# Dodge's Workshop - if you fancy a gander



## Dodge (15 Jul 2011)

Several of you will have already been to my workshop but for those who havn't here is a little tour - I have been in my premises for just under 15 years at Shelfanger Hall - the building is an old grain store which remains lovely and cool in the summer- but with good insulation soon warms up in the winter and holds the warmth.











My main bench sits along the front wall with cupboard storage underneath (The place where all those odd machine bits and unused tools get stored!) - Plenty of natural light from the window. Main hand tools, saws/chisels etc are all in racks easily to hand above the bench - Note the new Narex chisels behind my Kirschens.











AT the end of the bench are all my screws/fixings and a random orbit sander which is permanently connected to an auto switching vacuum. 






This bench sits at the other end of my workshop and is slightly lower as it is used mainly by my wife when she is in the workshop with me - There is another smaller bench still which is my boys - bit like goldilocks and the three bears! - Whose been using my bench?






Sharpening station - bench grinder, Sheppach Tiger, cheap Clarke belt jobbie as well as lapping glass, diamond stones etc in the drawers - always ready to reapply an edge.






Sip 12" cast iron table saw does the job for me - got fed up with the sliding carriage and do nearly all the cross cutting on my radial arm saw anyway.

I have a roller cabinet which sits neatly under the cast table which contains my router cutters, spindle tooling, spare saw blades, carving tools etc. I also have a 50l SIP vacuum extractor mounted to the side of the saw which is used for dedicated extraction off the crown guard which works very well - The main extraction from the cabinet of the saw is via an Axminster extractor. 






As I said before - Radial arm saw gets used alot and is connected to a Record DX5000 extractor - I have got this unit fitted with a remote control for auto switching from the RAS - I did away with the old stand for the RAS as it was tool low and after acquiring an old missile trolley from a military surplus store in Diss made the cabinet upon which it stands now.











Ok I know the bags are over full but I emptied them today (Honest) - The Axminster extractor is used for my Surfacer, thicknesser, table saw, bandsaw and panel sander - with standard flexi pipe with blast gates. I used to have a soil pipe ducted system but got fed up with not being able to see where a blockage was if one occurred! 






Planes and routers are kept in one steel cabinet, beside this stands another in which all other hand power tools are stored - Ok I have already heard some say you cannot mix electrickery with traditional planes but in my workshop they are all the tools of my trade and get used - These tools get used daily - not show items. This is the home of my new quangshengs!






Record router table with triton router fitted - I also have a pair of vacuum extractors behind this - one for the top port and one to feed straight off the router. These are plugged into the NVR of the router table and with the router being soft start they auto start when switching on the router without tripping electrics or blowing fuses.






My SIP morticer is mounted on the end of one of my lathes - yes you did read that correctly - I have a very large old lathe which will turn up to 9' length with 24" swing over the bed - It doesn't often get used but is worth its weight in gold when I have large table pedestals to turn - Now to make you jealous I paid £200 for it about 12 years ago - basically what the vendor was going to get as scrap value if they weighed it in - It has a DC motor with infinately variable drive.






You can see a bit more of it here - that hand wheel on the tailstock is about 10" in diameter to give you an idea of size.






My other lathe which gets used for day to day turnings is a Record - I learnt on a Coronet Elf and still have it in store - The elf was a cracking lathe to learn on and is up for sale if anyone is interested.






Jet Spindle moulder with SIP extractor permanently connected - but I tend to move this and use this area for assembling large projects.






Jet Surfacer






Woodrat - Wall mounted and again with a vacuum bucket permanently connected for extraction.






Axminster plus bandsaw - SW4300 - with tuffsaw M42 blade of course.






Axminster Thicknesser, just behind it as an Axminster senior panel sander. 






12" disc sander mounted on another old trolley I acquired from somewhere or other - The little bulldog vacuum sits underneath it for extraction and works very well.






Most important piece of kit for the cold winter days - woodburner not only gets rid of waste and keep us warm but is regularly used to cook bacon for butties and warm pasties etc - who needs a microwave - well I have got one of those too but rarely gets used - Upstairs in the office I also have the all important espresso maker - no instant muck or decaff in my workshop - Pure caffeine all the way!

I then have a separate building that I use for my timberstore






This side is mainly French and English Oak






Under the polythene here are Burr Tiger Oak (Yes Hens teeth do exist!), Elm, English Yew and the remains of a butt of lacewood.






This side has the mahogany boards, as well as pre- turned components left over from when I used to do a bit more re-production type work - There are also three large beech end grain butchers blocks sitting there if anyone is planning to make one - They cost me a fortune a few years ago for a project which never went ahead!






Another pile of English Yew - Some of you may have noted the buckets and tubs around the store - the roof leaks a little but only in specific spots when it rains heavily - otherwise it is perfectly dry - the spiders webs confirm that!

I hope you have found this interesting - it has taken me a while to get my workshop to how I like it and also the tools that do the job I want - obviously it is all down to personal choice and what suits me may be hated by another individual 

Rog


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## Chems (15 Jul 2011)

I'd go so far as to say thats the perfect workshop. So in all, how many extractors do you have?!


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## Dodge (15 Jul 2011)

Chems":2z0hy0xz said:


> I'd go so far as to say thats the perfect workshop. So in all, how many extractors do you have?!



Nine in total counting all the vacuum units as well as chip extractors - but soon to be ten as ordered another auto switching to connect to bench router.


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## Doug B (15 Jul 2011)

Looks a good set up Rog, with plenty of space. 

I recognise parts of the shop from photos in your articles,

looks like your compressor could do with an extractor of its own, :lol: bet the filter thinks it`s on Capstan full strength


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## worsley947 (15 Jul 2011)

How much are the buchers blocks selling for
Thanks
Dave


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## Dodge (15 Jul 2011)

worsley947":f1dy47qt said:


> How much are the buchers blocks selling for
> Thanks
> Dave



I'm in the workshop tomorrow - I will measure them and pm you the sizes etc - they would have to be collected they weigh a bl##dy ton!


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## worsley947 (15 Jul 2011)

Ok many thanks
Dave


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## mailee (15 Jul 2011)

I think we will have to call you Mr Vacuum Rog! :lol: Got to admit it is an easier solution than fitting ducting all around the place with a large extractor. Nice workshop and set up nicely. I envy your woodburner for the winter, my landlord isn't too keen on me having one.  My workshop is the opposite of yours its cool in the summer and damn cold in the winter! Thanks for the tour. :wink:


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## rileytoolworks (15 Jul 2011)

A really nice space to work in Rog. It must be nice to have everything where you want it. I'm forever changing things around to see if it works better.

Adam.


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## Dodge (15 Jul 2011)

Aces and Eights":31bm57u3 said:


> . I'm forever changing things around to see if it works better.
> 
> Adam.



Me too! - You will never get your workshop perfect.

As for being called Mr Vacuum - I seem to get called a "sucker" more often! :lol: :lol: Oh and Mailee, if it wasnt for the woodburner my workshop would be kin cold in the winter too - its only a cheapy machine mart one but is fantastic - I lined it with some surplus brickweave blocks - it holds the heat brilliantly.

Oh and Mailee although I don't work in pine did you spot the not so hardwood, coniferous type gate lurking by the woodburner awaiting collection - Its a bit like one of yours! :wink: :wink:


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## No skills (15 Jul 2011)

Hmm... envy? not me! 

OK I am, looks like plenty of space and some well thought out machine choices.

=D>


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## uk woodman (15 Jul 2011)

Nice set up mate, I noticed you have a set cabinet and bevel edge chisels from Narex (I think) how do you rate them?


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## Dodge (15 Jul 2011)

uk woodman":36r12kcv said:


> I noticed you have a set cabinet and bevel edge chisels from Narex (I think) how do you rate them?



Only received them earlier this week - spent a bit of time sharpening them and lapping the backs - first impressions of the Narex are excellent value and the quality of tyhe steel seems very good - They have taken a very keen edge. Not so impressed with the handles but I tend to like the thinner sections like the Kirschens but no doubt I will get used to them.

For what they cost I dont think you could beat them.


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## Hudson Carpentry (15 Jul 2011)

Very nice. lots of space and extractors hehe.


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## goldeneyedmonkey (15 Jul 2011)

Rog your workshop looks like something to aspire to, it's always nice to see how the pro's do it. One day I hope to have something as good as that, thanks for sharing mate. 

Where did you get the idea for that 'pushstick' type handle that's attached over the fence? Looks a great idea, never thought about that. I'm not a massive fan of the plastic ones, but they do the job I suppose, yours looks a damn site more stable though.

Cheers _Dan


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## Hudson Carpentry (16 Jul 2011)

How does the axi drum sander fair up?


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## Hudson Carpentry (16 Jul 2011)

goldeneyedmonkey":153h8bzj said:


> Where did you get the idea for that 'pushstick' type handle that's attached over the fence? Looks a great idea, never thought about that. I'm not a massive fan of the plastic ones, but they do the job I suppose, yours looks a damn site more stable though.
> 
> Cheers _Dan



I never noticed that. I have the same saw but 10" Axi version. I may have to adopt something like that if you don't mind. I have an over head crown guard on mine so I may have to change its design.


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## Dodge (16 Jul 2011)

My push stick simply slides over the fence - easy to make, a couple of scraps of birch faced ply for the sides and a spacer between them marginally thicker than the width of the fence. I find this works really well and have been using it for years.

If you slightly angle the edge that pushes the timber it will effectively hold the wood down as well.

The best bit is as your hand is to the side of the blade you are never pushing directly towards the blade like you are with a traditional push stick when cutting thin strips! I will take a couple of close up pics later.

Rog


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## Dodge (16 Jul 2011)

Here it is!














Simple but effective!


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## Dodge (16 Jul 2011)

Hudson Carpentry":2dlfgcvg said:


> How does the axi drum sander fair up?



I have been very pleased with the Axi Senior sander - I used to have a Jet/Perform 16/32 which was rubbish - It has a good wide size and with twin rollers for differing grits a very good finish can be achieved.

I mainly rely on it to flat boards before final finishing with a scraper or random orbit - makes light work of long wide boards.

Rog


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## Hudson Carpentry (16 Jul 2011)

Thanks. I was looking at the jet one, will think again now!


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## Woodchips2 (16 Jul 2011)

Hi Rog, thanks for the tour. I think all the amateurs here could pick up something useful from your workshop and your website was also interesting. On the wall to the left of your Record lathe you've got a board with various jointed pieces on it, are they jigs?
Regards Keith


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## Dodge (16 Jul 2011)

The Eriba Turner":rqhc8v3m said:


> to the left of your Record lathe you've got a board with various jointed pieces on it, are they jigs?
> Regards Keith



No - That was a sample board that I made many moons ago when I used to Demo for Triton showing all the joints that could be achieved using the 2000 workcentre - Its last outing was at the Alli Pally more years ago than I care to remember.

I keep it on the wall for old times sake I suppose - but is handy for reference if someone asks for advice. Plus it hides the hole in the wall where the old woodburner pipe went through which has now been blocked :lol: :lol: 

Rog


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## mailee (16 Jul 2011)

I hadn't noticed the softwood gate Rog. It seems to be the season for them at the moment. I have another couple of gates to build next but they will be in Idigbo again. I have some Oak units to build later so I am looking forward to them. Only part I don't like is having to machine all the timber up first. :roll:


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## OPJ (17 Jul 2011)

Very impressive Roger, thanks for the tour.

I also hate ripping thin or narrow stuff on a table saw and do like your jig idea. On some larger saws (dimension, panel), the large SUVA-style overhead guards make it very difficult for you to even get a push stick in there! :x


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## shim20 (17 Jul 2011)

very nice workshop, near perfect set up that


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## Benchwayze (20 Jul 2011)

All right for some ain't it? 

Envious as all heck! Space... Space... Space.... =P~ =P~ =P~ Just look at all that space! 

John


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## Benchwayze (20 Jul 2011)

Dodge":250ffp0n said:


> The Eriba Turner":250ffp0n said:
> 
> 
> > to the left of your Record lathe you've got a board with various jointed pieces on it, are they jigs?
> ...



I just bought a Triton 2000, to replace my Mk. 3. I can't get the aluminium runners to clip up into the housing on the ends of the frame. And the DVD made assembly look so easy! The workcentre is going back, because I surely am not going to mess with a file! 

So, for now I tidied up my old Mk. 3 which fortunately I hadn't scrapped! 

John


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