Mike Pekovich’s shop, a decade later
Few shops show up in the pages of Fine Woodworking more than Mike Pekovich's shop has in the past decade—let's see how it has held up.
Nov 09, 2022
Few shops have shown up in the pages of Fine Woodworking more than Mike Pekovich’s shop has in the past decade. There is a formula to those photos: tight joinery, perfect lighting, and a well-loved shop as the backdrop. While the well-loved shop you see in the background is legit, many times you’re not seeing the whole story. In fact, when we set out to make this update video, I was worried that Mike would clean his shop and you wouldn’t get the real deal.
I’m confident in saying that besides Mike, few of us have spent more time in his shop than I have. I’ve tripped over every stack of cutoffs and pushed anything that will move out of the way to make room for one of my tripods. While some might think of Mike’s shop as a perfect woodworking photography studio, it’s actually the shop of a prolific builder and suffers from the same issues all our shops do—not enough space and too much stuff.
In this video you’ll see the raw truth—Mike has more table saw sleds and random jigs than you thought possible. Mike’s shop is a beautiful shop, but it is a real, working shop and it’s become thoroughly lived in since our last tour of his shop, 12 years ago.
-Ben Strano
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Comments
Very cool to see how the shop has evolved since the original renovation. I am in the process of renovating a slightly larger (21' x 21') detached, 2-car garage in the northeast and have heavily borrowed from the original article detailing Mike's shop upgrade for the floor system and conversion of the overhead doors. I am hopeful by summer of 2023 it's all set up and ready to get that "patina of use" Mike mentions in the video.
Here in upstate NY did about the same thing for my shop as Mike. Shop is 26 x 30, 2 x 6 walls and ceiling, R-19 insulation. Rejected the overhead door for standard double doors, better insulation. I can't open doors in summer because shop is cool and condensation happens on iron surfaces. I don't need AC as it never gets that warm in the summer. When I run my small dehumidifier in the summer, shop is noticeably warmer after two day run. Propane mobile home furnace, uses about 120 gal/year but I am not out there as much as Mike is. Good article, thanks!
Mike, thanks for letting us see your shop as it is. I have watched and rewatched your videos on the hayrake table (which I built). At the time I thought I needed a bigger space but now I see that your shop is about the same size as mine (20 x 20 double garage). After seeing this video, I realise that even the experts have storage issues too (e.g. - a place for jigs and sleds, etc.). I now have a new appreciation for my 'patina'. Thanks again.
Very nice Mike, thanks. I wish I had a window and might add a storm door to the man door for ventilation. I've wondered if I would spend too much time looking out of a window. It's amazing how the carriage doors made an otherwise unattractive building into a real beauty, at least on the door side.
I built a box over the intake on my AC that my 20"X20"X5" furnace filters fit. I did it because I was afraid the dust would plug up the coils but it doubles as a general air filter.
I too have a 20x 19 shop with one 220 outlet. I have a 220v 20 amp outlet in a stand alone outlet box with a short cord with a plug. I then can plug in both 220 machines. Knowing that only one can be used at a time. Saves unplugging and plugging all the time.
Looks like a big shop to me! I love the phrase "patina of use"
thanks for sharing
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