Garage, er, Shop of Solitude

Dan Gonzales

Member
Messages
511
Location
Whittier, CA, USA
Superman has his fortress I have my garage, uhm, Shop of Solitude. It's a basic 18'x20' (interior) two car garage, 'doh, shop with a 16' door and doorway. There's a 12' wide breezeway between it and the house so most noise doesn't make it to the house. We don't have an attic or basement so household storage takes up a lot of space. I took these pictures as I am 3/4 through a reorganization in here. The only "new" stationary tool I have is my table saw. Everything else is used and often traded for. My woodwork is mostly home carpentry and cabinets. I also weld and take care of electronic projects and some computer servicing in here.

My table saw is a Dewalt DW746 hybrid. It has worked very well for me but I have made some mods to it. I boxed and sealed the cabinet with canned foam and silicone then built a plenum at the bottom to direct dust extraction through a 4" line. Fabricated and installed a .120" splitter. Built an extension table with a drop in router plate and a fence from a salvaged Rockler router table I bought on Craigslist. You can see my primary bench directly behind the table saw and two more storage/project benches in the storage rack at the back. The chopsaw is stored under the table saw wing and way in the back you can see the mortise machine on the right bench.

garage01.jpg

Looking back the other way at the big door and walk through door you can see going around the table saw the dust collector, 15" planer with the Ridgid sander on top, 8" jointer, band saw, drill press. Directly above the table saw I have an upside down "coat tree" that I hang my dust mask, face mask and hearing protection. Having them easily accessible means I use them all the time and can put them back in place just as quickly. The bench is 3'x4' with a welded steel base made from 5" welded angle iron. You can see the lathe on its storage shelf underneath the bench. I slide it out and bolt it to the bench when I need it. The vise is old with no markings, it doesn't have a rear jaw just uses the bench face. I turned a maple handle with purpleheart caps for it.

garage02.jpg

This is my entertainment shelf with my garage sale TV and stereo, the speakers are in the rafters in carpet boxes I salvaged from my old bronco. I almost always have my MP3 player plugged into it. Tucked in next to the overhead fluorescent lights I have a dozen or so fishing rods in holders safely out of the way. You can see one of the kid's reel hanging down.

garage03.jpg

This is the wheeled shelves for air/corded/cordless tools and the compressor.

garage04.jpg

I keep all my hand tools in drawers. These are for woodworking, carpentry, mechanic and electronics. They wheel out easily when I need to get to the shelves behind them. My problem is I have a terrible habit of throwing stuff on top of them. I drive myself nuts doing that.

garage05.jpg

Here is another view of the stationary tools. Everything except the bench and drill press is on wheels. When I need more space to run long boards I just open up the big door. The dust collector has one of the Rockler super hoses that can snake to any tool. This is the corner I am going to dive into next, grrrr.

garage06.jpg

The Rockwell band saw (70's) and Buffalo drill press (40's). I cut, molded and blocked up a 4" y fitting to handle dust collection on the band saw because it didn't have any dust collector ports. I am on the lookout for a heavier drill press because I often need to do some light milling. You can see the most often used clamps, hammers and saws hanging on the wall. At the lower left corner is the shop vac and a little wire feed welder at the base of the drill press.

garage08.jpg

Here are the some of the long clamps and my Specialized road bike.

garage10.jpg

Is this the shop I really want? Nope, but it's what I have. As far as the space goes I would like to have the whole space for shop use only, 10' ceilings, painted plywood walls/ceilings and more power. That's all for later.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour.

Cheers,
 
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looks like home to me dan:thumb::thumb: and you even have a dj20 hiddun under the stuff in the back:) didnt want anyone to see that did you ,,nevr mentioned that jem:) like your shop art or is that just patchun holes to keep the heat in:) posters old road signs and licences plates:):rofl::rofl:
 
Very nice shop Dan, you got your organizing down pat by the looks of it. I understand what you say about packing stuff on top of drawers, i have that habit myself. I beginning to think pegboard and out in the open on the wall is the way to go. Kinda like the way they had it at school. :D

Thanks for sharing your hide out.:thumb:
 
Looks like my kind of shop...looks like I would know where everything is and feel right at home there. :thumb:

Can we see some pics of your homemade splitter?

I need to make one for my saw too some day. Might be the right time to get one done.
 
Great use of space Dan. Thanks for the tour. You've got a lot going on in there and I notice some items are mobile which I'm sure helps better utilize the space. I have heard that some twisted individuals actually park cars in their shop . . . that's just crazy.
 
@Larry - yep a DJ20. I bought it used with surface rust on the top, a broken switch and some beat-up blades. Cleaned up very nicely and wow does it run smoothly.

@Darren - I posted about the splitter here: http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13604&highlight=DW746

I didn't specify mention that the planer is a 70's Jet 15" model in the original grey/silver color. The infeed and outfeed rollers were long gone so I found some cast iron Powermatic wings that I managed to bolt on.

Cheers,
 
Reminds me of the 10 x 14 metal building I used to call a shop. Your equpment is packed similar to how mine was but I also new where everything was like you do.:thumb::wave:
 
It may be 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound box (a pretty common condition, for sure), but it looks like a fun place to get things done. Thanks for the tour, Dan. :thumb:
 
Dan---With that wonderful wife and children you have, how do you find time for the shop?

I REALLY enjoyed your family when you came down to visit. You are one lucky guy.

I'm lucky the same way---wonderful wife---I'm not to sure about the children though. (Just kidding Glenn)

Enjoy,

Jim
 
Thanks for the kind words guys.

Yes Jim I am a lucky man, I give thanks every day. It sure seems there are quite a few lucky people here at Family Woodworking when it comes to family.

Cheers,
 
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