# New here - New shop/building projects



## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Hello everyone. I'm a new guy here, and I'm fairly new to woodworking. I've done carpentry work for years, but never much in the way of making furniture and other such projects. Just wanted to introduce myself, and share projects that I will be making to fill my new shop. It's a premade 12'x28' utility shed, and I'm in the process of getting it wired up, cleaning up the site (closing in the bottom, laying some mulch in some beds around it, and generally making it look a little better than a shed on blocks) and all of the tools moved in and organized, as well as making workbenches and shelving.

My first project was to get some workbenches made so that I didn't have to build things using saw horses and 5 gallon buckets forever. Threw this one together earlier this week, and will be starting a matching bench to go on the opposite short wall of the building. The bench is 8' long, 28" deep and 35" in height. I designed it to have almost no waste. All I had left was 2 little stubs of 2x6 a few inches long. Notice the lower rail is set inward... no busted shins. Still need to do a little more sanding, mostly on the top, and trim the top to fit and fasten it down. Hard to keep motivated working off a single extension cord, with no dust collection set up, no permanent lighting and no workbenches. :smile3: Still trying to decide whether to leave the bottoms open with just a plywood shelf, or frame it in and put doors on it and have closed in storage. Overall I'm pleased with it. I'm trying to stick with cheap materials and fast build times, so it's construction grade whitewood and screws and glue for these projects. Want to get moved in and working as soon as possible.

The building:










The first bench:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Nice building, the only thing I could suggest is that you replace the wood pads with concrete. Even if it's treated wood it will give an invite for termites.


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## Minnesota Marty (Feb 27, 2015)

Jesse, 
Welcome to the site. I too am a carpenter and have really turned up my woodworking skills over the last 3 years. People think carpentry is like woodworking and it is sorta but sorta not. I like this site because there are alot of contributors that get that which makes it nice. 
nice looking building for a woodshop. 

Marty


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## woodchux (Jul 6, 2014)

Welcome here to this friendly WW forum, where there is always room for one more. and you get to choose how to make your sawdust. Great looking shed & bench design/build. As for bench storage, IMO, best to start with just a sheet of plywood for one large shelf until you "feel" the need for something better. In time it will all come together as you continue to improve on all woodworking areas. Enjoy your stay, thanks for sharing, and be safe.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Thanks guys. I had blocks for them to use, but I wasn't expecting them to go 4 across and 4 wide, so they used them up quickly. The wood pieces are at least all sitting on cap block, so maybe that will help a little. I'll have to spray around every year to be sure termites don't eat my shop up. I've had termite issues in the past anyway.

A carpentry background at least seems to be helping me. I'm pretty good with designing structurally sound things, and knowing what will hold up over time and what wont. Just need to work on my finishing skills, and improve my joinery skills.

I will probably just use a single large shelf. I'm building everything to be mobile, as I know the more I work in the shop, I'll start to get a feel for where things need to be moved, and where certain tools work best. Like you said, then I can focus on improving my designs and building additional storage.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Still need to build shelving, a miter saw station and an assembly table, but I'm getting there. Since weather is about to be nice, I'll put off on insulation and covering the walls until later. Need to move in a few tools and get them set up. Hopefully within 2 weeks time I'll be finished, up and running.

One side for the dusty tools, middle for assembly, and the other side for finishing and other detailed, less messy work.


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## was2ndlast (Apr 11, 2014)

Not a bad space!


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Picked up a new sliding dual bevel compound miter saw (mouthful...) to replace the old clapped out Harbor Freight special... It's only a cheaper Kobalt, 12" model, but it will certainly be a HUGE improvement from the old one which didn't slide and wouldn't tilt. Also picked up a small Porter Cable 6" jointer, until I can afford one with a longer bed, and maybe wider. Need to start on making a nice miter saw station. The old one was mounted on a wobbly stand with some old counter top as a base. Not ideal.

It came with a dog attached...


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## m.n.j.chell (May 12, 2016)

Looking good ... I'm jealous.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Nice bench. When you finally get set where you want it, build some drawers on wheels for underneath the bottom frame. There is a lot of storage space under there. Check out the pics of my homemade drawers. I used whatever I had on hand...some 3/4 stuff and some 1/2 inch stuff. Sometimes both on the same drawer. Doesn't matter. No one sees them and they work just fine...and they are loaded. :surprise2::grin:


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Thanks. That's a good idea. I fully plan to utilize all of the space the best I can. This shop is going to start feeling really small, really quick, once I start getting all of the workstations set up, cabinets and shelving, the rest of the tools and dust collection installed.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Started on the miter station today. She's ugly, but she should do the job just fine. Still need to cut the top to size, then install the raised platform with t-tracks and the adhesive backed measuring tape. Capacity won't be huge, since I wanted to keep it small and portable, but it should allow me to make repetitive cuts on pieces less than 5' long, which will be most cuts. It's 8' long, the top that will be parallel to the miter saw will be 35" like the rest of my benches and tables, and it's about 24" deep. Only flaw in the design I see so far is the casters are too far inboard, and it's a bit tippy, since it's so much taller than it is wide. I didn't want to put the casters too far out, and be forced to fasten them into the end grain of the legs. I may come up with a way to bring them further out to the front and rear.


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## Pineknot_86 (Feb 19, 2016)

Nice shop and it's going to get better. An overhead rack for lumber would be useful, but I'm sure that you have already thought of that.
You have more room than I have. I'm jealous, also. The big question- how are you going to get power to the shop? How far is it from the panel in the house?


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## Kerrys (May 2, 2016)

Great looking shop. It needs a couple more things to be complete; a little more sawdust on the floor and a lazy dog lounging by the door.

Opps, I didn't notice the dog in the earlier pic.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Thanks guys. I'm working on some sort of lumber storage. Not sure which will work best for me yet. Already have power out there, though I have not hooked it all up to the main panel yet. Had to run 80 feet of 2-2-2-4 mobile home feeder cable through 1.5" conduit out to the shop.

There is plenty of sawdust on the floor, on the dirty side of the shop. That other side is going to be mostly for finishing and other cleaner work. I have a dog, but not a lazy one unfortunately. Hyper puppy who doesn't like to sit in one place for more than a minute or two. Have to come up with a tie out so she can come and go as she pleases. I will eventually build a privacy fence around the shop so she can roam in the general area.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Since my shop is a one car garage, I have drywall on it. But since you have nothing on your walls, it would be a good time to INSULATE and hang OSB. Then you can put stuff wherever your heart desires!

April Wilkerson and several others have videos on mounting stuff on OSB using french cleat systems.

Check it out.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

MT Stringer said:


> Since my shop is a one car garage, I have drywall on it. But since you have nothing on your walls, it would be a good time to INSULATE and hang OSB. Then you can put stuff wherever your heart desires!
> 
> April Wilkerson and several others have videos on mounting stuff on OSB using french cleat systems.
> 
> Check it out.


I plan to eventually. Spending so much on other things, the budget kind of ran out. Once I build up more funds, I will do just that. Though I will probably use some kind of wood paneling, maybe vertical shiplap panels. The weather here is finally started to cool off, and it should be no problem keeping the shop comfortably warm in the winter. I'd much rather be a little cool than hot, and day of the week. I'll also be using a french cleat system to hang most of the stuff, including modular shelving/cabinets, and tool hangers. I have it all planned out in my head, it's just getting the money and time to do it. I'll get there one day.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Pretty productive day. Got the second workbench completely finished, got a roller table built for the jointer, almost finished the miter station (still need to install the raised shelf, t-track and stop block) got some tools organized, straightened up my messy wood pile and got the drill press almost finished. One more day or work and I should be squared away. Now I just need to get a little more funding to install insulation and wood paneling to cover the walls, and to get my new table saw. I haven't even touched my old one since I put it in the shop.

Looking at this saw. It's somewhere between a cabinet table saw and a contractor saw. Looks to have a decent size table and good enough features for what I need.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DELTA-13-Amp-10-in-Table-Saw/50081568










Also, still very much lacking dust collection and air filtration. Until I can get that installed I will try to get adapters so I can at least use my shop vac for the dustier tools. They way it is now, I'll be sweeping up mountains of dust and shavings daily. May hang some thick plastic sheeting to block off the "clean" side of the shop, so I can make somewhat of a clean room for finishing. Install a box fan with a filter to push air in, so it will create positive pressure and keep most of the dust out.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Built a mini version of my big work benches. This one is 6' wide, 24" deep and 33" tall. Also used 1x6 for the top instead of 3/4 plywood. Slightly sturdier and better looking, but still a light duty workbench. It's no Roubo... I added more braces on the top, not shown. I was also lucky enough to find some boards that appear to be beetle kill, though not much blue coverage. I just turned the blue edges inward to surround the bottom shelf opening. Needs a good wipe down and some finishing touches on the top, and a bottom shelf. I may wipe on some Watco, though considering the use these will see, it probably wont last long before being beaten up and looking bad anyway...


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

And done... 3 coats of Danish Oil, and after it fully cures for a day, a little wax to make cleanup a little easier and reduce staining.


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## MidGAOutdoor (Apr 7, 2011)

fWhen I had my shop in my portable building it was very warm in summer here in GA it was a metal sided and roofed building. I still have it but use the big shop now. if I had it to do again id have insulated that mug with R13 and air conditioned it. a PTAC Unit (Hotel AC) (Package Terminal Air Conditioner) or a window unit wouldn't draw that much. looking good.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

MidGAOutdoor said:


> fWhen I had my shop in my portable building it was very warm in summer here in GA it was a metal sided and roofed building. I still have it but use the big shop now. if I had it to do again id have insulated that mug with R13 and air conditioned it. a PTAC Unit (Hotel AC) (Package Terminal Air Conditioner) or a window unit wouldn't draw that much. looking good.


Thanks. Yeah, before next summer, it WILL be insulated and I will have a window unit AC installed. I don't handle heat well anymore. I hate the summer time down south. I can handle a little chill, just throw some more clothes on.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Ugh. Thanks USPS. Any time they deliver one of my packages, they are almost always damaged. With UPS, there is never an issue. Needless to say, you can imagine how my t-tracks looked... Thankfully I managed to bend them back more or less straight. Straight enough for my miter station anyway. Amazon is partly to blame with this one. Both of them were out of their packaging, which I found crumpled up at the top of the box when I opened it/ They could have at least put some corner reinforcement in the box for a little extra strength.


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