Unvbelievable. Was visiting the in-laws in Arizona last weekend. They recently bought a place in a seniors community, developed by Del Webb called Sun City Grand.
My father-in-law suggested I could kill some time and stop by their woodshop. Well, it was better than sitting at the pool and watching the senior swim meet and so I agreed it was a good idea. Who knows, maybe I could pick up some pointers from some more experienced woodworker.
“Holy s*%!” was all I could say when I walked in the front door of the place. Not only was it huge and immaculate, but the equipment they had was phenomenal. Here is a sampling:
3 Powermatic Model 66’s with 50 inch tables, Biesemeyer splitters and blade safety covers – 1 set up as a dedicated dado machine
DJ-20 jointer
2 shapers with dedicated setups for cope and stick frames
2 router tables (1 PC7518 and 1 Bosch 1617) and gobs of bits
Mortising machine
Wide belt sander
Large Lathe and all cutting tools
6 full size air filter machines
BIG Dedicated downdraft sanding table
12″ sliding compound miter saw with 8 feet left and 8 feet right
The whole shop was fully ducted for dust collection.
A large area with three huge assembly benches, all kinds of chisels
And get this, to join the club to use the facility, you have to pay $60 per year and perform a little supervision duty. The sad part was that he told me I couldn’t use a single tool. I wasn’t old enough!! Seriously, you must be 45 to live in Sun City Grand and only residents can join. Talk about kid in a candy store.
So, if any of you are thinking about retiring to Phoenix…
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It would have been nice to droll with you if you had taken some digital pictures and posted them. We all are looking for insperation and ideas.
Hi Robbie, my grandmother lived there too but I didn't know about the shop! Wish I'de seen it. No pics huh? Brian
My father retired in the late 70's, and moved to Sun City, one of the now older DelWeb communities. He hated it, but did like the shop, which I saw. His complaint was that people would come in, and nearly kill themselves bec. they had no knowledge or experience, and of course wouldn't listen to a suggestion. He was a monitor at times. Also, they would trash a tool, or an edge, and not sharpen/repair. Still, it was a shop with better tools than he ever had, and he met a number of good buddies there. It was a nice shop, but as I recall there were limited hours, only 9 to 5 or so. He passe din 1984, and as of then, there were pretty nice tools, but not what you have described.
s4s: You've got a good memory.
Sun City Grand is a relatively new community. It is about 5 years old and the new shop is about 4 years old. Although the equipment is beautiful and relatively new, I am guessing that their is a lack of appreciation for routine tune-ups -- not maintenance, but tune-up.
The monitor was mentioning that some people were complaining about the Model 66 saw fence not being accurate and others complained about some burning cuts. I simply removed the fences from each of the three machines and there was a good .02" of saw dust compressed in between the Accufence locking mechanism and "pipe". There was no way it could be very accurate. The nice gentleman was shocked when I showed him.
Nevertheless, for $60 per year, to have access to such a wonderful space with such great equipment, it really makes you think retirement may not be too bad afterall. Of course, I'd much rather own those tools right now!
Best,
Robbie
For all you Easterners freezing in the winter and spring (in Maryland today high temp. 38) go to Phoenix, Arizona, for the climate, not necessarily for the retirement facilities. I visited recently some friends in Lancaster, Pa. where the Mennonites have built and are running wonderful retirement complexes with all immaginable conveniences, including a fabulous workshop with the highest quality stationary and portable tools. Super clean and well maintained.
Who said that getting older means you have to give-up some of the simple pleasures of life?
John Cabot
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