Basement Shop Progress Pics 2010.12.12

I figured it had been a while since I posted images of the shop - at this point I guess the shop is really an ongoing effort - I'm not sure if I'll ever get it to the point where I'm totally satisfied. From the last group of images, I've put in the central pipe for the dust collector and started placing my workbenches - but it finally hit me that I've got too many tools, so many of my project tools will need to go - some I'll put on CraigsList while others I'll part out an put on eBay (or list on the Old Woodworking Tools org site as sale items).

This first image shows how I tied in the Grizzly Cyclone into the over-head duct system. I tried to minimize what was overhead and did so by running a main trunk line down the center of the room with "y"s leading to each side (one exception was a duct running along one end with drops to a long bench which I'll show below). There are also two floor standing drill presses shown, both 14" Deltas (the one on the left was probably from a school shop with "DRILL PRESS" stenciled on the side. The one on the right is a very old 1937 Delta model with split-phase motor and round cast iron stand - got that one for $15 (it's in an earlier post). They both run but that older model needs a tug on the belt - need to figure out that motor soon.

 Here's a shot of the duct work - note that to maximize space I've suspended my longer clamps from the ceiling using "J" hooks they sell at Home Depot - it's very effective. I added some additional "y"s for future expansion with covers mounted over them. The cover you see will go above the bench mounted on the wall to the left.

This is the main trunk looking towards the back of my shop - note the old turning tool display mounted on the door - I was given that during one of the GWA shop tours and thought it would be a cool way to display some of my older turning tools (they're old Buck, Walker Turner Driver Line and Delta - non-HSS).

Towards the other side the ducting runs next to my ambient dust collector - I got this brute during an Amazon sale for $130 - it has both a remote control and timer and works very well in clearing all the airborne dust - I can set the timer for 30 minutes and the dust is gone by the next time I come into the shop.

Now on to the "new" workbenches - I originally had planned to build a long bench along the far wall next to the dust collector. Last year I went to an estate sale in the neighborhood (a neighbor was relocating to Florida for a job) and got these two Craftsman all-metal workbench cabinets (no top) for $10 each - I wish I had taken a photo before I cleaned these up - they were basically a rusty heap from being stored in an unconditioned storage building outside. I treated the rust, sanded, then shot these with primer and rustoleum. I didn't spend too much time on them since they were going into the shop - I think they turned out looking nice (there is a little pitting on the lower drawers but you have to get in close to see them. Here's the left 8 drawer cabinet:

And here's the right 10 drawer cabinet:

I put a few chisels into the left to see how they would work out - all of these are users:

You can see some of the over-spray and the drawer glides - like I said previously I didn't spend much time doing these and just wanted the rust gone. I used some 1/4" nuts and bolts to mount the two cabinets together.

Next I had to figure out what to do with the top. I wanted to mount a radial arm saw in the middle but wanted a base for it, as well as some work space before elevating the ends to support stock. I was driving through the neighborhood and spotted some open cardboard boxes with wood sticking out on the curb - it ended up being two boxes of pre-finished maple flooring. The ends were slightly "dirty" and weathered - I believe they were exposed a bit to the elements and probably left-over. In any case, I'm glad the neighbor was throwing them out as I think they'll make a fine workbench. Not bad for free. You can see my Dewalt MBF on the table behind the stack - that's going in the middle of the workbench.

I spent some time getting the cabinets as level as possible - those are cedar shakes custom cut to be hidden yet provide the leveling I needed for the benches. I marked the floor in case I needed to move the unit (which I probably will need to in order to attach the top).

So I next needed to figure out the top. I decided to cut tongues along each cut end so they will fit into a groove in a skirt - the skirt will be made of maple and would attach to a sub-frame made of 1x material - I wanted to get the base as low as possible so it's just slightly larger than the cabinets. There are some holes in the top of the cabinet that are used to attach a top. This is the sub-frame with a piece of maple flooring to illustrate the overall idea. Each board will extend from back to front.

I built the sub-frame using pocket screws - it's amazing how well those guys work - each joint is also glued with Titebond 1:

Since I wanted to be able to take everything apart if needed, I had to devise an assembly/disassembly plan. Bolts would come up through the cabinet and into nuts/washers in the sub-frame. The top will be one unit held together with the skirt, then screws would be used from the skirt to attach to the edges of the sub-frame. To pull this off, the sub-frame needed to have counter-sunk holes. I did these using a forstner bit in a hand-drill. Note, to start I first marked the holes using the actual hole placement from the cabinets then drilled for the bolts with the frame upside-down - that way they would align from the bottom. I next flipped over the sub-frame right-side up and used a spade bit to start the counter-sunk hole (if you've ever tried to hand-hold a forstner you'll know why I did that first) - once the hole was started I switched to the forstner and drilled down to a depth that would allow the bolt to clear and still have room for a washer and nut. Here's what that looked like.

I'll take additional shots when I finish the top - the weather was nice this fall so I got back on my Unisaw restoration, media blasting parts and getting primer, and in some cases some finished coat on them. More pics soon.

-- John

Basement Shop Progress Pics 2008.09.28

The ceiling is finally sealed up - next on the list is finishing the ducting for the DC. I managed to move all the rest of my lumber (temporarily stored in another are of the basement) onto the existing racks - looks like I have room for about another couple hundred feet before it's at capacity - as it is what's on the racks is probably close to being unmanagable.

I also got the ambient duct collector up - got this Jet unit when it went on sale at Amazon last year. It works well filtering down to 1 micron with multiple speeds and a remote control (it can be set with a timer as well).



One of the ways I was able to manage the project was to move all my mechanics tools and metal working items into another area of the basement. I picked up a metal rolling workbench with wood top for $10 at a neighborhood yardsale (bought it and rolled it two blocks to the house - I bet that was an odd sight). I've yet to mount the swivel radial vise as I didin't have long enough nuts/bolts, but you get the idea. I also moved my HF Drill Press by the bench as a dedicated-to-metal driller. I'm either putting a cabinet or some peg-board above the bench - haven't decided yet. Across from the bench is another short cabinet with my 3 Ton arbor press and two metal roll-away tool boxes. I'm still looking for at least a 20 Ton Hydrolic press to add to the mix as well and a small metal lathe. Here are some pics:





Finally I used the aisle leading into my workshop as a place for storing files and reference books. This was put together with scrap Standards and Brackets I've had banging around in my rat-hole for years, along with some salvaged pine shelving. Beneath is a metal barrister's bookcase housing binders with a complete collection of Woodsmith and Shopnotes. The cardboard magazine holders have a complete run of Wood Magazine and Fine Woodworking (some left-overs are in a box on the floor - have to figure out a way to get those on the shelf). The bookcase also haa a shelf full of small motors on it as well as an original vintage red Swingline stapler.



I've started placing some equipment but haven't gotten anything "in stone" yet. May reconfigure depending on how things lay out.

-- John

Basement Shop Progress Pics 2008.09.18

Got the brackets on the John Sterling standards loaded up with a Walnut tree I've had stored in the carport for 2 years. This tree was taken down over 20 years ago and cut up into about 50 boards (at least by the time I got it there were 50 - I'm not sure how much was actually produced as some had been used and there are missing pieces of the stack when aligned). The nice thing about having all the wood from the same tree is most of the color is the same once finished. There are also some interesting figure where the tree split into two trunks. I think it sat on the ground for a while as there are pin-holes along some boards where various insects had eaten into the sap - anything that was suspicious was cut away. Another interesting aspect - most of the wider and thicker boards were the straightest and had minimal checking and splitting - there's evidence of stickering on those - the smaller boards were probably just piled up with weight, I suspect. I also had some red oak and the rest of that haul of sapele in the carport so it's now all on the wall.



I also managed to get another length of the ceiling sealed up. Next up is the Jet ambient dust collector.

-- John

My Basement Shop Construction - an Introduction

I thought I needed to start writing a bit about my shop construction. About two years ago I finally decided that something needed to be done with all my tools. I had been pulling my tools out into the yard to do anything "dusty" like cutting trim, ripping on the table saw, etc. It's a bit of a pain but clean up is relatively easy - I can pull the hose from my compressor and hose off everything before pulling equipment back inside. The only issues were with weather and waning light - if I got caught in rain it basically sucked, or if it got dark on me it made it a lot harder to complete a project, so I ended up being rushed right when I probably shouldn't be - this compounded mistakes. So I started looking at my basement and how I might leverage some of the space for a workshop. I decided that I could hook up a dust collector and do some stuff inside, but it took a bit of ingenuity as there wasn't a lot of space to move lumber around, especially sheet goods. So at the time the DC was only used for my bandsaw (I would occasionally use my miter saw inside, but the shop vac worked better at collecting the dust shot by the blade back to the built in port). At the last house, I erected a 12x16 workshop on the side-yard. At some point I might do something similar at the new house, but for now it's a lot more economical to put something into the full basement.

My house is about 2400 sq ft of finished space, with a full basement (400 sq ft of the basement is finished, which leaves about 2000 sq ft of storage or potential work space). The basement is peculiar in that the floor has two levels - the center of the basement mimics the sunk-in floor of the living/dining/kitchen area above (so each end of the basement appears to have a raised floor, when one is looking across the entire space). The ceilings are also fairly low - about 72" to the bottom of the floor joists above from the poured concrete slab. This provided some challenges. There is an addition that expands the master bedroom, with a "gardening" room below, which I use to store yard tools and other 'crap.' This room also has an exterior door that opens to the back yard, with the original door to the house separating that space from the rest of the basement. The old door is hollow-core and badly delaminating - more on that later.

So my initial thinking was to take the back quadrant (actually a sextant if you divide each level by two front-and-back) of the basement by the back door/"garden room" to build out. The space was about 13'x33', but I would have to factor in space for the furnace and hot water heater, which were also in that area. I started a floor plan and also began a materials list. That's when I realized that enclosing the furnace, etc would really limit the space and take a lot of extra time to do. Plus the doors I would need to install would be in awkward places, further limiting the available space. The solution was to use the adjoining space towards the front of the house. The only issue being the need to move my boxed and palletted book collection elsewhere. So the challenge was to consolidate my collections and bring them towards the furnace space, while leaving enough room for pass-through and access to the house systems (furnace, etc). That took a bit of thought and brought me up to early last year.

Starting about October of 2007, and committing to building out the front sextant of the basement, I began making some plans. First, I wanted to keep costs down while having the most flexibility. I also wanted to reuse some of the lumber and sheet goods I had accumulated and saved that was now taking up valuable space. The room ended up being rectangular at about 13' wide and 33 feet long (two walls are cinder block foundation while the other two are limited by the drop in the floor on the short end, and a demising support through the center of the house for the long wall). There would be two doors - one opening up into the bulk of the basement, and the other approximately in line and the same size (32") as the door leading to the "garden room" (no need to have the door larger than the exterior door as anything built to move outside would have to exit through the exterior door). I would also replace the door into the "garden room" for better security, change this door and exterior door locks to mach and work with the same key; and finally to rework the house alarm so I could enter through the back and input an alarm code, instead of coming in through a normal exit and having to disable the alarm from the first floor.

I would also wire the room with at least 3 240v 20 amp circuits and 4 120v 20 amp circuits, with lights wired into the regular house wiring via 2 120v 15 amp circuits (good idea to have lights on a separate circuit in case there's an issue or need to disable the sub-panel). The idea is to have enough power to leave equipment plugged in with one circuit dedicated to dust collection. More than likely I wouldn't have more than one or two pieces of equipment in use at the same time, so it became a "power management" exercise. Through all this I did a lot of research on what other woodworkers did - what worked and what didn't, and made some decisions based on my research and needs (woodnet.net is a great source for ideas, as were Google searches). The lights would be suspended and plugged into switched outlets, so they could be moved for best effect once the equipment was laid out. Also, the receptacle would be located above 4' from the floor, in case sheet goods were laid against the wall it would prevent them from being covered.

I had enough left-over bead-board from previous projects so I would only need to buy 1 sheet to complete the two walls, I also had enough salvaged plywood to sheath most of the walls, that came from part of a neighbor's addition that had rot along the bottom (cut off the rot and the bulk was still usable). I purchased some interlocking floor pads at Harbor Freight (4 pack at $5.00) so most of the walkways would be comfortably covered. The walls would be painted and I would have lumber racks on two of them (I have a stack of Walnut and Sapele currently in the carport along with a pile of misc hardwoods like purple heart and mahogany, so the racks would need to be able to store at least that amount).

I started collecting materials as soon as I knew roughly what I wanted to do. I started scouring Craigslist and saved a lot there. I got lucky and found a 100 amp service panel to use as a sub on CL for $30 complete with the 20 amp 240 and 20 amp 120s that I needed. I also bought a box of misc electrical supplies including 250' of 12-2 wire, nail-in and remodeler-boxes, wire nuts, switches and outlets for $30 off of CL. I still needed a 100 amp breaker for the main panel - a Cutler Hammer (which happened to have the most expensive components - go figure) - the retail for that breaker was more than $100 but I managed to find one on eBay for $25 shipped. I also just recently found a pre-hung metal clad exterior door on CL for $40 to replace the delaminated one. Of the two doors leading into the space, I bought and modified a hollow-core pre-hung for the entry from the basement, while the other was a salvage from one of my neighbors who replaced all his doors - I just had to buy a door-frame kit that was fortunately on sale at Home Depot for $14). All this helped to keep costs down. Finally, I found some lumber racks made of 2' galvanized pipe angled (about 5 degrees) into the edge of 2x4s with lag screws - 9 of those were $25 (and I managed to score a bunch of woodworking mags and books for another $25). I modified those for my shop racks, attaching them to the long wall I built so I've got about 20' of usable wood-racking on that wall. I used some John Sterling standards and brackets on the block wall - those were all on close-out at Home Depot so were very cheap.

Some other considerations include soundproofing (sound travels and is very loud in the rooms above) and some type of ceiling sheathing - I want to use something thin and reflective to not lose ceiling height and improve visibility. Also, with stationary machinery it makes sense to go with ducting to the Dust Collector, which in itself won't be powerful enough for my needs (there goes the budget!). All along I've been picking up used equipment to use in the shop, so I've relatively got everything I want (there is some opportunity to swap out some things for better or old arn, as the case may be and I'd like to have a metal lathe but those are all outside the scope of the shop design and build). I also created a small space in the pass-through area to use as an office, mostly to store diagrams, magazines and woodworking reference books. I might also commandeer some additional basement space to store wood and unused/project tools. I'm also leaving my automotive tools outside of the woodshop to free up space and make things more efficient - though there may be room for some exceptions. Finally and perhaps the most important, is to seal everything up to prevent the escape of dust into the rest of the house - so I'll be spending a lot of time closing up cracks and gaps, and caulking seams.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any shots of the space before I started putting up walls - the two walls were basically studs on 16" centers, with the top plate attached to existing floor joists and the bottom plate attached with Ramsets into the concrete. I then sheathed using the left-over bead-board and recycled exterior 3/8" sheathing - note the paint, the lines are where battens were nailed to the exterior. These images were shot on 2008.02.06:



I salvaged several doors that one of my neighbors was throwing out - he had replaced all the interior doors with new, so I reused on 28" door for the short wall. I bought a pre-hung 32" door for the long wall so it would be the same size as the door leading out of the basement. Note the position of the four 48"x2 bulb lights - you can see the outlets mounted on the wall - I zip-tied the cords so there's about an extra 2 feet of range for repositioning. You can see the light switches in these two photos - 3-way so the lights can be turned on/off from either door. The pre-hung had to be shorted about 8 inches to clear the supporting beam on that wall - I now wish I had taken a bit more time and shortened it from the top instead of the bottom - the knob is lower than normal - not uncomfortably so, but it is a nagging detail. I'm not sure if it was worth all the extra time it would have taken to modify both the door and frame - it would have been easier starting with base components (I think I would have if there was a 32" door in the salvage pile, but alas the largest was only 28 inches wide).
I then shortened the wood racks mentioned earlier and lag-screwed them into the new studs - the top screw goes into the supporting beam the top of the wall is attached to. These shots were taken on 2008.02.19:


Because of space considerations, I'm building my Miter station along this wall beneath the racks - it will actually be a bit shorter than usual to clear the bottom pipe. The drill press will be placed in the corner behind the door.

-- John