Tour a larger shop

Tom Clark

Member
Messages
42
Location
Deming, NM
Greetings,
Like most other woodworkers, I dreamed of having shop large enough so everything would not have to be crammed together. Having more space than you need would be a welcome change. After retiring 10 years ago, we moved to the country where everyone has a five acre minimum lot size, and then it finally became possible to build the shop that I had been daydreaming about.

The building size is 40x60, not counting a large car port for parking our motorhome under. The shop is 40x45’ with the rest used for storage. The next time you take a drive out to the suburbs, notice how many steel buildings you see in backyards. They not only look nice, but are very inexpensive compared to other types of construction. I was also interested in living as maintenance-free lifestyle as possible and this type of building certainly helps. There is a short movie on the dome and scope construction at http://tinyurl.com/2ozsvc if any one is interested

I became interested in woodworking after I started building astronomical telescopes – mostly out of wood, and wanted to learn how to make them look nicer. The 24' observatory beside the shop was my first construction project ever. The building inspector said that he couldn’t believe that I tackled a round building to learn construction on, but hey – that is what was needed!

I taught myself a very simple way of building shop cabinets, and now the shop has over two dozen of my cabinet projects to support multiple hobbies. Building good shop cabinets makes the most efficient use of your shop, no matter how large or small it is.

I wish that everyone may be able to obtain their dream shop one of these days!

Captions:
1. The shop and observatory
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2. Overview looking west. The shop has air-conditioning and electric heat.
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3. The main woodworking area has a carpeted area for building projects. The carpet is a cheap left-over, but after 10 years is holding up nicely and is very comfortable to stand on.
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4. Model building area
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5. Main workbench , air filter, and router table.
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6. Eight drawer workbench and 15 drawer small parts cabinet.
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7. The larger machines sit clustered around the dust collector. The planer is the only machine on wheels from the last shop, but has not been moved since moving here.
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8. Looking north, all small machines sit on storage cabinets that double as machine stands.
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9. Looking east you can see my wood rack and metal machining area.
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10. The south wall holds parts cabinets. The first three on the left were built before I ever had a table saw.
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Tom beautiful shop with tons of space and great storage. You mentioned you taught yourself an easy way to make cabs...care to elaborate? :dunno:

I would be lost with that much space, but would love to have it at the same time. Thanks for sharing.
 
Welcome to the Family Tom!

Sure is one nice shop!

I think I'd need a map in there to find my way around :D

Love the "Flymow" on the ceiling, I see you are into RC models, very cool, my Dad has been into them for about 40 years or so.

Thanks for the tour! :wave:
 
simple shop cabinets

Hi Jeff,

I will be happy to post a tutorial on cabinet making under the right place one of these days. But a short answer to your question is that like everyone else, I bought a book on cabinet making, and after reading it a few times just sat back and thought, "You have got to be kidding!"

The author had extra wood everywhere, probably because he was using MDF for everything, and it is more subject to warping and not as strong as plywood. The biggest thing was that he expected you to build your face frames off the cabinet and then mount it into place, expecting it to fit. Not in my world…

For shop cabinets, I build the face frames out of plywood, and build them right in place - yes - leaving the plywood edges exposed. Before you throw too many rocks, look at the photos. The cabinets just don't look that bad! Sometimes we just have to remember that they are 'shop cabinets' and not fine furniture.

Of course when I'm building desks and office furniture for inside the house, solid hardwood is used for face frames, but they are still built right in place.

Most of my shop cabinets and workbenches were easy weekend projects, not prolonged affairs that took weeks. Simplyfing things just makes them much faster to build, so then you can get back to real woodworking projects that you like to work on.

Here is photo that shows a simple cabinet, ready for the drawers and top to be added.
 

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tom, we're all envious of all that room. good for you....and good on your wife for going along. the air cond bill must be interesting???

i like your comment on not equating shop cabinets with furniture.
 
Something is wrong with the pictures. Here's a shop, full of Powermatic tools, owned by a guy who likes round things...and there's no lathe? What's up with that? :D

Looks like a great place to spend lots of time, Tom. Very well done. :thumb:
 
Something is wrong with the pictures. Here's a shop, full of Powermatic tools, owned by a guy who likes round things...and there's no lathe? What's up with that? :D

Looks like a great place to spend lots of time, Tom. Very well done. :thumb:

Shop full of PM tools? I wish. Well, there is an old table saw that I bought used- 20 years ago. I bought it because they had first the 48" sliding table I wanted - for building case goods. Everything else is mostly Grizzly. There is a metal lathe next to the mill, but it does not show in the photos. It's hiding behind the bench grinders. There is no wood lathe - yet! Maybe someday…

To answer all the other questions and comments:
The air and heat bill is very reasonable, mainly because we are not home during the hot FL summer months. We hop into our RV and head to cooler climes NC this summer. During the mild winters the electric bill the shop creates is probably less than $50 per month - very reasonable.

The photos were all taken with a 10-20 mm zoom lens. That lense even makes a closet look huge! The shop is nice size, but is not as large as the lens makes it look.

Thank everyone for their nice comments. The shop is quite organized, and that makes working in it fun and efficient. Projects can be built quickly when everything is ready to go at all times, and there is enough space that everything doesn't have to be moved first.
 
Hi Tom :wave:,
Thanks for the tour, it was a fun go! You have done some marvelous things thus far, and your comments are equally as valuable. It is nice having you here, thanks for the input.
Shaz :)
 
To answer all the other questions and comments:
The air and heat bill is very reasonable, mainly because we are not home during the hot FL summer months. We hop into our RV and head to cooler climes NC this summer. During the mild winters the electric bill the shop creates is probably less than $50 per month - very reasonable.

By NC you mean Northern Canada, as in Thunder Bay, Ontario or someplace like that right? :rolleyes: It seems like lately it's been getting too hot even here in NY during July and August.

Speaking of, you'd be welcome to stop by for a visit on your way to Northern Canada. :wave: :rofl:
 
Tom,
welcome to the forums, and can't wait to see more photos of your work, how about a closer shot of that 'scope /stand you're leaning against?

If you want to see more scope photos, check the slide show from the thread opener or: http://tinyurl.com/2ozsvc
Just slide the control lever to the last half and you can get an idea of how big the 14' long tube of the 42" scope is. It weighs around 1600 pounds, yet can be moved with one finger. It has a computer drive that follows the object you are looking at.

Mark: Last year we moved from NORTH CAROLINA to upper Michigan when it got hot here in the mountains, but at nearly $5 per gallon, Uncle Sam seems as if they don't want anyone moving around too much this year. However, we love company also if you make it south during the winter.

1. Big scope
2. small scopes
3. Shop sign
 

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