The Labor Day weekend is over and with it comes the semi official end to the summer season. Yes it’s still warm, but we’ve already had a few cool mornings and for those of us in northern latitudes, the clouds and smell in the air can quickly turn your thoughts to the rapidly approaching autumn. I don’t know about you but that gets my workshop juices flowing and I can envision the months ahead, out in the garage, tools on the bench, parts carefully arrayed and a project under way. I start to smile just thinking about it.
Between the thought and reality, though, is the fact that we moved a few months ago and the garage isn’t set up. The tools have no home where I can always find them without having to search, parts are not shelved where I can see them, and come to think about it, where’s that bench? The garage is a shell, it’s not a shop.
Over the weekend I took step one and built the first bench, it’s not fancy, but it’s big enough, 8 feet by 30 inches, and sturdy enough to hold most items I could imagine lifting up there. I used one of those kits with 4 legs and a bag of screws, you supply the 2x4s and plywood. The top surface is at 36 inches, a comfortable height for me and I chose a 30 inch depth (you can use the whole 4×8 sheet if you want to) because it’s just wide enough that a person can reach the back without stretching and it doesn’t eat up too much floor space.
The kit is a quick way to build a bench. You won’t win any awards from Fine Woodworking but if you need something fast without lots of precise joinery, this is your kit. If you want to knock it down and resize it or modify it later, that’s easy to do. I didn’t use the 2×4 shelving kit that came with it, I have some other ideas, there. You only need a circular saw to cut the plywood to size unless you’re going the full 4×8 and to cut the 2x4s. After that it’s a power screwdriver. Like I said, it’s easy. I used a polyurethane finish on the top to give it a chance to look a little cleaner in the face of the inevitable spills.
I still need to build several more benches and figure out what kind of shelving to put up, then pegboard, worksurface lighting of some sort and all of the many storage options for parts large and small. Those recent workshop articles on The Kneeslider are no coincidence, I’ve been looking at them myself for ideas and I’ll incorporate more than a few.
You can’t appreciate how hard it is to build anything without a bench until you try it, even simple projects are more hassle than they need to be. Once you have a bench, it’s like a workshop seed, everything grows up around it.
When I see how much there is still to do with only one lonely bench so far, I can see the workshop may very well be the whole project for quite a while. It’s hard to think about getting too involved with something that requires using the shop before the shop is set up the way I want it. I’d be constantly thinking about some shelf out of place or missing, some tool that could be better stored, a constant reminder that I had jumped ahead to a new project before finishing the one I was already working on. I know you’ve never done that, but I’m guilty in the past of letting some things sit neglected while I charge off in a new direction. I’m a recovering multi-tasker and striving to do better.
I’ll let you know what I come across as I look for neat garage gear and whether it’s as good as it first appears when you actually get it in hand. I’m also going to try to keep the prebuilt garage furniture to a minimum. Have you seen what some of that stuff costs? Wow! Now, I’m not a cabinetmaker but I can build what should be very serviceable and decent looking benches and shelves and I bet some of you might find my experience helpful in setting up your own shop.
So as the weather begins to cool and thoughts turn to winter projects, maybe you should give your workspace a tuneup before you launch into it. If you’ve found an especially helpful tip for your own workshop, let us know, heck, let me know, maybe I can use it myself.
Link: 2x4basics workbench kit
Related: Beautiful functional home workshops
Related: Mule Motorcycles workshop
thomas wood says
Looks great. Been looking for something similar. Link doesn’t seem to work yet. Could you re-post link to the bench kit?
kneeslider says
Hmm, it worked for me but I tried a little different link. Should work now.
FREEMAN says
That’s a sharp looking bench. I’ve been using my brother’s garage for projects. I have no real workbench of my own in my garage. Any chance they sell something like this at the local hardware store?
kneeslider says
They might sell at Lowe’s or Home Depot or some such. I use Amazon a lot because it’s quick and gets delivered to my door.
Wave says
Starting a new shed, what a fun process this must be for you! I don’t think that there should be too much of a rush to fully kit out a shed with all-new gear like some sort of factory though. I’m a very great believer in letting sheds grow and evolve naturally, year after year. As the need arises, or opportunity presents itself, more storage, benches and tools are added gradually. Thankfully I am blessed with access to my dad’s shed, which has grown organically over the years and includes lots of his father’s tools. Our workbench is old and not particularly square, but it’s enormously heavy with a frame made of 4″ square hardwood beams and a top made from pine tongue-and-groove floorboards left over from some renovation project long ago. This kind of natural growth is what gives a shed character and makes it an inspiring place to work, rather than a sterile environment like an operating theatre.
My number one tip for shed development is that any free furniture is good shed furniture! Buying new furniture for a shed is a disgrace, and recycled furniture is preferable in all circumstances, being cheaper and often of sturdier construction. If anyone you know is getting a new kitchen or wardrobe, offer to remove the old cabinets and benchtops for them, and use them in your shed. Kitchen cupboards are ideal for all types of shed storage, and they are given away for free all the time by people who are renovating.
kneeslider says
I have noticed a lot of kitchen cabinets in various garages, I’ll have to keep an eye out.
Fred X1 says
if you have an ikea near you: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49869824.
36 x 30 x 12 deep is $72, 2 of them side by side is 6′ of over bench storage. easily assembled, well designed and easy to keep clean. deep enough for helmet storage and the two shelves are height adjustable. because they’re made from a melamine veneered composite material i used glue when assembling and reinforced the inside where it is screwed to the studs with a 1 x 4.
Mule says
I agree with Wave. Let the shop grow very slowly. Make the shop your “Winter” project. Stick a bike or 6 in the middle of the shop and keep in mind the wiggle room that will be needed. Like tree roots growing around a big rock. The rock ain’t movin’. I would say a couple items that are a necessity would be a stool to sit on an a short roll around work stool. Lights are critical, but wire them up so they can be turned on and off individually. Saves electricity. Get a good compressor with a 60 gal tank. Those little roll around guys look cool, but suck. If you need a lot of air they rattle away forever and can’t keep up. Plumb an airline/outlet near the door or even outside for blowing off your bike when you wash it or when cleaning parts. I don’t like pegboard at all. It looks pretty sometimes but the texture can’t be cleaned easily and whenever I used it, I’d grab a wrench or something and the pegboard hook goes flying off into space.
I really like the aluminum angle with all the socket racks attached to the wall. You can arrange them in descending order and easily get them or put them away. Easy to spot if one is missing too. You can drill holes in an angle for all tour screw drivers too.
kneeslider says
Yep, I’m thinking stool right away. I have a smaller compressor but I’ll probably go bigger. I already thought about air lines but I want to get a better idea of what’s going where before I do those.
coho says
As an apartment dweller I have no place to put a proper shop, although I do refer to the closet on the patio as “the garage.” Over the years I have been able to adapt more than a couple ideas I’ve seen either in real life or teh innerweb to a more portable/storable form suited to the tinkering and minor repairs/mods that I do.
I wait with not a little eagerness for what we all get out of your project.
One day my dream shop will come…
Anybody know where a guy can find a shop that’s half garage and half commercial kitchen? And has an apartment in it?
lostinoz says
One suggestion i have is an aluminum/steel covered work area on a SOLID bench, I had mine on an old dresser and liquid nailed the aluminum shelf (a good 5/16″ thick piece) to it.
you NEED an area that is not affected by sand paper, grinders, slamming and all the other crap you can bounce off of it.
another bonus is that its NOT affected by liquids since theres no way to get the liquid to the wood so its a great place to tear that motor apart.
Plus the drawers are a helpful item to have when tearing down a bike, lots of places to put parts and bolts and manuals!
for those that are building ANY workshop, think about parts and tool storage first, and let the workshop revolve around that,especially if you have dogs, kids or a meddling wife. Out of site out of danger. NOTHING is as bad as turning to see that one impossible to replace part get destroyed before you can say anything. (go ahead, ask me how i know this)
SteveD says
Thanks for the link. We’re just finishing a new garage now so I’m look for stuff like this.
zipidachimp says
I too am stuck in an apartment. my bike is in the underground parkade with my eagle eye on it for theft.
my ideal situation is a replica of burt munro’s home/garage shown in
“worlds fastest indian” . i’d give up my current digs for a garage with an apartment in it. lol!!! lucky you Paul, enjoy!
zipidachimp says
actually, thinking about it, wouldn’t mind doing the whole burt munro thing, since I’ve got the bike and the years!!!l lol!
Mule says
The dream house for me would be an old Firehouse. Kitchen, sleeping quarters, bathroom and a huge shop. Oh yea. And a a big wide cement slab driveway!
Jay Allen says
throw some 3/4 or better particle board on top of the bench. Plywood likes to bounce when you’re using a hammer, the cheap stuff won’t move as much.
todd says
Hard to tell if it already has it: The best thing I did (since many of my old bikes leak…) was epoxy-paint my floor. Spills wipe right up and once in a great, long while I’ve been able to mop it too. Little screws and circlips are also easy to spot when you drop them.
Also, if you get a chance, install some sky lights. I have four 2’x4′ sky lights directly over where the bikes get worked on. You can’t beat natural lighting and I rarely need to turn on the lights.
Install your 60gal compressor in a well insulated closet and plumb an air inlet to it from outside with an opened up dryer vent. I can barely hear it when it comes on. Run a line of 3/4 copper pipe around the perimeter of the garage and some drops here and there with a bleed valve in them below the air fitting. Put a coiled drop from the ceiling over where you work on the bikes.
Lots of storage is handy too, just try to get or build as many wall hanging cabinets as you can since free standing ones (anchored to the wall) take up valuable floor space.
Hopefully you have a sink and you can install one of those 4 gallon semi-instant water heaters. Once I did that I didn’t have to grime up the kitchen sink any longer. Be sure to put up some sort of splash panel around your solvent tank and lift it up a little so you don’t kill your back.
-todd
todd says
I also installed a phone line and ethernet port in the garage, handy for looking up parts and answering the phone (no more grimy hand prints on the one in the kitchen). A handy thing my dad did was to install a door bell chime in the garage since he couldn’t hear the one in the house.
-todd
Emmet says
Here’s a thread I started on DIY motorcycle benches:
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=135035&highlight=table
Hope this helps.
kneeslider says
todd, the floor is epoxy painted. Ever since I first saw epoxy paint many years ago I knew I’d go that route on my next garage. I didn’t have it in my last garage and it’s not hard to stain concrete really badly. I also tried to paint a concrete floor once, not epoxy. It’s pretty funny the first time hot tires roll on the paint and then you back out and take the paint with you. Well, … funny in hindsight.
Sink already installed. Phone jack, too. Computer will use wireless network connection.
Emmet, those photos show low benches for a motorcycle stand. Mule has the same setup in his garage. I was first thinking about a lift but low benches like that might work. The jury is out on that issue. Need to see what lifts are available.
Emmet says
The good thing about a low bench is the ease you can roll a motorcycle up it as well as the storage underneath. Right now I have my XS850 parked atop it with a parts bike in boxes below. Only drawback is it is a little unstable (wooden table) to run the bike on the table, the vibrations shake it about and can warp some members.
Paulinator says
About a hundred years ago I built a little 36″ x 48″ welding/fab/shop bench on 2″ x 2″ legs with telescoping levelers on each corner and diagonal bracing on 3 sides (the “front” is open so that I could store stuff under it). The height is adjustable from 29 to 40 inches. The deck is 3/16 hot rolled steel, but I really should have used thicker cold-rolled plate because it is so damn noisy when a hammer strikes it that it’ll make the hunchback of Notre Dame cry out in pain! Each corner is notched so that the 2″ x 2″ x.100 wall leg tubes are exposed. I drilled holes and welded 3/4″ nuts to every corner. Large set-screws complete the system. Every bench tool I’ve purchased or built is mounted on 1 3/4″ spigots that drop into any of those four receptacles. The tools include: 5″ vise, 3/4 hp bench grinder, metal band saw, tubing bender, roller, halogen pole light and a couple more that I’ve forgotten about. I also have a floor pylon with the same receptacle so that I can use any of the tools away from the bench. On one end of the bench there is a “pull-out” support bridge that is flush with the deck and full width, so that the table can hold bigger items. The clear span enables me to work fairly unobstructed around the middle of a part for welding, grinding, painting, etc. The bench is also wired with a receptacle on every corner and a couple of female extension cord pig-tails coiled up for good measure. I wired everything in conduit, down-stream from a GFI located in the “first” corner (identified by the male pig-tail). The GFI defaults very time the bench takes a hammer blow, so I recommend that you put it in the wall receptacle you are plugging into. That little bench has been a staple since before I even owned a garage.
I saw a recent TV show that highlighted a similar bench being produced by Miller:)
Mule says
Emmett, on you link that one guy that has the steel stands with all the storage underneith look scary beyond belief! Way too tall and probably only functional if you were going to stare at the drain plug withoug crouching…tiger.
My stands are 21″ tall and the new versions will be about 18″ max. That puts you where you can work on everything with no grief or fear of losing the bike off the side. The width I’ve used is 24″, but new ones will be maybe 28-30″. Just more room to put tools and crap that piles up around a task, repair or project. And still not too bad of a reach.
nortley says
When I built the bench in my garage I ordered three 20′ by 4″ glue lam beams. Order them straight, normally as beams they sag, so would be made with a counter-curve. The first one bolts to the wall, then the next to it… I used 4x4s for legs, with the wall holding things still they just support weight and don’t wiggle. A single glue lam would be great, if you can handle it. The top is masonite faced plywood screwed down, if it ever gets too trashed I can flip it. A strip of aluminum angle stock dresses the edge and keeps some things from rolling off. There are a vise and a mill-drill bolted to it and they are steady. Hammering directly over a leg is anvil solid. Twenty years of abuse hasn’t defeated it. The welding bench is about ten feet of boom from an old limestone conveyor, with a brick hearth on one end. To build the Nortley, I made a stand to hold the engine at a convenent height – bolted to the primary side – and worked around it, as the frame is much lighter and easier to juggle.
Walt says
Paul, I’ve installed five lateral file cabinets in my shop for storing parts, paint, safety gear, riding stuff and even manuals and books. Two are four drawers tall and the others have two drawers each. They’re built to handle plenty of weight, have roller drawers for easy access and some even have locks. I can stick a set of forks or other large parts inside, and what’s stored is protected from dust. Even makes the shop look a bit organized. And the cost, for file cabinets too funky for office use, is minimal.
Walt
sluggish says
I’m going to add another vote against pegboard. Use a plywood panel and long drywall screws with some 1/4″ poly tubing slipped over them. It’s easy to configure your wrenches and sockets close together, saving wall space for those big & awkward things like your carb balancer.
Filing cabinets are excellent parts storage, especially if you build some boxes out of luan so you can use the full depth. Keep an eye out for a blueprint file cabinet. They’re made to store drawings flat. I met a bicycle framebuilder once who kept all of his raw tube stock in one…
A floor socket can be fantastic if you’re planning on a lot of fab work. Being able to stand behind your vise instead of pulling the workpiece out, turning it around, dropping your file, knocking the softjaws on the floor, etc. And if you’re thinking of doing any polishing getting that thing on a freestanding pedestal will keep you from losing your mind.
rafe03 says
In my brothers (professional) shop, the wooden bench tops are covered with galv. sheet steel. I think it’s about 24 ga (.031″) or maybe 28 ga. (.019″). It seemed quite thin when he laid it, but it has stood up well over the last 25 years. Parts that get dropped on it (of course never by me!!) get a bit of a cushion as the wood deforms under the steel which bends slightly. Best things – no splinters – ever! Wash off with soapy water or hand cleaner. Lost bits are easy to find on the grey background.
For quick shelving, I go to the guys locally who build pre-hung doors for the house builders. They have a seconds stack out the back & with a bit of inducement (liquid? Donation to their picnic fund?) they let me pick some 15″ wide bi-fold doors (6′ 2 long or so) These are hollow-core, light weight, cheap, stiff, cheap, thin surface (1/8″ ply) but cheap. Brackets & 2 X 2’s from Home Depot. Bunch of drywall or deck screws. Coat of Varathane or similar. Screw to the wall for stability & there’s your quick shelves. I’ve put them across windows that had been awkwardly located, space that’s usually a waste. Some clear 4 mil plastic sheeting to keep off the dust & it’s a good thing (though Martha Stewart will never know) I store lots of stuff in those clear plastic shoe boxes (on sale at Walmart) so I can easily see the contents.
And lots of electrical outlets on the FRONT of the bench so the cords are out of the way. Have fun there Lad. N keep up the good work on your blog!!
rafe03 says
Go talk to your local “Kitchen Renovation Contractor” When ever he puts in a new kitchen, there’s an old one that has to come out. N if you take it out for him, he won’t waste any man hours ($65/hr!) or have to haul off the old carcase & dispose of it. If you want to impress him (always a good thing!) promise to clear EVERYTHING OUT & CLEAN UP THE SPACE. Really cuts down on his non-productive time & labor costs. Maybe even some plumbing that can be used in your new air system. A good trailer & some helpful buddies can get it done over the weekend.
Free is Good!
bkowal says
Another good trick is to cover the workbench top with cheap masonite (hardboard). It has a smooth surface, takes a coat urethane well, and can be easily and cheaply replaced when it gets banged up. Plus it looks way better than plywood. Next put a nice piece of hardwood (oak or maple) on the edges of the top, flush with the masonite on top, router the edge with a bevel, coat with urethane and you are good to go.
Matt in NC says
Nice! I bought a 2×4 Basics bench kit off Amazon over 3 years ago and it’s held up great. I have it in my man-cave. I ripped 2 4×8′ sheets of plywood in half, the long way, for a 2’x8′ workspace and shelves. It’s more than solid enough for my reloading setup, a couple brewing carboys and a Ham radio. Well worth the investment! I sealed the wood with some Formsby’s Tung Oil, and it’s held up great so far.
wade says
hi paul and may i say, an excellent post. some ten years ago, i built a service table similar to this that allowed me to work on or build bikes on. at the time was far cheaper than buying the lifts of the day.
Steve the producer Johann says
Are those wall plates fitted with sockets? I have to add more wall sockets to my garage very soon since I’m always cuasing the circuit breaker to flip off when I use my 20 Amp saw on a 20 amp socket! Will put in a designated 30 Amp breaker for the saw.
Part of a the fun of having a shop is the constant upgrading and new storage cabinets, etc. you have to build to house all the stuff you collect. My goal is to make better use of my limited space which means lots of head scratching and long hours of just staring at the walls. Then its onto the next project.
kneeslider says
All of those wall plates have sockets installed except the one to the far right. That’s a 220 volt. Wiring is there, I’ll install the socket when I decide what I’m plugging in.
John B says
One thing that has proven handy is a 6-foot steel-leg folding table, like the kind stacked against the wall at a school or church. They’re stronger than you’d think (a friend used to set his up to dismantle his big block Chevy motors), and you can deploy them when you need the table space and fold them away when you don’t. The tops are easy to clean, too.