Workbenches A good sturdy workbench is essential for every workshop. It is important to choose a workbench that is both stable and is the correct height. Stability is perhaps the most essential element as your piece of wood will be affected if it is moving about. As you are constantly using the workbench it is important to have the right size so as not to cause backache from the constant bending over.

Workshop Organization Tips

Five projects for a better shop—adjustable sawhorses, a super-handy tool rack, a workbench with storage space, a miter saw stand and a silencer for your shop vacuum. They're all low cost, can be built in a day and are essential for the small shop.

Top 10 Accessories Every Woodworker Should Have

While every beginning woodworker focuses his/her budget on the woodworking tools necessary to outfit the shop, there are a number of shop accessories that are not only useful, but in some cases, absolutely necessary. In this article, we outline our Top 10 Shop Accessories for every wood shop. As you'll see, some of these are items you can build yourself, while others are tools that aren't always associated with woodworking, but useful in the wood shop nonetheless.

Instructions for Building the Hand Tool Storage Rack

These hand tool storage racks can be built to the size that best fits various wood shop layouts and available wall space. The ones pictured on the are 4’ high by 4’ wide and could have been built 4’ high by 8’ wide or any other size to fit your wall space. You decide on the size that best fits your wood shop plans. The racks pictured are built from poplar. Although poplar is considered a hard wood, it is one of the softer hardwoods and is much less expensive. It is also easy to work with and tends to finish straight once cut and planed. Because it is softer, you have a little flexibility in getting a good tight fit for the tool holders that sit over the edge of the slats.

How to Build the Ultimate Clamp Rack

If you have a big shop, a roll-around clamp rack is better than any wall-mounted system. It holds every type of clamp in one compact space, and you can wheel it right up to your work area. That saves miles of walking back and forth to the clamp rack. Forget walking back and forth to the clamp rack. Build this roll-around rack and have the clamps right where you’re working.

More Shop Setup Solutions

I collect nuts and bolts like a magnet. But I couldn't use them if I couldn't find them, so I needed a way to quickly size and sort them. In a piece of scrap lumber, I mounted T-nuts of the most common thread sizes and wrote the size of the nut next to it. I drilled a hole at the top of the sizer and hung it on the perforated hardboard over my workbench.

Building a Lumber Rack

I always keep a selection of lumber near the workshop. Because hardwood is expensive to buy, I salvage hardwood whenever I can. And it's also good to always have a few 2x4's and such handy, seeing that I keep using them up for various projects. So logically enough, I need a place to keep the lumber. The lumber rack had to be fairly shallow, so as not to obstruct too much of the hallway. I decided to use a simple mortise and tenon design, with relatively short arms sticking out from the wall. The arms have a bump on the end of them, to keep stuff from slipping off by accident.

Lend a Hand in Woodwork Shop Organization

Various Tool Racks, Tool Holders and Jigs to lend a hand in wood shop organization