Thread 2945988

Hi, I'm a beginner and was good at woodworking in school, but unfortunately moved to a school without a shop when I was 15. Since then I have been pretty crafty and built and made all sorts of things, but never had the space for a shop.

...until now!

While I'm still pretty limited in terms of budget, I have a nice space and some tools. Main ones being circular saw and a drill. I can afford to buy some more hand tools but not a table saw quite yet.

I want to eventually build some furniture (like picrel, it's made from acacia wdyt?), but first I suppose I need to build a workbench. Any ideas on what someone in my situation could build?

>>2945988 (OP)
2 sawhorses and a scrap of plywood is the baseline
i had a benchtop i built years ago gluelammed from pallet boards. it was like 3-1/2" thick and 30x120. id just grabbed pallets on my way home and taken the top boards on edge and bumped them with the da and glued it up with titebond. weighed a fucking ton and i finally got sick of moving it and threw it on the burn pile. total cost was basically just a bottle of glue and a month of free time pulling nails

>>2945988 (OP)
It depends on your space, budget, and how you intend to use it. I would look back on the benches you used to use and try to figure out how to fit as much of that functionality into your work space as possible.

>>2945990
I'm currently using two stackable sawhorses I made out of extra 2x4s with a a janky table top made of pallet boards as one of my benches.

>>2945988 (OP)
Ana whites design is the best ‘first bench’ I know. Can be any size, only needs a drill and saw, and you can reuse the wood for your next design if you don’t glue it. Once you figure out your real needs, space and budget you’ll build another one anyway

>>2946142
A WOMAN!?? Lol jk that is exactly what I need, fair play to her - it looks great! I'll download these plans I think and work on this one. Thank you!

The only other option I might have is this. <facebook> /share/1BEzx9cirt/ (it won't let me link)

Would any of you anons have any ideas on this?

>>2946154
Don’t go with the exact plans on the website though, it tells you to screw the central top supports on right into the end, instead cut some 4” lengths of 2x4, screw onto the inside sideways and connect the top supports to that, or just use a full length strip

>>2946176
Why?

>>2946185
Screw threads don’t hold well in end grain especially in pine they pull out very easily. You can toe screw them in diagonally from the inside fine though

>>2946239
Good to know, thanks!

>>2945988 (OP)
>first I suppose I need to build a workbench
you don't tho. but if you did look for a big old school wood desk for free on craigslist or freecycle. replace the screw in legs with a 2x4 base that raises the surface to workbench height or salvage the top and wall mount on 2x4 frame (depends on if you want drawers)

the single best tool I've ever owned for wood is a miter saw with a long draw. it's not awful to get tool tables and match the height of your workbench to the surface. simple blocks can raise something like a table saw to the same working height as your miter and bench.

personally I love a brad nailer for putting custom pieces together, I'm a function over form guy and don't give a fuck about doing fancy dovetails or anything.

a router is an easy upgrade for any project but invest in a table router that can be used as a hand router (to be fair I've never actually used either somehow I've avoided it)

>>2945988 (OP)
>Any ideas on what someone in my situation could build?
yes.

>>2945988 (OP)
>Any ideas on what someone in my situation could build?
if you can't come up with your own ideas to build a work bench you are a failure as a woodworker.

no one needs plans to build a work bench. you just build one.

>>2946154
>I'll download these plans
needs plans
ngmi

>>2946185
you really don't know how to woodwork.

lol what's with all the vitriol you fucking nerds? it's almost as if you have never built anything in your entire life.

>>2946296
>>2946297
>>2946306
>>2946307

Oh.. looking at the timestamps this seems to just be one sad individual :( poor guy

First work bench is easy. Any old table-ish thing will do.
Second one is the hard one. Dog holes? Vertical ones even? And /or one of those expensive clamps? Do you even need one, when you’ve got vertical holes?
Which height is optimal?
Build it such, that you can fit it to your table saw to have your work pieces stable?

>>2946142
My advice is to build the top lower than you think.
If you work on a motor, chair, or something, … those things are pretty high.
If you work on something flat, just put it on a wooden box or something to raise it up.
Most benches are built at the height that you’d need for doing paperwork.

>>2946379
but he's right.

>>2945988 (OP)
Make one out of pallets, curb pick a dinner table. Right now I'm in the process of accruing enough free piano benches to make a tabletop out of

If you're near Atlanta, peep this

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/zip/d/roswell-free-coffee-table/7880976018.html

>>2946039
I'm not OP.
Let's say a guy have never used a work bench.
My space concerns are relatively minor: I can't make a big honking thing, but I don't have four square feet to build in. Knowing NOTHING else about myself, what would you recommend? A simple waist height platform with a solid top, a little shelf near the front for loose bits, and maybe a second platform under the first to leave loose tools?
I am an absolute tard, so don't assume I'm competent enough to build a drawer.

>>2947619
I'm sorry, I'm a little drunk.
When I said 'I don't have four square feet to build in', I meant something more like, "it's not like I don't have four square feet to build in".
My major drawback is I don't have a truck or a roof rack, so any materials I bring in will have to be, probably, no longer than six feet.

>>2947619
>Knowing NOTHING else about myself, what would you recommend? A simple waist height platform with a solid top, a little shelf near the front for loose bits, and maybe a second platform under the first to leave loose tools?
That sounds like a very reasonable starting point given your vague parameters.

>>2947620
If can fit 8’ 2x4s in my little Impreza sedan with the trunk closed. If your back seats come down, you should be able to fit 8’ long stuff.

>>2946142
yeah im not mad at that
i would suggest putting casters on so you can easily move it if you decide to make a large size one

OP here, I built it!!!

>>2946142
Thanks anon

>>2948041
That background… that’s not real is it?

>>2948061
it is real. I haven't fastened the plywood onto it yet. will do so tomorrow

>>2945988 (OP)

join a makerspace

you meet lots of awesome ppl with good ideas and projects

joined one and turns out they have a luthier (guitar builder) meetup, which was awesome to discover. Learned 3D design (useful for 3D printing or CNC machining -- i.e. carving wood with a CNC router, for high precision) and met a lot of smart, crafty ppl

>>2948079
That's awesome. Where are you? I'm actually going to be joining a woodturning group next month.

>>2948041
SPOOKY

>>2948041
How well has it been serving your needs? Would you have built it differently knowing what you know now?