Thread: I'm thinking about starting a share shed in Sydney's inner west

Didn't get much done on the bench last weekend. I'll finish it this Saturday. It's a bit under 6m and with storage under and over. Along with the new cupboard, that wall will house all my materials and tools. The end wall will be for timber storage - I'm working my way around the room. Might make a start on some steel racks this weekend.

Bench 2.jpg

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

I like "fat doors", Scott.

Fat doors are great. I am yet to load them up, but they should be fine with the wheel under the leading corner. Might avoid putting paint cans there because of the weight.

Bench is done. It's 970 high, too high for woodworking, but a good height for tinkering with things. Instead of a bottom shelf, I made some big boxes on wheels - much easier to use. One of them accomodates power tools, one is electrical stuff, and one is plumbing stuff. And one at the moment is empty. I'm looking out for some black milk crates to store stuff on the middle shelf. The spaces with no shelves will be for the shop vac and stuff like that. Maybe a router table on wheels.
I had the welder out on Sunday and started on timber storage for the back wall.

Bench 3.jpgbench 4.jpgbench 5.jpg

Nice work, Scott; looking good - functional and stylish, but I do have reservations about the black. I find that the primer pink and pine VJ colour in my shed absorbs too much light for my tired old eyes. Always need more lighting!

Originally Posted by scottbr

Bench is done. It's 970 high, too high for woodworking, but a good height for tinkering with things....

Not so sure about this, either. Some tasks need a higher bench!

A great uncle, long gone to the great bench in the sky, was a professional woodworker until his late eighties and had a very high bench. When his bench height was too high for a task his solution in his words was to "adjust the height of the floor" using lifts - again, his word. Lifts were just a couple of pine planks about 1500mm long joined by cleats. One lift lifted the floor height by about 50mm; stack 2 or 3 lifts for more height.

Scott 2.jpg Lift as per great uncle

Originally Posted by scottbr

The spaces with no shelves will be for the shop vac and stuff like that. Maybe a router table on wheels.....

A friend uses a "surgeons trolley" that fits a similar space. Its actually a trolley with Elfa wire baskets. He puts the tools he thinks he'll need that day in the baskets, and the ones he is actively using on the top like a surgeon might lay out their scalpels. Moves it to just beside where he is working. Good idea in his shed but awkward in mine as my floor is too rough for the small wheels.

Scott 1.JPG Surgeon's Trolley

Mine has been repurposed as a stationery store and printer stand in my study.

Certainly functional, Graeme, but I'm not sure about stylish. I know what you mean about the colour, but formply is so cheap and strong.

I already have one bloke who is keen for me to finish the space so he can have a permanent spot for projects. He's my electrician. So far he has rewired the board and added circuits and just charged the cost of materials. See that overhead shelf? There will be recessed lighting under it - he's onto that. And he's mulling over the ceiling lighting.

Re: Height. I know what you mean. That height is the same as my welding bench out the back, so it's a height that works for me. When I make the woodwork benches, I might have one with adjustable height. I wonder about the solution of a raised platform and whether it becomes a trip hazard?

I like the idea of a work trolley and I have something in mind that I'll need to make. When I have done renos before in that building and the others we have I have borrowed a shopping trolley from the Woollies up the road to use for the duration of the project as a mobile tool and stuff station.

Nice job on the bench, Scott.

I'm also uncertain about the black surfaces and how they might impact the available light. The black might provide useful contrast in certain situations but personally I couldn't handle the way it reveals dust and imperfections. Probably a good indicator of the efficacy of your dust extraction systems. I used Formply for boat engine covers and found it was easily painted.

My main bench is 1005 mm high but the split Roubo bench is only 930. It's handy having a choice of two heights to handle different tasks. I'm 184 so the higher surfaces are easier of the back.

mick

If the black becomes a problem, I'll put some thin sacrificial mdf or ply on it. Once the under shelf lighting is in place, it should be okay. We'll see.

Originally Posted by scottbr

Certainly functional, Graeme, but I'm not sure about stylish. ...

Oh Scott! Look at any "beautiful house" magazine or TV show, and if you are not remodelling, sorry, restyling, your kitchen in black then you are sooooo 2020....!

... I wonder about the solution of a raised platform and whether it becomes a trip hazard? ...

Great uncle used lifts for over 70 years while wearing hob nailed boots and never broke his neck. The lifts were only used when necessary; the rest of the time they stood upright against a wall. They were used almost permanently in the Tasmanian Midlands winter to keep his feet off the cold floor until the forge fire warmed his shed.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

They were used almost permanently in the Tasmanian Midlands winter to keep his feet off the cold floor until the forge fire warmed his shed.

There are some mornings when I wished I had a forge in the shed. In the last two weeks I've seen two mornings at -11C. They sent me back to the house until the electric heater kicked in.

mick

Originally Posted by Glider

There are some mornings when I wished I had a forge in the shed. In the last two weeks I've seen two mornings at -11C. They sent me back to the house until the electric heater kicked in.

Be careful what you wish for - if you think wood dust is messy then it's nothing compared to a charcoal forge. I had a vented (22kW) mains gas powered one in my shed that would raise the shed air temperature from near zero to over 50ºC in about 15 minutes but Perth never got cold enough to use it. About to replace it with a 4kW electric one.

Originally Posted by BobL

Be careful what you wish for ...... I had a vented (22kW) mains gas powered (forge) in my shed that would raise the shed air temperature from near zero to over 50ºC in about 15 minutes but Perth never got cold enough to use it. ...

Hell, you could have sent the old one to Glider!

Okay, let's talk timber racks. That's this weekend's project.

They will be steel, because that's easy.

1. Spacing between the verticals? Can I get away with 800mm?

2. Horizontals dead level or tilted up slightly?

Originally Posted by scottbr

1. Spacing between the verticals? Can I get away with 800mm?

2. Horizontals dead level or tilted up slightly?

800mm sounds pretty good to me. On my racks, shorter pieces are placed on top of each bay except for the smallest PITA lengths which are stored vertically in plastic buckets. I'd be happy with horizontal in a steel rack unless someone can provide a good reason why not. Common sense should prevent more than one piece being extracted at a time.

I have three sets of Triton racks which are 165mm apart in the vertical plane. They're excellent value IMO.

mick

Thanks Mick.