Spring Shop Improvement Projects?

[Dan Forman]

What doesn't need to be done?

I'm setting up a shop in my basement. Need to get most of what is down there now (storage) out in order to make room. Considering painting the walls. One of the previous owners made a feeble attempt at finishing the basement, so there is some brown paneling which does to light what a dust collector does to sawdust. Eventually I should also treat the floor, which is grey in various states of wear at this point.

Wiring is partially done, adding a sub panel to handle 4 dedicated 220 circuits, and probably some 110 as well. Will need to add some lighting eventually, probably rely on movable for now, until I'm sure of what will end up where. An electrician friend of a friend is going to do the the complicated stuff, with the friend and I doing the grunt work of stringing the wires and connecting the outlets.

After adding a cyclone system (hopefully ordering this week), I will have my major power tool acquisitions taken care of. Monday will take delivery of the jointer/planer. Then need to figure out where everything should go to make for the best work flow, so that the dust collector ducting can be designed and installed.

When that is all done, I can start work on a table saw outfeed table, workbench, router table, wood storage, and other shop fixtures and jigs. With that experience under my belt, I will feel prepared to start working on some non shop related projects and eventually building some furniture. So it looks like I should be able to stay out of trouble for a while, unless, like some here, I develop an addiction to handplanes and such.

So other than that, not much on the agenda for shop improvements.

Dan

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I have ordered the 7' rails for my 1023s...sold the slider and will be moving the router table into the extension table of the new rails. Then I have room for more tools! Plan is to get the DC and compressor outside in their own little room this spring. Then drop three new 220's and 8 new 110's in the shop. Then I can put away all these extension cords.

Last step this spring is to remove the middle 3 ceiling joists, remove all the sh*trock in the shop and floor the attic lofts. Two more whirlybirds and maybe a skylight.

It's gonna be a busy spring!!

[Brad Hammond]

my spring shop improvment is building a house in front of the shop.. lol

i'll take some pics tomorrow for a small gloat. we're raisin walls... yee haw!
cya
brad

[Richard Danckaert]

I just recently built a new house.With the old place I had a 16'x40' dedicated shop and a 32x56 barn where I stored my collection of wood.With the new place the wood is stored in the garage as well as my stationary tools.I have a room started in my basement(11'x17')for handtool/assembly/finishing use.I just completed a clamp rack and started on some cabinets using the leftover plywood and oak from my kitchen project that seems to be taking forever.Most of my shop stuff are in carboard boxes so it takes a while to find what I need.Next on the list is an assembly table.Don't know when I'll start due to the weather getting nice out and 48000 sq. ft. of grass seed to plant.This is on top of a 65 hour work week.LIFE IS GOOD!!!

Here are a few pics:

[Bob Noles]

Well Jim,


I guess I will have to use the reverse gear here as I spent all last fall and winter renovating an old firehouse block building on my property built at the turn of the century and converting it to a hobby woodworking shop.

I had all new wiring and circuit box installed with quad outlets every 2 feet, insulated the ceiling, painted the block walls inside and out, new lighting etc. From the outside it looks like an old country store including the checkerboard sitting on top of an old barrel and antique signs plastered all over the front. Still thinking of adding a repo gas pump to really enhance the look. I have been busy acquiring woodworking tools and learning as much as possible from this forum as well as other places. I constructed a five hundred pound multipurpose work bench with vices and I am in the process of building a router table at this time. After that I hope to just relax and learn to make sawdust out there

I am just renewing this hobby after putting it down 20 years ago and I am excited to see what creativity is still left in these old bones. My interest leans heavily in router use, but I have about every tool out there anyone could ask for to make this hobby exciting and fruitful.

Excellnt thread, Jim.

Cheers

[Jim Becker]

I guess I will have to use the reverse gear here as I spent all last fall and winter renovating an old firehouse block building on my property built at the turn of the century and converting it to a hobby woodworking shop.

Ya, know Bob...you really need to do a thread on that conversion for the boys and girls to see! It sounds fascinating!

[John Lucas]

I am turning my small office into an office/video editing suite. Finally got the new video side computer ($8000) together and almost working right so now to build a nice desk system.
For the shop, building a 2nd DVD shooting area. Then in spare time keep the website going and make three Frank Lloyd Wright style barrel chairs. One in poplar just to set the seat, back and arm chair measurements that one in cherry with resawn and laminated curved pieces and the other using veneer, bending ply and vacuum press. Just curious as to better way.

[Maurice Ungaro]

HOPEFULLY..........I'll be painting the floor of my shop today. I'm planning on moving my tools in this week (have a weightlifter for a friend who has access to a large truck and a huge trailer!!), but the rain is supposed to be here for Tues., Wed & Thurs. Looks like Friday afternoon is the ticket.

My tool/machine/craftsman guru brother is visiting for a week, and arrives on Monday night. I want so bad to be able to show off the shop space !

[Dave Brandt]

Looks like I'm going in the wrong direction! I spent yesterday yanking the cabinets (from kitcken remodel 15 years ago) out of my "shop" in the basement. Also, removed all of the flex hose that was strung about to service the stationary tools. Still have an awful lot of work ahead, but it's gotta get done before we can put the house on the market. What the heck am I gonna do with all my wood, cut-offs, and stuff!?! Just don't want to move any of it. Probably have several more trips to the dump in store.

[Bart Leetch]

Hello Jim & All my Sawmill friends.

I started a small shop project yesterday I moved my lathe all 420 LBS of it from the long 24' wall around the corner to the 13' wall. On the 24' wall it had a cabinet over it. Now it will have better head room & light. I moved the 14" band-saw into the area between the cabinet & ari compressor the vacant wall next to the band-saw will have a shelf built on it for my grinders & key cutting machine, my shop vac will go underneath the shelf.

[Bob Yarbrough]

Dust collector. And maybe a level floor.

[Andy Haney]

As I still work in the garage SWMBO thinks is for her car, I need to make some room for more efficient operations. I'm in the midst of reconstructing a shed in the back yard for storage of yard and garden equipment, miscellaneous items, seldom used woodworking tools, and lumber.

I'm replacing an 8' x 12' shed with a building 12' x 20'. A 12' x 14' section will be totally weathertight (if I'm lucky). The remaining 6' x 12' will be under roof, but only shaded/protected enough to use for air-drying "finds" that I come across. The cherry I posted last summer is drying at someone else's property, and I plan to bring it home soon. I had posted questions about this for load-bearing requirements.

The enclosed area will incorporate adjustable shelves on 3 walls (junk and lumber storage), and the "trusses" will be built to support overhead storage of dry lumber (possibly my sleeping loft).

Please chime in with any ideas, as the concrete floor is soon to come.

Thanks for listening.
Andy Haney

[Bob Johnson2]

Will be attempting some wiring as soon as I'm done with some varnishing. W with my 3 recent 220 additions (CS, Planer, and DC) I'm in need of more then 1 socket. The dust collector sits idle when I'm using the planer, not the best of situations.