ferstler's Workshop

My shop is a small one, at 240 square feet with three small rooms. Consequently, most my heavy work is done out in front of the place, on a big deck. I live in Tallahassee, Florida, so for 9 months of the year you can work outdoors OK. The remaining three months you sweat if you go outdoors. The backyard is a wooded area, so I have a cheap dust collector (a GMC model) that simply blows sawdust out into the open when it is hooked up to the saws, planers, jointers, etc. The approach works fine. The shop is fed electricity by two separate feeds (25 amp and 20 amp, both 120 volt), so the dust collector can be operated without dragging down the juice for the tools feeding it dust.

The photos do not show everything (I would need at least a dozen pictures to do that, I think), but the ones here give a general idea.

Number one shows my two band saws (both of which I have reviewed in the review section of this site) as well as my jointer/planer (also reviewed elsewhere). Above them are two circular saws: one is a Skil Mag-77 (a real powerhouse) and the other is a small Craftsman 5.5-inch trim saw (out of site in this shot) that is in great contrast to the tank-like Skil. Hanging above and behind the Ridgid band saw is a Ryobi reciprocating saw. To the left of the picture is the second room, and you can see part of a Craftsman bench sander in there. To the right you can see some vacuum hoses hanging on the door that leads outside to the deck.

Number two shows my Delta router/shaper to the left (with a wooden table extension attached, enlarging the work surface), plus my Ridgid and Firestorm hand routers, small Ryobi miter saw, large Ridgid sliding miter saw on its stand (reviewed elsewhere on this site), and my small Ryobi folding jobsite saw (under the miiter stand). Lots of hand tools are also shown, and to the very far right you will see the edge of my Ryobi thickness planer behind the bench vice. Note also note the air conditioner. This shop is kept comfortable year round.

Number three shows the big bench, with nailers and air hoses hanging behind. Two shop vacs are below, on a bench section that can roll out, and to their right is a GMC dust collector that only has to blow dust out into the wooded area that is my lot when I work outdoors. Also on the shelves above the bench are a nice GMC three-blade hand plane (a surprisingly good tool for that company) and a later model Ryobi bisket saw that is vastly better than the company’s first version. Several manual hand planers are on shelves also, as are home-built gauge jigs for aligning planers and saws. The bench also holds a small Delta jointer that is used for small-scale and rough and tumble work. Many hand tools are to the right, and note the dehumidifier on the floor to the right to keep the place dry when it is not hot enough to require the AC unit.

Picture four shows the 15-inch Ridgid drill press. I have installed a larger wooden work platform above the cast-iron surface to better deal with delicate wood drilling work. To the left, out of the photo is a smaller bench-mounted Ryobi drill press I use for metal work. Shelves higher up on that side hold many drill bits and a Drill Doctor machine is just out of the picture. A Ridgid compressor is to the left of the floor drill (which itself sits on a base to get the worktable up higher) and to the right is a bench with a Ryobi scroll saw. The high shelf to the right has several Dremel type tools.

Picture five shows the sanding section, with another shot of the Craftsman bench sander, as well as a Ryobi spindle sander in the corner. Above that is a vintage Craftsman belt sander, as well as a 6-inch Ridgid random-orbit disc sander, Ryobi detail sander, and a tiny Craftsman contour sander. In the center is a small belt sander for detail work that I picked up from Harbor Freight, cheap. A battery-powered leaf blower (used to remove sawdust from the workdeck) and an angle grinder are on the top shelf to the left and center.

The final shot (I wish I could post more) shows the several impact wrenches (including a Ridgid low-profile unit) and several hand drills, both battery and cord powered. The tool chests hold lots of additional tools, and there are plenty of screws, nuts, and bolts in the parts cabinets.

That is pretty much it for my shop. What I wish I could have is a serious table saw (although the little Ryobi jobsite stand at least has a Freud Industrial ripping blade installed for decent work and I have aligned it about as good as it can be aligned), but there is only so much room in the place and money is also an issue. Times are getting tough.

Howard Ferstler