Shop Tour Tonight - Feel free to post yours as well.

[Mike Heidrick]

I am hosting a shop tour tonight (one of two tours tonight for our WW club and friends). I have been cleaning up and rearranging the shop over the last month. My goal was 8' in and out for the tablesaw, jointer, planer, and bandsaw.

I am also hosting (and attending) a handcut dovetail class in the next couple weeks so I wanted to clean my back bench off and put on a new top (I am all about the sacrificial bench tops). While I was at it I moved my router table top to a kreg stand, and built a miter saw table for my Hitachi slider with eth Kreg Top Track. Here are all my results.

Feel free to post your shop tours as well if you have some to share!!

[Larry Fox]

Very impressive Mike - nice space and very well laid out. I like how some of the machines tuck under the lumber racking. One thing that I don't see which I found surprising is a Festool vac. I see a fair amount of the green in the pics - does your vac have a permanent home / hiding spot somewhere? Interested as I am looking for an out of the way home for mine.

Pretty sweet panel clamping system there.

In the first pic, how often do you find yourself needing to get to the stuff in the clear drawers in the units above the bench? How do you get to it? I have a similar setup in my shop with some cabinets above the bench for stuff that I don't use much. I typically just jump up on the bench to get to them but fell off last weekend and got pretty banged up which has caused me to re-think that.

Appreciate the look at your shop.

[Bernie May]

Very nice shop. Makes me a little envious. What are the dimensions of the shop?
-bernie

[Greg Narozniak]

Very nice layout. I only wish I was that organized.

I am working on a video shop tour I hope to have up soon.

[David G Baker]

Great shop. Makes me a lot envious. I have plenty of room and plenty of tools but lack the knack of putting things in places that they are easily accessible. My shops are in a constant state of flux. I should post a tour of my shop and maybe it would embarrass me so much I would clean it up and arrange things in a usable manner.
Thanks for the tour.

[Don Bullock]

Mike, you need more clamps!!!

Seriously, I think you have a great looking shop. I'm hoping that my new shop will looki something like that in a few years. Thanks for the inspiration.

[BOB OLINGER]

Mike,

Thanks for all the pictures. You are well equipped. Also, it is dustless - does your dust collector do that good of a job? FYI, I'm researching various dust collectors to install in my shop - haven't had one in over 30 ys., but I'm looking forward to the improvement that so many rave about. Thanks, again.

[Tom Godley]

Mike do you wake up in the middle of the night dreaming of clamps?

Nice shop!

[Ken Higginbotham]

I think I'll save one of those as my screen saver -

Now do you just tinker around on hobby stuff or is this a money making operation?

[keith ouellette]

Great shop. Is that your (former) garage? You look very organized. Tell the truth. Is it always like that or did you clean up a lot for the picture?

I wish my shop was presentable enough for picks. I'm working on it.

Very envious of you r shop.

[Darius Ferlas]

I hate you

I also hate a buddy of mine who has his own gas well and 75 degrees in his 4 car garage in the middle of cold Canadian Winters..

[Gary McKown]

1. Lots of Acro plastic drawer cabinets
2. Lumber stacked everywhere possible
3. Bazillions of clamps

No resemblance otherwise. Great job!

[Mike Heidrick]

The shop is 24X36 detached and gas heated (no gas well!! That would be awesome!)

I am typing from a cube so it is still a hobby. I mentor with a cabinet maker who makes cabinets at night and on weekends. I have a LOT to learn from him before I have a business. I like the occassional paying job though!!

I just put the bins up there. I will see exactly WHAT I NEED from them now. Then I can phase some out maybe.

I planned my lumber racks based on the height of my machines.

I did clean up a lot - Complete reorganization and tool move actually. Took a couple weeks off and on.

Bench before as proof:

[Scott Wigginton]

Question on the lumber racks. Are those the Galvanized Heavy-Duty Shelves sold at Lee Valley? (looks like the 20" bracket)

What're you using as a shelf on which the lumber rests? The one above your miter saw looks like melamine but it doesn't look nearly as loaded as the other racks (I'm worried about sag across the 32" spacing)

Thanks

-Scott

[Mike Heidrick]

Yes, the same Heavy Duty standards and brackets. They sell them at Menards. Fast T Mount series - John Sterling is who makes them.

On one shelf I have a hollow core door, another a countertop, on two plywood, and on the two above the mitersaw I have melamine. No sag at all on any. I will keep an eye on it though

The shop building is detached. The three car attached has the cars and boat in it - boat and tractor are trading places very soon and boat will be stored outdoors!