instructables

Make a Portable Workstation

by Benne

I recently started working on my own tutorial blog, makerguides.com. I currently have written several Arduino tutorials on using sensors and controlling stepper motors:

How to control a stepper motor with A4988 driver and Arduino HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensor tutorial 28BYJ-48 Stepper Motor with ULN2003 Driver and Arduino Tutorial

Feel free to check them out and maybe leave a comment with some feedback, thanks!

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After having finished my CNC router (see my other Instructable), my workshop (a small shed in my backyard 3 x 6 m), became pretty full. The only other tools that I can fit in there are a small table saw, a drill press and some small powertools and handtools. So most of my woodworking happens outside. Next to woodworking and CNC stuff, I also like to work on smaller projects with electronics, which requires soldering etc. Since my 'workshop' is pretty full, I didn't have a proper place to work on these smaller projects. So I just moved some of my smaller tools (screwdrivers, soldering iron, pliers etc.) into my bedroom and worked on my electonics projects there. My parents were ok with the fact that I did some soldering in my bedroom, (better than in the kitchen or the living room), but didn't like the fact that my tools were laying all over the place. The table I was doing my work on also became pretty dented and full of glue and solder blobs. That's why I came up with this portable workstation. It has plenty of storage for all the tools I need, it also has some drawers where I keep solder, heat shrink tubing, wires etc. The lid forms a worksurface, so my parents don't have to worry about the table. I made it in the form of a suitcase, so that it would be very portable.

Ben Heck, from the Ben Heck show had a similar idea a couple of years ago for his portable workbench. I really liked his design, but it was quite complicated to build and it required the use of a CNC machine. For this build I decided to simplify the design quite a bit, so that it would be easier to replicate by people without fancy tools. It also has a bit more storage capabilities and you can customize it any way you want.

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 1 Make a Portable Workstation: Page 2 Step 1: Tools + Materials

Tools: Always wear safety glasses, hearing protection and a dust mask while working with powertools! - Table saw (a circular saw or handsaw works as well) Materials: - Router table or handheld router - Drill - 1 sheet of 9mm birch plywood (2440x1220x12mm, - Screwdriver you won't need the whole sheet, but it's nice to have - Hand sander some extra. Any 9mm plywood will work). - Tape measure - 10 hinges (I used 6 40x20mm and 4 15x25mm) - Chisel - handle (I made mine out of some scrap wood) - Clamps - wood glue - A band clamp makes your live a whole lot easier - screws (+/- 3x12mm for the hinges) when glueing. - For the tool holders, I used scrap pieces of wood - Elastic band Optional: - Self adhesive velcro

- CNC router Optional: - powerstrip Safety:

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1. A band clamp is really handy 1. Old swiss made Inca tablesaw 2. the chisel is used to clean up the grooves 3. Always wear eye and hearing protection! 4. You can use a handheld router, but a router table is prefered

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 3 1

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1. This is a large sheet of 9mm birch plywood, but you won't need all of it 1. Basic hardware: glue, screws and hinges

Step 2: Design

I used the free CAD program Sketchup, to make a a place to store tools. The worksuface consists of basic design of the portable workstation I wanted to three pieces of wood, which are hinged together. build. This went pretty fast, and by making a CAD Everything folds up nicely and you can carry the drawing first, the rest of the project went a lot faster. workstation around as a suitcase. Sketchup allows you to quickly and easily experiment with different designs and looks. The joinery isn't very complex, just a lot of rabbets (grooves). You can see that the two doors also have

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 4 Download https://www.instructable…s.com/ORIG/FCD/UK0P/HS80FO2X/FCDUK0PHS80FO2X.skp

Step 3: Cutlist

Now that I had my design completed, I created a cutlist for all of the pieces (see image above). This was very convenient for the next step: cutting everything out.

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 5 Step 4: Layout, Measure and Cut

Using a piece of chalk and my cutlist, I laid out all the more manageable pieces. pieces on the sheet of plywood. Try to order them so that you have the least amount of waist. I only I used the table saw to cut the pieces to their final needed about 3/5 of the sheet, so I saved the rest for dimensions. Make sure you set up your tablesaw a future project. correctly: all pieces should be square and cut to size as good as possible. Next I used a handsaw to cut the sheet down into

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1. Cut the sheet into more manageable pieces

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1. All pieces cut to size

Step 5: Making Grooves

To make the grooves in all of the pieces, I set up my I also cut a notch in the top and bottom of the main handheld router inside of a router table. You can also body (see pictures). use a dado blade in your tablesaw. All grooves/rabbets are 9mm wide and 3mm deep. Note: If you don't have a router or a router table, you Always try out your setup on a test piece first! can just butt join the pieces together. The grooves mainly help to align the pieces and also make the I also created the grooves in the back and bottom/top project a bit stronger. However if you can't cut the pieces of the main body. This is where the divider will grooves the dimensions of your pieces will be go. For this I used the handheld router and clamped different. down another piece of wood as a guide. I used a chisel to clean up the ends.

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 7 1

1. I used a cheap router table to cut the grooves/rabbets

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1. Try on a test piece first 1. Fit is correct

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1. Groove for the divider

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1. Use a chisel to clean up the end

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1. Notch for the side panels

Step 6: Sanding

It is a good idea to sand the inside faces of all the pieces before you glue everything together. This will be a lot more difficult when everything is assembled.

The last few images show all of the pieces.

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1. Sand the inside faces of your pieces

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1. Doors 1. Worksurface

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1. Bottom and top pieces main body 1. Side pieces and divider

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 11 1

1. Back plate

Step 7: Glue It All Up

The glue up is pretty straight forward. I used a band clamp and some other clamps to hold everything together while the glue dried. Make sure that everything ends up nice and square!

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1. A band clamp makes your live a whole lot easier!

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1. All pieces after glue up

Step 8: More Sanding...

Now that everything is glued together, it's time to do the final sanding on the main body the doors and the worksurface. Also round over all of the sharp edges. I also rounded the corners of the outside worksurfaces with my homemade disc sander.

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 13 1

1. Rounding over the sharp edges

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1. I used a washer to trace out the roundover

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1. I used my homemade disk sander, to send it to the line

Step 9: Wooden Handle

I went to the hardware store to look for a nice sturdy rough cut blank with double sided tape. I used a handle, but I couldn't find anything I liked. So I pattern bit in my router table (I just used my cnc :) ) decided to make my own wooden handle. It's made and a roundover bit to get it to its final shape and from an old table leg (beech wood). I first made a make it feel nice. I used glue and screws, to mount it pattern out of a piece of MDF. I used it to trace out to the main body. It's very strong and I think it looks the shape onto the piece of wood. Using the jig saw, I really nice. cut it to rough shape. Than I stuck the pattern on the

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1. Homemade wooden handle 1. Pattern with pattern bit

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 15 1 1

1. Trace out the shape 1. Rough cut using the jigsaw

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1. Stick the template on with double sided tape 1. Use a pattern bit to bring it to its final size

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1. Round over the edges 1. Glue and screw in place

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1. Done

Step 10: Installing the Hardware

Installing the hardware was very easy. Just mark where you want the hinges to go, mark the hole locations, predrill and drive the screws. I wasn't sure how I would keep the lid closed. I decided that a simple pin would be the easiest option (see pictures).

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1. Installing the hardware

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 17 1 1

1. Mark hole locations 1. Pre drill or use an awl

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1. Locking pin

Step 11: Tool Holders

I haven't made any plans for this step, because this on hooks or screws. The bit set is held in place by really depends on what tools you want to put in. I self adhesive velcro. used nails, screws, hooks, velcro, elastic band and I made some 'straps' to hold the soldering iron in some leftover pieces of plywood. I used a staple gun place by sticking the self adhesive backs of the velcro to create some loops that hold the pliers. I added a together. The pictures from this step and the folowing piece of plywood with a lot of holes drilled into it for step should give you some good ideas for making you the screwdrivers. I also added a power strip. own tool holders. I made two very simple drawers to hold things like solder, wires, connectors etc. Most other tools hang

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 18 1 1

1. Screwdriver holder 1. Homemade drawers

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1. Glueing the drawer

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1. Making loops

Step 12: Fill It Up

Well this is the easy part. Now it's time to fill the portable workstation with your favorite tools and all the other things you use most frequently.

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 20 Make a Portable Workstation: Page 21 Step 13: Make It Fancy

Your portable workstation is never complete without some cool instructables stickers :).

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 22 Step 14: Conclusion

So that's it. Now I have a nice portable workspace, I please feel free to leave a comment. And if you also can take anywhere. It has lot's of storage for all of my like CNC machines, have a look at my other favorite tools and a nice worksurface where I can instructable. work on future projects. Total cost for this project was less than 50 dollars. It took me around 3 weekends to Benne is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC complete. There is still some room for more tools and Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program I might add a small lamp in the near future, but I am designed to provide a means to earn advertising fees very happy with the way it turned out. If you decide to by advertising and linking to amazon(.com, .co.uk, .ca build your own, please post a picture in the comment etc) and any other website that may be affiliated with section and I will add it to this Instructable. Amazon Service LLC Associates Program.

If you have any questions about this instructable,

Great job! I'm very happy to see you won the Judge's Prize for this. I voted for you :-)

Thanks! I'm really happy as well :). Thank you all very much for the votes and the great comments and support I really appreciate it!!! And thank you SpaceGambit for this awesome prize! Now this is cool. Maybe you could add legs and make it so it could stand up on it's own?.....

Not the easiest thing to make but pleased now it's done

Awesome, looks great!

Hello, can I just clarify the thickness of the wood. Is it 9mm or 12 mm?

Awesome build! You should do a instructable for your disk sander.

Nice work! Is there anything like this available commercially? I don't have the tools to make one but I would buy it in a heartbeat! NICELY finished project there, Benne... AND I notice that you still have plenty of space/room around your workstation there, that you could both store a lot more tools and supplies in there yet..

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 23 AND there's plenty of scope for further modifications and adaptations to your design to suit other people's needs. Good job.. Could you add a fire/heat resistant material to one of the fold down surfaces to allow for soldering? I'm a girl and don't know much about some of this stuff. This was just a thought. Sure, you could simply add a piece of sheet metal or a thin aluminum plate to make the surface fire/heat resistant. But if you are careful you can just leave the wooden surface. If you want to put your soldering iron down just set it in a stand (which you can store inside the workstation) and dont lay it onto the wooden surface. Example of a stand: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Proskit-Clarinet- Circular-Soldering-Solder-Iron-Metal-Stand-Holder-Bracket-Base-/191166234597? pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c82653fe5 super cool, you should show a version with measurements of each board that is a net picture, you could also add to the work station sockets and a soldering station thanks for sharing you awesome instructable how cool is this man?! wow, very nice, i 100% need to make one, i dont' even have a shed anymore :( just a 1 bedroom apartment, I have to put away my tools after each use....! gefeliciteerd Benne, met het winnen van de Jury prijs! (Een tweede cnc in je kleine werkplaats, dat wordt passen en meten ;-) ) Nederland is goed vertegenwoordigd in deze contest. Dankjewel! U ook gefeliciteerd! Na mijn eindexamens zal ik eens kijken wat voor leuks we er allemaal mee kunnen doen. Ik denk dat ik er een laser module op ga zetten, om hem als laser graveerder te kunnen gebruiken. Het wordt inderdaad lastig om er nog een plekje voor te vinden :). Op mijn middelbare school worden nu ook Science+ lessen gegeven. Misschien kunnen er volgend jaar wel een aantal lessen over CNC toepassingen gegeven worden, dan kan de machine ook een tijdje op school staan. Het is inderdaad erg leuk om te zien dat steeds meer Nederlanders op Instructables actief zijn, maar het is natuurlijk ook een fantastische website! Nice. At first glance my thoughts went to "wow, a mortal's version of the Studley's tool chest!"

Neat. I'm sure zillions of Instructables viewers already voted for this project. I join them right away !… I need about 10 of these. hee hee

Grand prize??? I hope so! Good luck :-)

This is really nice!!! I've also rebuild Ben Hecks Portable Workbench (Since I don't own a cnc it was a bit more difficult =D) I've ducumented the whole thing on my Website! Check it out =D http://lbsfilm.at/the-portable-workbench/

Awesome! It looks really nice, especially knowing you did this all by hand without the use of a CNC machine. Where did you get those tool holders for your pliers? Those look really convenient and can hold all kinds of tools. Your website also looks great, lots of beautiful pictures and well

Make a Portable Workstation: Page 24 documented projects. Nice to see someone of my age being interested in technology and making things as well. Thanks!!! Yes it was quite a bit of work =D The tool holders are actually clips for installing cables and pipes. I found them in our cellar and thought the might work. It's not the best solution and I would love to have some 3D printed parts for the tools but as time and money are always my biggest enemies.... Thanks again (I've been working and designing on my website for quite a long time now but I'm still not finished..) This looks excellent though I might suggest some sort of flat fold or mortised hinge, such as those used in fine carpentry. I can see it might not work with the thickness of wood you're using, but ultimately it could create an uninterrupted work surface. What a fantastic idea and execution. The idea of a "tool box" combined with a "workstation" is brilliant. There are only 2 small suggestions I could make. 1... Install 2 small chains (or rope/wire) from the top of the main section, to the sides of the main piece of the work surface. This is to not let it pivot forward more than 90 degrees in case there is not enough support for the work station. 2... Tools can be heavy. adding small wheels and a telescoping handle (like a suitcase) for us people that are getting older. I needed to replace my portable tool case, and this Instructable will provide me with ideas and modivation to start my own project. Thank you. Great suggestions! I really like the idea of adding small wheels, which would definitely make it even more portable. excellent idea and well presented voted as well

Thanks!

Very good!!!!!

Very good!!!!!

You should really consider cleaning your garage out, if you have to move things to your bedroom...

Well it's not really a 'garage'. It's a small shed 3x6m (or maybe even smaller) in my backyard and my homemade CNC router already takes up half of the space :). It's also a place for garden equipment from my parents and all the room that's left is taken up by my small table saw, drill press, wood storage and some small powertools. So there really isn't enough space to put in a small desk, where I can solder etc. I already moved a lot of stuff from my parents out of the shed, so I really can't throw out more. A portable workstation for my bedroom definitely seemed like the best option. Hope you liked it. Very nice! It's somewhat similar to one I've been working on, with a few key differences. You got my vote! Thanks!

Is het gebaseerd op Ben Heck's portable workbench of ben je op hetzelfde idee gekomen?

Ja, ik denk dat het moet zijn: het is zo vergelijkbaar!

Hallo DIYToday en msemtd, Dit ontwerp is inderdaad gebaseerd op Ben Heck's portable workbench welke hij een aantal jaar geleden heeft gemaakt. Ik ben net als jullie een trouwe fan/kijker van de Ben Heck show en ben al Make a Portable Workstation: Page 25 een aantal jaar op zijn Youtube kanaal geabonneerd. Ik heb een link naar Ben's website toegevoegd aan stap 1 met wat extra toelichting. Ik heb voor mijn ontwerp gekozen om de basis relatief simpel te houden, zodat iedereen zijn eigen invulling hieraan kan geven. Door de hole deuren is er ook wat meer ophang mogelijkheid voor verschillende gereedschappen. Ben's design is erg ingenieus maar ook zodanig moeilijk/precies passend, dat een CNC machine eigenlijk wel een vereiste is. Mijn ontwerp is dan ook relatief simpel en ik heb geprobeerd om alles zo goed mogelijk te documenteren. Met vriendelijke groet, Benne Hi Benne, Ik ben een grote fan van Ben's Show. Ik hou van uw versie van het plan en ik zal proberen om het te maken! Spijt voor mijn slechte Nederlands! Mooie instructie!!!

Dank u wel

Stolen from the Ben heck show (YouTube)

Hello Assiek08, I just added a link to Ben's website and a bit more explanation to the first step. I don't think you should say that I completely stole Ben's design, but as a big fan of the Ben Heck show (I have been subscribed for many years), can I say that I definitely got inspired by his build and the main idea of this portable workstation is based around his design. I did however alter his design quite a bit to make it easier for other people like me (17 year olds and/or people without many fancy tools) to build, without the use of a CNC machine. I also changed the whole inside, to give it more storage and more room to hang tools. I should have added a link to Ben's website earlier (which I now have done) and I hope you still liked it. Greetings, Benne Heel goed werk!

Can I buy one?

Beautifully designed. A lot of thought has clearly gone into it. Instructions are great too with lots of photos. I'd been looking at designing a mobile workstation myself but your solution fits my needs perfectly - thanks! do you have old pc? if you do you can build electrinics box wiht psu

Briliant idea!!

Great but would be better in inches. Not very literate in metric conversions.

Has this been entered for the contest yet? I am trying to vote for it but not seeing it under list of entries . . . I guess it takes about two days for the instructable to be accepted to the contest (probably monday). So if you would be willing to vote on monday, or when it gets accepted, that would be awesome! Will do!!

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