Insomniac's workbench pictures

[SteveColes]

I was just looking at this picture and it suddenly dawned on me that you had posted a picture(s) of the bench on woodnet when you had just finished the bottom part, We traded a few PMs about it because I was going to do the same thing for my shop, except I was going to start on the top Well it looks like you are the doer and I'm the talker. So far I only got as far as

The idea was that the upper cabinets would sit on top of this and the bench would be below.

What did you use for the drawer fonts on the bottom. Solid or ply? what wood? BTW, the grain match on the bottom drawers looks so good that it appears to one triple wide drawer and I don't think it is.

 

[Monty]

I was just looking at this picture and it suddenly dawned on me that you had posted a picture(s) of the bench on woodnet when you had just finished the bottom part

Yep, those are them! Here are the WoodNet links, for anyone who may actually be interested:

Shop cabinets - Phase I
Shop cabinets - Phase II

I do like your idea for the small parts bins along the bottom of the upper cabinets... I may have to steal that idea!

What did you use for the drawer fonts on the bottom.

The upper four drawers are all faced with solid birch. They're all grain-matched as well, but it's harder to see in these pics. The lower drawer was really too wide for a solid hardwood panel because of wood movement issues. The magazine article called for a frame-and-panel front, but up until that time I had never attempted to make a frame & panel. So I just used a piece of birch ply. This was actually a cutoff piece from the same birch ply that I used in the rest of the cabinet. I had this piece left over, because I had cut around an area that had ugly grain on the face. I just turned the ply around (ugly "face" veneer side IN), and what you see is the BACK face of the plywood! So, I have no idea what wood THAT is, but it's obviously a rotary cut veneer of some species (poplar?).

Anyway, I ended up with very little waste this way. It ain't fine furniture by any stretch! But it holds my tools up...

 

[Anonymous]

Somehow I missed the phase II thread. You did a great job. Someone on the thread mentioned your rate of progress. If I read the posting dates right it looks you did the whole thing in less than a month. That's not fair.

BTW, this is gonna sound stange, but where did you find the birch?

 

[Monty]

this is gonna sound stange

That don't sound strange! I've actually had the birch hardwood for while - I bought it from MG Crouch in Hickory for another project. It was actually one of my first hardwood purchases... I bought more than I needed at the time, and paid too much for it! :roll:

Regarding the plywood: IIRC, I think I used maybe 3-4 sheets of the 3/4" birch for this project. One sheet was actually left over from a previous haul of the $29 birch ply from Home Depot. Then I found another supplier - Catawba Hardwoods here in Hickory. I got some "Chinese birch" for $26 per sheet as I recall. Some people on Woodnet turned their noses up at this stuff, but I think it's pretty decent, especially for a shop project like this one.

If you're in my area, Catawba Hardwoods seems to be a good place to go. They have a small warehouse on Hwy 321, just north of the river. Last time I was there (a couple of months ago) they had 3/4" baltic birch for $16 per sheet, 1/2" was $18 per sheet.

If you know of any other sources, I'm always interested - post 'em here!

 

[SteveColes]

Oops

Just in case, the "guest" above was me. I didn't realize I wasn't logged in.

Steve

 

[mshel]

this is gonna sound stange

That don't sound strange! I've actually had the birch hardwood for while - I bought it from MG Crouch in Hickory for another project. It was actually one of my first hardwood purchases... I bought more than I needed at the time, and paid too much for it! :roll:

Regarding the plywood: IIRC, I think I used maybe 3-4 sheets of the 3/4" birch for this project. One sheet was actually left over from a previous haul of the $29 birch ply from Home Depot. Then I found another supplier - Catawba Hardwoods here in Hickory. I got some "Chinese birch" for $26 per sheet as I recall. Some people on Woodnet turned their noses up at this stuff, but I think it's pretty decent, especially for a shop project like this one.

If you're in my area, Catawba Hardwoods seems to be a good place to go. They have a small warehouse on Hwy 321, just north of the river. Last time I was there (a couple of months ago) they had 3/4" baltic birch for $16 per sheet, 1/2" was $18 per sheet.

If you know of any other sources, I'm always interested - post 'em here!

3/4 Baltic Birch for 16.00 per sheet. What size sheet are we talking about???

 

[Monty]

5 FEET x 5 FEET

I gather that's the standard size for this type of plywood. Kind of a pain, since it doesn't fit in my 8' x 4' space I have set aside for plywood. Just picked up a sheet of 1/2" for $18 just last week.

 

[woodworker2000]

Am I reading the pricing correctly or did someone make a mistake.....3/4" Baltic Birch is $16/sheet and 1/2" is $18/sheet (1/2" costs $2 more/sheet than 3/4")? Not trying to be a smart a$$....just trying to learn a little more about pricing. Thanks.

 

[Monty]

1/2" costs $2 more/sheet than 3/4"

Yep. The pricing was still like that when I went back a couple of weeks ago, as well. Their explanation was that the price reflects what they paid for the stuff... different deals at different times, etc. I expect the price might change again when they run out of that stack they have in the warehouse now.

For that price, though, I figure $2 doesn't make any real difference at all.

 

[woodworker2000]

Did you build your workbench using the the American Woodworking plan? If so, is there anything you would do differently from the plans?

 

[Monty]

Yes, the plans are from the "Modular Shop Cabinets" article in American Woodworker, January 2005 issue.



Would I advise doing anything differently? Well, it depends what you want to accomplish with a project like this. The AWW article will get you some seriously nice cabinets and some good practice with basic WW skills. The plans are accurate, and I didn't identify any errors. Of course, cabinets can be made more simply, using a little bit less material if you just make a simple carcass and don't use the "modular" style. Here are the main reasons why I did it this way:

This was the biggest project I had made to date (still is). I needed to just practice following a well-thought out plan and learn how to saw a straight line, build a square carcass, install cabinet hardware, etc., instead of just "winging it".

I also figured this style would be of benefit to me because I wasn't sure (still not) how my needs & space availability would change over time. Each section of this can be changed out, added or removed if needed.

Since this project, I've built a couple more hanging cabinets in the shop. I built these new cabinets from my own design, using a simpler method, based on what I've learned.