New workshop time (nearly there...)

Sporky

One does not have a workshop in order to build guitars.

One builds guitars in order to have a workshop.

Sporky

Bench progress!

First I cut and drilled some spare worktop to make the jaws.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310317 the bench my lady the bench/01 jaws.jpg

Then the inner jaw gets clamped into position and the centres of the mounting holes transferred to the worktop:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310317 the bench my lady the bench/02 clamp in place.jpg

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310317 the bench my lady the bench/03 transferred.jpg

Some jiggery, some pokery, some swearing and the moving jaw can be clamped and the vice mechanism fixed.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310317 the bench my lady the bench/04 outer jaw.jpg

And the underside - bolted in.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310317 the bench my lady the bench/05 underside.jpg

Repeat (with more swearing) for the front vice which is heftier and more complex to mount. Next I did three coats of Danish oil.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310317 the bench my lady the bench/06 oiled.jpg

Then Lady BMcH and I shuffled it into position and I put up the first of the tool panels.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310317 the bench my lady the bench/08 in position.jpg

Last thing I did was to work out positions of the clamp racks, which will go to the right of the bench next to the racking.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310317 the bench my lady the bench/09 clamp racks.jpg

That'll do for now.

TTony

You need grandchildren.  

Just so that they can have a mad inventor granddad who spends all of his time in his workshop making stuff, and can tell them stories about how he built the Titanic* in his workshop on that bench over in the corner with just his bare hands and a screwdriver.

They'd love it.

You'd be completely believable.






* or you could choose a better thing to have built.

Sporky

I forgot a bit!

It wasn't as solid as I wanted - not flimsy at all, but some flex in the legs - so I put some 15mm ply panels into the back. Cut them to size with the railsaw, then pocket-holed 'em.

Turns out you can take the pocket hole jig off its base and clamp it to stuff. This pocket hole stuff is ace.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310317 the bench my lady the bench/07 rear panels.jpg

Sporky

TTony said:

You need grandchildren. 

I have neblings. They got in the way when they visited every other summer. Therefore Sprocket has been trained to do her deepest, growliest growls at anyone approaching the workshop.

GSPBASSES

Grandchildren are good for sweeping up the workshop.

                          

 

I've been watching with great interest in how you and @TTony have been building your benches. I went about it completely different, mainly because I couldn't have too much downtime in the workshop. I opted to buy kitchen units, with drawers. These were installed a few years ago now, I think they cost  about £250 for three 800mm units, the benchtop is made up of two layers of one inch HDF. It only took two days to dismantle the old workbench and install the new ones. I also purchased a standard woodworking bench made from beech, with a vice's at each end, though not particularly fancy vices they do the job, and it only cost £199.

When I moved into the new workshop, I decided to go with kitchen units again, but this time opted for cupboards. It took two of us a weekend to build the units and put the worktop on, that again was two layers of one inch HDF. 

TTony

I've decided to make another bench, to go along the woodworking wall.

My pillar drill is bench mounted rather than floor standing, and the bench that it used to be mounted on has been re-designated as part of my working area, so I needed something to mount the pillar drill on.

Looked at the standard stands - £70 upwards.  

Looked at "sturdy" wooden benches - better value than the dedicated stand, but still £100 upwards for a basic thing.

And it still wouldn't really be big enough to allow me to use the fully backwards/forwards movement of the pillar drill.

So I sat down with a pencil and a bit of paper and sketched out what I wanted, and ended up with an L shaped design, 1.8m x 700mm with a 300mm extension at one end, which is where the pillar drill will sit.

Just ordered £60 worth of timber (from Wickes) in a couple of sizes to make the frame, and then the spare piece of OSB that's propped up at the end of the workshop will lay on top, either with the spare length of worktop or some old laminate flooring on top of the OSB to make it a bit stronger.


Electrickery man comes tomorrow to power my workshop, so I'll be able to build the bench in the workshop at the weekend.



Then it'll feel like home.

Sporky

I'm not sure I'd do the bench this way again. The thickness of the top means mounting things through it is problematic - in the last workshop I had t-nuts on the underside so I could bolt on the parrot vice and mitre guillotine. Also I think that there's a better way of doing the legs; I'd probably make up squares with lap joints at the corners. But what I've got will do very nicely.

Today I redid the network to how a few people originally suggested. Divolo powerline to the summerhouse, then outdoor CAT6 to the workshop and a wireless router in there. Works much better.

Also I started making handles for the vices. Take one block of beech (£3 from the scraps bin at the timber merchant):

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/030417 stuff/01 beech block.jpg

...and cut into four square chunks (for the handle ends) and two long blocks (for the shafts). The shafts go on the lathe to be turned down to the right size, then sanded, then waxed. The square blocks get their centres marked and a final diameter drawn on:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/030417 stuff/02 in progress.jpg

I've roughly rounded the squares on the bandsaw, then they'll go on the lathe for finishing.

Also I put up the clamp racks and two more tool boards.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/030417 stuff/03 bench fittings.jpg

Andyjr1515

I've found the perfect antidote to severe workshop envy...

...seeing the sheer effort and energy involved in creating one.


And it's starting to look finished and simply wonderful.

WezV

It has prompted me to sort out the ducting in mine.   I got the ducting kit about 5 years ago, I may actually install it soon.   Just purchased a large extractor, so that may prompt developments

Sporky

Andyjr1515 said:

I've found the perfect antidote to severe workshop envy...

...seeing the sheer effort and energy involved in creating one.

A lot of it has been quite fun though...

But it was nice to use the lathe again, and with the bench in place most things are accessible - there's still a pile of poplar in the way a bit.. The bench was holding up a lot of things... Getting into tinkering now - the plastic racks that came with the tool boards are a bit flimsy so I'm going to build my own. Just need to find some teeny square-headed screws for the mountings.

I'll probably take a break from building workshop stuff and build something instead!

Sporky

The vice handles are done. I'd already roughly rounded the blocks, so into the 4-jaw chuck they go.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/060417 handles/01 rough.jpg

Have at them with a bowl gouge (a spindle gouge not being up to the stresses of this work) until half is pretty round.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/060417 handles/02 half round.jpg

Then rechuck the other way around and make the whole thing roundish.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/060417 handles/03 round.jpg

Then a scraper and a lot of sandpaper are applied to make it smooth, and a parting tool adds decorative grooves, and then it all gets beeswaxed and burnished. Then you make three more and glue them to the dowels made a couple of posts ago, and you have two handsome vice handles.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/060417 handles/04 assembled.jpg

I had forgotten how much I like using the lathe.

Sporky

Today I stuck two small pieces of 6mm ply to the wall. Was it sunstroke?

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/080417 monitors/01 ply.jpg

Maybe not! Look at all these screws! Surely a mount of this sort only needs four? Ah, but let us not forget; anything worth doing is worth overdoing. You'll see why soon.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/080417 monitors/02 screws.jpg

So... the mount gets screwed to the wall through the ply, which it turns out was there to create a nice flat platform for the mount. I tell you, this Sporky chap is not entirely a world-class thicko.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/080417 monitors/03 base.jpg

And then the arm gets put back onto the mount (which is a bit fiddly).

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/080417 monitors/04 arm.jpg

Then there's some faffery with putting a VESA adaptor onto the arm, because what comes next is a 32-inch commercial LCD screen. Which has VESA 200x200 mounting points, and is at the top end of the weight range of the arm. What could possibly go wrong?

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/080417 monitors/05 screen mounted.jpg

Turns out nothing. It's there, it's solid, and I can get it to the right position and angle. Nice.

Next I mounted the smaller screen - another commercial grade, this time 22" (I got both from the Shelf Of Shame at work for £60 each) to the bench with a spare monitor arm from the home office (now a two-monitor zone). Also I lined up my next build.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/080417 monitors/06 lego.jpg

My word there's a lot of Lego in there.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/080417 monitors/07 lots of lego.jpg

I dunno about you, but (as usual) it was all too much for poor Sprocket.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/080417 monitors/08 all too much.jpg

I tell you, there's not much in life that beats having a lovely air-conditioned office with Spotify and Technic Lego.

Sporky

Did some general tidying and neatening today. The chopsaw had been making a lot of mess, so I knocked together a dust catcher:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/150417 tidying/01 chopsaw.jpg

A bit of 6mm ply, two blocks of poplar and some 63mm duct bits from the old workshop.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/150417 tidying/02 chopsaw close.jpg

And I neatened up all the network and music stuff - all mounted under the bench now, leaving room for a clock.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/150417 tidying/03 bench.jpg

Sporky

Yesterday was mostly router table building. I think I mentioned a while back that the chap who had my tablesaw before me bought some extension rails and made a router table that hangs on the back of the saw - quite cunning as it's very stable but doesn't take up any more room. On the downside the bit of oak worktop he'd used had seen better days and the cutout isn't the right size for my router lift, so time to make a new one. As with most jobs, it'd be a lot easier to make one of these if I already had one of these...

Firstly here's the existing table, which fits very neatly so I'll use that as a template for the new one (apart from the hole, of course).

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/01 old table.jpg

It included a rather handy NVR switch so you can start and stop the router without reaching under the table, and so that the router can't start up when you plug the whole thing into the mains.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/02 nvr.jpg

The old bolts and such were a bit rusty so went into some strong vinegar to clean up. Not sure if I'll re-use any of it for this, btu nice to have for other jobs. In a few days it'll scrub up nicely.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/03 old hardware.jpg

I cut a chunk of bench top to size on the tablesaw (which needs a bit of adjustment - the travelling table is going at a slight angle to the blade). Here pictured with the old tabletop:

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/04 new block.jpg

The 50mm at each end of the table needs to be reduced in thickness to fit onto the rails, so I marked that and measured the depth of the cut.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/05 edge marking.jpg
http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/06 edge measure.jpg

And then did a series of trench cuts on the tablesaw, which I then cleaned up with a router bit:

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/07 trenched.jpg
http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/08 routed.jpg

Then marked halfway along each side and punched centres for the bracket bolts using a transfer punch. Drilled these to take new M6 bolts and countersunk the heads with a 15mm forstner bit (thus leaving enough clearance for a nut spinner):

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/09 brackets.jpg
http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/11 holes.jpg

Then I assembled it (just two bolts per side for now) and checked it fitted the tablesaw rails nicely:

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/12 assembled.jpg
http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/13 mounted.jpg

You'll probably have spotted that I didn't cut the brackets in deeper as they were on the original slab, so there's a bit of a ledge to measure and then cut:

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/14 ledge.jpg

Thus ended yesterday, apart from knocking up a better dust extraction setup for the pillar drill:

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/15 drill extraction.jpg

The hood bolts through the drill table, takes about 20 seconds to mount or remove and it gets all the fine dust away and almost all the chips without being too badly in the way.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/160417 router table/16 drill close.jpg

Sporky

Today I made more progress. First I needed to cut rebates for the mounting brackets, so I drew around them and then stuck some scrap blocks in place with golf grip tape.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/170417 router table/01 blocks.jpg
http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/170417 router table/02 end block.jpg
http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/170417 router table/03 thats routerwang.jpg

Apply router and you have a rebate.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/170417 router table/04 rebate.jpg

Apply a chisel and you have a rebate with square corners.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/170417 router table/05 chiselled.jpg

Because this top is thicker than the old one, the bracket handles need a clearance rebate too - same blocks make up a little jig and off we go.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/170417 router table/06 handle rebate.jpg

Ta-da! Fits nicely. I'll add some washers or shims to get it all aligned just right.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/170417 router table/07 fitted.jpg

Out comes the rectangle jig again, but fitted to the router lift:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/170417 router table/08 lift jig.jpg

Router cuts a 7mm recess (6mm for the lift top plate, 1mm for adjustability), then I cut out the middle with a jigsaw.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/170417 router table/09 jigsawn.jpg

That cutout needs refining. Another day.

Jalapeno

Sporky said:

That cutout needs refining. Another day.

Looks like you're ready for the final touch - The Kitchen Sink !

TTony

When is it "done"?

I'm just trying to decide whether I can claim to have "done" mine, whether it's still work-in-progress, or whether it will always be work-in-progress and so I'll never be able to claim done-ness.

Sporky

A good question.

Once the CNC machine is up and running (a day's work or so) I think it'll be "done". Still lots of things that can be improved as I go, but ready to build anything I need to build at that point.

So I think the tipping point is when it's no longer getting in the way of making stuff.

TTony

In which case, I claim "done-ness".

Seeing as how I built my final workbench earlier this week, meaning that all my kit is now unpacked, plugged in and available to work.

And most of it has already been put to work making other things.




Luckily, you made no mention of getting the curtains up, because they've not arrived yet.