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Accessories and errata...
Let
There be light!
 
It became clear very soon after installing my bench that I
needed LIGHT! It is really hard to cut tight joinery when you
can’t see what you are doing. This simple solution’s idea comes
from Popular Woodworking. The three lamps are 60w, 3500K color
temperature for a bright “daylight” light. They can be moved
along the rail or clipped to a project. Simple, cheap and
elegant solution!
Wood Cart
ShopNotes #55. This is a GREAT way to store wood and scraps.
It is eight feet long, three feet wide. One side holds full
sheets of sheet goods. The other side has five bins to hold
cut-offs. The end has five shelves to hold longer boards up to
eight feet long. The wood used to be a huge pile on the floor
and I never knew what was in there! Now, everything is neat and
tidy! This accessory takes up a bit of room, but will worth it
in my small shop! It is VERY heavy however. I crushed the Home
Center casters and had to order heavy duty ones from
Grizzly. The red casters
handle over 400 lbs, and do the trick!
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Hazmat Locker
If you have a military base near by, check out their DERMO
(Defense Equipment Reutilization Management Office). This office
sells to all comers' equipment that military units no longer
need. I got
 this
concrete lined flammable liquid locker for $30! I would hate to
think what I would have paid for a new one! Put a lock on it and
you just have just exponentially increased the safety of your
shop, especially if you have kids around! Highly recommended!
Electical
Just behind the drill press is a surface mount sub-panel. My
entire shop is powered off one 30Amp dryer circuit (we have a
gas dryer). Since I am a single user shop and all machines that
can use 220v are wired thus, the overall amp load is small. Lots
of breakers in there (I got the sub-panel used and filled for
$10) we only use one light circuit, two 110v and two 240v. As I
said, the lights and one circuit is the only thing energized at
a time.
The idea of our dryer circuit shop power comes from Sonny
Edmonds (an electrician). He has posted an
excellent description on his website.
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Time
PVA glues only give you 5 to 15 minutes of open time, so it
is really helpful to have a countdown timer in the shop to
remind you when you should have completed a glue up.
I am using
Titebond III for 90% of my glue-ups these days. Great stuff,
type II water proof, 15 minute open time and as strong as a poly
glue, but with water clean up. It has been dubbed by many as the
ultimate woodworking glue. I tend to agree. Note that it has a
shelf life of only 1 year vs. 2 years of other Titebond
products.
Cut-off Stand
The idea for this cut-off stand comes from Popular
Woodworking (August 2002). It is very lightweight and sturdy.
The center post is simply a couple 3/4" pine boards glued
together and then ripped to size. By the way, almost all of the
wood for this shop accessory came from a couple pallets. Love
those almost free projects!
Tool Carousel
This is a really slick storage system. I made it for a
Christmas present for my best friend's shop, so I just clamped
it to the blade cover upright to snap a picture. The idea for it
comes from Wood Magazine (October 2002). It's basically a
hexagon drum that rotates and each of the six panels also rotate
360 degrees. Hence, you can store a LOT of tools, bits and
accessories through the use of bolts, hooks, magnets, trays,
etc. on the center column and both sides of the six panels. The
frame is poplar, the panels are 1/4" hard board, and hexagon
drum is plywood. For a few bucks and a few hours you get a bunch
of storage. I may have to make one of these for my own shop!
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Blade
Box
Simply a box attached to the wall with a French cleat with a
Plexiglas cover to keep the dust out! The three blades I use all
the time are in the under-saw cabinet. The extras are stored
here.
The safety signs remind me to work slowly and the top of the
box is also a convenient place to store my squares. To the right
are some of the patterns from past projects.
Saw Horses
These Stanley saw horses are great for knocking down full
sheets of sheet goods. The height varies, a very slick option
AND they fold flat!
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