Welcome to what might be the shortest shop on the net. I got tired of tripping over stuff and decided to clean the shop last weekend so I thought I’d take some photos and show you around. The shop is in the basement and is about 12'x16'. The ceiling is about 6' tall, higher between the joists and lower under the ductwork. You might say it’s cozy. It’s cool in the summer but needs a dehumidifier to keep the humidity down. In the winter it’s heated by a duct off the main furnace and an oil-filled electric heater.

There’s not much natural light so I’ve put up fluorescents and a couple of small halogen low-voltage spotlights. Floorspace is minimal but bench and table space isn’t bad. Because of the shop’s size, I’ve been working on mostly small projects which you can see in the member’s websites. Look for “Diane Maluso’s Projects.” When I got tired of choking on dust and being in trouble for all the dust in the upstairs of the house, I added a dust collector and ran PVC pipes. Now the dust is under control but the shop got even shorter!

This first shot is the view from the door of the shop. In the foreground is the Jet Cabinet saw with Incra fence and miter gauge. The router table is mounted on the left side of the saw and has a downdraft cabinet and rout-r-lift. Dust collection is excellent and the rout-r-lift is the best thing since sliced bread. No scraped knuckles. A couple of benches are on the left. Some long scraps and dowels are up in the joists.

Clamps are on the joists and a pile of Besseys are in the back corner. Air compressor (ancient Sears) is under the tablesaw’s outfeed table. If you look closely you’ll see the webcam up on the ceiling. Once in a while I hook up the shopcam and show some stuff to family and friends.

In this shot you can see most of the rear wall of the shop. The BOSS, Delta mortiser, Grizzly drill press, and combination sander just fit. Past them is a mess of cut-off and scrap lumber. In another part of the basement is a stack of about 300 board feet of white oak.

Here are the Jet 6” jointer, Delta planer, Powermatic dust collector. As you can see, this is an equal opportunity shop! Even though it’s really tight fitting this stuff in here, it seems to work. The tablesaw outfeed table also serves as outfeed for the planer. The jointer is on a mobile base and can be moved a little bit to make it easier to work with long boards.

What you can’t see in this photo is the mess of wood scraps behind everything back in the corner. Lally columns are not fun in a space this small.

This corner is for storing some chemicals, piling up books and mags, and making a mess while finishing. The ducts overhead are for heating, not dust collection. The Jet air cleaner was a great addition to the shop and in such a small place has no problem keeping the air really clear. Did I mention that I hate Lally columns?

This shot is looking back at the wall with the doorway. You can see the Grizzly bandsaw, lathe, and Dewalt scrollsaw. What you can’t see is the grinder which is on the right and hidden by the scrollsaw. That shiny part of the ceiling is the air return for the furnace. Turning tools are under the lathe in that white drawer in a semi-organized sort of way.

The bench is a heavily modified cheapo from Lowes. I closed in the bottom and added doors, put a top on it, edged in oak, drilled some holes for benchdogs, and drilled a series of holes on the back ledge for some drill bits.

All in all, it’s a great shop for me but a girl can dream. I wish I had 3 more feet of headroom, for starters. I’d also like a better place to store the Besseys, better storage for turning tools, somewhere to mount the bench vise, the new Nova DVR lathe, and while I’m at it.. a place to put the lathe that isn’t so close to the wall. And some floor space wouldn’t hurt.

I hope you enjoyed the tour… watch your head on your way out.

Diane

Originally posted 23 October, 2001

wb 23 October 2001