This week’s tour is at the Colorado shop of Ray “Dataman” Merrell.
The home and shop are dome shaped, which makes for interesting storage, lighting and insulation considerations. Ray is very inventive, with most of his tools and assembly tables built on mobile bases for optimum configurations for the job at hand.
Here Deb takes a read on the great lighting provided by the windows and a skylight in the 14 foot ceiling.
We both liked the under-saw storage unit, based on the use of restaurant bus-trays. There is in-floor dust collection tubing and a novel blast gate configuration of Ray’s construction.
In the next photo Deb adds points to Ray’s tally for having fire extinguishers handy. The shelving unit is filled with hand tools, and the shelfs are labeled for ease of use.
Deb looks over the nice DeWalt lunchbox planer, sharpening station and Performax drum sander.
Ray has a plethora of unique ideas for efficient tool and lumber storage (and a sweet stash of Cherry lumber) in the “garage” next to the shop. He has a great video with a tour of the shop here.
All-in-all it’s a very unique shop, and it’s obvious Ray has put a great deal of thought into it’s layout. It’s a winner!
Thanks for the invitation, Dataman. Your shop certificate awaits.
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
9 comments so far
jpw1995
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348 posts in 1197 days
posted 737 days ago
Wasn’t this shop featured in one of the woodworking magazines recently?
-- JP, Shelbyville, KY
MsDebbieP
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14181 posts in 1060 days
posted 737 days ago
a winner indeed.
The building itself is fascinating and then add all of his storage “tricks” .. and the lighting!! I love the sunlight
I really enjoyed the tour. Congrats on the pass
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Brad_Nailor
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1230 posts in 856 days
posted 737 days ago
Cool shop! I like the unique shape..is it pre formed concrete? Some sort of adobe?
-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"
Lee A. Jesberger
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3710 posts in 878 days
posted 737 days ago
Way cool shop!
where are the square corners?
Lee
-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com
Dadoo
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1723 posts in 889 days
posted 737 days ago
Nice shop Ray!
-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!
Grumpy
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14932 posts in 750 days
posted 737 days ago
You are obviously one serious woodworker Ray.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python
Karson
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25811 posts in 1299 days
posted 737 days ago
Unique setup Ray. A very nice shop.
-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
scottb
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3402 posts in 1226 days
posted 737 days ago
great shop – and nothing can get lost in the corner!
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/
dataman
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66 posts in 1170 days
posted 722 days ago
JP – Yes my shop was featured in the American Woodworking #132 November 2007.
They featured my workshop on page 80 as well as my blast gate invention on page 53.
David – The structure is thin shell concrete covered with a foam insulation so it has an R value equivalent to an R65 or better and it goes from below grade covering the entire structure without a break. Being a curved dome shape it is one of the strongest structures available. Interestingly we built it all from the inside.
They resist hurricanes, tornados and even earth quakes. Add Fire and termite proof and it’s pretty indestructible! Even bullets can’t penetrate it. If anyone is interested they can pursue our web site on how we build it etc at www.mountainviewdome.com