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.

Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Hobbyist or Pro: Pro

Shop Type: Standalone

Square Footage: 1000+

Shop Description:
My shop is a work in progress. I enjoy taking a concept drawing for a client and turning it into reality. I also enjoy remaking/duplicating antiques and fixing broken furniture. I use my shop to build custom cabinetry and kitchen cabinets for clients as well.
Currently, I am opening up my shop as a millwork shop for people who need material planed, cut to size or projects glued up & overall general help building projects. To see some of my work please check out my website: johnwhitedesign.com

Website: Byrdwoodworking.com

Hobbyist or Pro: Pro

Shop Type: Standalone

Square Footage: 1040 sq. ft.

I have a 24 year background in construction and the last 13 years as a commercial construction superintendent. I have been building furniture and cabinets for the last 12 years and teaching myself new techniques to improve my skills with every project. I have been laid off since last Sept. and haven’t had much luck finding another superintendent position, so I’ve been trying to make a start at my own woodworking business.

The shop is a 26ft. x 40ft. pole building that I built in 2005. I framed in the walls to insulate and drywall. I also decided to frame and sheet the floor instead of concrete. It has a 200 amp independant service. It’s location is about 100′ from my back door. Equipment is as follows. 5hp Delta unisaw, 15″ Delta planer, 14″ Powermatic bandsaw, 18″ 3hp Jet bandsaw, 36″ vintage Crescent bandsaw, Powermatic 719T mortiser, Delta 8″ jointer, Performax 2244 drum sander, Jet 6″x108″ edge sander, Shopfox spindle sander, Delta 6×48 belt/disc sander, Delta/Rockwell 24″ scroll saw, Delta 12×36 wood lathe and too many hand tools to list.

This shop is in a one car garage set off from the main 2 car garage – I added a door between the two to keep dust (and heat) contained in the shop portion. This is what it looks like between major projects, after all of the flat surfaces have been cleared of the tools, sandpaper, wood scraps, finish containers and all the miscellaneous stuff that accumulates during a project.

The equipment has been acquired over many years, some items are replacements of early items (Craftsman Hybrid table saw to replace original Ryobi, Dewalt planer to replace original Delta) and some have been in the shop quite a while (Delta drill press and small jointer). The dust collection system was upgraded a couple years ago and really creates a much more pleasant (and safer) work environment, it goes to all major tools and can connect to the random orbit sander as well.

Over the past couple of years I built new cabinet bases for many of the tools, trying to find logical groupings of tools to share a base (drill press/jointer, planer/miter saw) and all on wheels so they can be tucked away when not needed. The large white built-in cabinets hold finishing supplies, hardware, hand tools (jig saw, biscuit cutter, drills etc).

The main limit of the shop size is dealing with larger stock – ripping an 8 foot board is a bit of a challenge requiring moving the table saw and working with full plywood panels requires rough cuts with a circular saw to get down to sizes the can be managed on the table saw without a large in or out feed surface. But I am not complaining – I know I am fortunate to have this much space to work with, less than some, but more than most.

Well, I have finished my shop (are you ever really finished?), and I thought I would share with all. We bought a small piece of land and I tell family and friends that we built a shop with a house attached. The stand alone shop is close and connected but no dust in the house. It is 24 by 28, I wish I had made it bigger. I have been heavily influenced by your advice and I have used a lot of Norm’s ideas in the outfitting of the shop. You can see his stuff in the pictures. It has heat and air so I can work year round. The roof is quite high so I can add an upper loft later. The walls are lined with CDX so I can screw and nail to the walls without looking for studs. The builders splashed paint on the walls while using the space for painting so they had to paint the CDX. I have pretty much all the tools I need. Not visible are the scroll saw and mortise.

The shop is now producing projects as you can see. I am using the roll around dust collector and some day may put in a cyclone but the high ceilings will make it difficult. I am pleased with it and I am thoroughly enjoying working in it. —Richard

Status Report:

Where have we been for nearly 2 months?!?!?! Marc gives a Gadget Station update and talks about the “project hump”. Matt announces that his next project will be a bedside table for Madison.

Around the Web:

Working Wood by Tom Fidgen
Luthiercast
Upholstered Chair Project Video

News:
Final Cut sawblades.
Amana’s In-Tech router bits with replaceable cutterheads.

Steel City introduces spiral head lunchbox planer.
Auriou rasps back in business!

Hot Deals:
50% OFF ROUTER TABLE STARTER PACKAGE
Regular Catalog Price $239.97 E-Direct Special Offer $119.99

Bessey Tradesman Bar Clamps Buy 2 – Get the 3rd FREE!

Topics:
IWF Review- DeWalt TrackSaw, Delta Unisaw, General International’s adjustable height bandsaw.
Intro to Spokeshaves – low-angle vs. standard – flat vs. round bottom

Tom’s Tip: Keeping the shop clean.

Although for me, IWF was about representing my sponsors and meeting up with readers/viewers, nearly everyone else has one thing on their mind: tools. So we did our best to get some footage of the most talked about tools of the show. I know we missed quite a few (specifically, Jet’s new oscillating drum sander). But with our tight schedule and impending exhaustion, we did the best we could. Nothing fancy, nothing funny, just tools!

Here are the companies we visited:

Leigh, Blum Tool Co., Ex-Factory, DeWalt, Powermatic, Delta, and Laguna.

For more IWF coverage, check out these great resources:
Fine Woodworking Editors Blog
Popular Woodworking Blog