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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    4,779

    Default Anyone got an island benchtop?

    Hello all,

    I'm in the process of designing a bechtop, cupboards and some draws for the metalworking part of my shed.

    You would think it's a fairly simple process but as always I seem to complicate things and perhaps look too much into everything. I just don't want to build something that seems OK now only to find in 2 years I don't like the set up and have to tear it down.

    I currently have a workbench that is moveable, as in it is a stand alone setup. I have grown to dislike it because there is enough room underneath it for swarf and wood shavings and junk to collect under there but not enough room to get a broom under it! Hence why I want to replace it with a kitchen type bench arrangement where it is built in all the way to the floor.

    I have a reasonable amount of room in my shed, it's a 9m x 7m but I hate wasting space. Question is, what do you put in the corners? If you put the tailstock end of my lathe in one corner it means I loose room for a cupboard on the adjacent wall for about 1500mm. If I put a milling machine in a corner then I may regret it if I want to work on a larger or long item as I wont have the room.

    Should I just put the milling machine in the middle of one wall and the lathe in the middle of the other wall and make an island benchtop?

    I also try to section my shed using the portal frames as sections. That way I hope to use 1/3 for metal work, 1/3 for wood working and 1/3 for storage, or in between projects etc....

    I know that shed set up is very much an individual thing so I guess I just want some feedback on what others have done and if you have an island benchtop setup, are you happy with it? Does it work well?

    Thankyou,

    Simon

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Chapel Hill (Brisbane)
    Age
    53
    Posts
    59

    Default

    I made a new workbench this year (still going, haven't fitted the planned electric powered vises yet) Workbench - a set on Flickr

    It's mobile w/ locking wheels and since I recently added a metal lathe in the last free wall spot, it is now permanently in the center of the workshop with fixed machinery along all walls. Works well in my *very* crowded space.

    Cupboards on the corners, lathes and other machines around the walls, tablesaw and workbench down the middle axis.
    --
    The IEEE has monitored this posting and affirms that no energy was created or destroyed during its composition or transmission.

  3. #3
    Dave J Guest

    Default

    I sent you a pm with a drawing of my current shed layout.
    With the recent trouble I have had, I didn't want to post it here.

    Dave

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Australia east coast
    Age
    71
    Posts
    2,713

    Default

    Get a pallet jack and make your benches to suit. Whole problem goes away.

    I've got my table saw on a pallet base so I can move it out when I need to rip long lengths and tuck it against the wall when I don't. Ditto thickness planer. Ditto weldng tables etc.

    Seriously, once you make your benches etc with moving them using a pallet jack in mind, you'll wonder why you didn't do it years ago. I spent more money on castors than I did on the pallet jack.

    PDW

  5. #5
    Dave J Guest

    Default

    +1 on the pallet jacks. I have all my gear set up so the pallet jack can go under them to move them around. Lets face it, we will all keep buying tools and machines so we will continually need to move things around to fit more and more in.

    If you make your island bench so it has 2 slots in the bottom for a pallet jack, you could make some screw in pieces to close them up to stop anything going under their.

    Pallet jacks can be picked up for as cheap as $50 if you keep your eye out, new they are only around $250 anyway. They also come in 2 different widths.

    Dave

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    4,779

    Default

    I think you are all correct when it comes to pallet jacks/trolleys. They take up little space and are easy to manoeuvre. I borrowed a pallet jack from the wife's work some time back to do just that and it was great. So easy.

    Cheers,

    Simon

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Athelstone, SA 5076
    Posts
    4,255

    Default

    confirms my thoughts .....we all must have built our sheds too small???
    i will look into a pallet jack as well

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    4,779

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by eskimo View Post
    confirms my thoughts .....we all must have built our sheds too small???
    i will look into a pallet jack as well
    Yep. IMHO our house is way to big for what we need and the shed way to small!

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