| Blog series by Todd A. Clippinger | updated 42 days ago | 15 parts | 9391 reads | 305 comments total |
Part 1: Home Again (JOY!)
Back in Big Sky Country! I have been home about three weeks now and I have been quite busy settling back in. I am so happy to be back with my wife, Rita, and my two dogs. The geography here is so good to see again. Here is the view out my backyard towards the Yellowstone River. The first thing I had to do was unpack and start settling back into my life at home and in my shop. I have been working for most of the last 4 1/2 years just north of Columbus, OH on some great projects. B...
Part 2: Finishing the Shop
The Excitement Builds… Today I finished touching up the mud work and applied 2 coats of primer. It is very exciting to see things get further along in my own shop Tomorrow I will paint this section of wall. Peace, Love, and Woodworking
Part 3: Moving Along!
Last night I got the walls primed with 2 coats of Kilz. The sheetrock had been sitting in my shop 4 years and it really needed it. Today I put 2 coats of paint on the wall today. I have some walls in the shop already finished. I color matched the wall paint to my Jet equipment and I call it “Jet” white. It is an off-white that looks good with the trim and ceiling being a bright white color. Electrifying! I installed the outlets. I put in 6 double gang boxes, that gi...
Part 4: The Next Section
One Section Finished I finished this section of wall the other day and the trim. After that I pushed all the shop “furniture” back against the wall. This opened up the center of the shop again so that I could clear the next section of wall to be finished. I can’t always work corner to corner because I waited until I put too much crap in the shop to finish the walls. I did, however, already have 3 walls finished as you can see in my workshop posting. Now that I...
Part 5: Primed for Excitement
Sunday, 10 Feb ‘08 Finished mudwork on walls. Took Sunday nap.Painted 2 coats of primer. Trim and paint to follow on Monday. Touch-ups and moving on Tuesday Peace, Love, and Shop Building
Part 6: It's Operational!
The shop is not finished but it is operational again. I need to use the space for a project I have going right now. I still have plenty of work ahead to finish it. I can wait on floor cabinets and worktop but the upper cabinets or at least some open cubby boxes to store glue, sandpaper, routers, etc. are a must. Clamp storage on the wall will clear a good bit of floor space. I did not have to buy hardly anything to do this work, it was material that I had on hand. I have many more id...
Part 7: Design Thoughts on a Shaker Inspired Bench
A New Video!I am excited to get out another video. They take a lot of time to create and, thankfully, I have been busy this summer with my business but it hampers my ability to make videos! I am advancing in my skills and you will notice that I added photos documentary-style in this video (I love the Ken Burns effect.) Some Thoughts on Design and Construction The most difficult part of making furniture is creating the design. I share some of the thought process for creating my Shaker...
Part 8: Sneak Preview of New Video from the American Craftsman Workshop
I’m Workin’ On It! I plan on getting the full video posted by Sunday, 13 Sept 2009. I hope to memorize my lines in time:) Back to Editing… Peace, Love, & Woodworking
Part 9: New Shop Lighting
Bright Light! Bright Light! Over the last couple of days I added lights to brighten the shop. Shop Light Envy After seeing the lights in Les Hasting's shop I was motivated to install more lights in my own. There is nothing like shop envy to motivate a guy. The Original Lighting The original lighting situation in my shop was poor and inadequate. I had three 4’x4’ units with 6 bulbs over the assembly and finish area. There was only one of these 4’x4’ l...
Part 10: Reorganizing the Shop - Again!
First Snow! Yesterday we woke up to the first snow of the season. We ended up officially receiving 4.6” but it has mostly melted off by this morning. Rita’s garden is looking pretty sad. You may be wondering, and the answer is “yes.” That is a genuine outhouse but the pit has been filled and it is used as a small gardening tool shed. Putting new shakes on the roof is on my honey-do list. On to the shop… I started working yesterday and I got on...
Part 11: Shop Reorganization - Day 2
Getting Closer To Done I don’t think that a person is ever done with organizing the shop but I am getting close to done for this round of organization and resetting the shop. I finished my drywall repairs and painted the wall. I have 3 cans of old paint and all of them are marked “shop walls” but none of them match. My guess is that I did not have them labeled and at some point I opened them for identification, thought it looked like the shop wall color and marked it a...
Part 12: Reorganizing and the Domino Effect
It Just Won’t Stop! I tore out some double doors at the end of the shop that I never use, I need the wall space to hang my clamps. I figure that since I started doing this little reorganization I might as well finish it. I usually bite things off a couple days at a time and then wish that I had finished or done more. There never seems to be a convenient time to interrupt my work schedule for improving shop conditions, but the payoff is always big when it comes to improved work fl...
Part 13: Reorganizing the Shop Day 4
Coming Down The Home Stretch Yesterday I finished the mud work where I removed the double doors. I also took the opportunity to patch the wall and ceiling where flying projectiles had left their impressions. I mounted a couple of hose reels that I bought several years ago. I had bought three originally and I mounted one but put the other two on the shelf. The first one broke and I tossed it during this round of organization. Now I have two but that is quite adequate for my shop. I us...
Part 14: Reorganizing the Shop - Finishing Up
Almost Done I only have a few things left on the list for this round of shop organization. I need to get the clamps hanging on the wall. At the moment they are just laying on the floor. Before this started they were standing, piled in a corner. It was difficult to access them or pull them out individually, but I cannot neglect them for one more day on the floor. This has been their temporary home while I finished the wall. I also need to hang the extension cords. I have a lot of ...
Part 15: Reorganizing the Shop - Complete (this round)
Grandkids And The Studio Furniture Movement The space-time continuum changes when you add the grandkids factor to the intended work progress equation, but that is OK. Rita and I had a couple of the grandsons for the weekend and they spent some time in the shop with me. I went out to the shop Saturday morning with the 2 boys in tow (ages 3 and 4) and thought that I would finish my organizational efforts in just a few hours – silly me. It took me all morning just to install the ceil...
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