What are your plans for your shop this year?

Ned Bulken

Member
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Location
Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
Hi guys & gals, I didn't want to do a 'new shop year resolution' thread ON the 1st, so I waited a few days... then things got busy at home... so here it is...

It is that time of year again in my shop, when I pretty well can't do a whole lot out there, but I still want to keep my hand in. The other day, I decided to try something new: A grand plan for the year.

Brent, Bill et al, you may start snickering now...

A little history: my shop has grown from literally a chop-saw on a picnic table to a fairly well equipped (if cold) small barn over the past 5 years. Before I built my shop, I shared shop space with my mentor for a few years, after building stuff in my yard, working out of the garden shed. I’ve done the typical ‘buy a tool when you need it’ thing, and for the most part that has worked out pretty well. I have a good solid core of tools and a fair supply of lumber on hand. I’ve always been great at starting a project, but not so good at finishing them however. SO it being early in the calendar year, I am going to try something new: A Plan for the year in the shop.

January:
is going to be simple, it is 1/3 of the way done, I have a short window of above average temperatures outside so between now and the end of that unseasonably warm weather I’m going to do a massive clean up and sort/organize. If I get enough done I’ll try and turn some handles for my new Thompson lathe tools, but I’m not going to count on that happening. I left a Huge mess out in the shop getting the cutting board blitz done last month. I even have half a dozen boards which need sanding and rounding over before they can leave the shop.

February and early March:
I suspect are going to be very quiet out there. I’ll mostly be doing project planning and research unless we have a warmer winter than I suspect we are going to.

Later March:
will be when I will be getting the supplies for the projects, and I’ll be starting in on them as I can time and money wise. Also, working on stocking up for my cutting board shop: Artisan Boards

April:
Once the Lake subsides in our backyard from the snow run off, I’ll be out in the shop as often as I can be… continuing to work on the projects from February’s planning sessions. Also: Get a sub-panel run out to the shop.

May:
This is when things are going to get ‘interesting’. I’m going to try and do a few major projects in May:
1) build three new Doors for the shop. One a ‘man’ door which will go on the long side of the shop facing the house. I”ve got the doorway framed in the shop , I just have never built one for it, I’ve always used the large pair of doors on the end of the building instead. THe other two doors will be replacement doors for the pair in the end of the building. I’m planning on them having large windows in the upper half, and screens so I can open them up for cross ventilation during the spring & summer.
2) Along with the new doors, I also will be building a wrap around deck and new entrance stairs to the shop. That’s always been on my list of things to do, but never made it to the top of the list.
3)build a bump out on the North end of the shop for the ‘New’ dust collector I’ve got sitting down in VA

June :
Major Production run of cutting boards and other wood items for Artisan Boards plus build a new Deck for the house.
July: support a major house renovation project; new kitchen and bath, plus trim carpentry throughout the house. More cutting boards…

August:
hopefully wrap up the reno project, prep for september. still more cutting boards

September:
If funds and plans coincide: Move the shop building. My shop sits on concrete pads and a stone bed, I’m going to contact a ‘camp jacking’ company and get a quote for relocating from the center of the yard to a corner of the yard, giving the family back the majority of the back yard. Now I just have to convince the CFO that it can be done. I know I should do that before I build the steps and new deck, but I just don’t see the funds happening much before September.

October:
Christmas Gifts

November:
You guessed it LOTS of Cutting boards

December:
clean up from November.
I’ll be printing this out and posting it in the shop for the occasional laugh.disclaimer: this plan is subject to modification at any point in the year… and is carved in Jello to begin with.



SO, that's what I'm planning on doing... what's on your plate in the coming months?
 
I'm planning on 2 new additions to the shop by late spring or summer (depending on finances). An 8" jointer and a 20" or larger 2 drum sander. I don't have 220 in the shop so a call to an electrician is due shortly.

Within the next few weeks I'll be putting a sink in the shop. I'll drain it into my sump basin (which pumps out into the woods). The plumbing guy at Lowes has a large special order laundry type standing sink and faucet that was returned by a customer that I can get for 80% off.

Making an early American cherry hutch right now. Then I'll get back to the cherry trestle table. I'm going to attempt making 8 dining chairs. Never made a chair before.
 
Well thought out post Ned. Been doing some annual budget planning with my wife, still in progress though.

Some of the things on my shop list are:

  • Tear out the rest of the existing walls, re-wire, re-insulate, and sheath with OSB
  • Insulate and skin the ceiling, install new lighting.
  • Replace the side 16' garage door with the 9' x 8' door and add a second egress door in part of the old opening, pour new threshold for this door as it doesn't have one today, just sits on gravel.
  • Fix some existing concrete also... Cut out the main garage door threshold and repour (level) so the door will seal properly, has a hump in the center of the door and 1" gap on each end. Also remove the existing man door and replace, but also raise and fill in sunken floor at entry to be level with the rest of the shop floor.
  • Build out a finish room, may get done first, just to give me a warm place to do glue-ups and finish work
  • Install car lift, has been given LOML's approval, just need to figure out which one to get and determine placement.

This years house projects consist of:

  • Finishing the master bath, this one is close to done.
  • Tear out and re-organize the master closet, install pocket door, remove laundry chute, and re-route furnace flue.
  • Organize the house garage, new shelving and frame a new mechanical closet/future furnace room.
  • Replace hot water heater with wall mounted unit in new mechanical room
  • Build new Master Bedroom furniture, bed, nightstands, dresser and vanity built-in.

Will be hiring my nephew to do some of the work for me this year, needs the experience.
 
No snickering here, as I have my own shop improvement plans that I hope to execute. Actually my tool chest build was the beginning of that.


  • Build hand tool chest and gather all hand tools that currently reside in cabinets and drawers - Done
  • Rent a storage unit, build storage shelves for it and temporary relocate most of my corded tools, supplies and everything else that currently resides in the many kitchen style cabinets that reside in my shop. Doing this so that I can get them out of the way of renovating the space. Will bring some back (just what I need or want) and sell the rest - Rented, shelves built and first pass of tools moved, now working on finishing up that process.
  • Build some built in drawers and cabinets in one wall that has open space under a bump out in the shop. Hard to explain, but will become clear if you search for my shop electrical upgrade thread.
  • Get rid of the current kitchen style cabinets that currently reside in my shop, opening up space here and there, but especially at the wall where the window is. That is where I will move my bench.
  • Relocate my wood storage in one area. Currently it is here and there.
  • Add some character to the shop by adding some wood siding (painted) against some of the exposed concrete; adding new upper cabinets here and there for handsaws and misc tools/supplies.
  • Add some horse mats or something similar around where my bench will sit. I live in fear of dropping a chisel or plane onto the concrete.
  • Add some lighting here and there. More spot lighting than anything else.
  • Relocate my clamps racks to another wall
  • Build a pantry cabinet for all the food my wife stores in my shop because it is always so cool. Things like onions, potatoes, etc.
  • Build a metal/bicycle repair workbench, complete with my metal vises. This bench is were I would do all metal filing, grinding and of course bike repair. Those activities do not play well with my woodworking bench.
  • Sell my tablesaw, jointer.
  • Replace my current bandsaw with the biggest old iron, or new that I can afford. There is a certain old Powermatic 20" that keeps calling out to me.
  • Replace my current drill press with the best old iron I can find.
  • Replace my current planer with a 18" or 20" old planer. No hurry on this one. I will wait until the right one comes along at a bargain price. That could be a couple of years from now as my current planer is fine.

Well that is my goal for this year, hopefully I can accomplish most by the end of spring.
 
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Thanks to a hail storm that hit us a several weeks ago my main shop projects are external. It's one of those quick and relative cheap garages that I have modified an turned into a fairly nice building--drywall, insulation, descent lighting, heat, AC and cable TV. Much of the thin, inexpensive vinyl siding looked like 2 walls of Swiss cheese and the roof took a beating. Going to hit it with house wrap and heavy duty vinyl siding with the foam insulation as the weather allows. The roof is water tight for now so it will wait for warmer weather--late April or May. Now if I could get my insurance company to fund doubling it's size and increasing the wall height to 10 or 12 feet. . . . It would be nice to find more time to spend in it. Haven't been there to work wood for weeks. I'm so busy during retirement that I don't see how I ever found shop time while I was working--didn't a whole lot.
 
Well, I have couple dream tool purchases in mind. 8' jointer, but don't have the room for it. A larger bandsaw for resawing, but don't have the room for it either. Festool Domino would be nice as well and shouldn't be too hard to find room for.

Would like to either bump the wall out and make shop bigger or just flat start on a bigger shop this year. I am a realist, I know neither is going to happen.

As for what I might be building, I will know when it hits me.
 
My plans are more modest: Locate my table saw and bench...I know they are in there somewhere....and maybe find my other bench too. Make some drawers for the kitchen cabinets. Get started on the bed project. Procrastinate on all above for another year:)
 
My plans are more modest: Locate my table saw and bench...I know they are in there somewhere....and maybe find my other bench too. Make some drawers for the kitchen cabinets. Get started on the bed project. Procrastinate on all above for another year:)

you must be related to the old brent:) he used to do that to..( procrastinate)

as for me ,, i have couple want to's but probally wont happen. number one on the list is to upgrade planer to a helical head..second would be to get a edge sander,, should have done it a couple years ago but didnt,, now that i saw glenn's it has risen back to the surface again:)
 
I have significant plans and funny this post comes up because i decided plans on their own are worthless. You have to put a dealine to it to get er dun.

Thats my new goal.

So with that in mind i am going to apply some of my business thinking to my hobby just so i can actually get to a stage where working on the shop and its fixtures and fittings etc ends and i can work in the shop on projects i want to do and finish.

First up for me is getting my generator enclosure done. Hopefully this warm weekend we have will see that happen. I have no other distractions this weekend.
Next is get my Scroll saw back on its old legs after having converted it to mobile base. That will free up a mobile unit i have earmarked for dedicated sharpening station.
Then on to tool storage and cabinet. This aint gonna be anything fancy at this stage of my life, i want something that is quick to make and does the job. Gonna make two at once. One for handtools and one for power tools. This project better be done by end of spring. There aint no kids for excuses now and i aint working on my bus stuff for stupid hours anymore. Life is too short.
After that i should be set to do things i want to do.

Get to sharpen some hand saws....this is something i have promised myself i want to learn. No big reason just the challenge of it. Heck if the guys of old could and had to do it to survive as a woodworker i have to be able for me its kinda like a rite of passage. :) Yeah i know no makes no sense. Probably cut most of my stuff with power. But hey could come a time when it aint there.:)

Finish walnut jewelry cabinet.
Make my musical bear that Charles Hans made. I got all the parts together just have to get er dun.
Want to have a go at making raised panel doors. Dont ask why i dont have a specific project in mind. I am just tired of watching you guys do it and not know if i can. :)

Note my woodworking is a hobby no production or friend or family builds if i can help it. Tinkering and experimentation is what i like.

Then i want to make a bunch of hand tools.
Long list in the to do list to long for here now.

Then i want to have a go at carving.

In between i want to set up to do veneering so a vacuum set up is on the cards too.

Is that enough for you?
 
Made some progress today, some of it even forwards!

I 'found' the shop floor... and vacuumed up some of the residual dust from the C.B.B. in december (Cutting Board Blitz), and took a look at my kero heater. That was an eye opener. I hadn't used it in almost 2 years... and it has a tank full of Ice at the moment. I"m thinking it might just be easier to buy another one and start again... this time with a direct vent unit instead of a typical 'mushroom' unit. Either way, it isn't getting started any time soon.
 
Shop plans...

-I desperately need a new widebelt. I've outgrown the 37" singlehead many times over. I did almost buy a dual head 43" unit a few weeks back on an auction, but it went just a little too high for me. Had the auction been a month later, I would've bought it I'm sure.

-The new enclosed trailer needs to have the interior finished up, and get the etrack mounted. I think I'm going to have it spray foamed, then I bought some of the 7/16" washboard stuff to do the interior with.
16639_4586418629732_1788644835_n.jpg


-I'm always on the look out for more shapers. Tough to find what I want/need though.



and squirrel away as much money as possible. I need a bigger shop.
 
I have modest plans.

1. Finish the woodrack after I heal.

2. Build Norm's upgraded router table for which I have everything..lift,router,miter track, etc.

3. Build Norm's clamp rack

The wife wants new end tables for the living room.
 
1) Finish Entertainment center
2) Flip top cart for Planer
3) Sort through all of my stuff and reduce to where I can see the top of all workbenchs.
4) Dining Room table

That's it.
 
  • Clear out the small scrap piles one way or another! Maybe a turnapolooza and make it all into small round gifts or something.
  • Make the bed frame I've had the wood for for to long
  • Build a router table
 
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