cheller's Workshop

My shop is in the basement of my house. It is filled (as you can see from the pictures) with projects in progress, two benches neither of which I’m particularly fond of (more on that in a minute), a scroll saw, a grinder, a router table, some storage and a lot of wood. The wood rack (seen in the first picture) desperately needs to be replaced as it is threatening to collapse. The big advantage to my space is that it’s walk-out (the light in the first picture is from the window in the door). I’ve also got additional storage in the portion of the basement behind where I stood to take the first picture, and in the garage, and in the other basement room.

Lighting is not great – I tend to rely on a couple of worklights for lighting. The ceiling is low maybe 6’ 6”. But it’s heated, I don’t have to drive to get there, or even go outside and it’s all mine. My spouse doesn’t often get much closer than the door.

You may notice that the shop does not contain a tablesaw, jointer or planer. This is not a trick of the eye, I don’t have a tablesaw, jointer or planer. I’ve been able to get around this by taking a number of adult education woodworking classes which give me access to those tools.

One thing I highly recommend is the doorbell I installed. It operates a light in the shop (I found the mechanism on a website with devices for the deaf) so the person trying to get my attention doesn’t need try to outshout a tool.

In the near future we will be embarking on a major renovation of the house (adding a 2nd story, moving plumbing, rewiring throughout…). After the renovation the shop will increase by about half (12 X 12) and will have direct access to the garage. It’ll also be wired appropriately for a tablesaw, jointer, planer, bandsaw…

-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com