Danny Byrd’s Shop

Shop Tour - Submitted by Danny Byrd from Eaton, Ohio
Added on October 5, 2011

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.

Discussion

rgdaniel August 15, 2009 7:45 am

Wow, that’s huge! (that’s what she said)
I could put my whole shop in the space he’s just walkin’ around in…

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Dave S August 15, 2009 8:01 am

Now that is nice. Wonder what the view is from the bench when the roll up door is opened? Or is that just the place you sit facing the wall to force yourself to come up with some new designs? Man, I’d love to have that kind of space to breath in. Good luck with your business.

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collin stuart August 15, 2009 8:14 am

Fantastic shop, I love the layout , real clean look. I too hope your new venture takes off. Good luck.

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dylder August 15, 2009 11:54 am

Very nice shop. I visited your web site, great items. I wish you the best in your business.

dw

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Ben H August 15, 2009 1:31 pm

Nice and roomy…

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Marty August 15, 2009 3:05 pm

Danny, your shop is 2/3 the size of my entire house. Needless to say I’m insanely jealous.

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- Danny Byrd August 15, 2009 9:00 pm
  
  My wife can relate, my shop is 2/3 the size of our house too. She’s also insanely jealous.
  
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John August 15, 2009 3:37 pm

Great shop, Danny! I’m jealous.

Would love to see plans for the large rolling shop cart/assembly table.

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Tom Schmidt August 15, 2009 4:09 pm

Just like the first moon landing, those pics have to be fake. I don’t see ANY sawdust anywhere. How real can that be? Beautiful shop, I can only dream of a space that big.

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Germain August 15, 2009 4:20 pm

I especially like the plywood floor. Easy on the feets!

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Geoff Cremasco August 16, 2009 1:02 am

That is very cool. Inspirational!

I wish I had the area and budget to buy the machinery I dream of having! The timber on the floor is a great idea….I hope your wood work business takes off….

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Vic Hubbard August 16, 2009 10:25 am

Very nicely laid out space Danny. I like that it’s clean, as I’m sure you do. 20″ jointer?…NICE!!!

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Claude Stewart August 16, 2009 6:47 pm

Very nice shop. I wish all cold have one that big and well stocked with nice tools.

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Jason Helton August 17, 2009 3:11 pm

Best of luck to you Danny.

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- Danny Byrd August 17, 2009 4:55 pm
  
  That’s, I’ll take all the luck I can get, as long as it’s good.
  
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National Frame Building Association August 18, 2009 12:50 pm

Kudos, Danny, from the National Frame Building Association and http://www.PostFrameAdvatage.com.

You provide a great example with your shop, that post frame is a viable, efficient option for construction beyond the traditional agricultural application.

Please stop on by the website to see what we’re up to, visit us on twitter to help get the word out: Post-frame – it’s not just for pole barns any more. http://twitter.com/PostFrameAdv

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- Richard January 25, 2010 11:30 am
  
  Correct link:
  
  http://www.postframeadvantage.com/
  
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Jason November 21, 2009 10:31 am

Great shop, wish I had that much room.
Jason

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dae December 21, 2009 8:40 pm

sweeeet!

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Jack Entekin December 26, 2009 9:46 am

Danny,
i noted u have 4 in pvc 4 your DC, have you had any probs with it?

P.S. that is a sweet shop

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- Danny December 26, 2009 5:16 pm
  
  No, none. The plan was for that design to be temporary until I could install a cyclone system, but it has done so well I don’t plan on upgrading.
  
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Jimmy January 7, 2010 7:58 am

Nice shop, but where do you store the wood, and I’m not talking about the racks to store the wood for the next project, I’m talking about the real wood, lol.

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Jfb January 21, 2010 5:05 pm

Hey Dany !

I’m your long lost friend ! Remember, the one in primary school who always chose you in his team ? No ? Ok, it was worth the try… Very, very nice shop. And thanks, because we can show these pics to our wifes and maybe (I said maybe…) get some more nice tools by saying “I only want half this”…

Good luck with the business.

Jf from Québec.

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- Danny January 22, 2010 4:12 am
  
  Thanks! I’ve added a shaper and a edge sander since these pictures were taken. Just tell your wife that the best way to show support to your woodworking is to let you buy all the tools you want and that she’s the best wife in the world and you love her sooooo much! If that dosen’t work, don’t feel bad, it dosen’t work here in the U.S.A either.
  
  Take care,
  
  Danny
  
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  - John Verreault (aka JohnnyVee) October 5, 2011 1:22 pm
    
    It doesn’t work anywhere! Some sort of spousal conspiracy thing…I think it’s an onganized anti-tool lobby thing.
    
    Cheers
    
    John (also from north of the border, eh)
    
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Gary October 29, 2010 12:19 pm

Nice shop Danny. Looks like you have great tools and plenty of space.

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Sean McGilvray May 15, 2011 5:55 pm

I wish I had a space like that one.

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- Danny Byrd May 20, 2011 9:30 pm
  
  Yeah well, I always think it’s too small til I sweep the floor.
  
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Mo Theron October 5, 2011 12:05 pm

Very roomy shop, looks awesome. Good Luck.

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Chad Tennant October 5, 2011 2:08 pm

what did you do to insulate the walls?

I have a pole barn that I am going to finish out, and the wall studs are about four feet apart.

Any tips?

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- Danny October 7, 2011 5:48 am
  
  I framed in the walls and ceiling 16″oc and used batt insul.
  
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MikeM October 5, 2011 2:34 pm

Nice Shop Danny!

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Doug McPherson October 5, 2011 6:53 pm

Love the shop. It’s exactly what I would love to have some day. Your website and youtube video are really great too. I think you are doing all the right things to set yourself up for success. Wishing you the best.

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Wirenut October 5, 2011 7:56 pm

Wow… now that’s what I call a shop!! Lots of space and lots of machine tools. Nice work putting it up, a lot of work went into it I have no doubt.

The sheet goods rack on the ceiling is an interesting idea but isn’t it going to be a problem if you have to lift up 4 x 8 sheets of heavy material like MDF or BB plywood by yourself?… Or when you need to retrieve them from the ceiling rack?

I really like the vintage 36″ bandsaw. Never seen one of those before. But my favorite by far is the “No Hippies Allowed” sign on the door. ;-)

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- Danny October 7, 2011 5:54 am
  
  Ceiling sheet goods storage is what you do when you have no other place to put them. The best idea, no. But, they’re not on the floor.
  
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servant74 October 6, 2011 8:11 am

Great shop! I am sooo jealous. The big bandsaw is absolutely beautiful. It would give OSHA inspectors bad dreams, but it is a great machine!

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John F October 6, 2011 9:11 am

Wow what a great shop! I especially love the vintage bandsaw.

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Nate Olsen October 6, 2011 11:34 am

Like everyone else said, look at all that space! I really like that sheet storage in the ceiling. I’m gettin’ some ideas there!

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Todd October 6, 2011 6:01 pm

Great shop. I really like that 36″ bandsaw!

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Nateswoodworks October 9, 2011 8:39 pm

Very nice indead. Love that it is nice and clean, I am the same way. I truly hope your venture lproves to be better than you anticipated. Thanks for sharing.
Nate

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Tom Buhl October 14, 2011 8:52 am

Danny, wishing you great success in the business. Hopefully, down the line you’ll be soooo grateful for the layoff.
My favorite was the photo of the customized rolling cart for the broom and dust pan. Perhaps you could soup it up with flames, big fins, or mounted head and tail lights, ala 1959 Chrysler Imperial. Yeah, that would be cool. You would have friends begging to sweep you awesome shop just for the thrill.

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- Danny October 14, 2011 10:58 am
  
  LOL, finally someone noticed. And thanks for the ideas!
  
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George Barry October 14, 2011 8:57 am

I hope when my shop grows up it looks like that. I want that old bandsaw!!!

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Rob Cottle October 14, 2011 9:49 am

That is a nice shop with some very nice equipment.. The day will come when I have a stand alone shop

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Howard Gelles October 14, 2011 12:09 pm

Dan, beautiful shop. i too built a 36×45 shop with many of the same tools you have, and building furniture in the adirondack stlye. Although it is not eough to pay the bills with this economy that we have now i want to expand into make other furniture. Furniture businesses have had a rough time in this climate as u know. I wish you all the best wish we lived closer i would love to see your shop in person and vise versa. cheers,howard,the CedarCraftsman.

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Uffe J October 15, 2011 11:45 am

Wow! Nice shop and what a space.

Good luck with your business, Dan.
I hope you

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Kevin Presutti October 17, 2011 7:51 pm

Danny,
Very nice shop indeed. I want a stand alone builing as well. I was wondering how and what you framed the floor with? 12″ centers, 2×12 etc. With all that equipment out there vibration must have been a concern I would think. Personally I would like to have a wood floor but I am thinking “minimize vibration” = concrete.

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- Danny October 18, 2011 9:49 am
  
  Kevin, believe it or not, the floor has 2x10s 16″oc with one double 2×10 beam down the center running the length of the bldg. If you look again you’ll notice that all the machines are located along the walls where the 2×10 band board ties into the post. The large bandsaw and the table saw are sitting on top of the beam that is supported by 5 post beneath the floor. All of the machines are very heavy and I have no issuse with vibration. During the summer months we also will use the shop for cookouts, we have had up to 25 people inside the shop at one time. I have tested the limits of this floor, you can bet on that!
  
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Jay October 18, 2011 8:59 am

To Danny: very nice shop.
To my fellow TWW posters…I’m very impressed with how many of you wished him Danny well in new endeavors! Kudos to each of you.

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Scott October 18, 2011 7:35 pm

A great shop to be sure Danny, I’m positive that it didn’t happen overnight, so keep this in mind as you start out on the next chapter of your life. In that the shop didn’t come instantly, neither will ultimate success in business. There will be tough times ahead,but if you apply yourself to your business as you did indeveloping the shop, everything will work out fine.

As long as your bills are getting paid, you will be miles ahead of the rest of us 9 – to -5’ers. You are living the dream and doing what makes your heart sing. It can’t be any better than that. We can see the passion you have for your craft by how meticulous your shop is, and if you let that passion be your guide – and not the money (if you can,) you will be the definition of success. No matter what the bank account says.

All the best to you sir, and enjoy the ride — all of it!!!

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- Danny October 19, 2011 9:58 am
  
  Thanks Scott! I will try and do just that…
  
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Chris October 21, 2011 8:54 am

i needed to see this set up. i am going to build a new shop behing my house (current shop is 14×30 and i have a unisaw in there, no room left)
very nice set up. best of luck on the new gig. i started a business this year as well. its the most fun while being scared at the same time you will ever have.

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- Danny October 21, 2011 2:03 pm
  
  You’re right about that Chris.
  
  Best of luck to you as well.
  
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Larry Clinton November 5, 2011 8:28 am

Hey Danny,
Nice shop, lots o’ room to move. Mine is in my basement so space is limited, but it works. I remember seeing that Crescent Bandsaw when you posted pics on facebook. It’s a cool looking machine. I can’t remember if you had it running or not.
I hope your business takes off like gangbusters.
Larry

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Charles Kwakye December 2, 2011 9:53 pm

Wow, I would be joining the school /class this coming year. looking forward to build furniture, and possible copy some ideas from you.
Good. very warm shop. I love your wooden floor, because as we get older, concrete is hard on the back.

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Jama March 3, 2015 1:00 am

Beautiful shop Danny!

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Danny Byrd’s Shop

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