Location: Lévis, Québec

Hobbyist or Pro: Hobbyist

Shop Type: Basement

Square Footage: 0-249

Shop Description:
Hi folks!
I always wanted to build small furniture and musical instruments but I only have about one quarter of my basement available for a shop. Nevertheless, I managed to cram in a contractor table saw with an out feed table and router table attached, a press drill, small belt sander, jointer, portable thickness planer, a mitre saw my brother-in-law gave me (thanks Jean!), a sink, compressor, homemade dust collection system and air filter, and an always-too-small workbench. In order to still be able to work and go around the equipment, I installed some of them (the planer and mitre saw) on slides and the jointer is on casters so I can stash it under the mitre saw. It’s not perfect, but it’s workable!

Location: Jeffersonton, VA

Hobbyist or Pro: Hobbyist

Shop Type: Basement

Square Footage: 500-999

Shop Description:
My shop is located in the lower level of my home. Three years ago we relocated to this home and one of the requirements was to have a dedicated space for a workshop area other than having to share with the car and lawn mower and be able to work in the winter months.
The space is made up up two areas that are separated by double doors. The combined space is 730 square feet. There are double doors that open to the outside for bringing in materials and machinery.
My heavy tools are located in the larger shop area and the other area is used for assembly and finishing. I have all of my tools installed on mobile bases so they can be rolled quickly to where they are needed. I use a Jet roll-around dust collector plus a JDS air filtration unit to reduce dust from getting into the living area. A feature that I never had in my shops until this one is a large utility sink that makes clean-up easier after those finishing projects. When possible, I try to use water base finishes.
My tool storage is in drawers and tool boxes located around the shop area. Storage for clamps is on a Rockler roll-around clamp rack. The Rocker clamp rack has several shelves that I used to store my glue and other items needed when doing a glue-up and has worked much better than a fixed wall-mounted rack.
I have reorganized my work areas several times but the current setup works great.

Some of the unique features of the shop include six 3′ x 5′ daylight windows and a 9’ foot ceiling. The shop has color correcting fluorescent lights like those used in paint shops. A dedicated electrical panel provides power to the 110V and 220V outlets that are spaced about every 3’ and 50” off the floor. The shop stays about 60 to 70 degrees year around. Anti-fatigue mats cover the floor. The ceiling and walls have two layers of drywall with sound resilient channel between the layers. There is blown cellulous insulation in the walls and ceiling. The dust collection room has additional sound proofing and also houses the air compressor. All this creates a good sound barrier to the living area of the house above. The shop has a 37” flat screen TV connected to a stereo. The sound can be transmitted via a long range FM transmitter so that I can listen to music or TV thru my headphones even with equipment running.

My primary equipment includes a Steel City 3HP granite top cabinet table saw, Festool Kapex miter saw, Grizzly 2HP 17î bandsaw, Dewalt 20î scroll saw, Grizzly 3HP oscillating edge sander, Grizzly floor standing oscillating spindle sander, Grizzly 12″ baby drum sander, 5HP 38″ Woodmaster drum sander, Delta bench top disc sander, Delta 17î drill press, Jet 2HP full size lathe, 3HP router table, Grizzly 3HP 15″ spiral head planer, and a Grizzly 3HP 8″ spiral head jointer. A collection of Festool power tools compliments the stationary tools. There is a 4í x 8í vacuum press for veneering. The dust collection and air filtration for the shop is an Oneida 5HP cyclone dust collector and two Jet overhead air cleaners.

The work tables include a 20î x 40î sanding table, 4í x 8í worktable with a shelf underneath for storing the current project, a 38î x 76î traditional hardwood workbench with more project storage underneath, a miter saw station with two 8′ wings and ruled stops for quick and repeatable cuts, 7′ x 4′ table saw out feed table with offcut storage underneath, two 48î x 26î rolling cabinets, and 3 Festool multifunction tables. The Festool MFTs are the most used work surfaces in the shop. In all there are 55 shop made drawers plus a few cabinets for storing hand tools and supplies. A couple of long shelves are used for storing veneer. The clamp rack holds over a hundred clamps of varying sizes. The 4í x 8í lumber rack holds stick lumber, sheet goods and two large rolls of waxed and unwaxed paper.

Location: Kenosha, WI

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Shop Type: Basement

Square Footage: 250-499

Shop Description:
Dark…dank…sometimes refered to as the Mines of Moria (although no trolls are to be found). My shop is filled with all the essentials and few of the extras. All my bigger stuff including the table saw is on wheels. The ceiling in my shop is exactly 6′ high.

This shop has built a desk, cabinets, and one queen size mission style bed. I started the shop 6 years ago out of frustration, when my steuart sauder desk (200.00 and 2 yrs old), fell apart when we moved it to paint a wall. I figured I could build a better desk out of wood for less than that. I was wrong! It cost about $300 to build one out of pine, but it is 5 years old and is still as sturdy as the day it was built!!!!

Location: Ford City, PA

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Shop Type: Basement

Square Footage: 500-999

Shop Description:
I am an amateur woodworker in the greater Pittsburgh area. I use to work for a custom high end furniture shop. I want to eventually do it on my own.

My shop is approximately 720 sq. ft. located in the basement of my home. I am blessed with a lot more space than most woodworkers, but still crave for more. My shop is still evolving. I am constantly making upgrades, jigs and modifications to the shop and tools. I, like many woodworkers, spend more time on the shop than on actual projects. Looking to get some projects in the shop soon.

My latest project is a modified design of Marc’s torsion box work bench.

Hi, I am woodworker (from the forum). I am 14 and and just started woodworking. My workshop is a basement shop and its right at the bottom of the stairs so I can only get 4×4 sheets down there, 4x8s won’t fit. At the bottom of the stairs is a shelf with some cabinets with drawers which hold screws and nails which are all sorted by size. The shop is about 6′ by 11′. There’s about 8 feet before and after the blade on the table saw with about 2 feet from the left of the blade and 1.5 feet from the right. The table saw is a 10 inch Craftsman contractor saw. It cuts pretty good, not the best. Along side of the stairs I have a Harbor Freight 14 inch bandsaw. It’s a good bandsaw for the price. Next to the bandsaw is my Harbor Freight 21 gallon air compressor. My miter saw is, yes you guessed it, a Harbor Freight 12 inch sliding compound miter saw. The stand is all 2x4s, 11 feet long by 3 feet tall and 1 foot thick with a 1 gal, 1 hp shop vac hooked to the miter saw. Then in front of the fridge next to the table saw is my homemade router table with a Freud 2 hp fixed base router. The work bench is 2×4 frame and legs; the top is just a osb board over the supports with instead of a 1/4 inch hardboard, I used 2 1/8 inch so I could put the top on bottom and bottom on top just one shelf on it. The lathe stand in the picture has steel legs; I rebuilt it with 2×4 legs and I am selling the lathe to get a Steelcity granite lathe. For lights I have two 4′ florescent lights and two heat lamps for spot lights on the miter saw. Lastly I have a 1940 Craftsman scroll saw thats not set up and besides that there are drills and things like that.

I had never been able to saw a straight line or even nail a board. About three years ago my son needed my help on his Eagle Scout project. We struggled but with lots of help, built a playhouse on the church playground. Afterwards I took the leftover lumber and made myself a little workbench. I began picking up a tool here and there and before I knew it, I wanted to make a few projects. For fifteen years my life revolved between my two sons. My oldest kept us at the baseball fields 9 months out of the year and my youngest kept me busy as an Assistant Scoutmaster. My extra activities had come to and end and I am so glad I found woodworking. My wife and sons even get into it occasionally. The following are a few photos of my humble little shop.

This is my first workbench made from leftover Eagle project. A grinder, sander and drill press are in the background. Also is the pegboard and table saw.

With more scraps I made a stand for a hand-me-down miter saw, complete with an old Kirby for dust collection. Also are shelves for sanders, jigsaw and such.

When the wood started piling up I had to make lumber rack, cutoff bin. The router table sits below.

After the projects started, I decided I needed a better workbench. I made this one with a low budget. The large and small shoulder vises came from Highland Woodworking.

I started playing around on a lathe and had to have one. I have made several bowls now. Plan to start turning pens soon..

My latest purchase, from Highland Woodworking, is my new 14 inch Steel City band saw. I plan on picking up the riser block and fence later on. I have already cut bowl blanks and attempted a collapsible castle.

Well, that’s my little shop. I started off small but I plan to upgrade most of the tools. Over the last couple of years I have made several projects including Adirondack chairs, quilt racks for charity, a cedar chest for my wife among other items. You can check them out at: http://lumberjocks.com/billboard You can check out my shop cam at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bills-basement-woodworking-shop or on Marc’s cam list. I am live in the shop a couple of days a week. I have been enjoying my new hobby, especially bowl turning. I plan to take the bowl turning classes at Highland Woodworking soon.

I think I’ve gotten my shop off to a good start, but it still has a long way to go. I got good tools, in the good locations, good lighting, electricity from the ceiling to keep the floor clear, and good dust collection. The next stage is to build some good shop cabinetry and a workbench.

Here is a panoramic shot of from the middle of the shop.

Another pano showcasing my jointer and tablesaw.

A pano of my miscellaneous workbench area.

My workshop computer is in the foreground. The 2 garden basement windows are the main way I get large rough lumber into my basement. You can see my facination with old clocks on the walls. I am also interested in CNC milling among other things.

This is the main woodworking area of my shop. You can see the air compressor line on the ceiling. The air compressor is on the opposite side of the basement.

The back area of the basement. I need to build an outfeed table / workbench at the back of the tablesaw here. I store my stains, glues, shellacs and whatnot here near the basement sink.

The workhorse tools of any shop… the jointer and the tablesaw.

If you want to see a video tour of Alan’s shop, you can check it out directly on his website.

For dust collection I have a Harbor Freight ’2HP’ dust collector and a box fan that I tape furnace filters on as a air cleaner.
I use flexible 4″ hose run one at a time to each machine, I hope sometime in the future to find a way to run some 5″ dedicated lines around the shop but the low ceilings are a problem with clearance.

The large tools in the shop are:
Craftsman Hybrid 10″ table saw
Harbor Freight 14″ band saw
Harbor Freight 12″x36″ lathe
Craftsman 12″ drill press
Dewalt 12″ chop saw
Harbor Freight mortising machine
Delta 12 1/2″ Planer (called it a 12″ in the video)
General International 6″ jointer.

I also have a fairly full complement of Craftsman, Makita, Milwaukee, and Porter Cable, power hand tools. As well as a smattering of older/cheaper hand tools.

My workbench is about 8 years old and needed some shoring up and I am always looking for add more storage to the shop, so I recently added some pegboard and some 1/4″ ply to the back to stiffen the frame up some. This lets me add places for extension cords, drills, air guns, etc…. On the back of the bench I have put my chisels and layout tools, we will see how well things stay there with me hammering on the bench.

Heating during the winter is handled by a kerosine heater and a couple of electric heaters. I will generally use the kerosine heater to get the shop up to a comfortable temp then rely on the electric heaters to maintain the temp. Cooling in the summer is shorts and a couple more box fans.

I thought I would send you some shots of my home shop. I have been a hobbyist woodworker for the past 10 or so years. Not only is my shop a wood shop but it is where I fix all the household stuff. Lamps that stop working, bikes, etc. Come on into my shop. It is down two flights of stairs in the basement, it’s the door on the right, photo #1. It is 12′X12′ square with a 7′ ceiling. I have an ongoing battle with the house furnace that takes up about a 3′ square patch of the room. Needless to say I think it would be classified as a “small shop”. I have built a king size bed as well as two large rolling storage cabinets for a school in the shop but most of my work is much smaller. CD/DVD cases, boxes, coffee and side tables, etc.

Photo #2 & 3 are shots looking through the door into the shop. All of my tools are either bench top or able to move around the shop so I can accommodate larger pieces of wood. This includes my Delta contractor saw which I can spin around to face the door and out feed wood through the door using roller stands as out feed support if needed. I have a bench top craftsman drill press that sits on its own shop built rolling stand.

In photo #4 there is my King Canada 6″ jointer, Ryobi bench top belt/disk sander and tucked under my bench is the router table. The cabinet in the corner is an old kitchen corner cabinet that has a lazy susan inside that holds all my finishing products as well as sand paper and household paint. The two wall cabinets (again from our old kitchen) hold miscellaneous parts for machines as well as books and magazines.

Photos 5 & 6 are shots of my bench. It is about the simplest bench that could be made. Using 2X4s and a maple veneered chip board top. When the top gets too beat up, I flip it over and then replace it all together when that side gets destroyed. Hanging on the wall are some of my hand tools. Some “C” and spring clamps as well as a light hanging from a bar above the bench. On the bench are two recently finished CD cases and a lift lid box that are Christmas presents for family. In photo #6 is my Steal City hollow chisel mortiser. It sits on another old kitchen base cabinet. This cabinet holds stuff that I can’t find another place for. Beside that is my Dewalt thickness planer. I have passed lots of board feet through this machine. The chip collection for the planer is a garbage pail inside the shop-built cabinet that the planer sits on.

Photo #7 & 8 are looking from the bench back to the door and the table saw. The wall cabinet holds mostly household stuff, light bulbs etc. My other hobby is mountain biking and the top red tool chest holds all my bike related tools parts. The bottom rolling cabinet holds hand power tools as well as the majority of my hand and marking tools. Hanging on the wall above the table saw is my Ryobi scroll saw. As I don’t have a band saw, the scroll saw doubles as my band saw with major limitations. I hate to throw out any wood except for the smallest pieces. I have my off cuts scattered around the shop and all my larger pieces of lumber stored either in an outdoor shed or in a small storage space under the stairs.

The last photo shows where I store my bar clamps. All my quick grip clamps hang off the cold air return on the furnace. The shop has gone through several makeovers in the last ten years and one of the projects for the New Year is another shop make over. All the old kitchen cabinets are going to go and I am going to build floor to ceiling cabinets to house all the stuff. I am also planning on building a new bench, most likely a torsion box style but I am still working on the plans for that. As you can see it is a small space but one of the things I really like about it is I am only a few steps away form anything in there. Thanks for taking a tour of my shop!