DocT's Workshop

My shop consists of a ridiculously undersized two car garage. The only two remaining blemishes are the “garage fridge” and a chest style deep freezer, which I partially conceal with a rolling mitersaw station. Being the master of my domain, I have not only overtaken the entire garage, but I periodically stake claim to the house (feel the testoserone!) Partially completed projects often overflow into the house, much to my wife’s chagrin. Sheet good storage is relegated to our home’s entry vestibule, and stick lumber often gets sorted in our dining room. I have turned out some amazingly large comissions for such a small space, but as the testosterone diminishes my more recent projects are reducing in scale (it’s better for my marriage).

My “toys” take up a lot of space, and though most are mobile, I rarely move machines other than my tablesaw. I feel pretty well equipped right now (sure, Norm periodically makes me drool with a wide-belt sander or some such), and I’m at the point where any new large tools might mess up my workflow.

The best addition to my shop in the last year was not even a tool. Like so many space starved woodworkers, I often used my table saw as an assembly surface, but what a hassle. So, I finally saw the light during a late night insomnia session when I was toying with the idea of adding a dedicated assembly table. I’d love a dead-flat torsion box, but I settled on a sheet of melamine screwed to a framework of jointed 2×4s. I couldn’t be happier with the compromise. It seems counter-intuitive that dividing an already small space would make my shop more functional, but I feel like I now have more room (I certainly do less juggling), and I get bonus storage space under the open base in addition to tablesaw infeed support.

Here’s my setup:

South wall-

• 14” Delta platinum bandsaw (currently 1/2” 3tpi hook)
• Delta DJ20 8” jointer
• 3hp Delta X5 15” planer
• 16 1/2” Delta floor drill press
• Router table (Norm’s base) with 3hp PorterCable hanging on Rockler Rout-R-Lift
• Craftsman 6” bench grinder (for lawn mower blades)
• pegboard, garage fridge, Bessey clamps, scrap storage

West wall- (Garage door)

• Delta 10” contractor tablesaw
• 55,000 btu multi-fuel Reddy Heater

North wall-

• Delta 10” radial arm (buried under crap)
• back bench (like Norm’s) with drawer storage for hand and hand power tools
• 4 1/2hp 80gal 16.1scfm Kobalt compressor
• overhead lumber storage

East wall-

• overhead lumber storage, sheetgood offcut storage, vertical rough lumber storage, deep freeze
• 12’ PorterCable miter saw
• door back to the noise!

I’m most happy with the south wall and spend a great deal of time on that side of the shop. I have it set up to breakdown rough lumber and mill it true and square. I can open the door to the laundry room (again chagrin) to infeed long boards into the planer, and I can open the garage door to outfeed the jointer. I was reluctant to invest in an 8” jointer and large planer, and they do take up precious space, but I’ve never regreted the decision. The way I have them staggered is about as efficient as I could make it.

My biggest “toy” is unfortunately not at my house. I have a Timberking B20 bandsaw sawmill currently residing in a barn in the middle of 20 acres of trees a mere 300 miles from me. Someday, hopefully soon, I’ll have a property to accommodate it and a stand alone shop so my beautiful wife can park in a garage again…..naaaahhhh…who am I kidding? The garage is MINE!