Woodcanuck's Workshop

I’ve been wanting to post some workshop pictures…but I’ve also wanted to clean the shop first.

Ok…posting the pictures wins. I’ll clean the shop and post an update later.

My shop is roughly 14’x17’ and is an enclosed area in my garage. After years of working in a corner of the garage and covering cars/bikes/lawnmowers/my wife’s stuff in fine dust….I slowly migrated to this enclosed workshop. This has been great. I’ve got the dust under control, better lighting, four walls and the ability to heat (I use the term loosely) the workshop enough to work in during the winter.

I’ve got a workbench made up of some old lab benches (very old, and very well made with 4/4 hardwood of some sort…even dovetailed drawers) that also serves as an outfeed table for the tablesaw. I modified the tablesaw fence rails to fit better into my current configuration.

The workbench also has an adjustable shelf just beyond the tablesaw where I can lower the shelf to allow the bench to act as wings for the miter saw, the router table and the jointer.

Picture 2 shows the lathe bench and two rolling carts I made for the drill press and the planer. These have been awesome…being able to roll things out of the way when you don’t use them is great stuff.

Picture 3 is the dust collection (located outside the workshop, in the garage, keeping the noise down at least a little). I made a Thien separator and dropped it into a garbage can with a 4” port in the side that goes into the workshop. This is by far the best thing I’ve added to the shop. The wooden slats on the side of the plastic garbage can keep the can from doing too much oil-canning. You can also see the obligatory plaid shirts for colder weather along with the ‘Daddy’s workshop’ sign my family made.

Picture 4 is from the back of the shop looking at the doors (and dart board…not that I goof around in the shop and play games…it’s all business!) I painted some chalkboard paint on one door…very handy to just roughly draw stuff out or write down numbers/notes to come back to. ON the right side you’ll see the dust collection hose, which goes through the wall and directly into the Thien separator.

Picture 5 is an abomination. This is where the ‘cleanup’ needs to happen. The scrollsaw (largely hidden) will be moving shortly, the miter saw is going to get a permanent home here with some outfeeds. The benchtop joiner will be moving as well. The shelves above hold various knickknacks, a radio and above that are shelves with all the woodworking books and magazines I’ve got.

Picture 6 is more cabinets and drawers with various jigs and tools in them. Also hiding in the corner is my very old Rockwell/Beaver bandsaw. I’ve got the bandsaw on a rolling base that lets me bring it out when I need it. A couple of years ago my daughter (8 at the time) brought an electronic labeler into the shop and labeled all the drawers. Surprisingly, she had a great time and now I know what’s in all the drawers!

Well…much more to do to the shop, but for now, there it is.

-- Ian - Life's a game, if you don't play, you can't win.