It was inevitable. A fascination with knives AND with building things led, inexorably, if slowly, to knife making. It took a while to get there though.

In my first workshop, I didn’t have much room. The space was about 11’ x 10’. I barely had enough room for a table saw, and I certainly didn’t have enough room to have it set up all the time. Instead, I had to store the saw in a corner, then pull it out, and set it up. The space was so small that I had to open the door to the bulkhead to rip long pieces. There was no possibility I was going to have room for household tools, woodworking tools, and a knife making station. Physical separation is important to me—I don’t want grinder sparks causing a fire.

Once I moved out of that space into my current space, I took a long time, like five years, to get to the point where I could have a standalone (and relatively isolated) knifemaking station. The layout of the workshop started on move in 2021, but really gained momentum when my Dad and I dropped in some electrical outlets and when I rebuilt the main workbench to now include lumber storage. Once that was done I built a large miter saw station. After that I built an outfeed table for my table saw that also has handtool woodworking features. After that I created a dust collection system and installed a ton of LED lights from Barrina, which I heartily recommend. The last major renovation was the removal of some positively disgusting pink (that turned yellow) fiberglass insulation. All of this change created a workspace I truly enjoy being in and using.

But there were two things that just ate up space—our hot water tank/boiler and the oil tank. While virtually every place else in the world has abandoned the messy and inefficient use of oil to heat houses, traditions die hard in New England and about 50% of houses still use oil heat. Two years ago we timed a few government rebates and saved some money and got a tankless heat system that uses propane. It has been the best purchase for a house we have ever made. Not only do I, the father in a family of four, now get to regularly take hot showers, it also gave back precious square footage in the workshop.

The only problem was the concrete slab under the oil tank was, shockingly, unfinished. It was like they got to the end of their supply of concrete but still had some space to go. That meant there was a small spot where bare dirt sat in the workshop and for a year it just stayed there. Then, this fall, after completing high priority projects (i.e. wife-related projects), my Dad and I got around to fixing the floor.

My Dad is a civil engineer and after his wife and family, his next true love is concrete. If you were to pull up to their house at random he would be doing one of two things—pouring concrete or installing drywall. Drywall season is from December 1 until around April 15, but other than that, it is concrete time. And to be fair, he is exceptionally skilled at pouring concrete.

We rented a small jack hammer, created some cleaner edges and then poured the concrete, sealing away the last small bit of exposed dirt in the basement. I was somewhat worried about the jackhammer, a Makita design, but it turned out to be incredibly fun to use, plowing through the rough edges like they were peanut butter. Even though I would have virtually no use for it, I was sorely tempted to buy the jackhammer.

We brought a wheelbarrow inside and turned on a heater and began mixing and pouring the concrete. We purchased and mixed three bags and when I write there was not a drop left, I mean it. I can remember the base steel for lots different production knives. It’s a weird thing, but it just happens. My Dad’s weird ability is to calculate the EXACT right about of concrete for a given project. This project was not a fluke. We have probably poured concrete together fifteen or twenty times and each time, there has not been more than pint left over. He can even do this on the fly for other people. When my law partner wanted to pour a landing pad for outdoor steps, she took a picture, sent it to my Dad and in less than 30 seconds he texted back exactly the number of bags to buy. How do you get this good? Simple—when I asked him how many times he had mixed and poured concrete in his life he said: “Not enough.” Yeah, he likes concrete.

Once the concrete cured, I started building the bench itself. I try to be very thrifty with shop projects and I have meticulously stored scrap, leftover, and reused wood from other projects. The previous owners of the house left a ton of stuff behind—extra hardwood flooring, spare tiles from the bathroom, paint, and a bunch of other stuff. I found two full sheets of plywood in the rafters in our garage when we moved in and for years they just sat there. This past fall, thinking that this project might occur over the winter, I pulled them down. They had some rough edges and were painted, but they were old 1970s-1980s plywood. That meant that 3/4 inch designation wasn’t a nominal measurement. It was the real thickness of the board. And the plys are nice and thick. The stuff at Home Depot or Lowes nowadays is pretty much straight garbage and buying plywood at a lumber supplier is mostly a rich person sport, like yachting or polo, so nice, full thickness old plywood was a blessing. And it was FREE. After a few passes with the track saw, I had my benchtop with some left over for other projects.

From there I wanted to build the legs and a shelf. I used the John McGrath method of 2x4 workbench construction. I am sure others have done this, but I first saw it on John’s excellent YouTube page (watch with subtitles for a while, his Irish accent is quite thick or, as he would say, “tick”). The McGrath Method results in an easy to build, quick to make, and very sturdy bench. The 2x4s in this bench were found on the side of the road (thrifty) and so I had to wrestle a few of them straight (hence the paver on the benchtop in the picture below).

The Grizzly T32459Z was pretty easy choice for a first or hobby grade grinder. I am not going to be making batches of knives ever. I want to tinker around, make a few knives a year, give them as gifts or use them myself, and just have a good time. I don’t need a Burr King for that. There were three selling points for me: 1) the price; 2) the size; and 3) the variable speed motor. If you time it right you can get the T32459Z for just under $400.

For what you get that’s almost impossible to beat. No grinder gives you more of a “real grinder” feel for less. And, because the T32459Z has proven so popular (it is regularly sold out on Grizzly’s site), there are quite a few readily available upgrades (like these) and more than a few DIY upgrade videos (this is the best one out there). My two major complaints aren’t deal breakers either. The adjustment knobs are way too big—so big, in fact, that some can’t move without taking others off. That’s poor design. But once everything is adjusted correctly you don’t have to play reverse Tetris all that much. Second, belt tracking is a bit finicky, but as I have problems with this on my woodworking sander, I am counting this as mostly user error. For the price you will be hard pressed to beat this little gem from Grizzly.

I also purchased the Panavise 301. If you don’t know what a Panavise is, I feel privileged to introduce you to the best workholding device since the dog hole system was invented in the late Roman Empire. The Panavise is a light duty vice with a ton of accessories. The entire thing works because the main vise sits on a post that is connected to the base via a “knuckle.” Loosening and tightening the knuckle allows you to move the vise head around and position the work piece in an infinite variety of ways. It’s not a “crush steel” end vise (I have one of those too), but for what it is—a workholding device—it is more than strong enough. It’s a brilliant design. Even better it is made here in the USA by the company that came up with the original design. And, it’s cheap, especially compared to other specialty vises (like the obnoxiously expensive fractal jaw vises, which I am mad at only because I want one and they are too expensive). The 301 is a mid-sized Panavise and it was around $65 shipped on Amazon. My only concern is that I might go accessories crazy. I’ll get around to attaching it soon.

There is still a ton to do. I need to install a new electrical drop for the station. I did the electrical for the entire shop and I left space for a new one, so it shouldn’t be impossible. I also have to bend the sheet metal to fit. I tried to find a break that would fit the 30” sheet, but that proved impossible. Instead, I am going to do the one bend I need with piece of angle iron and a nylon-faced hammer. After that I am going to build a slider system for the dust collection, so I can use it at either end of the bench—the grinder on the far left or at the Panavise when I am cutting blanks with my angle grinder on the far right.

Then I have to tackle dust collection itself. I am going to use a bucket with water, but I also want to make it possible to send the dust from handle sanding to a shop vac. I will have to put a gate and a splitter in the line for the entire spark collection system. After that I have to set up a “DIY air filter” a.k.a. box fan with an air filter taped to it. I have watched a ton of shop tour videos and Bob T uses this system, so it’s definitely good enough for me. I may punch a hole in the wall and do a true exhaust fan too. but that will have to wait until the weather heats up. Right now the spot is covered in six feet of snow. Once that’s all done I am going to make some wall hangers (again using John McGrath’s clamp rack system) for belts and install a fire extinguisher right next to the station.

This might seem a bit extreme but I have the room and I have spent very little on supplies. The grinder was a gift, thankfully, and all of the wood was free. I used Space Bucks to buy the Panavise, so I feel like I can make up in labor what I didn’t spend in cash. I also want to make this as isolated from the rest of the shop as possible. I am committed to ZERO shop fires. I have also found, over the years, that building capacity in workstations, whether in the shop, kitchen, or the office, makes the spaces easier and more pleasant to use. Once I make some more progress, I’ll post a Part II.

Amazon Links

Barrina Shop Lights

Panavise 301