Tiny shop strategy

After a year or so of trying to find time (and money) to start on a detached shop, I thought of a totally different direction. The 11×11 (give or take) bedroom that I’ve been using for an office/music studio is now my shop!

I’d have never tried this even ten years ago, but I’ve been gravitating more and more toward hand tools, with power tools used mostly for those tasks apprentices used to do. My primary apprentices are a 17” bandsaw (Grizzly GO513×2) and a router (Dewalt 618). Sheet goods will be kept to a minimum, and broken down to rough size outside with a circular saw.

Of course, with the shop in the house, dust collection is life and death. Before the bandsaw was delivered, I picked up the “2 horsepower” (yeah, right) collector from Harbor Freight. I’ve replaced the bags with the 1 micron felt ones from Highland Hardware, and added a Thiel-style collector. Almost all the dust stays in the collector; very little actually makes it to the filter bags. Airborn fines are (hopefully) scrubbed out by a crude box fan/furnace filter arrangement.

It’s a work in progress, but so far it’s fun. I hope to take some decent pics in the near future and post them in the “shops” section.