Workbench tool tray - Yay or nay?

[Mark Gottesman]

Hope to get a proper workbench built this year. I see some benches with and some without tool trays. There are a lot of threads around the web, but after reading for a while I am still undecided as to whether it is needed or not. So, what does the NCWW have to say on the topic?

 

[KenOfCary]

My workbench doesn't have one but I've often wondered if it would be useful. Since every work surface in my shop seems to accumulate tools and other stuff on it, I'm not sure if a tray would be beneficial or just be another place where stuff would accumulate. I'd also be interested in answers you receive here.

 

[Berta]

Sounds like a horizontal surface that has permission to be filled up. Just stick a bushel basket to toss everything in...it will be easier.

 

[Mike Davis]

I had one on my little bench and will probably add one to my current bench.
Just a small tray to hold marking tools.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

I have a tray running down the center of my bench, and I find it useful. If I have small hand tools or marking/measuring equip. on the bench and I need to clear it for a large work piece, I can quickly put everything in the tray. Then I can grab it easily as I need it, or when I'm finished w/ the larger piece.

On the down side, it does seem to gather a lot of debris and has to be cleaned out occasionally. :tinysmile_cry_t:

 

[Charles Lent]

Mine always has everything BUT tools in it. I think my bench would be better off without a tool tray, but it's there.

Charley

 

[bob vaughan]

I've built all kinds of things over the last 45 years and never felt compelled to have one for any reason. A lower shelf where things can be temporarily be stashed is necessary for efficiency. Moving a project around on the bench would probably bump into whatever was taller than the tray depth.

 

[Kent Adams]

My bench doesn't have one. I think you have to decide what your workflow is like and how a tray may help or hinder what you're doing, personally. For me, if I were someone that always put things away in their proper place, I think a tool tray would be useful. However, I'm afraid if I had a tray on my bench, it would be another place to capture dust and I'd put tools in there that probably didn't belong and then scratch my head looking for them a week later. But that's just me, everyone is different. I would need to be pretty disciplined (compared to how I work today) to make good use of a tool tray. For me, if a tool is out and in plain sight, I'm more apt to put it away.

 

[golfdad]

Im with Bill. I have one but it is also a catchall.......

 

[MarkE]

Had one on a previous work bench but did not find it very useful, it just seemed to reduce the available work surface.

None of my current benches/worktables have tool trays. I find a lower shelf or two to be more useful.

 

[AllanD]

Mine has one. I plan to add another bench and the next one will not have a tray. I looked in the tray the other day and found some toy parts from when I repaired a toy for my daughter. Embarrassing to say but she is now in her mid-twenties.

 

[cyclopentadiene]

I have one and it ends up being a mess of tools and wood shavings that take longer to clean up than necessary. If it were not there perhaps I would put my tools back in the cabinet and clean up would be easier.
It does however work conveniently to keep tools from falling onto the floor and damaging the blades.

 

[Roy G]

I think I have a tray on my bench, but I can't see for sure because of all the other stuff on top of the bench.

Roy G

 

[matt roberts]

I have on in my bench and like it. It makes an easy place to slide things to clear off the whole bench for a large piece. Mine is just deeper than a plane on its side. I added a sliding section in the middle to quickly sweep out dust and shavings as well. It doesn't really waste room for me since the back of the tool tray is on the same plane as the rest of the bench a part large enough to need the whole bench just rests on the back edge, spanning the tray.

 

[joec]

I have a split top bench and the center has two sliding trays that I can take out if I want to clamp through the center. I have ended up using them for measuring tools. I find them useful.

 

[Pop Golden]

YES! They collect clutter, but I wouldn't be without one. That's were my dogs, bench brush, nail sets & ice pick lives.

Pop

 

[Barron]

I think you are better off without one, but if you do build one with a tray, make sure you can remove the bottoms - it makes cleaning out all the junk the tray collects much easier. One good idea, I think from Wood Talk, is to make the trays reversible - with the bottoms up you have a flat bench top, with the tray bottoms down you have storage. Good luck.

 

[Richo B]

When I built my bench I thought about making a tool tray that could attach on the side but then decided against it. With the amount of hammering I do with a mallet for making mortises and such I fear such things will just bounce out of the tray and onto the floor. Instead I set up one of those Workmate style workbenches next to my bench and stick the most necessary tools on that. The main projects I do where I need tools close at hand are those using chisels. They can fit in the dog holes or lay on a piece of plywood that fits on the top. Its safer for the chisels and easier for me to access while I'm working through the different chisels.

 

[Rick M]

A small one for pencils and rulers would be nice but I know myself, if I had a big tray it would be filled with big things. And I couldn't imagine having a try unless the bottom allowed sawdust to fall through. Some solutions I've seen were hardware cloth or dowels, the former not being very attractive, the latter being a lot of work.

 

[Mike Davis]

I'm thinking about a rack on the far end from the end vise to hold chisels, squares, marking tools, and such. No tray, no bottom to catch shavings, just an open rack attached to the bench. Maybe even attached by a french cleat so the whole thing can be set in the cabinet when not needed.