A two-car garage is home to the Tom Buhl Workshop, an amateur endeavor. As you see in the first photo, that two-car garage also houses treasures, precious and otherwise, from combining two households five years ago into a 950 square foot home. When I married the lovely Ms. Gastil, she had a old, but serviceable contractor’s saw. So I made some shelves and storage devices from scraps and several raised garden beds. First furniture project, almost four years ago, was a set of bedside tables using plans purchased online. I was hooked. I play in the shop pretty much every day unless rain descends on our little corner of paradise.

Obviously, I work in a well-ventilated area with plenty of natural light. After opening the garage door, I roll out the carts. Even to use semi-stationary, I have to clear access space. As tight as things are, I’ve always managed to find a storage pattern to add another tool. I added the Jet 16-32 early this year and didn’t know how it could possibly fit, but somehow a formula was developed. When unexpected rain occurs it is a scramble to tuck everything safely away.

The PM2000 (a CraigsList find) has built-in wheels but stays put. Drill press and Grizzly 18-inch band saw are also used inside, but I will position to suit size of work. Wood cart on left wall was the first shop project—it has served me well. Holds scraps, cut offs and sheet goods. The Sjöbergs workbench has been good value with its vises and dog holes. It is not particularly suitable for serious planing and such. The added wheels further diminish its stability but I’ve gotten good use despite limitations.

To the right is a tall rolling cart (another CraigsList find) which is an awesome addition. Typically, the Sjöbergs bench is outside, opposed the table saw. The cart placed perpendicular to the workbench where it is handy for small bench tools. Recently, I added the small cart under the table saw extension to hold tools, blades, mitre gauge and ear protection. The large cross-cut sled is used frequently. It was especially appreciated when I had the contractor’s saw. Felt much safer and enhanced accuracy and control. Had to re-build it somewhat to fit the PM2000. I also have sleds for 45-degree miters and another for 45-degree bevel cuts.

Other power equipment include a 6-inch PM jointer, 13-inch DeWalt planer, dust collector, PM mortiser, PM spindle sander. The PM2000 came with router built into the extension but I found the Rockler table (Bosh 3-1/4 hp unit underneath) to be more flexible. Under the router table I keep tool boxes, one with bits in trays and the other with tools and attachments. I have a few other routers including trim and my favorite (thanks to Marc’s demo), a Veritas router plane.

The Rocker clamp cart is fabulous. I used to keep the clamps mounted on the wall, which kept them out of the way. But getting to the wall meant rolling gear away, then taking to the work area. When removing clamps I’d put them on any available surface. Which invariably would be the next surface I’d want to work on, so clamps would be moved again. Frustrating. The cart is great though I have it a bit overloaded (weight-wise) for its design. Also on that cart are pancake compressor and toolbox for scrapers. I have a separate small cart for my sharpening gear.

Last photo shows the workbench (beech and padauk) for my in-house office. Good for rainy days and late night hand-work. The cabinet below (cherry and beech) houses some of my precious hand tools. The cabinet rests on stretchers and can be lifted out. Bench can be broken down to move. Cherry stool in foreground was a recent project. I haven’t supplied pix of the river-salvaged, old-growth Belize Mahogany stickered in our living room. It is great having a spouse that appreciates my addiction. She’ll frequently pickup delicate shavings and small off-cuts to accessorize our lovely home.

This setup would not be appropriate for a production shop, but I work slowly and appreciate being outdoors. Early on, I built a garden shed/playhouse for my wife’s gardening gear so that she had ready access. Oh, yeah, and I guess a bit more room for my playthings as an added benefit.

Thanks for visiting. Hope to see many of Marc’s fans at WIA this October. For photos of projects and such check out TomBuhl.com

Finally, a thorough look at my new digs. Now my hope is that this shop is just temporary, until we sell the other house. But until then, I can make my 3-car garage a comfortable place to produce great projects! Enjoy the shop tour!

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

Today’s show is all about clamps. There are so many varieties out there and unless you’ve been woodworking for a number of years, its difficult to know which ones to buy. Furthermore, how do you know which ones to buy multiples of? I review all the clamps I own and show you some of the newer clamps to hit the market, namely the Jet Parallel Clamps and the Irwin Quick Grip XP’s. At the very least, I hope I can help you avoid doing what I did in the beginning: buying clamps you don’t need.

Most of the items featured in this episode are available in The Wood Whisperer Amazon Store. So if you need to pick up a few clamps, that’s a great way to do it.

In this video, I give a full tour of my shop space and show you what I feel are the essential tools for small and large workshops. I also discuss topics like tool prices, shop setup, and tool selection. You will also get an inside look at how my days typically start. Enjoy!!!

Update (8/27/10): Seeing the old shop is really surreal. Its amazing how many changes took place in that space over the course of the next few years. Organization, tooling, lighting….these were all eventually overhauled. And now, of course, we are in a totally new space. The coolest thing about this video is that it really marks the start of what I consider to be the “Wood Whisperer-style”. That is, a woodworking show that sheds the stuffiness and isn’t afraid to make fun of itself. I imagine many folks who watched this video were either immediately attracted to, or completely appalled by what we were doing. Education and entertainment for the modern woodworker. That’s what its all about. And while TheWoodWhisperer.com has grown significantly since then, we are still the same goofy fun-loving people we always were. Grass roots to the core! Although this video was probably only seen by a couple hundred people when it was released, it has been viewed over 100,000 times since then. That’s just mind boggling. It was also pretty cool to see my poker chip trays in this video. That article did get published in Woodcraft Magazine and in fact, we made the cover.