There is a rule in kitchen gadgets: “one hit wonders” are bad. If all the thing does is slice onions for rings then you probably shouldn’t have it cluttering your kitchen. That is, unless it does that one thing very well and very often (ex. a garlic press). The same thing holds true in the shop. Those single-use gadgets are often more trouble then they are worth.

So when I build (or buy) something for shop-use I make sure that I can get more than one type of use out of it. Often this process is serendipitous. For example, I built a storage stand for my hardware cloth / poultry netting. Once it was built I realized that it was the perfect size for a router table stand. (That was a very lucky happenstance, as I have very little free floor space.)

In the current case I needed a table / stool for the portable spray booth I’m building. Basically, something I can stick in the booth that will hold the piece I’m spraying. Pretty simple. At the same time I realized that I really needed a cutoff stand for my WorkMate portable bench. Something that would “catch” the lumber I’m cutting (to keep it from falling on the floor — which is both dangerous and risks damage to the lumber).

So, I sized my spray booth table / stool to work as a cutoff stand / support. I had a 1×6 12″ box on hand (taken from a re-work of my Bucket Cart), and some 2×4s, so this is what I knocked together:

It’s a three legged stool of sorts. The two slanted legs are cut at 10 degrees. The third leg is straight. There are 1×4 and 2×4 braces to keep the legs from spreading.

Why three legs? Well, I didn’t want to use too much lumber — I only had enough for three. The other reason is that a three legged stool won’t wobble like its four legged cousin.

The unit is about 12″ square and 31″ high (the right height for the WorkMate bench see to its left). Its small size means that I can tuck it out of the way when I don’t need it. And, it’s probably strong enough to sit on (though a bit high).

I’m still messing with the top a big. I was going to use a solid top, but then wasn’t sure. The two slats you see are leftover from the box’s original purpose (base for Tool Bucket Cart — I streamline that cart). I might put some pipe foam insulation on top, to provide some protection for the cutoff lumber. We’ll see.

Comments RSS