shop furniture?

larry merlau

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Delton, Michigan
ok we all have a shop of one size or another, but those that have a fair amount of space.. do you have a ("PIECE") of you in it? another words, awhile back dominic greco made a really nice plane cabinet and it said "dominic" all over it in his work and his feelings towards wood..we all have a part of us in something its just nature..so my question if you have a pretty piece that you have in your shop, show us...and tell us your thoughts as to why or if you dont but want to then tell us that as well.. i am wanting to make a cabinet for some used tools and am leaning towards making it special,, but its just a shop not a museum??? but i do have some connection to it.
 
My only "piece" in my shop is my workbench that I made 25 years ago, ( gosh it seems it was yesterday).
The rest are salvaged cabinets from friend's houses ir found trashed away on the stree.

I also would like to make a cabinet or toolchest as a fine piece, but projects are piling up and I seem to have problems in finishing them. So far I have four projects that need to be finished, please don't ask me why they are not finished.:eek:
 
So far I have four projects that need to be finished, please don't ask me why they are not finished.:eek:[/QUOTE]

But why not:huh::dunno::rofl::rofl::rofl: most likely the same reason my projects are not quite finished yet:eek::rolleyes::p
 
When I did the first go around, I just threw stuff together. Need this and that to gain workable space. Now that I can do that stuff, when I do build something for the shop, I like to try and make it a little sweeter. Trying a new joint or technique or even a finish type.
 
I woun't say it's fine furniture as it was made from left over pieces i had sitting around the shop.I needed a tool box to try to get things in place.(didn't work):rofl::rofl:It's made of cherry mainly with purplehart trim and hand made pulls. I did spend some time figuring out what i wanted.Not normal for me.Normally i'll just dive in and build on the fly.Can't build with plans enless it's a house.Looking back i can see some things i would of done different like using full extention slides at least on the big drawers in the bottom. Owell some day i might build enother but who knows.:huh:
Steve
 

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Nice Cabinet Stephen. :thumb: :thumb:

One day I'd like to make a cabinet like that to hold my woodworking tools, instead of the craftsman rollaround I use.

I'd also like to re-do my workbench. It's stout, but it aint pretty. I could do much better now. I'd probably re-use the vises though.
 
awhile back dominic greco made a really nice plane cabinet and it said "dominic" all over it in his work and his feelings towards wood..

Hmmm, in general, the answer is "No"... at least as far as signature classy go-all-out pieces. :dunno:

On the other hand I think that some of the simpler stuff I have does say "Art Mulder" all over it. ;)

First there is my wall-mounted toolbox...

IMG_4490.jpg IMG_4491.jpg IMG_4492.jpg

What makes this piece unique, IMHO, is the story more than the piece. Way back early in my ww'ing pursuit, I made my son a wooden wagon out of ash. Lovely piece. Beautiful wood. Turned out great.

Total disaster as a wagon though, it weighed a ton. We pulled it around the block exactly once. It kicked around the basement for a while, and after a few years I took the body and hung it on the wall to be the main carcass of my toolbox. The door was just plywood, which I thought was too ugly, so I resawed a bunch of pine and glued that on the outside to pretty it up.

I use it all the time, and I love the organization it introduces into my shop.

Now this humble piece --- emphasis on humble --- has got "Mulder" all over it also. (Actually it's got Larry's name on it too, recognize your old sander?)
IMG_4493.jpg

Yes, that is an old plywood drawer, turned on end and pressed into service as a 5minute build-a-rolling-base job. Dumb looking, sure, but it really shows that I am my father's son.

Again, the story makes the difference. Way back in the 70s, my dad (a carpenter) made built-in beds and desks in our basements in the old house. Some of those lasted a long time, some only a few years. But a true frugal dutchman**, he would not just toss things out. The drawers from the old built-in beds (or desk, I forget which) were turned on end and did duty in various rooms as end tables. I know that they still have one or two in their house today -- sitting in the Living room with a nice little handmade (by mom) tablecloth on them with a plant on top, and some coffee-table books inside.

So when I see that drawer, ugly and basic as it may be, I think about my Dad a bit. In fact, that is a drawer he made decades ago, that I also pulled out of a bed when the bed was finished, but couldn't bear to just toss out.

So that's my story.
...art



** Actually to be fair, anyone who lived through WWII in Europe as my folks did, be they dutch or from some other country, probably learned frugality far better than anyone else I know.
 
well art and don too thats also what this is about, the wagon reused and the memories behind it as the table that don has to remind him of a class with a master.. all good examples of a part of our life as woodworkers. lets see some more folks you know you got one out there somewhere maybe its just a old box that dad or some other relative used.
 
Well Larry, here's my shop furniture entry...prior to this, I didn't realize that a properly-thrown shop stool would stick in a hollow core door.

Shop Stool Door 800.jpg

:rofl:
 
Where do you have a hollow-core door in your garage!?
I'm pretty sure that would fail code here. (Even the side door in my garage is steel with a solid core)
 
Where do you have a hollow-core door in your garage!?...

It's under the stool. Duh. :rolleyes:

:rofl:

That's what was in place when we bought the house. It originally went from the side of the garage into an open breezeway between the house and garage. The breezeway has since been enclosed to make a laundry/mud room, so you're right, it should probably be a fire rated door in that spot now, even though there are two exterior stucco walls between the garage and the house. After this...um...mishap, I replaced it with another cheap primed interior door, which only lasted about 6 months before it got a hole knocked through it. (Long story short, I was turning the knob to open it and pushing the door with my other hand. I thought it was unlatched, but it wasn't, and my hand went through the door.) It's now been replaced with a better quality molded faux 6-panel door. It's another interior door, though, so it's probably not got the fire rating it should have. I'll probably have to replace it if we sell this house. (Or before, if I can afford it.) ;)
 
Careful, I hear that workshop stool tossing can really throw your back out :eek:

I don't really have any nice pieces in my shop, I do have some well built jigs etc, my cyclone, bandsaw and slide out table for my SCMS I'm proud of, but nothing it would be considered "Furniture" :dunno:
 
Well, I have several shop items - none of which are works of art, but all of which are useful and functional:

First there's the bench - built about fifteen years ago

and of course the by now infamous plane display

and then the drop leaf outfeed table/cabinet

and the roll around 'shop desk'

and finally the router table.

There are several others, but I've not bothered taking any pictures of them yet.
 

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