Torsion Beam and Saw Horse Rack

[gee-dub]

Shop organization; the endless enigma.  My saw horses end up left open which takes up space for no reason -or- leaned up in the corner along with my torsion beams, leaned against a machine, moved six times while I am doing something, etc. This morning I take my revenge!

I have some literally garbage ply scraps . . . they'll do.

I cut out some oversized blanks and laminate them to make thicker material.

From these laminated blanks I cut out the shapes that will fit the things I need to rack.

Once again taking good pics of the interiors of the walls before putting up insulation and wall board pays dividends as a reference.  I always feel better slamming a 3-1/2" screw into a stud when I know what is in there.

The area in front of the service panels should be left open.  I am bending that rule here.  I can still fully approach the service panels . . . . honest.  The rack parts end up looking like so.  You can see I have trimmed them to fit over the molding and a ground rod access cover.

The mounting is via counter bore and through holes into the 2x6 studs.

Now my saw horses and torsion beams have a permanent home.  They are out from under foot, not leaning against something where they may fall over, and are not where I will have to move them time and time again.  The racks are 32" tall x 8 " deep on 16" centers.

[wtnhighlander]

@gee-dub, what do you find the torsion beams most useful for?

[gee-dub]

On 9/28/2022 at 8:43 PM, wtnhighlander said:

@gee-dub, what do you find the torsion beams most useful for?

Most large case work.  I have a pair of ~3 foot and a pair of ~5 foot that seem to cover everything when paired with a set of saw horses or other platform.

They are fairly quick to make and have lasted many years.

[wtnhighlander]

Interesting! Do you think such beams would be stiff enough to serve as good references for pulling stubborn joinery into square with clamps? No matter how careful I am, there always seems to be at least one joint in a project that needs a little more persuasion to close, and my benchtop isn't always free to work against.

[gee-dub]

I have used them for that purpose with good success.  The torsion construction is surprisingly stout for the light weight.  Mine are 1/2" MDF tops and bottoms with 1/4" double tempered hardboard sides.  The "ribs" are 1/2" MDF as well.  I don't see that I posted a thread on them here.  I'll go ahead and do that.

As a disclaimer; in my previous shop I would never have had room for a rolling table.  The knock-down "X" platforms you see in the last pic above were my go-to.  I would just use a builder's level to get them true to mother earth and then trust them implicitly from that point on.

*** UPDATE *** For anyone interested I did a quick build thread on the beams here.

[BillyJack]

What size is your shop now? Mines around 600 Sq ft. 

Why would you have a rolling bench?

I've been using the same bench for 20+years.

 

[BillyJack]

Bear with me....

 

I've spent so  any years building products , the shop has always been second. Trying to understand and turn a new leaf you might say. Hard to change ones old habit and priorities...

[JohnG]

Everyone has different preferences for shop layout, tools, shop furniture/storage, and space usage. Something that’s critical to one person is useless to another. Neither is right or wrong. Some people have 200 sq ft, some have 600, and some have 3,000. 

[Coop]

On 10/3/2022 at 11:26 AM, BillyJack said:

Bear with me....

 

I've spent so  any years building products , the shop has always been second. Trying to understand and turn a new leaf you might say. Hard to change ones old habit and priorities...

After seeing @gee-dub’s, I put this on my Christmas list this past year. GREAT addition to a smallish shop.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-46-in-Adjustable-Height-Work-Table-with-2-Drawers-in-Black-HOLT4602B12/312063230

[BillyJack]

On 10/3/2022 at 6:15 PM, JohnG said:

Everyone has different preferences for shop layout, tools, shop furniture/storage, and space usage. Something that’s critical to one person is useless to another. Neither is right or wrong. Some people have 200 sq ft, some have 600, and some have 3,000. 

 

Shop layouts  are pretty easy for cabinet shops and furniture shops. We know how it enters and how it leaves. It's doing the least amount of work inbetween that's important. 

You have many who have never been in a shop and only see what's on line. Sometimes shops are designed incorrectly..

[JohnG]

On 10/4/2022 at 2:20 PM, BillyJack said:

 

Shop layouts  are pretty easy for cabinet shops and furniture shops. We know how it enters and how it leaves. It's doing the least amount of work inbetween that's important. 

You have many who have never been in a shop and only see what's on line. Sometimes shops are designed incorrectly..

Yes, in an over simplified world it is that easy. And in that same simplified world cabinet shops and furniture shops are making one product in an open industrial/commercial space with dock doors, ample clear height, and blank walls it’s easy to lay out the shop equipment that is optimized for the product they make. 

But what about the home shops that might only have a single mandoor access to the shop and have doors, windows, stairs, and hvac, etc breaking up the space? You can’t always simplify to to follow the workflow of the material. Especially since the hobby shop might make a much wider range of projects than a commercial shop.

[BillyJack]

It still has to enter and exit.  I worked out of a basement with one door and stairs. You still want to organize function..

 

In the 80's I worked on a open carport. When I moved from Alabama to Kansas City my shop was in my wife's grand mothers basement. I eventually bought a mobile home and worked in a 10x10 shed. After I bought the current house.

So I've done the "what about home shops"

 

I believe it was between 1987 and 1988 I built my first kitchen  cabinets or a customer. It was his home he was building. I built all the cabinets on the floor of his new house  and he ordered the doors. I got $500

 

Yes, I have been on both sides of the fence as a professional and as a hobby woodworker.

[wtnhighlander]

I find that space to assemble cabinet sized items is my biggest challenge in the small shop. A large part of my time is spent assembling and dis-assembling components to check and adjust joinery, while keeping all the parts separated for storage between work sessions. Rarely can I glue up sub-assemblues and work on other stuff while they dry, as I can't move around them.

[JohnG]

On 10/4/2022 at 6:12 PM, BillyJack said:

It still has to enter and exit.  I worked out of a basement with one door and stairs. You still want to organize function..

 

In the 80's I worked on a open carport. When I moved from Alabama to Kansas City my shop was in my wife's grand mothers basement. I eventually bought a mobile home and worked in a 10x10 shed. After I bought the current house.

So I've done the "what about home shops"

 

I believe it was between 1987 and 1988 I built my first kitchen  cabinets or a customer. It was his home he was building. I built all the cabinets on the floor of his new house  and he ordered the doors. I got $500

 

Yes, I have been on both sides of the fence as a professional and as a hobby woodworker.

Congrats.

[BillyJack]

On 10/4/2022 at 7:13 PM, wtnhighlander said:

I find that space to assemble cabinet sized items is my biggest challenge in the small shop. A large part of my time is spent assembling and dis-assembling components to check and adjust joinery, while keeping all the parts separated for storage between work sessions. Rarely can I glue up sub-assemblues and work on other stuff while they dry, as I can't move around them.

 

I had a storage unit rented. I would build my doors and drawers first , then cut the box parts out and build 3-4  cabinets and  fit out with doors and drawers and at the end of the day take to storage.  I would repeat this till the job was done. At this time I would rent a 24' box truck from tge storage rental place and load and install. At the time cost me about $70 a month for state a month and $125 for the truck plus fuel. My sets were between $4800 - $13,000

[Chestnut]

I like the idea of the torsion box beams. Quite a few times I've put a large piece of plywood on my bench to accomplish something similar but it's never flat.

Is there a reason MDF is always used? Cost? Smoothness? Part of my brain is thinking that regular ply would work just as well but be considerably lighter?

[gee-dub]

Plywood surfaces are not really very flat compared to standard MDF for some tasks.  For the purposes of the beams I think plywood would be just fine. I just happened to have the 1/2” MDF since I use it for templates.

[BillyJack]

MDF or PB are both good for smooth surfaces...