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I'm getting ready to build a bench in a very small shop (7'-9" wide x 20' long). It will be on the along the long wall since the short end walls are already used (existing softener on one end and door on the other). I've seen plans for 16" wide benches up to 36" wide benches. I'm considering building a 28" to 30" wide bench. With rolling shop tools (drill press, bandsaw, table saw, dust collection) on the opposite long open wall a 30" bench gives me an aisle of about 30". If I built a 24" wide bench top my aisle would increase to 36" and I would lose use (eliminate) one 10" shelf above the 24" bench due to interference. The old delima in a small shop is the trade-off of open space room vs bench top space. The natural tendency is to go for bench top space and live with the 30" aisle.

What is your experience on balancing open floor space Vs bench top space?

Ed

Ed...seeing as you have upwards of 20 feet in length to play with, have you considered making the bench 24" for say the first 5 to 6 feet, then you could bump it out with a curve (just an easy 45 degrees) out another 6" or so for the last bit of space. That way you don't lose the shelf at the end and you have best of both worlds...that is if I understood correctly.

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Jamie M

My benches are 24" wide, which works for me. If I had a large shop, I probably would go with wider benches...which I'm sure would just lead to me having more stuff piled up on them!

Mine is 30" but would of made it 36-40" if I could do it again. But seeing your shop is small, 24" may work alright if your able to keep the piles off of it.

I've got a 30" bench in a 60" wide assembly room and I'm very glad to have the wider bench. I've even got some narrow stuff stored on the opposite wall in some parts of the room.

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I would consider making an island bench somewhere around 1/4 distance from one of the end walls (near the softener purhaps?). Make it 36" wide x 4-5 feet long. By setting this at one end of the shop, you still have amble room (13-15' x full 7'-9" width) to move your tools around and you have 4 side access at your bench which is good for clamping, bench dogs, bench vises etc.... Make an upper cabinet above the bench and you now have your go-bar deck too and you can have storage above.

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How much room does the softner use up on the end wall? I would consider rolling the band saw and drill press to the end wall when not in use.The dust collector can also be put in a space which does not get in the way.

Ed-
Lots of good suggestions here.

I'm terrible about 'collecting' stuff at the back of my benches, but the bench depth doesn't seem to have much control over this habit!
One operation where I do need a deeper bench is planing/sanding fingerboards on guitars before fretting. I have one section where I've put some carpet against the 'back wall' so I can rest the tail of the guitar against the wall when planing/sanding.
That bench is 32" and is just deep enough for me to do that job comfortably.

I would also caution about the practice of putting the whole tool collection on the wall above your work area, unless the walls are very solid and the tools are very secure on the wall. Having a hammer/plane/chisel fall off the wall on to your guitar (when doing operations like the one described above) will ruin your whole week.

Also, I never seem to have enough space for molds/workboards/jigs so lots of wide overhead or underbench shelves/cupboards would be handy.

Cheers
John

I don't have the knowhow or means to insert an electronic drawing here, but this is what I have.


North Door in center of new 20' plywood wall, leads into garage
-----------------DDDDD -----------------
|
|
|
-- DDDDD --------------------------------
South Door to home

Softener is on 7'-9" east wall and takes up 30" along wall and 18" out.

I have have 2 benches, each 8 feet long, both on north plywood wall (these benches MUST cover openings for car noses in the garage). One high bench for standing and one low for sitting. Right now I am focusing on the first 8' long bench for standing on the north each wall. Again, rolling machines are on the south wall which I plan to leave wide open for now until I get more experience working in the this new shop.

Thanks for all the input.

Ed

Here are some pics to help show what I have done:







The car nose is sticking through the wall and I have put a saw-horse make-shift bench above it to gage what height to make the bench and take other measurements for the actual bench construction. I'll build 3 torsion boxes to totally enclose the car inside the bench.

It the bench WIDTH that I want to balance properly with the little open space (aisle) in the small shop. The 8' length is a given and it will be waist high.

Ed

Careful drilling down - through the bench top by accident



On a serious note - how about the fire hazard when you put a hot engine and enclose it by wood and drywall ? If it wouldn't catch on fire - then a least it will effect the paint and materials as the engine bay does not have much air circulation to cool it down. Maybe you can hook up a fan that blows out that area facing the radiator. Have it run for 15 mintues after the car is parked.

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Heat is a point to consider. There is only about 14" to 18" of the car nose poking through leaving the vast majority of the hood (where the engine is) in the "normal" garage circumstance. While somewhat different, I believe the cool-down will not be greatly different from the normal. The bench is insulated with 1.5" of Styrofoam insulation (R8) plus 1 3/8" thickness of plywood and a poly lining so that I am not worried about heat and moisture coming up through the bench top or bench sides (really, bench "walls").

Ed,

Since you mentioned rolling equipment, have you considered making a fold away bench attached to the wall via hinges? This way, you would be able to store the bench away when the space is needed for machining operations, etc. and you can go up to 36" wide freely. Another idea is to make an 18" bench that will fold out to 36" when needed. And when time to do bench work, fold 'er down n go to town!

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

I would consider solid work benches on wheels which fit under the wall benches. That way your wall benches serve their purpose for general use, and when you need more space you have solid benches available whenever you need them. You don't really need a lot of space to walk, but sometimes you need that space to be flexible.

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Thanks for the good points Bill and Doug. I appreciate your and everyone's input.

Ed

Have you considered putting the dust collector in the garage and running a duct through the north wall? This would cut down on the noise and make for a cleaner work area.Also, you may want to think about building your drill press into one of your benches.

I have thought of building my floor mount drill press into a bench as I just don't move the table down that far and it would give me more space for my drill-press junk.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

No, I had not thought of putting the collector in the garage. I maximized shelving on the walls in the garage which would make putting the dust collector there more difficult (have to figure out what to do with the stuff if I deleted the shelves). But it might be possible if the collection bin diameter was reduced to about 16" and the equipment is placed high up on the walls at least 4 feet off the floor. Something to consider.

Thanks for the possible idea.

My thought was to put it in the corner of the shop and build a minimal sized insulated closet (to contain it. But getting it out of the shop would be a plus if I could swing it.

Ed

The big benefit you get with this arrangement is improved air quality. Of course you will have to wash your car more often,but it is a small price to pay where your health is concerned.The shelving can be rebuilt around your water softener.