While I have aquired most of the tools I need over the years, the space available for my shop is limited. I live in a house built on bedrock, with only a crawlspace under most of it. My workshop is in the converted garage space, and I share it with the freezer and storage for bicycles, skis, gardening tools, and camping stuff. In all I have perhaps 120 square feet. My brother calls it “a pretty intense workspace”.
A couple of years ago I aquired a few hundred board feet of spanish cedar and mahogany from a local millwork shop going out of business. At about the same time, my brother moved, forcing me to reclaim the cherry that had been dring in his shed: he also donated his small stack of butternut to me at the same time. It’s all stacked up on my lumber storage system, with overflow on the floor and on the side counter I made from reclaimed doors.
I’ve invested quite a bit of time in tool storage, including several sets of drawer cabinets, mostly using various drawer systems from Lee Valley / Veritas. Measuring tools are in a wall cabinet beside the bench. The rolling cabinet holds frequently used larger tools, and can be rolled out of the way when I need the space. The jointer and chop saw can be mounted on top of this cabinet as needed. The jointer and planer spend most of their time out of the way, connected only when needed. Extra lumber, jigs, and clamps are also hung from the ceiling.
Needless to say, I spend alot of time setting up and putting away, but I do this for the fun of it (mostly), so I usually don’t mind the inconvenience.
Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before
Replies
There's still a ton of wasted space under your workbench! The upside of your shop is that nothing is ever beyond your reach or imagination.
Now that is my kind of shop... I'm lucky that I have 1/2 half of a two car garage, when I work I back the car out so I have a bunch of open space. I only share the space with recycling and two bikes. I have a decent layout that allows me to leave most of my larger tools out, with the exception of the planer. But then again I do not have the same great collection of wood...
I really enjoy seeing pictures of REAL woodworking shops! Thanks for posting. When I get a minute I'll get some pictures of my shop...
Buster
I like a small shop myself, it forces you to be disciplined about organization and I think this makes you more efficient. Modern wordworking seems to have evolved into the pursuit of collecting things, I have to remind myself that there was a time when a master cabinetmaker could travel with all of his tools in a tool chest. I appreciate the conveniences of machines and all the gadgets we can take advantage of, but sometimes it just seems a bit much.
Working in a small area is no problem if you're tidy by nature - unfortunately I'm not, so I spend a lot of time moving things out of the road so I can get at the tool I want to use next.
Like you, I also acquire too much lumber at any one time - but its fun to buy it, so why not.
Despite the frustrations of not enough space, its still agreat way to pass some time.
This suggestion may be useless as I am sure you have considered all options, but out of necessity I now store all my timber in the loft of my house. This has been boarded out and racked for the timber to be stickered horizontally and I can use a dehumidifier without it being another item in the way.
The disadvantages of having to climb a loft ladder, bring the wood down through the loft hatch, navigate the stairs and get the particular board into my workshop (single car width (9 feet x 16 feet), without tripping over the dog or redecorating the stairway are far outweighed by the extra free space.
Also the moisture content of the lumber is less than if I kept it in the workshop. (Damp miserable winter UK weather!!)
Hope this helps.
Regards Guy
Thanks,
The house was designed by my father-in-law, an architect, and doesn't have any loft space: the roof is held up with open-web-steel joists. Most of the space is full of insulation. The OWSJ's are exposed in the workshop, giving me a chance to store lumber up there: this reduces the ceiling height to about 7 feet over the table saw. You can see in the photos where I also hang a few tools (mostly spring clamps) from them as well.“Expectation strolls through the spacious fields of Time towards Opportunity.”
Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before
Edited 2/7/2006 8:45 am ET by Frozen
Frozen,
I used to store stuff over the TS....then one day while flipping a board end over end on the TS I hit one of the hanging objects (carpenters square) and it fell to the surface of my TS missing the spinning blade by 1/2".....
BG,
That used to happen all the time with stuff hanging over the workbench, so I eliminated hanging stuff from that location. Most of the hanging tools near the table saw are spring clamps, and hang about a foot in front of the front edge of the tool. The clamps cannot fall easily, since they are closed around an old towel rack attached to the joist's lower flange. Only long boards are directly over the table saw.“Expectation strolls through the spacious fields of Time towards Opportunity.”
Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before
In my part of the country, storing lumber in your house is a bad idea . It can lead to infestation by termites, carpenter ants, or powder post beetles.
Hi Frozen I have been there and still am!I noticed the dust collector and thought u must be from Ottawa also, I was right. A small shop is good too.
Yes, Lee Valley only offered that dust collector for a short period. With the pile of wood in front of it, I use a long cut-off to flip the switch.I've been buying from Lee Valley since they had a 300 square foot show room with Leonard Lee and Mrs. Lee as stock pickers: that's how I ended up with an over-stocked work space.“Expectation strolls through the spacious fields of Time towards Opportunity.”
Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before
I bought the collector also I am quite happy with it, I worked there in between shifts at my reg job and I bought the Inca 10 1/4 planer when they got out of machinery.
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