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
2. Overview looking west. The shop has air-conditioning and electric heat.
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.
4. Model building area
5. Main workbench , air filter, and router table.
6. Eight drawer workbench and 15 drawer small parts cabinet.
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.
8. Looking north, all small machines sit on storage cabinets that double as machine stands.
9. Looking east you can see my wood rack and metal machining area.
10. The south wall holds parts cabinets. The first three on the left were built before I ever had a table saw.
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
2. Overview looking west. The shop has air-conditioning and electric heat.
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.
4. Model building area
5. Main workbench , air filter, and router table.
6. Eight drawer workbench and 15 drawer small parts cabinet.
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.
8. Looking north, all small machines sit on storage cabinets that double as machine stands.
9. Looking east you can see my wood rack and metal machining area.
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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