Shop - reinvented and downsized

Carol Reed

In Memoriam
Messages
5,533
Location
Coolidge, AZ
OK, in the spirit of no pictures, no proof, I offer my re-invented shop.

Once upon a time I lived in Southern California and had a large two-story shop equipped for production jig making, custom furniture building, and teaching. In 2001 I was in a car wreck and my life changed radically. My back is a mess, but I can walk again - no far, not fast, but on my own. That is a good thing!

The bad thing was that I could no longer do what I was doing, and mostly likely would never be able to return to my business. During this recovery time I wrote a book called, "Router Joinery Workshop." Published by Lark Books an distributed worldwide by Sterling Publishing out of New York City. Gloat over.

In 2004, I cleaned out my shop, sold a bunch of stuff, sold my house and moved to the mountains of Arizona. I bought a cute little house on less than a half acre - no shop, no garage, just a house. I had purchased a 20' cargo trailer to assist in the move.

In the first summer, my brother helped me build what now houses my tools and provides space to work.

It is in three parts - a 10' x 12' shed with an attic, a two-car carport, and my cargo trailer.

Part 1 - the little shed

shed.jpg

It has a gambrel roof built on pony walls to create some attic space. It has side light windows from a used/surplus place installed horizontally. They provide daylight and make it harder to break in through a window and pass stuff out. I hope!

shed side view.jpg

It also has a basement! The shed is built on a three sided block wall foundation, open in the back. I built hangers to store long wood. Its Arizona. No problem with moisture!

shed basement.jpg

Inside we have access to the attic...

attic stairs.jpg

...and lots of drawers.

Lots of drawers.jpg

There is a lot of stuff crammed into this little shed. It is not meant to work in, just to store things. And there is more stuff than these somewhat older pictures reveal.
 
Shop - reinvented and downsized - Part 2

Separating the little shed from the trailer is a two-car carport.

Carport.jpg

The best part is the electric winch in the ceiling that I use to lift sheet goods, or any other things to preserve my fragile back. My philosophy is any tool less expensive than a trip to the ER or months of therapy fits in the woodworking budget. :D :thumb:

Winch in carport roof.jpg

All I have to do is slide the sheet stock on the panel trolley, roll it under the winch, tighten a band clamp around the sheet, and insert the hook.

Handling plywood.jpg

Then lift push the button to lift the sheet, rotate it, and lower unto the cutting rack.

Ply ready to cut.jpg

Howzat for the cool factor? :D
 
Shop - reinvented and downsized - Part 3

The trailer houses all the stationary tools.

1 trailer.jpg

It has a drop down back door ramp. My table saw its right next to the back door so I can use the great doors as my outfeed area.

2 Inside the trailer.jpg

The saw is a Grizzly 1023 with the sliding table. With the slider on there is precious little space to squeeze - a motivation for me to keep my girlish figure, you understand. :rofl:

Under the out feed is some storage and the air hoses.

3 Air hose under the table saw outfeed table.jpg

To the left you can see the sliding table upside down in its storage area. It is a 2 minute operation to put it on the saw, all aligned and ready to use.

4 Under the table saw outfeed table.jpg

Above the sliding table storage is the electrical "entrance" for the trailer. The saw is 240V and has its own #10 cord that plugs into an outlet on the house just for it. That is the black cord you see. The yellow cord plugs into another outlet providing two 120V circuits, one for lights, and the other for outlets. There is an outlet every 4 feet in the trailer 4 feet above the floor. This cord plugs into a special outlet in the carport.

5 Electrical entrance.jpg

My air compressor lives under the right side of the table saw.

6 Air compressor.jpg

Saw blade storage and some clamps are above the right side of the table saw.

7 Clamps & blades.jpg

Next to that is storage for tablesaw accessories.

8 Table Saw accessories.jpg

Moving further into the trailer, we come to the chop saw, an original Hitachi. Later this year it will be for sale as I now have a Makita 10". :thumb:

9 Chop Saw station.jpg

The left wing of the chop saw rests on the table saw. Usually that is no problem, but when I need to set the saw further away from the blade than 18", I need to remove it. One screw. One minute. To replace it takes the same screw and two minutes. Have to find the darn screw, as I always put it someplace where it won't get lost. :dunno:

10 Chop Saw left wing over table saw.jpg

More coming... :type:
 
Shop - reinvented and downsized - Part 4

Welcome back. We continue. :type:

I made a waste catcher for the band saw. There is a half circle of plywood wrapped with aluminum flashing and a "drain" hole in the center.

11 Chop saw dust catcher.jpg

There is a toilet bowl flange screwed to the bottom of the "drain" hole with a garbage bag clamped to it. I simply sweep the catchings and off cuts into the drain and into the bag. This assembly cantilevers over the fender well of the trailer, so that is not wasted space. Can't afford any wasted space in here!

12 Chop saw back.jpg

The chop saw is bolted to the top of a HF tool box. I put new locking wheels on the tool box. It gives some drawer space, and I can move it if necessary. So far I had to do that once, to get it at an angle to handle some extra long stock. It was a pain, but relatively easy to restore to its home.

13 Chop saw tool box stand.jpg

The shop vac is under the left wing...

14 Shop Vac under left wing of the chop saw.jpg

...and the DeWalt planer is under the right wing. This is on its own wheeled cart. It has to come out to be used. For long lumber I wheel it out of hte trailer into the carport to use it.

15 DeWalt planer.jpg

Next to the planer and still under the right wing is my shopmade disk sander. This has since been removed and is being integrated into a new sharpening station, since the disk doubles as a sharpening surface.

16 Disk sander.jpg

The drill press, a Grizzly radial floor model, is bolted to the floor. Those things are top heavy! :eek: So far the location has not been a problem, but I have had to get creative to get some pieces under the quill! :rofl:

17 Drill Press.jpg

I have another tool box against the front wall of the trailer. It houses some of the drilling accessories. I thought that box would be big enough, but it seems I have gathered more things than I can store! Above it I have all my aluminum bar clamps. Love'em! :thumb:

18 front trailer wall.jpg

I have a Grizzly spindle sander in the other corner. It too is on wheels, but I have only had to jiggle it out once to use it. Another machine I can't live without. You will notice that there is also clamp storage behind it. There was also clamp storage around the drill press area that may not have been real visible in those pictures.

19 Spindle sander.jpg

Well, that brings us to the side entrance of the trailer, but we'll need yet another post for more pictures.
 
Shop - reinvented and downsized - Part 5

This is the final post on my re-invented shop. :type:

Next to the side door of the trailer is my Powermatic band saw and Skil scroll saw.

20 Band saw.jpg

And then there is the clamp wall.

21 Clamps.jpg

and... :rolleyes:

23 And yet more clamps.jpg

...and. :p :thumb:

24 More clamps.jpg

As you can see, the fire extinguishers are right by the door. There is another set next to the side door as well. I hope I never need them!

No, there is no dust collection in this set up. I use a dust mask or hold my breath, depending on the operation at hand. :rofl:

I spend more time in the carport, just dashing in the trailer for a quick machine operation or into the little shed for a tool. I do move a bench or a table into the carport for a working surface. I have learned the value of good wheels! :)

Now this is most certainly "good weather" woodworking. But it will have to do for now.

So from a large two story production shop to a small, multiple site, reasonably functional hobby shop. I no longer can do production woodworking, but I can still play. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I am currently studying to become a pastor and am doing my intern year in Nebraska. I get to go home the end of July 2008. I had built a 10' x 16' storage shed with skids, now setting on deck blocks. Some day it will be moved behind the little shed and elevated to the same horizontal plane. A five foot boardwalk will connect them. (If you noticed from the basement photo, a tall Ponderosa pine shades the sheds.)

I will cut a door in the rear of the little shed to gain access to the boardwalk into the new shed.

The stationary tools will go live in that shed. Air compressor and dust collection will go under the building, as the far end will be about four feet off
the ground.

Storage shed.jpg

The trailer? Well, I had thought about selling it, but then the turning bug bit me. It will become my turning studio - for the Jet mini lathe. When I get the big boy, wait!, the big GIRL lathe, I'll have to figure something else out.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. :wave:
 
Looks like you've been busy, Carol. It may be smaller, but it sure looks workable. I like that part of Arizona, too. I spent a couple summers working in the White Mountains, and hope to get back there someday.

As you likely noticed, I merged the separate threads into a single one as we discussed. Took a bit of experimenting to get it right, but I think everything survived the ride OK. ;)
 
boy carol if you got your purse that organszed your a miracle worker,, you used every nook and cranny and then told some of them to move over for one more thing.. great use of space..:thumb::thumb:
 
hey Carol,
one very cool shop, I toyed with the idea of converting an RV into a shop last year, but the 'free' RV I was going to gut didn't pan out, so things stayed in storage. Then there was the Panel truck I was looking at... but too much money for too old a truck. Your solutions are terrific! Do you have the trailer with you currently or are you 'between shops' at the moment?
 
"Between shops" I guess.

I do have my mini lathe with me. And a few hand tools. Not much. But also little or no time. :(

And right now it's all buried in "stuff" as I sort out what goes back to Arizona, and what stays here for a while (vacation beginning next Wednesday!). and what goes back to school in September with me.

I'll be home a couple of weeks in August. Have to wield a paint brush and rake pine needles. Maybe get a chance to put a couple of pieces of wood together.
I hope! ;)
 
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