Scott’s Garage Woodshop

Shop Tour - Submitted by Scott Jewell from Ipswich, MA
Added on August 30, 2016

I’m a hobbyist and I’ve been in my woodshop for about 30 years. It started out as a single car garage built under an addition, but it hasn’t been used as a garage for quite some time. The room measures 22′ by 16′ and has less than 8′ ceilings. If I could have a larger shop I would, but since this is what I have, I try to make the space as efficient as I can.

I like to make furniture and cabinets. In order to try to keep the workflow efficient, I start with full size sheet goods and a lumber rack by the four foot door to the outside. As I start to break down the material, I have found I need a generous space for shorts and cut offs which I have to the right of the miter saw.

No tool area is original or permanent, when I build something, I use it as a prototype for a couple of years. Then I tend to redesign and rebuild it to make it more efficient. My main work area is an island made up of my tablesaw/workbench which has a router table, a downdraft sanding area, and a bench vice with dog holes.

Because my shop is part of the house, I found fine dust creeping into the living area to be a problem. So I now have redesigned and upgraded my dust collection systems to be able to collect up to .5 microns and so far that seems to have taken care of the problem.

One new addition that I’ve made that helps a lot is my plywood lift/layout table. I tend to work alone and find lifting ¾” plywood to be harder as I get older. So I now roll the lift over to the sheet good area and when I tilt the table up, the arms automatically lock. I then roll it over to the table saw and use it to hold the back half of the plywood as I cut. When I’m not using it as a lift, I find it very useful as a layout table for small projects.

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