Some woodworking shop tours

Last night I took a hankering to take a look at other people's small woodworking shops.was inspired to do a bit of a web search. Below are the ones that caught my interest.

For comparison: my workshop is about 3m x 8m (10ft x 20ft).  I have two shelving units for various parts (rope; hinges; many jars of bolts and screws; S-hooks; etc.).  I have a big long lumber rack.  My most-frequently-used tools are on a rack and/or shelves above my workbench.  My infrequently-used tools are on a surplussed wooden mail cubbyhole unit that's about shoulder height (used to be from the Marine Biology department, I believe).


This guy is in a 10ft x 16ft outbuilding.  I thought it was interesting that he puts his frequently-used tools in the old-timey woodworking chest next to his workbench, whereas I have mine above my workbench.  Different approaches.




This guy has a 10ft x 10ft "garden shed" that he converted into a woodshop.  His tool storage system is a bit more similar to mine, in that he puts his hand tools on the wall above and behind his workbench.  His shop is much more similar to mine -- although I wouldn't have most of the power tools that he has:  probably just a drill press and a lathe.




This guy's workbench is the least like mine -- partly because it's "medium-sized" (IMO), not really small.  But I do like his large workbench, and also his "hewing bench" (clever!).  He has waaaay less stored lumber than me.  :)




Here's a woodshop in the bathroom of a studio apartment.  Although, it's a power-tool shop.  Seems like he'd be better off going the hand-tool route.

Here's a guy who has his workshop in a storage room, down an access hatch behind his parking space in a Tokyo apartment building.  A secret lair!!!  Way more power tools than I would use -- but neat-o none the less.



 This guy converted an 8ft x 30ft camping trailer into a workshop.  Pretty sweet (although, again -- I'd have fewer power tools).

Here's another one-car garage workshop -- 9ft x 18ft.  Nice set-up -- although I'd personally ditch the table saw and use that space for lumber storage, put a lathe where the jointer is, and put a grinding wheel, and maybe a shop sink, in place of the chop saw.  But, different working styles.

 This one is -- I'm inferring -- 6ft x 6ft.  It's in a guy's Japanese apartment.  I'd actually be setting it up in more of a "Western" way:  maybe a four-foot workbench, with tools on a free-standing tool rack behind the workbench.  But, that's my style.

This guy's shop is in a spare bedroom.  His tool set-up looks similar to what I would do.  His blog had a lot of good entries (many of which I've linked to below), so I ended up subscribing to his blog.

And, this lady does her work out on her deck (the photo is the storage bin where she keeps her tools). This overlaps with my own approach:  I do a moderate amount of work outside.  This is partly because my workshop is a little cluttered, but also because the weather is pretty mild.  I tend to cut my large boards, and do a lot of assembly, out on the grass near my shop.  If it's rainy I'll do it under the carport, which is connected to the back of my shop.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS:

Here's a guy's tool storage in his workshop.  He explains the French cleat tool storage system that he developed above his workbench.  He includes a substantial "How To" component.  Not the direction that I've headed, with my own tool rack -- but I still thought it was worth sharing.  Plus, I appreciated his observation that there's a few tools that you use a whole bunch (so, keep 'em handy!), and then others that you rarely use.





Here's a good article -- and another good article -- about setting up a small, mostly hand-tool shop.

This article discusses the sawdust issue of having a workshop inside the house.  The author has a handtool-based shop, in the "spare" bedroom, and he says sawdust isn't a problem because handtool woodworking tends to generate coarser sawdust (and wood shavings, and chips) -- compared to power tool.

And here's an article on which tools to start with, when you're just starting out in woodworking.  Basically, don't feel like you need to go out with a shopping list and buy a whole list of tools before you're "allowed" to start woodworking.  Instead, choose a project, and buy tools on an as-needed basis.  Makes sense.

A downside, of course, to a small shop is wrangling large boards.

An article on one advantage of doing mostly hand-tool work.

He also discusses how thin handplane shavings are over-rated.

And how you shouldn't work tired.

And how to saw long stock using a pair of sawbenches.


Ayep!


--GG