I do a search, then have them listed “lowest price + shipping first”. It is work, but I’m saving a bunch. Specialty hardware, I only buy what I need.

I have more hardware than space. lol Being organized really helps, I order pocket screws by the case. Because USPS flat rate is max. 70 #’s.

Aloha
Randy

I knew I was facing a shipping bill anyway, so I had them do it. Mine too is small, if you notice the bench it’s sitting on is a Werner work platform with a plywood top.

Aloha
Randy

Alex: We have a very rainy/hurricane season and when it rains I work inside. It’s a squeeze, but I find moving the machine I’m using to the center of the shop and keeping everything else off to the periphery works out fine.

Pinto: I’m exactly the opposite. I’m kind of anal in keeping everything where it belongs. Just ask my kids…lol

Torch02: Secret admission; what you see is about 1/5th of what I have. The rest is stacked in a large dead space behind my workbench and at my brother’s house.

ATOGRFi: I used to live just south of Chicago and know what you mean. Thankfully, I have a secure environment
here. (and ample security measurements just in case.)

Jeremiah: Big box steel racks that hold a LOT of weight and can be repositioned wherever I need.

Tom: You & Iggy have taught me a lot and I will remain a faithful follower. Tomsworkbench.com rocks!

Texfire: I really hate interruptions…lol

Jason: Thanks. I had three different colors and just tried to make everything look a little nicer.

Joel: One day I just stuck some on there while I was working on a project, and bingo, the light in my coconut went off!

Bob: I moved down here a couple of years ago from Chicago, and the weather is unbelievable. No more shoveling snow for me ! lol

Dozers: The door still works fine. I may have to replace a few rollers down the road, but that is easy.

MPLSMike: Dick Butkus and Walter Payton.
All Stars for ALL TIME. Enough said!

Tennessee Yankee: Thanks. It’s “safety blue” and truthfully, the old girl likes that color. Happy wife = more tools…lol

John: Thank you my friend. A kind comment coming from someone who is smart enough to follow this fine site is very much appreciated.

Lenny: I used to have a bigger shop and found this one suits me just as well. It is what you make of it.

ToolSelect: Thank you very much.

Lone Wolf: Thank you as well.

Eric: I just must have moved everything a hundred times before it started taking shape. I painfully removed things I didn’t use any more and then obtained several cabinets and chests, putting like items together. Slowly but surely it started to organize. I can now go out there and find just what I’m looking for. But you know I’ll move it all around again soon ! lol

TF Tom: Thank you. I appreciate your kindness.

Jim J: I have several different small tool chests and the four large ones are from HD. Stainless Steel with the rollers left off. I am in the process of replacing my bench top cabinets with ones I’m making (Lumberjocks project: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/57379
It’ll take a while, but it’s been fun.

Bill: Man, rust is ever present down here in Florida, but following Marc & Tom Iovino’s tips have really helped. T-9 Boshield by the case helps too…lol

Michael: The uniformity in wood shape is just from the source which I was fortunate enough to tap in to.
I make everything from small items to large. (Large means more glue ups..lol)

Jeff: I can work pretty easily when I have everything inside. It is definitely a little more “comfy”… but there is less reaching for something…lol

Thank you all again, and thanks to Marc.
With as many plates as he keeps spinning in the air at once, he is really something!
The woodworking community is really lucky to have people like him out there!
Thanks again.
Eric

But question…how does it look with everything inside? Is there room to work when it rains?

Overall…I give it two thumbs up…

Thanks for sharing.

I have sharpened tools for a very long time. Like many other woodworkers, I fell prey to the well-developed and possibly well-intentioned sales pitches for “the best sharpening machine ever” at The Woodworker’s Show and in the trade magazines. The truth of the matter is that, while all of these machines work at some level, none of them do as well as what you can do by hand, at a fraction of the price. They aren’t designed to take the place of skill and patience, but the sales people won’t tell you that.

A Tormek costs close to $800.00 if you add a few tool-holding appliances. Other knock-offs cost less, but they are still pricey. And all these machines do, sales pitches to the contrary, are to produce a slow and safe hollow grind. They do not hone: you still need to do that. So you need to spend money on stones, irrespective of how you get the hollow. The flat-grinding machines might get you closer, but their edges still are not as fine as a hand-honed edge. And one of the big benefits of using a hand plane it the amount of sanding work you eliminate – so the quality of the edge on your hand planes matters a lot.

In hindsight, (yes, I own a Tormek) that money would have been better spent on a reasonably slow grinder and a lesson or two on how to hollow-grind tools without burning them. It can be done. It is not hard to learn, and takes only modest practice. Same with honing.

I now use a hand-cranked grinder for a lot of my work. That cost me less than $50, including a new wheel and the parts and material necessary to build a tool rest. Here is a link: http://wp.me/pmJHd-6G to a description of that tool rest.) The hand-cranked grinder is nice and quiet, it’s still slow, but not as slow as the Tormek. Yes, it is possible to burn a tool, but you have to try hard to do it.

There is no substitute for knowing how to grind, and for knowing how to hone. If you don’t know how, you really can learn. Take a class from someone who knows how to sharpen. Join your local woodworking guild, and ask a member. Sharp tools open doors for your woodworking, and once you pass through the doors you won’t ever look back.