[JohnnyG73]

I have been tinkering around with small projects for several months now and it's about time I get serious and down to business. I need to stop trying to build things and do projects when I do not have a decent place set up to work. I moved recently and am renting a house. I don't have a garage so the only logical place would be the basement. The landlord does not mind if I use the basement.

The current setup is bad. Each time I use a tool I have to dig it out, carry it to the only electrical outlet, and then put it away before I get the next tool out. It is clear that my next project should be the shop itself.:yes:

The basement space I can use is 13' x 40' and has an additional 10' x 11' room. It is poorly lit and has only one electrical outlet. I will have to share this space with a washer, dryer, furnace, and hot water heater.

Being that I am renting, nearly everything I build will have to be modular. Any additional lighting and electrical work I do will be permanent.

I have to start somewhere. Nearly all of the unneeded stuff lying around in these pictures will be moved into the spare bed room. The rafters do make for great clamp storage.

Everything is really messy right now. Having everything organized will be a priority.

After cleaning up the junk and getting some better lighting and electrical run, my first shop improvement project will be to get my sliding compound miter saw off the floor and onto a table. This wall is about 16' from the stairs on the left to the dryer on the right. That is more than enough room for the miter saw.

The small 10' x 11' side room (not pictured) I plan to put a door on and use for finishing. As I make progress I will update this thread.

 

[rayking49]

Good luck, and I'm watching.

 

[Acercanto]

Well, as a bonus, you're already wired for 220, since the dryer's down there! :-D Good luck with the shop.

Acer

 

[JohnnyG73]

Well, as a bonus, you're already wired for 220, since the dryer's down there! :-D Good luck with the shop.

Acer

Funny that you mention being wired for 220. I just got an old Craftsman table say from my dad that was wired for 220. It also hadn't been used in more than 20 years. It's a fairly big saw measuring over 4' wide with the extension. I wondered if I would really needed the power of a 220 volt motor and decided to rewire the motor back to 110 volt so the dryer and saw could run at the same time. It only took about 15 minutes so I can easily convert back up anytime if I find the need.

The owners manual was printed in 1969 so it's fairly old. It's called a "Tilting Arbor Bench Saw" according to the manual.

My landlord agreed about the lack of lighting and electrical outlets and will install both in the next week or two for me. (It's his long term investment after all)

I have almost all the junk cleared out so I will begin work on my miter saw station. 2' x 8' sanded sheets of 3/4" plywood were on sale so I picked some up along with some 2" x 8" x 8' quality boards. I looked at several designs in books and online and decided to build one similar to the one Steve built in the down to earth woodworker videos he shares on youtube.

 

[captainawesome]

Looks like you've got your work cut out for you! I'll be following along with this one seeing as how I'm kind of in the same boat. We just moved to a new place as well. Fortunately/unfortunately, it is my long term investment, so I will be forking out the cash to update all the lighting and electrical.

I've got a leg up on you already though because my shop came with TWO receptacles!!! hahaha

 

[JohnnyG73]

Trying to follow instructions as best as possible I clamped the two sheets of 2' x 8' plywood together so the dados would line up perfectly. I'm building the finished side inward because the top surface will have laminate anyway.

The days of using a 4x4 to support wood for my miter saw are numbered.

The back will have a board inset full length. This will help make it stronger.

It's gonna have 5 drawers. Tomorrow I will get the saw support put in place in the empty section. This should eliminate any flexing all the way across.

 

[JohnnyG73]

Today I started with ripping the grooves for the saw platform.

In the rear of the saw platform I made a hole with a chamber for dust collection. I only drilled out a 1/4" hole in the bottom for now until I know the exact size of the vacuum hose flange I will use.

I wish I had more and longer clamps but I got the back cut and inserted and glued it the best I could.

 

[JohnnyG73]

Checking out how the saw will fit and getting a rough idea of how far back it can be mounted and still turn to a 45deg cut.

I plan to make a removable dust hood so I have to get an idea how far back the saw sits at its rearward most position.

I have never made drawers before so it will be a learning experience all the way. What size slides should I get if the drawer cavities are 23" deep and one is 17 3/4" deep? I never did this before and any advise is welcome.

 

[gus1962]

You have enough room for your tools.
Great progress. It's looking good.

 

[JohnnyG73]

Got the drawers built and installed. Next will be the drawer fronts and trim, and then a removable dust hood behind the saw.

 

[MattS]

Looking sharp! I like the drawers - if I had enough room for a dedicated miter saw table I could see using this design. Thanks for the continued photo sharing!

 

[Paul W Gillespie]

Looking good on the shop and miter station. I am in the same boat as far as the making the basement into a wood shop. I am just about two years into my conversion from cluttered basement into usable workshop space. Here is my chronicle of basement conversion. I am luck that I own the house, well me, the wife and the bank.

This was early in the progress

This is closer to where I am today. I actually need to update this album, cause I am getting closer to clearing out most of the junk. Still need to solve my wood storage problem.

The whole album of workshop pics it here. http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/members/paul-w-gillespie-22102/albums/woodshop-progress/

 

[JohnnyG73]

@ Paul

Your shop looks great. Its come a long way! I have a question. It looks like you have a Ridgid sander mounted upside down under your parallel planer. How does that work? What I mean is, is it a shelve that flips over depending on what you want to use or a shelve that flips up when you need to sand something? I just purchased the same sander and I really like it.:thumbsup:

 

[jharris2]

Johnny,

Many of us have built that "flip top" tool stand.

I built two of them and only inalled one machine on each one.

I have a small shop and need to park my planer and sander under my RAS bench.

This approach works great for me.

 

[jharris2]

 

[jharris2]

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/flip-top-tool-stand-54509/

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/flip-top-tool-stand-48797/

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/another-flip-top-cart-45326/

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/flip-top-tool-cart-build-43915/

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/flip-top-tool-stand-42497/

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/looking-flip-over-revolving-rotating-spinning-work-benches-23721/

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/another-flip-top-tool-stand-35973/

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/flip-top-portable-work-center-21925/

 

[Chaincarver Steve]

Ahh, nothing like the adventure of setting up a new workspace. It's not always necessarily fun but at least you have full control over the outcome. And that in itself is a great place to be. Best of luck to you. I'll be following along on your journey. Maybe you'll come up with a few ideas I can steal for use in my own (crowded) workspace.

... the only electrical outlet...

... my shop came with TWO receptacles!!! hahaha

Oh snap! :laughing:

It's great that the landlord is willing to have more outlets and lighting installed at his expense. :thumbsup: One thing's for sure, it needs to be done.

 

[Paul W Gillespie]

Yes, it is the "Flip Top Tool Cart." I built it from plans in the book from Shop Notes called The Complete Small Shop. Here was my build thread from the project. Seems to be a popular and handy project that many of us here built.

 

[JohnnyG73]

That Flip Top Tool Cart build has a lot of potential. I will keep it in mind as I move along. Thanks!

I skipped the drawer fronts and trim for the moment and tried to come up with a dust hood. I only had a rough idea of what I wanted it to be like so I made it up as went along today. The entire thing comes off by removing only four screws.

It accepts the slide of the saw in its rearward position at any angle of cut. I used hard board. It's not much for looks but I hope it keeps most of the dust contained and off the wall and floor.

I will remove it to apply the laminate top and then re-secure it using screws from the back.

 

[MasterSplinter]

WOW! Huge basement