My shop tour

[stewart]

Hi all

I've been a bit quiet on here lately, but have kept up with my reading if not posting.

Tonight I finally got round to taking the camera into my workshop so I could post a tour of it. Still some things I'd like to do but this is what it's currently like.

In a previous life it was a single car garage - it measures 16ft by 8ft, so could be bigger... :wink:

Here's the view from the entrance - double doors in case anything big ever needs to come in again.

Along the right hand wall are my woodrat and p/t underneath on a mobile base:

Then comes the tablesaw, also on a mobile base so I can swing it round for longer crosscuts. It's the SIP 10" but I've taken out one of the wings and put a router table in which holds one of B&Q's bargain priced Tritons

Next is the workbench - a cobbled together affair from two benches that were being 'retired' from one of the woodwork classrooms. It needs some work on the top and one day I hope to replace it with something that's a bit more presentable:

Above the bench is my latest tool cupboard knocked up from mdf offcuts with pocket hole joinery. Amongst other things it houses the plane kindly donated by Mignal...

Then comes the very underused scrollsaw (also purchased from school as part of the same upgrade that made the solid beech benches obsolete). One of the reasons it's not getting any use is because I've tidied up so well I can't find any of the blades! My dust extractor is in the corner and is plumbed in with blast gates going to the various machines.

On the back wall are not one but two drill presses - both donated by kindly folk...and of course the computer (well we are in the 21st century!) so I can browse the forum, ogle the offerings from Axminster, Classic Hand Tools, etc and use listen again...

On the left hand wall, starting at the back, is my lathe - a second hand record cl2. I need to sort out the wall space above to provide storage for my woodturning tools - it still houses the remanants of my handtools when the bench was here before the lathe arrived.

Then the bandsaw, an Elektra Beckum 315, also second hand, on a homemade mobile base. Above it is my air filter.

Then a narrow workbench, made from the base of the second school bench I acquired. I'm not too sure what to use it for so it's got my grinder on it at the moment, with my attempt to make a sharpening jig to grind a fingernail profile partly visible...

Finally, at the front of the workshop on the left is my metal lathe, a Myford ML10, which I haven't really got to grips with yet. Also storage for small offcuts underneath and a corner to lean clamps in while I wait for inspiration to strike and fashion a better way to store them...

The roof space isn't wasted - there are two openings in the clad and insulated ceiling giving good access to the loft space, which is of course completely full...

A last shot of the whole thing...

End of tour - hope you liked it... now to actually getting down to using it for it's really for :roll:

 

[shim20]

cool, good use of the space you have there.

 

[LarryS.]

Stewart,

Excellent tour, where is the actual computer (can see the monitor and keyboard but not the box). Also how do you protect it from dust (if you do) ?

 

[stewart]

Hi Shim
Thanks for your comment - it feels a bit compact at times, especially when working with sheets of mdf!

Paul, the computer is on a high shelf above the monitor, right in the back corner. It's rather elderly - I think the processor is about 350mhz and there's only 128mb of ram, so it is a bit slow. Because of this I'm not too worried about the dust...it's been running for nearly 6 months now so I guess it could do with a 'dusting'!

 

[Philly]

Very nice, Stewart!
No excuses now - lets see a project on the go :wink:
Best regards
Philly

 

[OPJ]

Stewart, I'm absolutely speechless! :shock:

Your workshop is about 18" shorter and almost 2ft narrower than mine and, yet, here I am complaining that I can't fit a table saw or a lathe in to my space - and you have both these items and so much more!!

This is an excellent setup for the small workshop, very well done! :wink:

How long is your workbench? The only tool I can't see is a mitre saw/chop saw but, I guess you don't need one with your lovely table saw. I guess that not having a single up-and-over helps as well. :wink:

Thanks very much indeed for sharing.

 

[Waka]

Stewart

That is excellent use of space you have there, I see what you mean about sheet material, do you have the option of doing it outside?

I do like the way you have the roof space covered, ideal for that long term storage.

 

[stewart]

Philly - I'll get on it straightaway!

Olly, thanks for the appreciation. The workbench is about 5 feet long, 3 feet deep. Before I got the two lathes and the second drill press it felt quite spacious! Sadly I had to turn down the offer of a milling machine so metal plane building will have to wait a while! I think not having the up and over door makes getting in and out much nicer - I've also insulated the doors to help make it warmer in winter.
I've toyed with the idea of chop/mitre saw but never really found a place to fit it in so that it could be used for more than relatively short pieces...though maybe it would fit on a shelf above the table saw...mm...For crosscutting I use an Osbourne miter guage but for pieces longer than four feet I usually have to swing the saw round 90 degrees - this takes a bit of wiggling to achieve (of the table saw, not me!)

Waka...yes, i have to use outside to break down 8 by 4 sheets into something more manageable - although I've lately found a near by timber yard that will cut up sheets for a modest extra outlay. Though there might be room for some redundant LN planes that might be going cheaply somewhere as surplus to requirement :roll: :roll:

Cheekily

 

[Shultzy]

Hi Stewart, great use of space, mine is the same size but I have no roof space. Can you tell me what size ducting you used and did you buy or make the blast gates?

 

[stewart]

Hi Shultzy

Some of the blast gates are bought - the ones Axminster sell but I find they clog rather easily and are quite difficult to clean out so some of them have been modified by having the slider replaced by a longer piece of plastic which pushes right through the gate. The ducting is 100mm.

 

[OPJ]

With that table saw, Stewart, I wouldn't worry about needing a sliding compound mitre saw! :wink: I guess you could buy an ordinary mitre saw for... mitres. Some of the Makita models are inexpensive and barely cost £100.

How long has it take you to get your workshop like this?

 

[joiner_sim]

Your workshop looks great! Very well laid out One day I hope to have one as grand.

 

[Corset]

Nice little tour. Its always inspiring to see how well some people make use of the space thay have got. I cannot believe you have got all that stuff in there!!!! :shock:
Owen

 

[stewart]

How long has it take you to get your workshop like this?

A few years! It first became a place for woodworking about 5 years ago - I think the first tools I bought were a Trend T5 router after going on a Ron Fox router course. There was also a cheap B&Q table saw which died nearly four years ago - enter the SIP.

I've had to move stuff out and 'make the space mine' over the years, too - best result was finally getting the freezer out and putting up a couple of small bike sheds.

...if only there were room for a comfy chair...

Thanks Sim and Owen - when I began assembling equipment I never believed I'd get so involved and have something looking like a workshop. Good luck with your own ventures!

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Your workshop pic are amazing, you've got more tools than I've got in less than a third of the room I have. It's given me inspiration to go and buy a sanding machine I never though I had room for =D>

 

[stewart]

HTH your lordship - a disc sander often appeals to me - I'm sure it would fit on the bench next to the grinder

 

[Shultzy]

Stewart, where did you get the ducting from, I though those types of pipes were 110mm and had to be reduced before the blast gates.

 

[stewart]

Hi Shultzy
Yep - the soil pipe is 110mm bought from Screwfix - but it is possible to push this into the ends of the soilpipe, though it can work loose at times. Then ordinary 100mm extractor hose and shop bought gates can be used. There are only a couple of places in my set up where I have made a blast gate from scratch which connects directly to the soil pipe. It's a system that evolved rather than something planned from scratch.

 

[billybuntus]

Paul, the computer is on a high shelf above the monitor, right in the back corner. It's rather elderly - I think the processor is about 350mhz and there's only 128mb of ram, so it is a bit slow. Because of this I'm not too worried about the dust...it's been running for nearly 6 months now so I guess it could do with a 'dusting'!

Workshop looks great, wish I had that sort of space.

Do me a favour though, take the lid off your computer and blow all the dust out, it makes me nervous thinking about wood particles sitting on electricity.

 

[stewart]

Do me a favour though, take the lid off your computer and blow all the dust out, it makes me nervous thinking about wood particles sitting on electricity.

Ok - it's about time I did it anyway. I'll do a before and after shot if it's dramatic enough!