Dooley's Workshop

Although I’ve been working in woodshops for 20 years, My own personal shop began only about a year ago. I answered an add in the local classifieds for a shop closing and tool sale. So I drove down to Boyton Beach to meet a man named Robert. He was around 90 years old and his heart was failing him. He had had two operations and the doctors said he had to quit working. He was a door maker, and I mean DOORS! Like the 20,000 dollar doors you see on million dollar homes. Fabulous craftsman! And he had piles and piles of rough sawn lumber, of all types, especially walnuts and rosewoods. I spent nearly 4 hours at Roberts shop just enjoying talking and learning with him about his craft, we also talked about Jesus, and this Christian man assured me he wan’t afraid to die. He was happy with his life. I felt sad and blessed at the same time because I knew Robert was very ill, however, he was willing to pass his legacy on. He invited me to return and learn about door making. I did on two occations helping mostly to clear out his shop. Most of his machinery was WAY to big for my little garage, but I did work enough to earn some really great pieces of rosewood, teak, walnut, cherry, red and white oak. Sadly on my third return visit I learned that Robert had passed just the day before. Bless his soul.

Two months later I returned to the shop to attend the auction that inevitably happened. The auction company completely bastardized this poor mans possessions, bringing tables and tables of junk that just wasn’t at the site originally. It was so bad, I couldn’t bring myself to bid anything and actually left after only a few minutes. It was sad for me to see everything dispersed in such a way. I lifted my head up though and became very thankful for the short time I was able to spend with such an accomplished craftsman. I proudly build a sturdy lumber rack in my garage and displayed all my new rough wood in his honor.

Now that we are a year from that initial stocking of my shop, I’ve since dumped another pocketfull of money (yes you all know about the dumping of money) into the shop. Projects to be posted soon.

Currently running,

Grizzley 10” 2HP Table Saw
Grizzley 15” 3HP Rotory Cutterhead Planer
Grizzley 6” joiner
Grizzley 15” Bandsaw
Central machienery Router table
Ryobi Chop saw

-- Dooley, North Palm Beach, Florida www.myspace.com/smokey4bandit20