Apartment Sized Workbench Tutorial.....My Hope !

Researching The Workbench

I have been up and down the net until I finally reached the end of the net. Who would believe it ?

Along the way I found some very interesting Benches. So many great ideas ! There is such a wealth of info out there, it's incredible !

I was looking for a small Workbench that would allow me to work in a space of 8' x 8 1/2' . I

figure a 48" length would suit my needs for now. The width I don't know yet. I doubt I will be

building any large projects right away. I don't want the Bench to be a permanent fixture in my

Dining Room. When I have guests I would like to use it as Dining space. Making the Bench so it

knocks down easily and can be put aside or under a Bed would also be nice.

While I was searching the net, an anonymous viewer to my Blog suggested I look at a nice Workbench built by Tim Williams ( Asheville Woodworking School ). It's on the Blog of Chris

Schwartz at http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/ under Workbenches and under

the title " The Joinery Bench". That is a fantastic small Bench ! However, I need a Bench that

is a bit more versatile.

Also on the Chris Schwartz Blog is a Bench made by Ken Woodruff under the title "A Blog for

the Shopless", and the Blog is at http://roughwood.kennethwoodruff.com. This Bench folds

and fits under a Bed.

It was not enough, I needed more !!! I found more ! On the Chris Schwartz Blog. It gave me a

lot of direction and soon the wheels in my head were turning. After a few days more I came

across this Blog by David Pruett at http://foldingrule.blogspot.com/. David's Bench is a

Modified New-Fangled Workbench. I like a lot of the ideas and I think they will work for my

needs. David's Bench was inspired by a Bench built by John White of Fine Woodworking

Magazine. John called it "The New Fangled Workbench".

Finally I ended up at http://logancabinetshoppe.weebly. com/blog.html. This is the Blog of

Bob Rozaieski who also had some great ideas and suggestions.

I will most likely use a little bit of everyones Bench ideas and design to suit my own needs. As

it should be, I suppose. I have some wood kicking around. Some given or donated and the rest

I plan to buy at Big Box, making it easy to get going on this project.

My hope is to show this as an easy build that anyone may accomplish.

So next I have to work on some designs. I'm not very computer savvy yet, so the designs will

be hand drawn for now.

Happy Trails,

- Joe

LIFE IS A HIGHWAY..........I'm Back!

Hey....It's been a while since I posted anything. Been through a lot of changes. About 2 months after my first post I moved out of my house where I was slowly setting up a woodworking shop in my basement. I then moved to an apartment half the size of my house. Also I had some health issues along the way. Got a bit depressed about having no place to do woodworking. I did however spend a lot of time reading woodworker's blogs. I came across a number of people in similar circumstances that were working out of apartments, balconies, and other small spaces. But it's a new day, so I decided to stop complaining and start doing !!! I realized that the Past is the Past, it's done and I can't do a thing about it except learn and move on. It's all up to me, so here I go...........

In my small apartment there is a space that was a dining area. Here's a couple of pictures. I know, it looks like I'm still moving in. I have to change that! I have to clean it up and this area has to be multi-functional. I'll need a small workbench . The Workmate just doesn't cut it. It's too light for plane work and lacks versatility. So, first thing I have to do is make a bench. My space is 8' by 8 1/2' and I believe I may be able to fit a bench in diagonally maybe about 4' long. I have to give it some heft or weight and it has to be able to come apart for storage or for multi use.

Designing a workbench comes next.........

Happy Trails - Joe