‘The Story of a Woodworking Shop’ –free download and free CD

Comments from Jay Knoll

Jay said that it was OK to post his recent comments about my journal in this thread. Here are Jay's comments and my replies.


Jay Knoll said:
Frank

Thanks for the shop "diary". I enjoyed reading it, and found the PDF format very user friendly.

It certainly is a great documentary of how you put it together but as a "how to" for others I find it a bit unwieldy.
As you have seen, the document is more than a "how to", it is really an ongoing diary with an account of my life during the construction of the shop. Because of this, the "how to" aspect gets somewhat buried in the rest of the content. I am not sure what to do about this because I want to keep the diary aspect. Do you think that a better index or even a guide which points with live links to the "how to" stuff would help?

Jay Knoll said:
Often you say something like "I changed "x" based on advice from my internet friends". I think that the guiding principals regarding the advice would have been very interesting to post rather than just the outcome of your decision. That way, someone else who was designing a workshop would have the benefit of that information to apply to their own situation.
Thanks Jay, if there is another issue of this document, I will do that.

Jay Knoll said:
This was clearly a labor of love (both the documentary and, of course the shop. I think the shop looks great.

Thanks for sharing it,

Jay
It was a labour of love, and I am able to re-live a lot of the experiances through the journal.
 
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Comments from Allen Bookout

Allen agreed to to let me post his recent comments about my journal in this thread. Here are Allens's comments and my replies.

Allen Bookout said:
I enjoyed the part about your wife not remembering the conversation about a shop after retirement. My wife seems to have the same problem.
I’m glad that someone enjoyed it. :) I certainly didn’t. :(

Allen Bookout said:
You get an A for the cost estimates on your shop. However, you sure failed the cost estimates on your tools. Fifty-fifty is not real bad though. We all fail the tool estimate. And---it really never ends.
Yes, I really did screw up on the tool budget. I am doing much better now though. At the start of each year I establish a (much smaller) tool budget, a workshop supplies budget, and a projects budget; for the last two years I have been within 5% of all these budgets.

Allen Bookout said:
Good call using one supplier, Weldbeck, for your DC, tools and wood. I am sure that they will remember that when you need something.
They do (and it's Welbeck -without a d). And, I do have other supliers of both tools and wood, just to keep Welbeck on their toes, but Welbeck Sawmill remains my first choice.

Allen Bookout said:
Good idea about using interior walls as a good storage space, such as around your dust collector.
Thanks

Allen Bookout said:
You decided to not put your electrical plugins in the floor. Was that because of the insulation that you chose or some other reason? I do not remember you stating a reason but you may have. Do you think that in milder climates it would be functional to have the electrical and DC piping in the floor? The reason that I ask is that I like most of my tools to be mobile and it would be nice not to have cords and piping all over the floor or hanging down.
The main reason was that I needed to get the floor in and insulated long before I wanted to start working on the electricity. The same goes for the DC piping. Also, with the DC ducting exposed as it is, it is much easier to change something should I want to. As to floor receptacles, I received feedback from folks who said that they could clog up and be problematic. I am very very happy with the receptacles that I have dropping from the ceiling and they don’t get in the way at all. I can see that, without the insulation, it would be “functional” (as you put it) to have the electrical and ductwork in the floor, but I would want access to it –either through a higher crawl space or through easily removable floor panels.

Allen Bookout said:
One thing that really stands out is how good a granddad you must be. I would not have enough self control to let the kids "help" and "decorate". Good for you!
Thanks Allen. I just have to remember that my family is much more important than my shop or any projects that I might be working on in my shop.

Allen Bookout said:
I think that your design and thoughts were interesting and helpful in the planning of a new shop. Listing the things that you liked and the things that you would have changed or done differently are of real value. One of the best things about your story is that you will surely inspire those that are looking at the long road ahead in the building of a shop. 'Even if it takes a while, it will be worth it in the end' is a good message to put forth --- which you did well.
Thanks, others have also remarked about the usefulness of that list.

Allen Bookout said:
Now we come to the subject of a book. I have no idea. I think that for someone that is not in that field to make any valid predictions would be impossible even though we both know of some that think that they can. I do think that you have valuable expertise and information and, with the help of a professional, it is certainly a possibility. I have no connections in the publication business so I am of no help there. I do hope that you contact someone in the know and see if it is worth a shot.

I would love to see a book entitled "The Story of a Woodworking Shop" by Frank Pellow.
I very much doubt that there will be a book, but there will probably be a revised free download in a year or two.

Allen Bookout said:
I do not know if I am of any help at all but I do know that I really enjoyed your story and thank you very much for sending it to me. I will keep many of the ideas for my use if I get to build a shop in the future. Even if I do not, there is information that I can use where I am working now.

Thanks again!

Allen
You have been of help Allen and I am glad that it appears that I have been of help to you.
 
Frank,

I just downloaded your shop-construction journal. I haven't yet had the time to do more than skim it. But since I am planning to build a small shop this summer, I'll certainly be spending some time poring over it. I have a few "shop construction" books, but none of them really tell what it's like to go through the process on a start-to-finish basis. I am looking forward to reading about your day-to-day experiences, trials and tribulations, what worked and what didn't, etc. No doubt it should provide some valuable insight.

Thank you for taking the time to compile this journal and sharing these experiences with all of us.

Cheers,

Kevin
 
Kevin, thanks for letting me know. I hope that my journal proves to be of use to you. Please fell free to contact me any time about anything you see in the journal (or don't see in the journal).
 
Folks,
I took frank up on his gracious offer and have thoroughly enjoyed the complete shop buildup. I'm yet another person who is going to be building a shop once the warmer weather hits. THe LOML and I had a long heart to heart not too long ago, and I'm going to find the money to put my very small shop up in the back yard. When I do, I'll be taking many lessons from Frank's buildup.

Frank,
I 'Think' differently than you, you're very much the engineer, whereas I'm more result oriented vs planning and process oriiented.
I drove my teachers crazy as a teenager and in college. I am much more intuitive vs logical. HOwever, knowing where my strengths and weaknesses are, I'm going to work on a much stronger budget and plan going in, seeing the benefits of that from your shop. Thanks again for sharing!

Ned
 
Folks,
I took frank up on his gracious offer and have thoroughly enjoyed the complete shop buildup. I'm yet another person who is going to be building a shop once the warmer weather hits. THe LOML and I had a long heart to heart not too long ago, and I'm going to find the money to put my very small shop up in the back yard. When I do, I'll be taking many lessons from Frank's buildup.

Frank,
I 'Think' differently than you, you're very much the engineer, whereas I'm more result oriented vs planning and process oriiented.
I drove my teachers crazy as a teenager and in college. I am much more intuitive vs logical. HOwever, knowing where my strengths and weaknesses are, I'm going to work on a much stronger budget and plan going in, seeing the benefits of that from your shop. Thanks again for sharing!

Ned
Thanks Ned, its good to know both that you liked reading the journal and that you think it will be helpful.

Intuition is great and often necessary, but I find it is best to be able to use your intuition within a well articulated overall objective and structure. When building the workshop, I had lots of opportunity to utilize my intuition to overcome the problems that I encountered along the way.
 
Thanks Ned, its good to know both that you liked reading the journal and that you think it will be helpful.

Intuition is great and often necessary, but I find it is best to be able to use your intuition within a well articulated overall objective and structure. When building the workshop, I had lots of opportunity to utilize my intuition to overcome the problems that I encountered along the way.

And I'm sure I'll use mine to the same end. I get the huge benefit of learning from your solutions, however. Yours and Marty's and everyone else who posts their shop tours.

Thanks again!
 
I was thinking back to asking you about building it in a T shape & you said it was to gain or keep garden room.

Looking back would you do it the same way again or bump it out to make it a rectangle & gain more shop room?
Bart, I really like the T shape and would build another shop with the same shape. I would like every part of the T to be alittle larger, but I would probably like any shop that I built to be a little larger. The T makes it easier to define distinct areas -in particular the relaxation area that houses to woodstove.
 
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