyone here

I saw a lot of advice from folks to make stuff on mobile cabinets, and was thinking through that and planning it. Added to that, I have negotiated an additional 9 square metres of floor space to turn what was going to be an L shaped space into a square, and given that extra space, some of the need to "pack in" as much as I had into what would have been a smaller area has been solved. This then opened the mind to other possibilities.

I actually think I've come up with a reasonable plan - see below, and forgive the measurement in feet (Grizzly tools have a neat and simple shop layout tool I used instead of wasting half a tree worth of paper).

workshop.JPG

Here's the thinking:

- Each cabinet will be mobile, with locking castors, and be of the same height. Furthermore, that height will match the table saw in case additional infeed and/or outfeed is needed.

- Not shown on the plan is that the blade of the table saw is centred, facing a 2.4m wide roller door that can be raised to provide a very long outfeed if needed.

- Along the top wall, is the Grinder, Mortiser, Lathe (the only exception to table saw height cabinet, this is designed to put the spindle at elbow height and thus is 700mm high for cabinetry), Belt Sander and Drill. All those cabinets except for the lathe will be 870mm high (table saw is 870-873 depending on which side is measured).

- The Kapex as shown in the plan is actually kept in what I am calling the "Action Station" - that section of the wall will have extraction ducting available, ready to "mate" with any one of the mobile cabinets when the cabinet is moved into that area. Each of the mobile cabinets will have ducting around the machine (where applicable) to meet with the ducting at the action station - so you grab the tool you want, roll it over, plug it into extraction and power, and begin using it. Yes, there will be a lot of careful design and planning in this!

- The 2 x MFSC in the middle of the room will be these: https://benchworks.be/en/projects/mf...ion-shop-cart/ Whilst these have a nominal fully extended height of 900mm, the next setting down is 870mm, and thus, these can serve as wings for the Kapex for in and out feed, as well as their myriad of other functions, including being an assembly bench/area that's central to most everything. If needed, they can be rolled out of the way along a wall somewhere.

- The Outfeed table shown behind the table saw will actually be something custom designed and built using concepts taken from the MFTC as shown here: https://benchworks.be/en/projects/mf...ion-tool-cart/

- The Band Saw and Planer/Thicknesser will also move to the action station when being used, as these places are too tight with in/out feed and the like to use in situ.

The design work continues!

MM

Had you thought about mounting the smaller machines in pairs above each other? The machines are rotated from front to back 180 degs to bring into play. I will post some pix this evening. (Pix are not to hand at the moment.)

Regards
Paul

These pix demonstrate the principle.

Dual purpose machine cabinet.jpgDual purpose machine cabinet 3.jpgDual purpose machine cabinet 2.jpg

I would put a tall machine with a squat machine so that the bench could be against the wall. For example the bench grinder with the morticer and the belt sander with the drill press (depending on the machine the drill press may be getting too awkward to lift bu that could be made easier with gas struts similar to those on your car bonnet, boot and hatch back.)

I agree with Oraloon that the lathe needs to be firm and should have it's own solid place. I think you mentioned a SCMS and that needs to have it's own dedicated place too. The Tormek may be an issue if it has a slow wet stone in that things could be a bit messy .

Clearly tools would need to be matched up for height, but you were going to do that anyway. This technique would give you more room each side on the bench. The pivot point could be as simple as a piece of 3/4" pipe or something more sophisticated.

Anyhow, just an idea.

Regards
Paul

Thank you for the idea, Paul

It was an idea that crossed my mind - for saving space, it's a brilliant concept, and I'm borderline on needing to do that (I think - if I had one or two more machines, even small ones, I think it's be a dead-set certainty).

The down side to this method (in my humble opinion only!) is that there is no room left for tool storage in the cabinet - and that would lead to the need to build cabinets for some tool storage.

Given the bonus of the additional space and the floor plan I have, I am going to have a crack at making each cabinet separate, with storage in each for the applicable tooling for the unit it carries (and doubtless some other stuff too).

I have been saving away large cardboard boxes, as I am planning on cutting some to size and "placing" the flat pieces on the floor to simulate the plan I came up with - mainly to stand in the actual space with the constraints on the room being dictated by "phantom" cutouts of the items - that way I think I will be better able to visualise whether it's going to be too crowded or not.

It'll be an interesting exercise!