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Workshop Information

Location
United States
I started setting up my shop last year after using my garage as a shop for working on old trucks. I decided to shift to woodworking to get back to my roots. I grew up a carpenter, and during college made the jump to heavy highway construction. I started to miss working with wood after more than a decade in highway construction project management, and decided I needed an outlet for my creative side. I have spent alot of time planning the shop, and I continue to think of ways to improve the flow of the shop. I have some big plans as time and money permit, but a family with a 2 year old and another on the way means money doesn't grow on trees, so I finally hit a point where I think I can get woodworking.

So, what do I have in the shop?

The basics:

  • 80's Craftsman 10" Bandsaw- Used for making small stuff, wood toys, etc. I plan to keep this set up as more of a scroll saw type tool. I plan to get a larger 14"+ bandsaw as my next major tool purchase, but that will probably be another year or two out.

  • 90's Delta 8" Drill Press w/ Harbor Freight Drill Press Table- This think gets done what I need to. Not the greatest press, but for the projects I am doing now, it will get the job done. Rather than spend time making a table, I grabbed the HF one at 25% off and I was off to the races. I will probably update with a link belt in the future.

  • Porter Cable Disc/Belt Sander- Used mostly for cleaning up wood toy pieces.

  • Ridgid TS4512 Table Saw- This was my Christmas gift last year, and I got it all set up in the shop, then didn't get around to using it until this fall. I love it though. After growing up with a Rockwell contractors saw in my dad's shop, this thing is great. Is it a full fledged Powermatic, Jet, or SawStop cabinet saw? No. But again, it gets me woodworking. I have it hooked up to my large Ridgid shop vac dust collector, and grabbed some Sears autoswitches on sale for $16 each. Makes it easy to keep the dust collector going when I need it.

  • Delta Model 37-220 6" Jointer- I picked this up off of Craigslist for $150 including two extra sets of carbide tipped knives. Very well set up. Cleaned it up a little and tweaked it, and it is ready to go. The guy that owned it was a nice older guy who picked up an 8" Grizzly so he didn't need this one anymore.

  • Dewalt DW734 12.5" Planer- Part of the tag team duo for thickessing lumber.

  • Ridgid 10" Miter Saw- This thing got me through most of my home improvement project in our new house over the last 7 years. Now that most of that is done, it hides out on the sidelines, and will be mainly set up for breaking down long stock when it comes in the shop.

  • Miller Millermatic 212 Mig Welder- Not a woodworking tool, but I have a corner of the shop dedicated to metalworking, and I hope to eventually build some projects incorporating metal and wood.

  • Ridgid 14" Cut Off Saw- See above. Part of the metalworking setup.

  • Numerous handheld power tools- Milwaukee, Bosch, Ridgid, and Dewalt.

I'll update soon with the Sketchup drawing i did for the shop while i was planning it, as well as some pictures in it's current state.

I have spent 15 years developing garage shops as well as an offsite sign shop since moving out of my parents house, and every one of those shops has taught me something new. When I moved to Texas 7 years ago, I had this house built specifically because of the GARAGE floor plan. The house had a nice floor plan too, but the garage could be build with an extra 4' to the depth, and with a tandem bay on the center of three main stalls. I was sold instantly. The setup allows both my wife and I to park out SUV's in the garage every night, which comes in handy during the hot summers, or cold winters.

I had the shop wired up for all kinds of lighting, 20 amp dedicated circuits, as well as 20, 30, and 50 amp 220 volt circuits for welders, plasma cutters, and anything else that may need 220. I came in and insulated the walls before they sheetrocked it, and I had them taped and textured and paint the entire garage white during construction. I realized after five years of work in the garage, the white walls take a beating, so this past winter I repainted the walls in a light brown semi gloss which should keep it looking nice (Something to keep the wife happy…) The builder also put an epoxy coating on the floors no charge. The concrete guys overfloated the garage floor which resulted on son surface cracking. They came in and ground the floors flat, then coated them in a grey epoxy (no clearcoat). It has made cleanup a breeze over the years, but has also taking a beating from welders, grinders, paint overspray, and pressure washers, so it's by no means a showroom floor.

I forgot a few things as well during construction, such as the plumbing that I had to go in and do later, the garage doors were left basic with plans to upgrade after move-in (7 years later, they are still the basic ones), The attic above the garage was not insulated, so it either lets out the warm air in the winter, or radiates the hot attic air in the summer. One of these days I will do blown in insulation over the garage, as well as insulate the garage doors. I also would like to add a mini-split AC unit so I can woodwork in the summers here when it gets above 100 for months on end. In hind sight, I should have had the builder do all this stuff and be done with it, but of course, hind sight is 20/20.

I also would have had them add a separate storage garage behind the main garage. I have room to add about a 10'x30' storage area behind the third bay. Right now, I have a 5'x10' offsite storage unit, as well as some attic space dedicated to the non-essentials such as Christmas decorations, and sentimental items. I would like to maybe frame up a 10'x20' unit attached to the house, leaving the 10'x10' pad I have now out back that is an area for the lawn equipment, garbage cans, etc.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you come along on my woodworking journey!

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