Fred’s Workshop

Shop Tour - Submitted by Fred
Added on June 18, 2008

Here are a couple of pictures of my shop. The one of the interior is a stitched photo so there is some distortion here and there but you can get the idea. The shop is 12′ x 20′. I built it before I got really serious about woodworking and it seemed quite large at the time. You will notice that the air compressor is sitting outside. That is the first thing I do when I start to work. There is not room for me and the air compressor. You will also notice that I followed your instructions to not clean up before taking the photos. Working in the shop is possible only because of the mobile base under the table saw. I can always manage to move it somewhere so I have enough space to do what I need to do. Assembly of large pieces and finishing is done in the garage. I hope to be able to add 16′ to the shop. Then maybe I could find proper places for everything.

Discussion

CleanFreak June 18, 2008 9:56 am

My OCD is kicking in just looking at it. Its a good thing shop safety month was May.

Fred, please cleanup.

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rgdaniel June 18, 2008 11:31 am

Finally a workshop I can actually identify with!! B-)

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Claude Stewart June 18, 2008 3:22 pm

Wow This interior shot reminds of my too full paint booth. Although it’s cleaned up now so it’s possible Fred.

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tom June 18, 2008 7:21 pm

so, how do you use your machines fred?

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Vic June 18, 2008 9:33 pm

Fred, thank you so much for making me feel a little better about the state of my shop! I have to say, even though I’m not by nature clean and organized, my wife is. If I let anything get too out of control, she will help me get things back where they belong and thank god!…otherwise, I’d never be able to find anything!!!

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Craig June 18, 2008 10:28 pm

It must be exciting to stumble upon tools that have been lost for decades and enjoy them all over again as when they were new!

I can’t even imagine attempting trying to build something among that level of clutter and disorder! I predict however, that you more than likely have developed some sort of organization to that mess that you alone in the world are able to comprehend! Well done!!

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Jim Jones June 19, 2008 6:44 am

I’m ROTFL at the comments.

I am definitely going to show this pic to my wife and say “see there, my shop isn’t THAT bad…” :-)

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Mike D June 19, 2008 7:38 am

Thanks, Fred, for making us ALL feel better about our own shops. Now I’m ready to toss my little 12×12 shop into the ring. Gosh it feels so spacious right about now.

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Frank June 19, 2008 7:53 am

Fred, thanks for the photo. I feel much better about my garage now. I have had good success in keeping my garage in order with those large metal rolling shelves from Costco. They are around 70 dollars each and can hold a tremendous amount of weight.

Of course, the only way to approach a disaster of this magnitude is pull everything out to a clean floor, roll in the shelves, and bring one item in at a time. Most importantly, have lots of those large trash bags available. By the way, the trash bags go to the curb, not back in the shop. ;o)

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David June 19, 2008 8:04 am

The comment over my shoulder as I viewed your shop photo was “Yup, looks just like yours”.
I am able to navigate through mine but as I get older I notice a few bruises on my legs that I don’t remember getting. My shop is in a constant state of change, not always in an improved way. I do not have any excuse because i have a lot of space and at least 3 large areas in my buildings that I can arrange things neatly.
The main thing is you have a shop and the tools, if they can be found and accessed.
Thanks for sharing.
David B

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Rickey LoDico June 19, 2008 8:39 am

Now that’s refreshing. None of this spotless and sterile woodworking that we see so much of. Thanx Fred and Marc.

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Sharon June 19, 2008 10:46 am

Holy crap, talk about criticism! Thanx for the laughs everyone…

sure this is how to put it – “not a clear point in view”. but maybe the guy has developed a way to work in this scheme?

I would suggest cleaning up though…makes 3 important things:
1. see what you’ve got
2. ability to get to what you’ve got
3. safety safety safety!!!

number 3 obviously the most important of them all.

compared to what some people use as workshop space, it actually looks like quite a luxurious setup you have there, and you’ll be surprised at how much actual work space you can get if you just come up with a method to store all those things.

I’m sure if you’ll post here, or lumberjocks, or other sites with ideas as to how to organize it better – you’ll get plenty of good responses, with great ideas that might take minimal time and effort to perform, but can yield amazing extreme results!

I can definitely come up with some ideas, but this might not be the proper forum for that… so shoot me an email if it’s something that might interest you, and a direction you’d like to pursue…

all said and done… some people are just comfortable working in their own environment, and thats fine too if thats what you like :)

Cheers!

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Steve June 19, 2008 10:48 am

Where do you stand in there? My workbench and table get into that state, but when I back the van out of the garage/workshop I have this nice, open space to wheel power tools into posn.

You’ve got to get organized!

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Bill Armstrong June 19, 2008 11:43 am

Fred, Fred, Fred. Fred ………………………………………Fred!
This looks just like my shop as I am finishing a project. BUT, at the end of each project I take a few hours and pick up the scraps and paper, etc. Then I take the hose from my air compressor attach an air blower to it and start blowing toward the large door. I can’t start a new project by trying to find the table saw.

One suggestion I would throw at you is… When I built my shop a few years ago I went out to ebay and did a search for unfinished cabinets and garage cabinets. I found a place in Texas that had just what I was looking for in unfinished cabinets. I purchased about 20′ of upper and lower Oak and Oak veneer (no particle board) kitchen quality cabinets for around $1100.00. I could not have built them for that price. Those cabinets solved most of my storage needs and did not take up a lot of floor space. I will put some pics of my shop in as soon as I get it cleaned from this current project which I will finish today.

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james June 19, 2008 12:12 pm

this is a joke, yes?

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Steve June 19, 2008 1:06 pm

I’ve never seen a tornado cause such damage only to the interior of a building!
Good Luck!

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jim June 19, 2008 5:50 pm

WOW…….I guess arguing about sharing the garage with the christmas decorations really is petty. On the other hand I need to tell my wife that there actually is enough room for more woodworking equipment, maybe even a proper dust collection system………HMMMM?!?

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Joe R June 19, 2008 11:35 pm

Well, what can I say after 17 comments that said it all…except thank you for the group of the 17 funniest comments, ever!

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Dave June 20, 2008 10:16 am

I found Waldo!

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Fred June 22, 2008 3:20 pm

I took the pictures at a time when the shop was the messiest it has ever been. I was in a rush to get out a bunch of little things so did not need a lot of space to move around. Shortly after the photos I needed to start a big project so I did a massive clean-up and some re-organization. I actually now have some room to move around. I have some ideas to make better use of the space but need to finish the paying project first.

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Ken F June 23, 2008 10:07 pm

My poor fellow woodworker I think it goes deeper than just adding 16 extra feet to your shop. You are in total denial and need to seek some professional help. Search you inner
Feelings, you really donâ

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Matt Worner June 25, 2008 5:00 am

Baby, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Now if I can just find my camera in here…

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William June 25, 2008 6:39 am

Dude – Awesome! The anti-shop. There are filers and there are pilers and there is no question which one of those you are, Fred! That shop is a thing of beauty! Imagine another 320 sq ft to mess up. Wow!

What I especially like is the small homage to order in some things hanging on a peg board. You’re a performance artist, man!

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corey February 1, 2010 6:26 pm

hey frank. i think your shop should be on hoarders. lol!!!

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Steve May 22, 2010 12:50 am

lol awesome

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Dave Stanton July 6, 2011 4:45 am

Fred……are you on Valium?

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Fred’s Workshop

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