Zero foot print workbench/scaffold

[AndyBarnhart]

Warning - Redneck Carpentry ahead!
(I am allowed to say that since I was born in Alabama and raised in Georgia ).

If you were looking for Fine Woodworking, you should have turned around when you heard the banjo music.

This was a quick shop project to get moving forward again; I seem to be spinning my wheels lately largely because I have too much going on in too little space. So I thought of a way to address it quickly using whatever material was on hand without taking too much time. And I know zero footprint is impossible; it just fits in and around stuff that was already there. OK, the disclaimers are done...

One problem I have is that I have more and more short pieces in the type of work I have been doing. I had built a storage rack that hangs from the I-beam in the garage a few years back and it was fine for long pieces, but shorts that didn't span between the cross members had to be stacked on long boards and it rained lumber when you moved things around. So the first thing I did was give that a bottom and back to hold shorts. OSB of the needed size was on hand:



But this introduced another problem. The step stool I usually use (which I have to drag out from the kitchen) isn't tall enough to easily deal with this shelf, and my 6' stepladder, while handy, requires a fair amount of open space. I came up with the idea of building a table/bench/scaffold that I could step up onto. It would have to fit over the trash cans and recycle bins that sat there but still allow easy access to them. And it had to hold my weight plus some wood. This is what I came up with using material I had on hand:





4x4 legs and a top that I ripped out of a ply top pallet. The big legs let me leave it largely open without it being spindly. Well, the stuff fits under it and it provides another work surface; how about that other requirement?

One not so small step for man...



And here I am!



I wouldn't dance around too much, but it is pretty darn stable. Easy access to the wood shelf:



And a nice aerial view of my tiny shop:



Now I have to get back to work on the stuff I really want to do...

[Bas]

Redneck carpentry? That ain't redneck carpentry! There's no duct tape used here!

So, what went through your mind when you first stepped onto the bench. "Hey y'all, watch this?"

Nice job. It doesn't always have to be pretty. It does what it is supposed to do. Or, as Red Green puts it, if the women don't find you handsome, they can at least find you handy.

[AndyBarnhart]

Originally Posted by Bas

Redneck carpentry? That ain't redneck carpentry! There's no duct tape used here!

So, what went through your mind when you first stepped onto the bench. "Hey y'all, watch this?"

Nice job. It doesn't always have to be pretty. It does what it is supposed to do. Or, as Red Green puts it, if the women don't find you handsome, they can at least find you handy.

Thanks! Happy Birthday again (for a few more minutes) !

No duct tape - I think OSB and talcum powder are the only two things known to man that it won't adhere to well.

I had moved it around a bit before I stepped up there so I knew how sturdy it was and I wasn't too worried. The tough part is going to be keeping it clear enough to safely get up there.

[jeff...]

Where's the bailing wire and duckt tape?

[AndyBarnhart]

Originally Posted by jeff...

Where's the bailing wire and duckt tape?

I tried to explain that this was not Fine Woodworking (nor was it auto repair) so I did not use my precision joinery tools. But here they are:



Does this count as a gloat?

[Gotcha6]

What?????? Sandals without socks? You ain't no redneck, just a wannabe. Nice job on the storage & access issue. Good thing OSHA doesn't make housecalls.

[AndyBarnhart]

Originally Posted by Gotcha6

What?????? Sandals without socks? You ain't no redneck, just a wannabe. Nice job on the storage & access issue. Good thing OSHA doesn't make housecalls.

Hmmm...
I tend to think of the sandals-and-socks thing at the other end of the spectrum - the uber nerd. But I have to admit, despite my pedigree, I have some decidedly non Redneck tendancies.
As far as the safety thing, I think the odds of it falling over or collapsing are very slim, largely due to the legs being outside the box. Walking off the edge while messing with wood might be an OSHA concern.

[RandyJ]

Nice job, Andy! That's usin' the ol' noggin

[Mike Davis]

We might be cousins except I was born in Miami, grew up in Alabama and was raised in Georgia. All my kids were born in GA except the youngest and she was born in Winston-Salem. She never gets all the GA jokes.

Nice work bench!

You gonna send that in to Redneck Woodworking Magazine? Might be a tidy royalty check waitin for ya.

[JimmyC]

Nice workbench Andy, but your shop looks out of place with sheetrock on the walls, shouldn't the walls be covered with old Esso, Cheerwine, and Nabs sign boards.

Jimmy

[AndyBarnhart]

People in Georgia get no sympathy from me; they tell Alabama jokes there. In Alabama they tell Mississippi jokes. I am not sure if that is where it stops or not...

[Mike Davis]

Mississippi tell Arkansas jokes, that's where it ends.

[AndyBarnhart]

Not so; Arkansas pulled a good one on all of us.

<It's just a little humor and it has nothing to do with my political leaning>

[Steve W]

It just keeps going around the continent until it stops at Newfoundland

Bas, glad to find someone else who's seen Red Green. One of his other memorable quotes: "Spare the duct tape -- spoil the job!"

Quando omni flunkus moritati...

Steve

[AndyBarnhart]

Here's the King of (actually "in") Duct Tape: