Jim’s Woodshop

Shop Tour - Submitted by Jim Woodward from Houston, TX
Added on September 9, 2011

Since I was sending these photos off to family, I thought I would send you a set as well, especially since it’s the Wood Whisperer lumber rack, plywood/sheet good bin design that I used to help get my shop in order! I wish I had thought to take pictures of the shop before the re-arrangement and show just how much family crap was stored in the garage. I finally got the wife, her daughters and the ex-husband to go through the crap and as I suspected, most of it ended up in the trash. After all if you haven’t used it, looked for it, or wanted it in over 6 years then odds are you don’t need it and it can go bye-bye.

With the garden paraphernalia and the camping gear moved back into the back “cubby” area of the garage and the stuff off the wall where I wanted the lumber rack built, I finally had the space I was looking for to get shop equipment placed more efficiently. I now feel like my 2 car garage has room to move around in and that I have plenty of space. I no longer have to do the juggling act of moving tools around for each step in a project and then invariably having to pull something back out for that missed-operation or to fix something along the way that needs that tool pushed off into a corner. I really hope that the space means less use of the mobile bases (though the band saw and drill press will still sometimes have to be pulled away from wall when doing stuff on longer pieces, but I consider that somewhat minor).

Two major future additions still need to occur. DUST COLLECTOR and air filter needs to happen sooner rather than later (I am trying to get that worked into the budget). The other addition is to get the Roubo workbench finished. The legs and stretches have all their tennons and mortises chopped/cut, I just need to get the large SYP beams resawn and milled and glued together and do all the final build of that and mount vise hardware (most of the wood for the Roubo bench is stored in the lumber rack over the plywood storage bin).

So right now I am a pretty happy woodworker with a shop that has a pleasant atmosphere and room to move around in!

Discussion

MikeM September 9, 2011 8:53 am

Nicely done! I too feel your pain of having to share the garage with a bunch of stuff. Well done on getting everything worked out for you!

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Todd September 9, 2011 12:01 pm

Nice shop Jim, it looks like a great space. I especially like the audio equalizer in the corner!

What type of dust collector are you looking at? I’m assuming youre looking a hard-piped system as well. As for a air filter, I built one from an old furnace squirrel-cage fan and works great and is 3 speeds.

That roubo bench will be a great addition.

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Dan Pope September 9, 2011 12:42 pm

Jim
From the signs on the wall you are obviously in my neighborhood. We need to connect. What was your source for the SYP beams for your Roubo bench?
Dan

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- Jim ] September 10, 2011 6:17 am
  
  Hey Dan,
  I am in the Fox Run subdivision in Spring TX – we should get together sometime.
  
  I got the SYP beams when an 18 wheeler size crate was delivered up at work with a large CNC mill in it. The beams along the bottom were large 8″ x 10″ beams laminated from 2x lumber. I’m going to have to have a buddy over to help me get them resawed and surfaced as they are heavy and difficult to maneuver.
  
  Jim
  
  Reply
David J Ulschmid September 10, 2011 10:46 am

Just a comment on your dust collector and air cleaner situation. I got tired of waiting until I could buy new stuff, so I built my own. For the dust collector, I just stuck a lawn vac in a 55 gal drum and collected it to the tools with blast gates and PVC fittings. I even made it remote controlled by using a Stanley RF switched outlet system. Just be sure it is rated for enough amps. For an air filter, I put an old furnace fan in a plywood box with three filters on one end and a grill on the other. I wired this to a timer so I could turn it on and let it clean the air after I leave. Buying new is hard to do sometimes but with some hacking, you can make stuff that will get you by.

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Larry Clinton September 10, 2011 3:28 pm

Nice looking shop. Is that a G0555 bandsaw? I’ve got one of those and I love it. I haven’t installed the riser block, though. I just haven’t had as much need as I thought I would when I bought it. Now I’ve got it tuned up too well and have several new 93-1/2″ blades to use first.
Good luck getting your dust collection taken care of. I got a 2hp model from Harbor Freight and it works real well. I just don’t have room to put it in a fixed location. It rolls around hooking to different tools as I need it. I got an air cleaner from Hartville Tools some years ago and it works pretty well. Similar to other models available.(Delta, Jet, etc..)

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- Jim September 12, 2011 3:12 pm
  
  Yep its G0555 bandsaw. I like it a lot and it has done everything I have asked of it. I got the riser block so I could resaw wider stock. I have used it for that some and also used it to turn some short logs into boards (got some good spalted stock doing that).
  
  Reply
John F September 12, 2011 5:41 pm

Nice workspace Jim. Also – nice job putting your foot down and reclaiming your space from all the unused junk.

I’ll add my $.02 and urge you to get some sort of dust collection and air filtration in there – whether you buy or build. If you can get your hands on a squirrel cage motor from an air handler, there are a lot of good plans online for shop-made air cleaners.

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Wirenut September 13, 2011 6:34 pm

NIce work Jim. We all know it’s not easy to organize one’s workshop when having to do so with a limited amount of space. I think you did a pretty good job with that so I tip my hat to you. Dust collection makes a HUGE difference so you’ll love that. The biggest headache is designing and installing the ducting but once you’re past that hurdle, it’s well worth the time, money and effort.

BTW, I notice you equipped your custom tablesaw cabinet with an Accusquare fence. How do you like it? I’ve a lot of good things about it and I’m curious to hear your thoughts as well.

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dbhost September 28, 2011 1:12 pm

Jim, good equipment setup. It is SCARY how much like my garage yours looks… You in League City? I need to move my upright freezer into my garage as well (ugh).

Did you duct your A/C directly through the door?

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- Jim “WoodWarden” September 28, 2011 3:05 pm
  
  Thanks – I like it.
  
  Actually I live up in Spring on the north side of Houston. Yes the A/C is ducted through the door. I insulated the doors by gluing 3/4″ foam panels to the inside of the garage door panels.
  
  Reply
Dean Faulkner March 21, 2012 9:04 am

Hi there Jim, I have a couple of questions about your saw station. I have the same kind of setup as you except I built mine from the Shopnotes plan. I was wondering how you attach the tops to the saw or if you did? I have the same fence as you the, mule cab I love it….but as you know it seems a little harder to add accessory table wings as there is no angle on the back like with biesmier fence styles for extra support. I have found the way the Shopnotes plans suggest to be lacking as the table no longer will sit flush with the saw top along the length of the joint because of bulging from the bolt locations.

Thnx
Dean

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Jim Woodward March 21, 2012 5:07 pm

Dean,

My Craftsman Contractor saw had metal wings that bolted into tapped threaded holes in the cast iron top. I put a 3/4″ thick by about 1.5″ wide board under the edge plywood substrate and put bolts into the cast iron saw top. Then on the top of the cabinets I had to use shims to level the top and get it t be in the same plane as the saw top. For the Mule Cab fence I used lag bolts into the hardwood edging i pt around the plywood top.

Hope that helps you out. If you need me to provide more details let me know.

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Dean Faulkner March 22, 2012 12:17 am

Thanks, maybe the problem with my table is that I used mdf for the top …sounds like you have done pretty much what I have…problem is the table is bulging at the points where the bolts go through into the saw top. I will replace the mdf with plywood I think :-) Thanks for the reply.

Dean

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Jim’s Woodshop

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