Hey Fellow members, Let's see what your shop looks like. Starting this thread as a place to share your shop space with others. And give us a little description of what tools you may have and the types of projects you like to create the most. Just making this a place to share Our ideas and help other out with areas that they may need help in solving when it comes to setting up a shop.
No need to be bashful here, some are small 100 square foot areas, others are pushing 1000 square feet plus. Some may only use hand tools others may have complete power setup or even a few tools and work out on the porch. We are all here to share our progress in the woodworking that we create. And we are a visual bunch.
So, show what you have. Thanks for sharing your work space.
I'll start this off i suppose! My shop is in my basement. I'm a "hybrid" guy but im leaning more to the hand tool side of things and making an effort to actually use all the hand tools I have collected. I really don't use my miter saw or router. They are sort of left over from the first version of my shop and will probably go away soon. The table saw however will stay around.
This is the "Loft". I built the shop back in 2020 just before the big price increase in materials. The footprint is 16' x 32' and the porch on the end is 5' wide, that is giving me about 425 square feet inside. I install a separate 200 Amp service which is ran underground. I took over a year to design the building and made several changes during that time. In my design I wanted to have a hard airline running around the shop, a DC System, and HVAC, 2 of the 3 are installed since the construction. I built a loft at each end to store items not used frequently and lumber, also a place to house the DC and Air Compressor, both of which are on a dictated circuit with a switch outlet.
There has been a few upgrades to equipment and placement of items around the shop even in the short 2 years it has been up and running. I built the benches from the leftover materials from the build and have purchase a few more tools which for the most part have been used and restored myself. And I continue to build out the storage needs for the shop.
The interior photo's are recent during the installation of the DC System. The DC still has a bit of work to get all of the machines connected, but the big producers are connected.
I ahve replaced the miter saw with an RAS, picked up a larger bandsaw, a jointer, and I have built a larger surface for the TS. As you can see the shop is a work in progress. Thanks for looking.
martin is planning on a shop thread,pretty soon i think because he said,start taking pic's now ! so im gonna wait.i need to take new pic's of my shop,the ones i have are kinda outdated !
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
I like you space there Jerry, seems like a long reach for the braces though.
Corerlz, that is a nice shop, let the mice work on the projects.
Pottz, yes I heard that. Just felt like starting a forum about shops. I think Martin is planning on a tab at the top to show off shops. I knw he has his hands full, trying to keep up with the exodus.
Its really not a bad reach to get to the braces. Thats picture is deceiving. I am constantly moving stuff around to make it work better for the work I do. At some point I'm going to paint the walls and possibly put some old pine on the floor. I want it to feel more like an old library than a shop. Not sure that makes sense lol
It makes sense, I built mine up on piers and have a framed floor covered with 3/4" Advantech paianted a light grey. Comfortable on the feet, at some point I need to crawl under there and add some insulation and cover with 1/4" plywood to keep the critters out.
I would love to have my shop in a separate space like that. But my barn is in no way good for a shop, especially in winter. My wife actually told me to set up in the basement not the barn. Not sure if she regrets that or not lol
Thanks, Corelz. I usually keep the ladder in the shop, just move it from end to end. One of those library ladders would be neat, but not really enough room. I am going to rig up a couple of block and tackle sets to move things up an down from the loft. One end has the DC and Compressor, the other has electrical, plumbing, drywall tools and tile supplies, then a mixture of stuff not used much.
Jerry, yes living in Holland you need the heat in your shop. when I was in Michigan I has a 4 car garage, 2 wide, 2 deep, I installed a woodstove in the center, and I could roast myself out of the shop on those cold days.
I’ll repost when the SHOP tab comes into being, but I love workshop threads, so I’ll post here as well!
My shop is a converted 2-car garage about 425sq ft. It’s maybe 70% woodshop, 25% metal shop, and 5% garage (the washer and dryer are still in there, for now). I pulled a 150A sub panel to it, allowing me to add at least a few 240v plugs for the compressor, the welders, the DC and the powder coat oven. Most of my tools are 110v, but they seem to get it done ok.
I also installed a shop-wide overhead compressed airline using the blue RapidAir system, which I love. I’ve got about 6 drops throughout the shop, including one that’s mounted into a pneumatic tools table. I use it on both sides of the shop, and can’t imagine being without it at this point.
I’ve got an OneidaSupercell dust collector, piped overhead with 4” S&D pipe and GRIT automation blast gates and tool triggers. I just can’t say enough about this combination. I’ve done write ups here about it, so I won’t go on too much right here, but it’s a game changer for me. I’ve also got two ceiling mounted WEN air cleaners tied into the system.
One the metal side, I’ve got a nested cutting/welding table that I built that pushes back against the cabinets…when fully extended it gives me 6 feet of depth (48” supported) and 4 feet of width. Not bad for a small shop! When it collapses back down, it just effectively covers the cabinet top area 4’ wide. I’ve got a small MIG rig, a TIG rig and a small plasma cutter. I’ve also got a 2x72” grinder that newly lives over there, as well as a slow speed miter saw just for metal and a mobile horizontal bandsaw. Additionally, I’ve got a mini mill (under the brown cover on the tool cart) and a mini lathe (benchtop, under the black cover), and a compact media blasting cabinet/powder coating station.
On the wood side, I have my Father In Laws Father’s bench (so my wife’s grandfather). It was one of the first things my FIL gave me after I married his daughter. It’s not a great woodworking bench, more of a garage workbench, but I’ve built it up and made it work. I mean, how do you get rid of that??? I also built several rolling tables and assembled them into a horseshoe, giving me a workbench and a couple of assembly tables that are all coplaner, which is a super nice thing to have! I won’t cover all the tools here, but the highlights are my FIL’s old 16” Walker Turner band saw, which is just a beast and I love it. His old 113 table saw, which I built a surround around, added a router table and lift to, as well as an Incra TS system. My Rikon 70-220vs lathe and sharpening system. My hand tool wall, which is built on a French cleat wall, and has become a center point for the shop. I’m a hybrid woodworker for sure, but I do find a definite joy in using hand tools, especially vintage ones, and especially as I get older and like noise less! I love to imagine the old tool’s story from before they came to me. I’ve also got another smaller (10”) band saw, a drill press, scroll saw and some other assorted benchtop tools, as well as a DeWalt miter saw on a dolly. Not bad for about 425sq ft!
That’s enough for now, so I’ll just put up the pics. More when Martin turns on the SHOP tab…
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
RyanGi, bloody nice to see a workshop in what seems like the "burbs"... and not those with acerage to test the best ride on mowers. Familiar with that squeeeeezzzeee feeling.
Do you have anything nice to say about your Foreman?
Is that a Klein vice? Impressions?
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
