James’ New Zealand Wood Shop

Shop Tour - Submitted by James Gardiner from Whangarei, New Zealand
Added on November 14, 2012

Hey guys! I’m 17 and live in New Zealand. Woodworking is my MAJOR hobby and I’ve been into it since I was about 10. I’ve been collecting quality tools for the last 3 years! Marc has been a great inspiration to me :) Here’s my shop!

The shop itself is in a room attached to the garage. It’s 2m x 2m (6.5ft x 6.5ft). Inside is a wall of clamps, most are Irwin. I have my workbench with two vices and underneath are my power tools. I have a Makita chainsaw, Hitachi circular saw, Bosch jigsaw, Makita finishing sander, biscuit jointer, Makita and Hitachi planers, Hitachi belt sander, Makita and Dewalt routers and laminate trimmer, Aeg recip saw, Makita die grinder, Bosch multi tool, Bosch angle grinders, Dewalt cordless circular saw, and dremel, and my Festool collection comprising of ps300 barrel grip jigsaw, cxs drill, and ets 150/3 sander.

Above the bench are nails and screws, etc. and a plane and card scraper rack thingy. To the right is my drill charging station, home to my Festool cxs, Bosch impact driver and drill and Dewalt hammer drill ( which I found :D). Along the side of the garage are my larger machines: Dewalt thicknesser, Dewalt 12″ bandsaw, Trupro 6″ jointer and a Makita mitre saw. They are all on wheels for easy movement. All of my tools are of good quality, i.e., Bosch Dewalt, Makita, Hitachi, Veritas and Festool (I’m fussy like that!).

I included a picture of my latest project (blanket box) made from purple heart, macrocarpa and wenge! Hope you like it!!! And I just wanna say I love Marc and his videos. I’ve seen every one and he has inspired me in making my own projects to a high standard, not to mention he’s very talented and funny :) Cheers!

Discussion

Mike Tavcar November 15, 2012 12:01 am

Well done James! Great start-up shop with some excellent tools. The DeWalt thicknesser is what I have also and it is a very good machine……no snipe!! It’s amazing what you can do in a small shop! Your work looks good and will only get better with experience.
It’s great to see that Marc has had such a positive influence on you (I’m sure Marc would be proud reading your words). He is like a mentor next to you but 10,000 miles away….got to love the Internet!!! :)

Cheers

Reply
Mark Loughran November 15, 2012 3:13 am

Fantastic shop James!! And an impressive tool collection, great to see you getting into the hobby so early, and great to see that Marc is inspiring a whole new generation of woodworkers!! Really like the blanket chest, very impressive!! And all that in a small space, there goes one of my excuses :-) LOL

Reply
UffeJ November 15, 2012 9:10 am

Great shop, James. Nice order of your stuff too.
And that box of yours……and you are only 17..
I guess we´ll see some even more nice things coming from you.

Way to go, James.
Wish you luck in your future projects.

Reply
james November 15, 2012 3:27 pm

Wow, thanks guys!! :D

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Chris November 15, 2012 7:04 pm

Impressive use of the small space there. Gave me a couple of ideas.

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VitalBodies November 15, 2012 10:40 pm

Nice! Give some high thought to a random orbital sander, it will bake your loaf.
Must be SO NICE having a t shop at 17!

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james November 15, 2012 10:46 pm

yeah i have a festool random orbital sander! luv it. yep having a shop at 17 is great, comes in handy too :)

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Jim Abbruzzese November 16, 2012 2:06 pm

I love seeing shops from other parts of the world. The ideas are the same but the tool brands are often different. The woodworking language remains the same.

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Pete November 16, 2012 9:16 pm

Nice looking shop you have there James, how do you like that dewalt thicknesser? I’ve been eying one off recently to upgrade from what I’m currently using, which is nothing :D

Reply
james November 16, 2012 9:27 pm

Thanks!, i love the thicknesser ive never gotten snipe from it, its a great machine, i prefer it to some larger cast iron thicknessers ive used because it doesnt spit out smaller bits of wood like the bigger ones can do and it has 2 speeds . Also the blade changing is so easy because the blades have positioning holes in them which fit straight onto pins on the cutter head (and they are reversable).
only downside is thats its by far the loudest machine i own!! but earmuffs fix that :D

Reply
S.Wellington November 17, 2012 9:53 pm

Marc’s funny? lol just kidding! I really like the videos and information Marc brings. You have a nice shop. Hard to imagine that mine might be even smaller (Single car garage) but regardless of space, if you have the right tools and the desire, you can build just about anything! I really like your chest. The contrasting woods is a nice touch. What is your next project going to be? What do you really want to build?
Shaun

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yuval December 11, 2012 2:32 am

the chest is really nice

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james December 12, 2012 4:49 am

Thanks!! well now that Marc is building a bed frame, i think it would be cool to make one aswell Shaun, but who for?? haha, and ive always wanted to build a chair with all mortise and tenon joints!

Reply
Eric October 15, 2014 1:04 am

where did you purchase the dewalt bandsaw? what year is the make? I did not know Dewalt made a bandsaw.

Reply

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James’ New Zealand Wood Shop

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