I've been hangin’ around this here Pond for some time now. Being a guy who doesn’t like to just jump into things, it’s taken a while to get this tour posted. Not really all that much to write home about, but it’s mine and I enjoy the heck out of it. LOML calls it my training room. Justifiably so, as I am, at best, a greenhorn at the skills surrounding quality woodworking craftsmanship. Training room, because I’m figuring on the Seven-Year Plan. What’s that? Well, it’s like this; our youngest has seven years before she graduates from high school. By that time, we will be plenty tired of the upkeep associated with the monstrosity of a house this is. Plan is; buy something substantially smaller, but with a much larger workshop! By then, I hope to be better equipped with my skills to try and make part of it an income generating hobby. I work for an institution where it’s quite possible to go part-time, but still retain benefits. Yeah, only a half of the vacation, sick leave, etc.., but 100% of the health insurance!

The room was totally bare when we moved in about seven years ago. I mean bare right on up to the trusses! No heat, no air conditioning, not even electricity! It’s located as kind of an addition on the Southwest side of the house. We think it was probably meant as some type of sunroom, due to the large window area. To this day, we’re not positive as to what it will eventually end up being, but for now, it’s my shop. Hence, if you look closely, there’s nothing in there which is real permanent. The walls have some insulation, the ceiling is actually just EPS board screwed to the trusses and even the wiring is all surface mounted, but, there is plenty of wiring and power to spare.

Early this summer, I installed my own 80 amp breaker panel. For now, only my heater and dust collector are running on 220V, but every single major power tool has its own circuit and I still have room for two more 220 outlets. The room itself is small; it’s only 20x17 and, sadly, is a main thoroughfare from the basement area to the outside. That means two doors, plus having to keep an open path between the two. Still, I think it’s better than having to constantly move stuff in/out to get cars parked or such. Much of the equipment is on wheels, so when the need arises to do some minor rearranging, it’s not too big a deal. Ok, enough babbling. On to the tour!

The first picture is kind of a general shot (poor one at that) of the shop as seen from the basement doorway.

Next up is a closer shot of my table saw setup. The left extension wing is a cast iron unit from Harbor Freight, complete with clamping system to attach a router. As it happens, I have my Hitachi underneath and am pretty happy with the setup. Another space-saver!

This would be the DeWalt, 12" compound miter saw station. Recycled kitchen cabinets with a lowered platform to keep the saw table at counter height and removable backstops on either side of the CMS. For those, I simply milled some square hardwood and lined up several dowel holes on either side. Glue dowels into the backstop and slap it in when needed. Remove and there’s additional assembly space.

(Oh, the cleaning fairies took away most of the stuff usually residing to the right of the saw!) Hey, the concept is there, ok?! Here you can also see one of the large windows, facing due east.

Continuing around to the right, we have the Ridgid random orbit sander, my trusty old Ryobi lunchbox planer, the Craftsman radial arm saw and to the right of that, a floor standing Craftsman drill press. Just above the Ridgid hangs my shop-made air filter. Triple filters and a used furnace motor and squirrel cage take care of that duty.

This next shot is a bit of a close-up of my poor man’s Beall Buffing System. Although I’m sure the real deal is a great system, I have this thing about using what I have available and spending less $$ on it. I already had one of the grinders, pretty much doing nothing. The second one (el cheapo import) was on sale for $24.99. There are actually two buffing wheels on each arbor. Those, plus the four different polishing compounds cost me another $40.00.

OK, so $65.00 is almost as much as the real McCoy, but, the only other reasonable power source I have available for buffing would be my lathe and that’s quite a ways away from the main shop area (more on that later). The motor on the left has one side dedicated to the brown rouge, the other for diamond. The motor on the right has the left side for buffing out the rouge, the right for buffing out wax. Works quite nicely; loosen four C-clamps and the RAS is ready to rock 'n roll.

Next, there’s the Jet band saw, 14” w/riser kit. At the wall is my smallish workbench (in front of yet another large window!). The bench is a solid-core door, mounted on top of a steel workbench w/drawers. I used to have a much larger bench in there, but it just took up too much room and held some mystical power(s) in attracting every bit of junk conceivable on top of it!

Just to the left of the bench, you might make out another BS. It’s a small Craftsman which LOML bought for me a couple years ago. Give me a break! It was a present. Even if I had a big-time Laguna or MM in there, that little guy would have to stay! Just to the left of the small BS, you can catch a glimpse of some clamp storage, as well. Collection of Bessey’s, Quick-Clamps, misc.

In the corner area is my DC setup. With the separator in place, it works pretty well. The 2hp Bridgewood does a real nice job. Above it, you can see my heat source for the winter months. I also have a small “torpedo-type” propane heater I use in the real cold weather to do a quick warm-up of the area. After that, the electric heater does pretty well. Yes, I know. A bit on the expensive side to run, but I use it sparingly, take advantage as much as I can of the solar advantage and have the basement door open whenever I’m not creating too much dust or fumes. The door to the right of the DC is the door from which this tour started.

Finally, in the other corner, are a couple of wall cabinets (more recycled goods!), my main garbage area, the stereo and AC for the warm months. To the right is the doorway to the yard area. You may note that the floor space directly underneath the cabinets is just being occupied by minor odds and ends. With any luck, this is the future home of a 6” jointer (used or otherwise)!

Not quite done, yet. Having run out of sizeable space in the shop, once I acquired my lathe, the better half graciously allowed me to park it in a part of the basement. It’s a bit dark and dingy, but it works. Even had enough room for yet another recycled cabinet to house tools, misc. and my slow-speed grinder. The lathe is a Yorkcraft from Wilke Machinery and the grinder is Woodcraft’s house brand.

You may have noted, I kept mentioning the windows. Yeah, kinda nice to help with a little heat in the winter, but the AC can’t hardly keep up in the summer and boy, does it gobble up a lot of wall real estate! Still, better than being dark and dingy, I guess. And, of course, there's the mandatory collection of portable power tools, not seen. Several routers, cordless drills, sanders, etc....

And there you have it! I’ll bet you’re really glad it wasn’t a bigger shop! I think Wayne may even send me a bill for using all this server space! Thanks for taking a peek and allowing me to share my little piece of home with you!

Cheers,

John K. Miliunas

Originally posted 24 October 2002

wb 24 October 2002