In a recent poll of woodworkers, the most common complaint, by far, was
that their shops were too small. Even one guy with 5,000 square feet
thought he was cramped! In spite of that, most of us would like to be
able to turn out dining room tables, kitchen cabinets and other big
projects. Well, if your shop and tools are small, but your dreams are
gigantic, here are some ideas that will help.
A Nest of Crickets
Call them low boys, stools or crickets—whatever you call them, these
stands are amazingly useful. And because they nest, they're perfect for
a cramped shop. You can make four of them out of one sheet of 3⁄4-in.
plywood. The 16-in. height is just right for large work that might not
fit on normal sawhorses. For working around the house, that extra
height makes it easy to reach the ceiling. If that's not reason enough,
when your buddies come over to give you “helpful” shop advice, you've
got plenty of seating.
see the layout
Use a Router for Crosscuts
Ever tried to trim the ends on an 8-ft. dining table in a shop that's
only 9-ft. wide? The trick is to use a router instead of your tablesaw.
Rough-cut the top with a circular saw or jig saw first, using a fine
blade to avoid splintering. Then use a simple T-square jig and a router
with a straight bit to trim the work to length. Note that one leg of
the T-square has already been trimmed by the router, so you can simply
line up that end with your cutting line. Hang on to the jig and use it
only with that router and bit. I once made a bunch of cabinets without
using a tablesaw at all. I simply rough-cut the pieces with a circular
saw, then trimmed them to final size with a router.
Cut Dadoes with a Router
Here's the scene: You're building an entertainment center and the
sides are 7-ft. high and almost 3-ft. deep (big enough for that
big-screen TV you've always wanted). But the sides have to be dadoed
for shelves. Forget trying to use a dado head on the tablesaw, unless
you happen to have 8-ft. rails on your saw! Instead, use a router and
this easily made jig: Make the jig from a straight board and a piece of
1⁄8- or 1⁄4-in. plywood or hardboard wide enough to extend 4 in. on
either side of the board. Glue and screw together, then trim the bottom
board using your router and a straight bit. The diameter of the bit
should be whatever size you plan to use for the dado. I trim one side
with a 1⁄2-in. bit and the other side with a 3⁄4-in. bit. To cut the
dado, simply line up the edge of the jig with wherever you want the
dado.
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Ceiling Drawers
To eke out every cubic inch of storage in a basement shop, try
these boxes that hang between your ceiling joists. When a drawer is
down, you have easy access to its contents. A lag screw or bolt works
well for a pivot and a pair of pivoting cleats holds each drawer in
place. They're perfect for tools and supplies you don't need to get at
all the time.
Collapsible Work Stands
In a small shop, the more things that can be folded up and moved
out of the way, the better. These work stands are easy to build, easy
to store and cheap. They're especially good for finishing and gluing up
panels. One sheet of 5⁄8-in. AC plywood will yield six stands. If you
make them the same height as your tablesaw they will double as infeed
and outfeed supports.
See the layout 1-1
See the layout 1-2
Rough-Cut Plywood
It's awkward to manhandle plywood in a small shop and sometimes
your cuts aren't accurate just because the sheets are so unwieldy. One
solution is to rough-cut the pieces with a circular saw and then make
final cuts on your tablesaw. Lay the plywood on top of a piece of
building foam, use a fine-tooth blade in your saw and set the saw so it
cuts just 1⁄8-in. deeper than the plywood. Then simply kneel on top to
cut. It's much easier than sawhorses. Make sure that you leave a
factory edge on each piece that you cut. Although you may have to trim
it off later, it's essential as a reference for your first cut on the
tablesaw.
Pay for Service
For some situations, the easiest thing to do is to pay a larger
shop to do the work. For example, a wide belt sander, shown at left, is
great for leveling glued-up tabletops, especially if the grain is curly
or otherwise difficult to plane. You'll find one in cabinet shops and
even some large school shops. Cost to have this done is variable, but
generally low.
Joint Edges with a Router
Trying to joint the edges of 8-ft. long by 12⁄3-in.-thick
hard-maple boards on a small jointer can end in disaster. Use a router,
guided by a long straightedge, instead. The factory edge on a piece of
hardwood plywood is sufficiently straight. Clamp the straightedge to
the board so you're removing about 1⁄16 in. Use a straight 1⁄2-in. or
3⁄4-in. bit with a guide bearing above the bit.
Easy-to-Store Clamp Racks
In a small shop, there's no room for a dedicated glue-up table, and
often no room for much of an assembly table either. But you can make
room for edge gluing with these clamp racks that fasten to sawhorses
when needed.
See layout 1
See layout 2
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