What each build needs
| Build | Difficulty | Time | Materials | Tools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scale layout kit | Beginner | An evening, plus measuring | Grid or plain paper, thin card | Ruler, pencil, knife or scissors, tape measure |
| Offcut bin | Beginner | A day, plus glue drying | Most of one 4 × 8 ft sheet of 3/4 in plywood; glue; screws | A way to cut sheet goods straight, drill/driver, clamps, square |
Workshop furniture such as workbenches, tool chests, saw stations and router tables is not built here.
Build 1: a scale layout kit
Layout ideas are cheapest to try on paper. At 1/2 in to the foot, a 14 × 11 ft room fits on a letter-size sheet, a machine is a small card you can slide about, and an 8 ft board is a 4 in strip that shows at once whether it will clear a wall.
Making and using the kit
Draw the grid
Rule a grid of 1/2 in squares on a sheet of paper; each square is one foot. Printing a grid is fine, but measure a printed square before trusting it, because printers and screens rescale.
Draw the room
Measure the room and draw its walls, doors with their swing, windows, outlets, posts and anything fixed. Mark which way is north or which wall has the door, so templates go back the right way round.
Cut machine footprints
For each machine, take the footprint and the clearances its manual shows, convert at 1/2 in per foot, and cut a card template. Grizzly's manuals, for example, each include a minimum working clearances figure; a jointer/planer may need one for each mode. Mark the front where the operator stands.
Cut stock strips
Cut strips as long as your longest board at scale — 4 in for 8 ft — and as wide as your widest. Lay one through each machine along the direction the board travels, before and after the cut.
Add the rest
Cut templates for the bench, storage, the dust collector and any car or household item that shares the space, and mark door swings.
Try layouts
Move templates until every strip clears walls and other machines with room for the person feeding the work, and the stock path runs one way from the door to finishing. Photograph each layout you like before moving on.
Check full size
Before moving anything heavy, mark the chosen layout on the floor with tape and walk each cut with a real board, as in setting up a beginner shop.
Note— What the kit cannot tell you
A fit on paper shows whether things go in the room. It does not check headroom, the floor, power or the clearance a machine needs to be used safely; those come from each machine's manual and, for power, a qualified electrician.
Build 2: a floor-standing offcut bin
| Part | Qty | Size | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side | 2 | 16 × 30 in | Full height and depth |
| Back | 1 | 22-1/2 × 30 in | Between the sides |
| Front | 1 | 22-1/2 × 12 in | Between the sides |
| Bottom | 1 | 22-1/2 × 14-1/2 in | Between the sides, front and back |
| Divider | 2 | 14-1/2 × 29-1/4 in | On the bottom, between front and back |
All parts 3/4 in plywood. Widths: 2 sides × 3/4 in + 22-1/2 in = 24 in; inside, 22-1/2 in less two 3/4 in dividers leaves three 7 in bays. Depth: 3/4 + 14-1/2 + 3/4 = 16 in.
Building the bin
Cut the parts
Break the sheet down to the cut list with a straightedge guide, as in cutting wood straight; check every part is square. Working with sheet stock is covered in how to use plywood.
Assemble the box
Glue and screw the back and the front between the sides, flush at the bottom, then fit the bottom between them. Drill pilot holes for every screw — sizes are in the screw pilot hole chart — and keep screws back from the edges of the plywood.
Fit the dividers
Mark the dividers 7 in apart inside, stand them on the bottom, and glue and screw them through the back, the front and the bottom. Check each bay with a square.
Ease and finish
Round over the top edges so offcuts do not catch, sand, and finish if you like; how to sand wood covers it.
Place it
Stand it on a level floor against a wall, near the saw or the lumber store. Sort offcuts by length, longest at the back.
Safety— Design assumptions, not a rating
The bin is kept to 30 in high on a 24 × 16 in base so it stands low and broad, and the front panel keeps short pieces from sliding out. It has not been load-tested and BenchRoot claims no capacity. Load long, heavy offcuts at the back and do not make it taller; storage makers such as Husky recommend anti-tip fixing for tall units and nothing on top of them.
Before starting either build
- Room measured, with doors, outlets and fixed items
- Each machine's footprint and clearances from its manual
- Longest and widest stock measured
- Plywood broken down straight and square for the bin
- Pilot holes sized for the screws
How a shop fits together is explained in the workshop setup guide, and tool storage in the tool storage guide.
Sources
Both builds are BenchRoot designs; every dimension is on the drawings and in the cut lists. The layout kit's footprints come from your own machines' manuals, not from BenchRoot. The offcut bin has not been load-tested and no capacity is claimed; its height and footprint are chosen to keep it low and broad. The designs were not built for this page. No downloadable plan is offered.
- 1.
Model G0817 14" Resaw Bandsaw with Foot Brake owner's manual (for models manufactured since 05/25). Grizzly Industrial, 2025.
Used for: A maker's minimum working clearances figure for one machine, with loading and unloading areas to keep clear, and space for the largest workpiece and service access, as the basis for footprint templates.
- 2.
Model G0633/G0634 Jointer/Planer Combination Machine owner's manual (revised February 2018). Grizzly Industrial, 2018.
Used for: Clearances drawn separately for a jointer/planer's two modes, showing that a machine's space can change with the operation.
- 3.
Use and Care Guide: Welded Steel Garage Storage Series. Husky (The Home Depot).
Used for: A storage maker recommending anti-tip hardware and nothing placed on top of tall units.
About this guide
Written by BenchRoot Editorial. How BenchRoot sources, checks and corrects its pages is set out in the Editorial Policy. If something here is wrong or unclear, the contact page explains how to tell us.