Tour of Frank Pellow's Woodworking Shed -November 2008

Frank Pellow

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Location
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
(part 1 of 7)

note: Most of the pictures in this tour are new, but some are the same as shown in an earlier tour.

New Tour:

I last took my internet friends on a tour of my woodworking shed in December of 2006. A lot has changed since then, so I thought that it was time for a new tour. The old tour can be found in the thread: http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1070.


Introduction:

My workshed/shop (called Shed 2) was the first major project after my retirement in early 2003 and I am relying upon it to serve as the home base for most my projects for at least the next twenty five years. I designed and built the shed almost entirely by myself, and it was very satisfying project. I hope that some of my future projects will be as rewording.

The shed fits well into my city suburban lot, leaving room for a good sized vegetable/herb garden, decks, patios, flowers, shrubs, and even some grass. The building blends into the neighborhood, and I liked the roof and colour scheme so much that, in the autumn of 2005, I re-shingled and re-painted the house to match the shingles and paint on the shed.

One constraint was that the wall close to our neighbour’s house had to be low and could have no windows. The restriction was turned into a feature by having a large roof overhand protecting storage racks on the 40 foot wall (33 foot workshop and 7 foot adjacent garden storage shed).

The interior space of the shed is 431 square feet which sounds like a lot to non-woodworking folks, but when you have to fit a lot of benches, machines, supplies, and tools into that space, it fills up quickly. The main way to combat this is to make almost everything in the place mobile. The building’s outline makes the best possible use of the limited space and, furthermore it fits our odd-shaped lot well. The shape of the shop is what I call a “squat T” having a squarish middle section with wings protruding to either side at the top.

The middle area is approximately 16 feet by 16 feet with a cathedral ceiling that peeks at 10 feet. This section, coupled with the double doors at the front, provides sufficient space for the manipulation and processing of sheet goods and lumber.

The “relaxation” alcove contains, a wood stove, some easy chairs, a chalk board, bookcase, and a fold-down table. It feels quite different than the rest of the shed and is a great place to relax. My grandchildren and I particularly like reading stories here in front of a roaring fire.

The remaining wing contains benches, parts storage bins/drawers, and hand tool storage.

The shed was designed so that two people can work together on projects. Mobility and distinct work areas are the keys to this. I want my shed to be a place where friends and relatives feel welcome and I very much enjoy working with others. As a child, I was always welcome in the worksheds/shops of my Dad, my Granddad, two of my Uncles, and one of my Aunts. Together, they instilled a love of woodworking in me that I, in turn, passed on to my two daughters, and now am starting to pass on to my grandchildren. From some of the photos of the interior, you can see that little children have already been contributing art to the walls. Several joint projects with friends, children, and grandchildren have been completed, others are underway, and more are in the planning stage.

I have had a workshed/shop or access to someone else’s forever. The first one I could call my own was a distributed shop occupying the closet, storage locker, and balcony in the apartment we rented after Margaret and I were married in 1966. Since then, we have moved many times and lived in three different countries. Each of our homes has always had some sort of woodworking facility. All these places had good aspects and bad, but the worst thing was always inadequate tools and lack of good organization. The later meant that, even when I had the right tool or part, I often could not find it. Finally, I have the woodworking shed of my dreams, with all the tools that I need (well there is always something new that I want but that is not the same as “need”) and, even better than that, everything has a home and I know where everything is!

So, with a good layout, good tools, good organization, and good friends and relatives to share it, my woodworking shed is perfect for me. May I continue to have the good health to enjoy it for many years to come!

Site Plan:

Below is the site plan of our lot as it appears in the building permit for my new shed. I subsequently got permission to expand the shed with a wing to the north-west (the top left in the diagram), but the building remains in the spot that it occupies in the original diagram.

Shed tour 00 -Site Plan.jpg

Exterior:

Here are some pictures of the exterior from different perspectives:

From the back yard gate: Shed tour 01 -Exterior view from back yard gate.JPG


From the East: Shed tour 02 -entire building from the east.JPG


From the North-East: Shed tour 03 -Exterior view from north east.JPG


From the north-west looking over our neighbour's fences: Shed tour 04 -Exterior view north west over neighbour's fences.JPG

And here are the ramps that fit over the steps to move large stuff in and out of the shed: Shed tour 05 -The ramps fit over the workshop steps.JPG

The funky art on the inside of the double doors (and throughout the shed) is courtesy of my granddaughter Isla who was 4 when she decorated the place.

Shed Layout Plan:

Layout Mar 2008.jpg
 
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(part 2 of 7)

Interior Tour:

The tour starts by entering the main door: Shed tour 07 -Entering via main main door -small.JPG

This door is about four metres away from the back door of the house and the house, deck, and shed are all at the same level. There is no running water in the shed, but both a loo and a laundry room sink are located just inside the house.

Along with each interior picture there is a map with a red dot demarking where the photo was taken and red lines showing the area covered.

Inside the main door looking straight ahead: Shed tour 08 -At the main door looking straight forward.JPG Shed tour 08 -a map.JPG

I built these benches many many years ago out of spruce and plywood, one of them (the closest one) moved to Seattle and back. They (and their sibling in the basement) are still serving me well. I am forever making modifications to the benches such as adding drawers and drilling ¾ inch holes for hold downs. They take it all in stride.

Behind the back bench is the start of a 24 foot by 2 foot run of pegboard. I was not a big fan of pegboard and was not planning to put much into the shed, and then part way through the construction, I discovered Talon hooks that can be installed and removed quickly but which stay in place when in use. My plans changed quickly. Here I a photo showing a 16 foot long section of the pegboard: Shed tour 08 -x -Lots of pegboard.JPG

Inside the main door looking back into the hardware storage corner: Shed tour 09 -Inside the main door looking back into the hadrware storage corner.JPG Shed tour 09 -a map.JPG

Colourful isn’t it!

There are about 100 removable plastic bins that hook to plastic supports screwed into the wall.

The unit with 15 wooden drawers just below the plastic bins is the sole item that I inherited from my Dad’s hardware store. My Dad made all these drawers and there were at least 300 of them of this size in the store plus maybe another 200 of larger sizes. I can remember serving customers out of them when I was about 10 years old. All 500 drawers were orange then.

The red drawers at the bottom and on the right side of the work bench are the ubiquitous Veritas metal tool trays made and sold by Lee Valley.
Above the door are some wood storage racks currently filled with rough sawn cherry.

The Southern Wing: Shed tour 10 -Southern wing.JPG Shed tour 10 -a map.JPG

One thing to note here, are the two 20 amp cords hanging down from the ceiling, one 240 volt and one 120 volt. Four more such receptacles dangle in other parts of the shed and installing these was one of best things I did when building the ship; because of these, there are seldom cords running along the floor, getting in the way and tripping folks.

My home-made woodworking bench is in the foreground. Here are a couple of pictures of the bench alone:

Shed tour 10 x -Bench view 1.JPG Shed tour 10 x -Bench view 2.JPG

Like almost everything else in the workshed, the bench is mobile.
 
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(part 3 of 7)

The Eastern Jut:

South Portion: Shed tour 11 -South part of eastern jut.JPG Shed tour 11 -a map.jpg

North Portion: Shed tour 12 -North part of eastern jut.JPG Shed tour 12 -a map.jpg

This is the area that houses most (that is, four out of five) of the large woodworking machines in the shed. It has the most natural light and the most overhead space. Of course, all the machines are on mobile bases.


Two more views of the Eastern Jut:

The South Wall: Shed tour 13 -South wall of eastern jut.JPG Shed tour 13 -a map.jpg

The North Wall: Shed tour 14 -North wall of eastern jut.JPG Shed tour 14 -a map.jpg

The space on the south wall above the propane space heater, which can’t be used for anything wooden, is a great place for clamps. Notice the metal mesh extending up at a 45 degree angle from the edge of the space heater –that’s to prevent me from leaving anything burnable on the top (as I did with a plastic dustpan three years ago). On the north wall, a shelf high up above the window is used to store Baltic birch plywood remnants.
 
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(part 4 of 7)

East Side taken from up high: (standing on the bench at the south end) Shed tour 15 -East side showing most of the machines in the shop.JPG Shed tour 15 -a map.jpg

One thing that can sort of be seen here is just how high the drill press is on the home made mobile base. The base adds 6” to the height and I don’t like that. I am thinking of a base design that only adds a couple of inches and might get around to trying it soon.

The General International roller stand that is just in front of the drill press is very handy and can quickly be converted for use with the table saw, the band saw, the jointer, the planer, and the Festool Multi-Function Table (MFT).

On the left side of the photo, observe the MFT. If necessary, this table can be folded and put away or taken to an off-site job. Underneath the MFT is a mobile shop cart that is used in many ways. One of these ways is as a base to support the Ridgid oscillating sander as in the picture to the left below:

Shed tour 15 x -Ridgid Sander on cart.JPG Shed tour 15 x -Cart as work table.JPG

Another use is simply as a work table as in the picture to the right above.

Two other tools that are commonly supported on the cart are my router table and my small band saw. As with the oscillating sander, these are both mounted on bases which fit into the indentation on the top of the mobile cart.

Shed tour 15 x -Router on cart.JPG Shed tour 15 x -Bandsaw on cart.JPG

West Side taken from up high: (standing on the bench at the south end) Shed tour 16 -West side.JPG Shed tour 16 -a map.jpg

From here you can see the other major machine, a planer near the wall.
And, last but not least the systainers for a few of my Festool tools can be seen.

Beyond the systainers is a portion of the “Relaxation Alcove”.

Astute folks will have noticed that there is no wood lathe. A wood lathe might happen some day, but I expect that day is a long way off.
 
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(part 5 of 7)

Looking into the Dust Controller Closet: Shed tour 17 -Looking into the Dust Controller Closet -small.JPG Shed tour 17 -a map.jpg

The closet is insulated to cut down on the noise and it is well ventilated.
As you can see, I have some other stuff crammed into the closet as well.


North End of the East Wall: Shed tour 18 -North End of East Wall.JPG Shed tour 18 -a map.jpg

We see some more pegboard, some shelves for Festool systainers (some of them in two mobile “sysports”), a handy set of shelves, a Bosch Power Box, and fold down table.


North Wall of the Relaxation Alcove: Shed tour 19 North Wall.JPG Shed tour 19 -a map.jpg

As well as an extension of the house alarm system into the shed, the shed windows of are protected by bars. The table can be folded up in order to provide more floor space: Shed tour 19 x -Table folded up.JPG
 
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(part 6 of 7)

Woodstove Corner: Shed tour 20 -Woodstove Corner.JPG Shed tour 20 -a map.jpg

To the right of the stove is a floor to 10 foot ceiling bookcase. There is a collage made from Lee Valley catalogue covers on the wall behind the stove (far enough away to be safe). The picture below shows the entire bookcase:
Shed tour 20 x -Stove and bookcase.JPG


Looking South from the Relaxation Alcove: Shed tour 21 -Looking South from the Relaxation Alcove.JPG Shed tour 21 -a map.jpg

Notice the chalkboard that is painted on the side of the sheet goods storage rack. I do most of my rough plans on this board. Standing in front of the chalkboard is my Excalibur Scroll Saw. I don’t use this as much as I would like (and really do plan to do in the future) to and, most of the time, the only notice that I take of the saw is to move it out of the way.


Planning to Accommodate Change:

Knowing me, there will always be some changes that I want to make to the shed. To this end:

• There are five two metre loops of #10 wire buried behind plate in the wall (pointed to by the red arrow in the photo below). This will allow me to locate a 240 volt receptacle almost anywhere in the shed.
Shed tour 22  -Buried wire (1 of 5 places) -small.JPG

• There is an unused wye to allow for possible future extension of the dust control duct work: Shed tour 23 -Unused wye to allow for possible future extension of duct work -small.JPG

Also, it would not be hard to move any of the existing duct work.

• Almost everything big is mobile.
 
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(part 7 of 7)

Exterior Storage:

Helping me to keep the shed as uncluttered as possible, there are several places outside the shed where I can store wood and other stuff.

• Racks on the 40 foot long back wall: Shed tour 24 -Cedar stored on the back wall of the shop -small.JPG


• Lumber storage rack in garage: Shed tour 25 -Lumber Storage Rack in garage -small.JPG

This can take boards up to 12 feet in length and is accessible from either end.


• Baltic Birch plywood storage rack in garage: Shed tour 26 -Baltic Birch Playwood Storage Rack in garage.JPG

Also, above the rack, some cherry is currently stopred.


• The garage is now the place that I make most of the initial cuts on sheet goods. I use a pair of knock down saw horses, foam glued to a 4x8 sheet of plywood, Festool guide rails, and a Festool TS75 plunge circular saw.
Shed tour 29 -Cutting sheet goods in garage.jpg


• Garden Shed: Shed tour 27 -The attached garden tool shed -small.JPG

There is some space in here for large packages of fasteners.


• Shed #5: Shed tour 28 -Shed #5.jpg

The main purpose of this shed is to hold firewood but I find that I am also storing, tools, wood, and some work-to-do in it.


• And there is always the old shop space in the basement, but I am slowly moving stuff out of there to other locations. There is still one bench down there and the bulk of my painting supplies are still in there. I’m not going to take a photo of the place.



_____________________________ End of Tour :wave:

Added on Dec 19: If you would like to read about the planning, construction and use of my shop, a PDF file is available for free download.
I have just "published" Issue 3 of the "Story of a Woodworking Shed/Shop" journal.

It is about 35MB in size and contains 260 photo-filled pages.

Here are the preambles to the 3 issues of the journal:

Preamble to Issue 1: (Issue 1 was dated 28 May 2005 and was entitled "Planning, Building, and Equipping Frank Pellow’s Workshop") This document contains a condensed version of my notes about the planning, construction, population, and initial use of my new workshop. The notes cover a period of approximately two years. As you will see, the notes make extensive use of photographs. While building the shop, I filed regular reports and asked many questions on Internet woodworker‟s forums. In the past, almost all my construction projects have been undertaken with one or more other people. That has many benefits and, for me, the greatest benefit, is to be able to discuss design alternatives both initially and as unanticipated problems and opportunities arise. This time, I started out alone but, as soon as I utilized the Internet, many folks came to my assistance. Throughout this document, I will shade text that references the Internet forums in green. Unless specified otherwise, the prices in this document are in Canadian dollars. The conversion rate between the Canadian and US dollars has varied a lot during the period covered by this document. The average rate was such that $1.00 Canadian cost about $0.80 US. You will also observe that I mostly use metric temperatures and distances because that is the norm in Canada and my decided preference. However, the building trades in Canada have been dragging their feet when it comes to conversion to Metric :( :huh: , so most of the building dimensions use Imperial measurements.

Preamble to Issue 2: (Issue 2.1 was dated 27 December, 2006) I am updating this journal to reflect some changes to the shop in the year and a half since I released Issue 1. Also an index of sorts has been added, there has been some reorganization, some new material has been added, the title has been changed, and several typos have been fixed (and, no doubt, new ones introduced).

Preamble to Issue 3: I am updating this journal to show changes to the shop in the last two years. Also, the description of a few projects from earlier issues have been removed and have been replaced by the description of more recent projects. The size of document has increased from 188 pages to 260 pages.


Stuart Ablett has agreed to let people download a PDF version of my journal from his web site.

To do this: simply

(1) connect to: http://www.ablett.jp/frank/

(2) open the document: The Story of a Woodworking Shed 3.0 Public Version.pdf

(3) select the “diskette” icon in the top left of the Adobe Acrobat tool bar in order to save the file to your computer

If you download this file, I would appreciate you sending me a note to tell me that you have done so (fpellow AT sympatico.ca) and, of course, I would also like to receive any feedback that you might have about the document.
 
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Wow - thanks for the tour, Frank! It was a nice touch to show the "perspective diagram" for each shot. The "Relaxation Alcove" seems like a bit of heaven on earth. :)

Can I request a close-up shot of your drill press table? :rolleyes: Forgive me if you've already posted one elsewhere.

Also, can you provide any construction details for the "indentation"" in the top of the mobile cart?
 
Once again, you've outdone yourself with the tour, Frank. Nicely done. :clap: Looks like a great place to spend a lot of time, both working and relaxing. :thumb:

I gotta ask, though...how do you insult a closet?

Frank said:
The closet is insulted to cut down on the noise and it is well ventilated.

Sorry, I usually let Internet typos just slide on by, but this one I just couldn't resist. :p All but for want of an "A", eh? :D
 
Wow - thanks for the tour, Frank! It was a nice touch to show the "perspective diagram" for each shot. The "Relaxation Alcove" seems like a bit of heaven on earth. :)

Can I request a close-up shot of your drill press table? :rolleyes: Forgive me if you've already posted one elsewhere.

Also, can you provide any construction details for the "indentation"" in the top of the mobile cart?
Thanks Kerry. I am quite proud of the perspective diagrams. I haven't seen that done in any other tours.

As to the indentation, the top of the cart consists of two layers of 3/4 inch MDF and 1 layer of 1/4 inch MDF. Before glueing and screwing them together, I cut a square out of the middle of top MDF layer and the hardboard layer. I cover the construction of the cart in the thread: http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1769

The drill press table is simply one that I purchased from Rockler (see: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10163)
 
Once again, you've outdone yourself with the tour, Frank. Nicely done. :clap: Looks like a great place to spend a lot of time, both working and relaxing. :thumb:

I gotta ask, though...how do you insult a closet?



Sorry, I usually let Internet typos just slide on by, but this one I just couldn't resist. :p All but for want of an "A", eh? :D
Thanks Vaughn. I guess you could insult a closet by never opening the door. I am tempted to leave the spelling mistake, but I guess that I will fix it.
 
Thanks for the excellent shop tour Frank. Wow you have set a standard here on how to present ones shop.

I like the idea of the exterior shed doors for the garden work goodies. I will copy the idea of having storage shelves/containers on the doors.
 
Hi Frank
Thanks for the great tour.
I like your bench. I remember the chronicle of its construction on the CWW forum, but don't think I ever saw the finished job.

All the best
Peter
 
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Unless i missed it, Frank left something out of his tour..... ;)

He once created a thread on one particular tool that I didn't see in this thread.


joe
 
Frank,

Great tour....

It's nice to see how the "shed" has aged and becoming a very nice working shop.

You LV drawers reminded me I should look at them again...

I really need some drawer space and this is a quick and nice solution.

The stuff from you Dad's store is really special.
 
Thanks for the tour Frank, great pictures to.

What program did you use to do the shop layout?
Thanks Aaron.

When I was building the workshed, I got some very old (1995) but free software that allowed me to put together a diagram. I then to augmented the program's result by touching things up in Microsoft Paint. Ever since then, I have made updates to the diagram using Microsoft Paint.

I searched briefly to try to find the name and source of the original software, but did not locate it. I will make another attempt to do so later.
 
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