2017 Shop Tour

Video - February 23, 2017

Welcome to the official 2017 Shop Tour. If you’ve been with us since the beginning, you know that my shop has changed a few times due to various domestic reasons. Back in November 2016, we packed up the house and shop one last time to head to our new home in Denver, Colorado. Curious why we moved? Read this. It’s been about three months since we moved in and I’ve been working diligently to transform my new 950 square foot 4-car garage into a dedicated shop. While there’s still more to do, I’m done with what I’m calling “phase one” since I’m now at the point that I can comfortably start building projects. If you want to catch up on all of the details regarding the move and the shop setup up to this point (as well as previous shop tours), check out the Shop Archives.

This video contains a LOT of references to products, articles, and videos and you’ll find those links below.

Special thanks to:

Powermatic for continuing to sponsor the show and support our efforts.
Oneida Air Systems for supplying us with a new Dust Gorilla Pro.
American Green Lights for supplying us with LED light fixtures.

Relevant Links:

Discussion

Jeremy February 23, 2017 10:42 am

Thanks for the shop tour of the new space. I’m interested to see what you come up with for your sheet good storage, and what if any changes you plan on making. I’ve been planning on making one based on your video, though I want to incorporate a circ saw “panel saw” setup into the front face, to break down sheets.

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- Chris February 23, 2017 12:13 pm
  
  We recently purchased a panel saw and it has made a world of difference in breaking down our sheet goods. Totally worth it!
  
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Peter Durand February 23, 2017 12:00 pm

I also have an Oneida (2HP/7 inch intake). Works great. I was lucky to be able to duct it through a wall to the actual garage for noise reasons. A suggestion or two: that full drum will be damn near impossible to drag through the legs – way too heavy. The company makes a set of wheels for it and wall mounting will help with moving it. They also sell an electric “full” indicator. Recommended. Cheers, Peter

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Chuck February 23, 2017 12:46 pm

I agree about restrictions helps the creative process. If somebody asked for me to build a table, I would be paralyzed. However if they said it’s for next to a bed, and can’t be more that 2 feet high, and 3 feet long. I could go to town with design.

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Tyler Stevens February 23, 2017 3:56 pm

Thanks Marc, as always, you rock. Not gonna lie, I’m a bit jelly over your tools. I’m in the same situation, moving in a month but I actually get to upgrade my shop to a full 1 car garage. I know not 900 square feet but with your tips here I’ve got a good idea how I will set it up. Thanks again and keep up the great videos.

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Scott Sandine February 23, 2017 4:27 pm

Nice shop set up. Why do you store the clamps with the faces closed?

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- Marc Spagnuolo February 23, 2017 7:22 pm
  
  Is there a benefit to doing otherwise?
  
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  - Patroni February 24, 2017 4:12 pm
    
    Tools with metal parts that close against other parts, such as metal vises, metal clamps, micrometers, and vernier calipers, should be stored a little “open” to avoid trapping moisture that may lead to rust, many folks believe. This may be a more common feeling among us “well-seasoned” shop owners. Many clamps have vinyl pads affixed to their meeting surfaces, and would not exhibit the issue.
    
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    - Marc Spagnuolo February 25, 2017 1:21 pm
      
      Hmm never heard of that. Guess I never had to even think about it in such dry climates.
Jeremy February 23, 2017 4:55 pm

Great tour, can’t believe how many times you’ve completely built a new shop since I’ve been following you. Looks awesome, and gives me some inspiration to get off my ass and finish some shop projects. As far as the heater, I know you mentioned that your garage door is essentially the main access to the house. I wonder how much heating that un-does every time that door is open for a few minutes as you drive up and unload the car to bring stuff in in the dead of winter. Obviously I don’t know the layout of your house but I know a lot of people use their garage door basically because they don’t have to get out their keys, not because they actually PARK in the garage. If you have a regular door nearby I can strongly recommend the Yale keypad deadbolts. They eliminate the need to carry keys and can be programmed for each user of the house, as well as temporary codes for users like cleaning services and dog walkers or a contractor, for instance. I also have a couple of the kwikset versions which work well but have not lasted as long as the Yale. It also connects to my alarmDOTcom Zwave automation system for even more features like alerts such as “door left unlocked” “Mom unlocked the door” etc, as well as being able to remotely lock and unlock from my phone.

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Kent Lawson February 23, 2017 6:06 pm

Gettting ready to pull the trigger on a new miter saw. I will interested in your evaluation of the Mikita vs. Bosh vs. Kapex. Hope you and your family enjoy Colorado.

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AJ Saunders February 23, 2017 6:30 pm

Gets chilly in Denver so consider a ceiling mounted infrared radiant heating panel from Solid State Heating Inc SSHCINC.COM
(800) 544-5182. They look like drop ceiling panels but use long wave infrared energy to heat solid objects. I use them and love the heat. No blowing air to kick up dust, Just heat!

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Jason Kassis February 24, 2017 1:35 pm

Looks awesome! I’ll bet there are many of us out here that, even with your “smaller” shop, still wish we had that sort of space to play…uh…work in. ;)

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Richard Arveaux February 24, 2017 4:53 pm

You neglected the hairy face. Warmth? I used to live in Co. hairy is warmer.

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Raja Korban February 24, 2017 5:26 pm

Very Nice Mark, looks like the new shop is coming along. Not to be changing the subject, but I would appreciate your thoughts about the Router Boss, as I am contemplating purchasing one. Any thoughts? my consideration is the versatility and the space saving for a multi function Jig. Thanks

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- Marc Spagnuolo February 25, 2017 1:19 pm
  
  I don’t actually know much about it. Never used one. :)
  
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Todd Clay February 24, 2017 10:15 pm

That thing you say looks like you’re smoking something to me looked like you had a giant penis coming out of your mouth. But at least the self-closing barn door seems to be working.

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- Marc Spagnuolo February 25, 2017 1:18 pm
  
  Well we see what our mind wants to see. ;)
  
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Petrus Boets February 24, 2017 11:57 pm

So you have a huge shop, but I’m wondering, with you getting more into the slab game, could you do a video with purely hand tools making something with a slab? I have about a 50sqft shop and am attempting to build a coffee table from a walnut slab I acquired with just planes, chisels and hand saws. The design for the legs is a nakashima conoid type table. Any ideas or possible future videos on something of the conoid table design type? Thanks!

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Chris Sterricker February 26, 2017 8:09 pm

Hi Marc, great tour as always. Just one thing I’d like to offer as food for thought. Speaking from the perspective of my real job as a firefighter/paramedic your plans for faux walls covering the inoperable garage doors jumped out at me. God forbid there is ever a fire in the shop or home our first actions would be to attack the garage doors to gain access but also to give an exit point for smoke and, more importantly, operating firefighters if something goes wrong. Clearly that would be next to impossible if the openings are covered from the inside and would lead to confusion and delay on the part of the responding department as they tried to figure out why it looks like a garage door on the outside and an interior wall on the inside. I’m not saying not to do it but perhaps consultation with your local department may be in order. There are ways to ensure any responding firefighters and paramedics are aware of that type of information while they are en route. Just a thought.

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- Marc Spagnuolo February 27, 2017 8:32 am
  
  Good point. Appreciate the advice!
  
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Michael March 1, 2017 10:25 pm

How close is the new shop to your neighbours? Any noise concerns?

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- Marc Spagnuolo March 2, 2017 11:18 pm
  
  We live in a pretty standard neighborhood with a little distance between houses. The noise is barely noticeable in my driveway so I doubt the neighbors have a clue when I’m working.
  
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Rob Woodard March 2, 2017 6:50 am

Hi Marc:
Really appreciate the build out videos of the new shop. Especially those of us with one or two garage “shops” that must share space with a car, garbage cans, bikes, etc. I’m looking forward to new projects and how you deal with space constraints.

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Owen Lewis March 9, 2017 9:06 pm

Hey bro, my dad lives in Denver right now and I grew up south of there about two hours. I enjoyed watching your video. I am a beginning guitar builder and right now I live in Baja, MX. i look forward to the time when I can get a good bandsaw and drill press. My shop is tiny (12′ by 13′) but for building guitars solo it will work just fine. I wish you really well in Denver there man. Jesus loves you!

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Charles McCreless March 16, 2017 10:35 pm

Marc, I noticed you have a quick clamp connecting your duct to the dust gorilla. How exactly did you make that connection? I ask because I’m trying to put together exactly the same kind of connection using the quick fit ducting.

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- Marc Spagnuolo March 17, 2017 7:58 am
  
  I have their 8″ machine adapter inserted into the dust gorrilla port.
  
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David Staskiewicz April 28, 2017 8:38 pm

Hi Marc,
You should take a look at the Linksys Velop Whole-Home Mesh Network – http://www.linksys.com/us/velop/
I have a set of three that I received through Linksys’s Friends + Family program and I appreciate the WiFi coverage that it provides.

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- Marc Spagnuolo April 29, 2017 5:45 am
  
  Thankfully I can get what I need from this setup. I don’t just need wifi in the shop, but a full wired connection. The wired connection is what allows us to stream. Wifi is just for funsies. :) So it’s pretty easy to use a second cheap router as an access point providing both wired and wireless connections.
  
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Steve Banen August 1, 2018 2:18 pm

Hi Marc;
I noticed in your old Arizona shop you had installed mini-split air conditioners. I am in the Phoenix area and am considering the mini-split option but I am concerned that the filter area is so minimal. Did you have trouble keeping the filters clean on your mini-split units?
Steve

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- Marc Spagnuolo August 1, 2018 6:28 pm
  
  I never had much trouble with mine Steve. But I also had really good dust collection and a decent air cleaner in the shop.
  
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Bill Nicely August 3, 2018 12:41 pm

Which jointer are you using Marc?

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- Marc Spagnuolo August 5, 2018 9:42 am
  
  It’s PM’s 8″ parallelogram model. Has a helical head but I installed that myself.
  
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Mark Kessler April 16, 2019 7:00 pm

Wondering why you didn’t go with a slider for a saw they really don’t take any more space. I know they cost more than the PM but once you use one you won’t know how you did without it no more cutting on the floor with the track saw and that MFT. I had both but just have the track saw now which is still handy to have.

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2017 Shop Tour

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