After years of using my garage as my work space, I now have my own dedicated woodshop. Over the years I have been fortunate to equip my shop with many tools, saws, clamps, lathes, nuts, screws and rags. I have spent countless hours in planning the organization of my shop to optimize workflow while keeping safety as a top priority.
My new shop is a 24x34 building with 2 overhead doors, 2 entrance doors and is super insulated allowing me to work year round. It is complete with a utility sink, heating system, dust collection system in a separate room and air purifying system. The large windows give me a beautiful panoramic view of the Mississippi River while I work, which is both relaxing and inspirational.
The new shop also allows me a place to display my collection of woodplanes. I have some that belonged to family members for generations as well as some I have purchased along the way. Some I have restored while others have been left weathered from years of use.
Shop safety is the most important thing I considered when planning my shop.
- Power Cord Recoils above the electrical demand work areas assure an obstruction free floor.
- A Grizzly Air Purifier installed in the ceiling exchanges the air in the building every 5-7 minutes.
- A well lit shop is an important element in shop safety. In my 24'x34' shop, there are 6 100 watt low energy Compact Fluorescent fixtures five 4 tube 4-ft fluorescent light fixtures.
- Grizzly 2hp dust collector was installed to keep sawdust out of the shop. Installing it in a separate closet reduced noise pollution while piping for this system was hung from the ceiling providing clear access on the floors.
Organizing my shop for maximum work flow allowed me to complete more projects in the limited amount of time available to me.
- Electrical outlets, some duplex and some quad, were spaced every 32 inches. In areas where I was less likely to need power they were 48 inches apart.
- Grizzly 10 Table Saw with Extended Table was placed in the center of the shop giving the best dimension for handling large pieces of wood.
- All fabrication equipment and work benches are equipped with heavy duty base rollers for easy storage. This includes a Grizzly 6" Joiner, Grizzly 17 extreme band saw, Grizzly Wetstone Wheel, Grizzly 15 inch planer, Grizzly 1 inch Belt Sander with 10 inch Disc Sander, Delta 14 inch band saw, Delta 18/36"inch Drum Sander, Rigid Oscilating Sander and three bench grinders.
- Cabinetry from our kitchen renovation has been installed in one end of the workshop for storage of paints and miscellaneous supplies.
- I have added two 10-drawer old style IBM card file cabinets for storage of tools and wood turning supplies.
- For sound control, a 3x8 foot closet was the perfect place for an air compressor to be stored with the dust collector system. "Out of sight, out of sound."
- Wood selection was simple after building two 30-inch wide 8-foot long wood rack with six separate lumber bins per rack. All wood was then easily sorted in species by dimension.
Having the "right tool for the right job" is key to any woodworking project. Along with state of the art stationary wood working tools, I find it enjoyable working with all hand tools, both hand held and electric. Some I frequently use are my AKEDA dovetail jig, hand planes, wood chisels, rasps, and scrapers as well as electric hand tools such as Bench Dog router table, circular saw, shop saws and a variety of electric sanders.