Setting up Shop

E

ErikD

Joined
Dec 5, 2000
Messages
1,875
I am just starting to get my knife shop setup. I have a few questions for those who have went down this road already, and found out what works best.

At the moment I have the following equipment:
Delta 1x30 belt sander
Craftsman 2x42 belt sander
Craftsman 12" drill press
Craftsman miter saw with cutoff wheel to cut stock to length
6" vise - this seems to large, thinking of getting like a 3" for knives

At the moment I have one workbench along most of one of the walls. This will eventually be getting replaced, but for now I need to make due with it. I have all of my tools on this one bench, plus a 9x12 granite block, and it is a bit crowded to do any actual work on. I just built a 2'x 2' table to put the chop saw on, as I don't use it that often and when I do I need plenty of space around it for long stock.

My question is would it be best to have a few of these smaller stations for say the chop saw, and drill press? Then I would have a nice big bench for my grinders and vise. Or have you found it better to build a big as possible bench for each tool? At the moment I am thinking of just using the smaller benchs for my drill press and chop saw. Then I can have room around my grinder to work comfortably. So any pros/cons on using a smaller workstation for individual tools would help me out a lot.

I am also thinking I need to get a bandsaw as soon as money will allow, and a mill too. So I will need some space for them too when I get them. My shop is in my basement, so I have plenty of room to add workbenches, tool stands etc as needed. Just need to know what the best way to go is. Thanks in advance.
 
In my opinion smaller work stations are a great way to go. You can obviously make these as large or small as you want (i.e. a single stand for a single tool or a single bench with stations dedicated to just your grinders/sanders). I think your main concern is how much space you have to work with and where you electrical outlets are. A large work surface where you can spread out and isn't being contaminated by grinder/sander debris is nice, however large horizontal surfaces are magnets for astonishing amounts of "stuff". I'm currently building a small bench just so I can get my 2"x72" grinder and 4"x36" sander off my main work bench.

In my opinion, a good 2"x72" grinder would be of more importance than a mill, but a mill would be awful nice to have especially if you want to build folders. There are some good quality mini-mills out there. I would however go for a bandsaw,(I assume you are speaking of the metal cutting variety?) The cheaper horizontal/vertical models from Grizzly and Harbor Freight are one of the best bargains as far as useful power tools for the knifemakers shop that I can think of.
 
Hey Erik,

I have my shop in the basement also. If you take a look at these pics, you can see the setup I have. Look in this first one, and you can see benches around a central bench. The central bench concept is nice because you can access whatever you are working on from any side. The bench you see right there is empty and the top is flipped while I am working on it. I'm refinishing it because I welded up a new set of legs for it. Those wobbly old gray ones just aint working for me. I have my panavise, fordom tool, and hand-sanding clamp all attached to this central bench. It seems to be a real nice timesaver to have all those there at once. The blue and white benches I bought from an office equipment reseller. They came from a doctor's office! Nice roller bearing slides in the drawers - all steel. Composite tops I added myself.

Shoplights.jpg


Then there's the follwing pic showing the other side (well part of it) with a bader bIII grinder and the other part of that bench has my 1x48 rockwell grinder and a 12" disc grinder, plus my bench grinder with scotchbrite wheels on it.

catch1.jpg


Hope this helps. :p
 
Higgy, that is way to clean. It looks like you need to have a NECKA hammer-in at your shop to break it in.:cool: :D :eek:
 
If my shop was that neat, I'd be out ice fishing too. Wonderful way to keep it clean.

Steve
 
Shop that clean, I don't know.... I think Jeff's been watching too much "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." Where's the random shop towls loaded with oil, metal shavings and blood?

Tim
 
Jeff, please let me send you a box full of dirt, metal shavings, little pieces of wood, old screws, broken stuff, empty beer cans and half eaten Bratwurst... that way you can throw it all over your shop so it wont be sooooo clean!!! :-)
 
Higgy's just showing off, he loves all the heartburn you're giving him. :D I bet his shop gets as crusty as the rest of ours. I clean mine after every project because it's in our basement too and all that stuff has an insidious way of finding its way into the rest of the house... My biggest problem is no ventiliation.

Erik, I will second Guy's suggestion to get a HF bandsaw sooner than later. In my view of life, it's the third power tool a knifemaker should have, after drill press and 2X72 grinder. It'll let you do things you otherwise wouldn't consider.

I also recommend you set your grinder up with a 10" wheel, flat platen surfaced with pyroceram, and tool rests all around. Rob's big tool rests look fantastic, the little ones that came with my BIII are pretty lame for our work. I bought a serrated wheel and have wished it was smooth. A smooth 14" wheel is in my future. ;)

I cannot recommend Rob Frink's work highly enough. My next grinder will be a KMG. I built a 9" disk grinder with Roger Linger's and Steve Sando's handholding, using one of Rob's tapered disks and a bunch of old mainframe structural parts. It rules.

Use all the light you can. I have florescents all over, and put clamp on spots at every station. I have mixed bulb types to get all the variety of light I can, and I think it helps. Full spectrum bulbs give true color and maybe the new wave folks are right that it makes you feel better than incandescent or florescent alone. (Please forgive my spelling, I'm too lazy to check...)

Good luck! You sound like you have the right idea and will make some (more?) great knives. Be sure to share your work here. Nothing makes knifemakers feel better than looking at handmade knives. :D
 
Originally posted by Kevin Wilkins
Jeff, please let me send you a box full of dirt, metal shavings, little pieces of wood, old screws, broken stuff, empty beer cans and half eaten Bratwurst... that way you can throw it all over your shop so it wont be sooooo clean!!! :-)
Click to expand...

Kevin, what you really could send me is a nice hot Fleischkase on a Brotchen, mit mittlesharfer senf. BITTE!

"Where's the random shop towls loaded with oil, metal shavings and blood?" --Tim W.

Tim, I'm ex-military. That should say a lot. Besides, CLEAN SHOP + CLEAN MIND = CLEAN BLADES.

"I bet his shop gets as crusty as the rest of ours." Dave L.

Yeah... you should see whats on the other side of that purty white wall...

:barf:
 
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