New woodworker, no shop or bench yet.

[swp]

Hi,

I'm new to woodworking as a hobby. For now my main motivation is being able to make things for my home that fit better or fit my requirements better than store bought items. I've come across these forums while trying to find information on a variety of related subjects so figured I would benefit from joining you all.

Currently I have a few hand tools, a plunge router and a black and decker work bench. I don't have any bigger workshop tools, thought in the future I will consider buying them if they fit what I'm doing and in the space I have. Currently my working space is either outside or in my dining room. Neither is ideal as I can't leave my tools in a usable set up and when indoors I worry about the dust in the house.

We're looking to to move house currently and I should either get a garage to work in (shared with motorbikes) or possibly a shed in the garden if we get somewhere with the space to put one.

Do other people manage without a workshop using portable workbenches and tools, what are some tips for working in a portable manner until I can get going in a more permanent workshop?

 

[Rhossydd]

Hi, Welcome to the forum.

I started 'proper' woodworking when I bought my first flat and I was in a similar situation to you with only a B&D Workmate and a few tools to work with. Actually you can achieve quite a lot with it and thirty years on the workmate is still giving good service when I work inside the house.
With respect to working 'portably' I'd advise taking particular care of any edge tools (chisels, saws etc) when moving tool kits around. It's all too easy to damage blades and edges which is always frustrating when you come to start a new job. The little plastic covers for chisels can work well for this (although derided by some), similarly either a batten with a saw cut in it or plastic trim can protect a saw's teeth. Also worth taking good care of any eye safety wear you have to prevent them get scratched.
If you find yourself working much with power tools that generate a lot of dust and chippings like the router, you'll find getting some decent dust extraction organised is vital. A cheap wet & dry vacuum cleaner and some hose might be all you need, but will save your sanity and health.

 

[JJ1]

Hi,

I'm in a fairly similar situation, i.e. being relatively new to woodworking and having limited working space.

I live in a second floor flat and do all my woodworking on my balcony which is about 15' long by roughly 5' wide. During the summer months I tend to use the back garden instead and it's nice having the extra working space. The only downside is it means allowing an extra half an hour at either end of the day to set-up and pack away and running up and down the stairs with all the tools keeps you fit if nothing else

My work bench consists of two Black & Decker Workmates. One is set up to hold my home built router table and the second is what I tend to use as the main work top. Recently I've been finding the workmate very frustrating for clamping operations, with the work slipping no matter how hard I crank the clamping handles up. I dug out an old Stanley 702 vice which I picked up for very little from a car boot sale. I lined the vice jaws with cork and have it clamped to the corner of the workmate. I can't believe what a dramatic improvement it is over the workmate with regards to keeping the work held securely.

Unfortunately, one disadvantage with my working space, means that I can't envisage getting a much-wanted table saw or bandsaw any time soon as setting up and packing away a 50kg-100kg+ piece of machinery every day is going a bit too far :shock: I draw the line at a 28kg bench drill The plus side is having to learn how to use hand tools efficiently

Welcome to the forum.

 

[swp]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the welcome.

The advice on edged tools is good, I do take care with my chisels, and as my collection has grown recently I think I'll get a tool roll to keep them tidy and protected in. As for saws I lost the plastic strip on my first saw, which was a cheap one that I don't like very much and I'll probably replace before too long, the other saw I have is nicer to use but has a very flexible blade which I think makes it less accurate, I keep it protected in its cardboard sheath that it came in. I think I need to review my eyewear at some point to as I have goggle type things currently that steam up, on the plus side they seem quite resilient and I was given them. The only other cutting tool are a pair of planes, which I still need to learn how to properly care for the blades of.

A wet and dry vacuum is a good idea, I've had a look at some draper ones online, but not yet committed to buy one. It'd be more useful around the house for other tasks than a woodworking specific dust extractor too.

Regarding workmates, mine has certainly done me well, I've had it for about 6 years so far and it's doing well. The plastic claims that come with it do slip sometimes but I tend to find with some quickgrips you can hold most things steady and the problem becomes keeping the workmate still instead A decent vice would definitely come in handy, and I'm hoping I can get one on a good solid bench at some point. The 702 certainly looks good for a workshop that has to be put away, it's even aluminium so I suppose it's fairly light.

Thanks again.

Steve

 

[markblue777]

Hi swp,
Welcome to the forum, there is lots of good advice on here so have a read and look through the project and wip's and nice bit of inspiration through there.

I dont have a work bench either i run off a work mate with an 18mm mdf board bolted to it to give me a space of about 4ft wide by 3ft deep. It works for me at the moment i put a few holes in it to to hold various tools i use such as chisels and squares, even a couple of hooks to hang my saws from when not in use. I can then box all the tools away and fold the work mate up with the top still on and store it away. I have a little lidl router table that i screw onto my bench as well but looking at making a cutout to run the router through my make shift bench and working on a home made table saw top for my other work mate.

It also makes a nice platform for the chop saw as and sharpening station

Picked up one on the Stanley 702's as welli would recommend getting one of them also.

I am a bit lucky in that i have my scroll saw setup on the kitchen work top as the misses dont mind it being there and she likes me making stuff on it so that works to my favour but in not on it constantly anyway..

Cheers
Mark

 

[markblue777]

Also to protect your saw just get a length of hose pipe long enough to cover the blade, slice it open so the saw can slide into it, does a nice job of protecting it and id say get some 3 in 1 oil to help to keep the rust away. Will help the saw glide a bit easier as well if applied lightly with a rag (so it has a slight film and not dripping)

Cheers
Mark

 

[swp]

I dont have a work bench either i run off a work mate with an 18mm mdf board bolted to it to give me a space of about 4ft wide by 3ft deep. It works for me at the moment i put a few holes in it to to hold various tools i use such as chisels and squares, even a couple of hooks to hang my saws from when not in use. I can then box all the tools away and fold the work mate up with the top still on and store it away. I have a little lidl router table that i screw onto my bench as well but looking at making a cutout to run the router through my make shift bench and working on a home made table saw top for my other work mate.

Attaching a larger board to the top is a good idea, I had been wondering if I could make a router table that way, but I'm not sure whether a plunge router is the right router to use on a router table. Your router table is from Lidl? The supermarket? I've never seen anything like that in my Lidl. I hope you'll share some pictures of your home-made table saw when that's ready.

 

[markblue777]

A plunge router is fine to attach to it there are various youtube videos on showing how to use a car jack as a router lift so you can get more precise height adjustments (board over the bottom of the work mate and jack fixed on top of it, then a little box to fit around the router top that is attached to the jack securely, this link shows you a bit better than my words haha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNiuPzb5 ... XT86FXtIRQ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rseE0648 ... XT86FXtIRQ)

I am about to do this very thing on my work bench to double it up as a better router table. (found in a book that you could use 6 mm perspex as an insert plate for the router so will be doing that as well)

Ah sorry it was Aldi not Lidl but I think Lidl get them in as well every now and again. It is not the greatest thing but done what i needed it todo. It is like a table top one that i sit on the bench (but it does make it slightly to high for me as im only a short *** haha, hence the reason for making one combined with the work bench). How it sits does not let me have a router lift so i had to alter my router to make finer adjustments with some threaded rod and a couple of nuts, but easily reversible when i want to use the router away from the table.

I will be sharing some up here, just finishing off decorating the house so weekends have been taken up with that but hopefully Sunday I should be able to get back on it weather depending

Cheers
Mark