Show us yer workshop/shed/castle/kingdom/place of escape

SpitfireIV

As the title says, lets see where you do your stuff! Just been looking at a UK forum thread where the members showed images of there workshops (some made me feel pretty inadequate, whilst others made me appreciate just what I have :P)

I've been doing a lot of work in my meager, small, workshop the past couple of months, rejigging it, new benches etc, just wished I had done more research on the layout of equipment etc and seen that UK forum thread, would have helped, but, its not too late.

Gimme another week or so and I'll throw up some pics of mine, she's a bit of a mess at the mo' :pac:

Fingalian

ah, but you have that nice toasty stove;)

SpitfireIV

Fingalian wrote: »

ah, but you have that nice toasty stove;)

I'll tell ye, its a worth while investment. Not only have I a stove, but I also have a dryer, fridge and cabinet freezer! :pac: all of which I could really do with not having in the shed, but there aint no where else for them to go.

aerosol

I'm in the throws of a big sort out and re-arange at the mo but will post some pics when its a bit more presentable;)

Know what you mean about the stuff you could do without in your shop croppyboy My good wife thinks its a utility room at times:D She shouldn't have a key really:P

Fingalian

A fridge Croppy? Luxury, hope it has beer in it. aerosol , did you get all your stuff finished?

SpitfireIV

Fingalian wrote: »

A fridge Croppy? Luxury, hope it has beer in it. aerosol , did you get all your stuff finished?

Yeah a fridge! I keep the bread and butter in there for when I want to do a slice of toast or two on the stove :pac:

Had a neighbour of mine visit earlier tonight to get a loan of a tool and he put the idea in my head of extending my shed! What I have at the mo' is 14.5 x 10ft. If I were to extend I'd be able to get another 10x8.5ft. It'd make the shop an 'L' shape but would sure as hell gimme a lot more space and allow more room for the bigger machines such as the table saw and planer. Have to think about this now, would it be worth doing, at the moment I'm at maximum capacity, getting hard to move!

aerosol

I'd go for the extension if poss Croppyboy,you can never have enough room:D:D

I got all but the helicopter finished Fingalian,the frame turned out great ,I'm well chuffed with it.I had a b*tch of a time trying to source preservation materials though.Ended up having to buy stuff in bulk,twas the only way...I've a load of prints n bits of art that need framing so It'll all get used in time.I enjoyed making it,something different that I'd never tried before

SpitfireIV

aerosol wrote: »

I'd go for the extension if poss Croppyboy,you can never have enough room:D:D

Yeah, I'll probably go for it, the only thing putting me off is having to make another mess again just as everything was coming together, but, I guess it'll be worth it in the longrun.

You're making a helicopter?! :pac:

aerosol

The mess is the worst thing!!Work commitments,lack of funds and doing 10 things at once had my garden in bits for 3yrs while I got my workshop built and garden finished after the mess I made building.

I would do it all again though,I'm so happy having my own workshop/shed/bar/;)I didn't think to take before/during and after photos of the shed build.Theres a couple of the mess doing the garden,my shop is at the back.All to the left and front of wall is now I have now decked.

The helicopter is small scale!! The photo is of one of the first things I made a few years back,it started with a delta scroll saw..........

SpitfireIV

Cheers for the pics aerosol! Looks like a summertime build, was it? Looking forward to extending my 'kingdom' :pac: but its gonna be damn messy, cold work :rolleyes:.

Anyway, I suppose I better put up a few pics of my semi-finish small shed before she gets pulled apart for the extension. I'm gonna have to bring in everything from a small back shed (which will be pulled down) and store it in my shop, gonna be jammers in there, wont be doing any woodworking for a while thats for sure!





As you can see from the two pics above the tools A. are Aldi's finest and B. are badly layed out, by right that chop saw would want a long bench of its own, as would the morticer. The bandsaw would also need to be turned 90 degrees when doing any long cuts. The idea was that if I was doing anything that required more space that I'd lug them over onto the main bench.




My little benchtop 'Carlkraft' lathe, nice little bit of kit, grand for small jobs, table legs etc, has a long enough bed.




The new tablesaw, a Makita MLT100, I fecking love this machine, so well made and precise, a joy to use. Only problem is, again, lack of space, I could only cut short lenghts on it, or else have to lug it out to a back yard to cut sheets not good! I'm hoping the extension will solve this problem by giving me ample space to bring in, and cut sheet material.




My main bench, table saw and planer. I had intended on making a proper bench for the saw to bring it flush with the main bench and use this as a run off table, but plans have changed for now. I had also intended to build a trolley for the planer/thicknesser so that I could store it out of the way when not in use, that plan may have changed also.




The messy back wall , I was gonna get some sheets of MDF and make some proper shelving beside and over the freezer, this was also where I had intended on storing the planer on its trolley, but it seems that this may now be the new area for the stove (around the area where the pink shelves are).




This is where I'm gonna be making the opening! Its basically re-opening an existing garage door that was blocked up. The door shown leads into the shed where all the junk is kept . With this knocked through and a new extension built it'll give me an exta 11 feet going back in that direction! I'll be able to put a couple of large doors at the end for bringing in large or long material. Its backing out into a private laneway so no hassle there.

Well, hope you enjoyed the tour!

FatimaKid

Like the cap-badge - brought back a few memories.

SpitfireIV

FatimaKid wrote: »

Like the cap-badge - brought back a few memories.

Thanks Fatimakid, but thats not a cap badge, its a special type of saw blade!

It was a trial run for a slightly larger one that I did for my local FCA hut when I was a member.

Fingalian

Nice shop Croppy, I like the feet on the bench that your Morticer is sitting on. Do you have a template for them? By the way do you use that Trench Broom to the left of your Dart board ?:)

Picture attached of my shed, all a bit of a jumble at the moment, must sort it out:o

ennisa

Always a bit messy, should have turned the lights on for the pictures!

No stove I'm afraid though, on the bench under the window though you can see Glen, the handy fan heater!

Croppyboy, I meant to ask, is that powercraft hollow chisel morticer any good? And how much did you pay for it, I might look into getting one the next time they have them in stock.

loz

Fingalian wrote: »

Nice shop Croppy, I like the feet on the bench that your Morticer is sitting on. Do you have a template for them? By the way do you use that Trench Broom to the left of your Dart board ?:)

Picture attached of my shed, all a bit of a jumble at the moment, must sort it out:o

That poor Canoe need saving !!!!

loz

My Little hideaway, bit messey,

Click to large

ennisa

Looks nice loz,
Looks like you do alot of turning, is that record shop-vac, i see in the corner beside the lathe, any good? I have yet to get a proper dust extraction for the workshop so I'm looking for recomendations.

Thanks Loz.

Fingalian

loz wrote: »

That poor Canoe need saving !!!!

It actually gets a lot of use! I'm rigging it for a sail and lee board at the moment. Built the mast by 8 siding and then 16 siding some glued up 2x4's...with a hand plane...thirsty work.

Fingalian

double post

SpitfireIV

Fingalian wrote: »

Nice shop Croppy, I like the feet on the bench that your Morticer is sitting on. Do you have a template for them? By the way do you use that Trench Broom to the left of your Dart board ?:)

Picture attached of my shed, all a bit of a jumble at the moment, must sort it out:o

Thanks Fingalian!

A feckin' boat in the shop and all!! :pac: Your pic reminds me of something I need (no, not a boat) but some adequate storage for timber! You seem to have a good set up there and a nice selection!

I was looking to do something a little different with the feet so just put a little fancy cut on them, like what you'd see on the beech workbenches. I just cut out out one on an offcut and then used that as a template for the rest of them.



Aint nothing wrong with your peepers anyway . Tis a Thompson alright, albeit a wooden one! . Made her a few years back now, when I got a router first, jeez, thats almost 10 years!!! :eek:. Anyway, just wanted to make something to practice joints and such.




Like many things I started years back it was never finished, only one half of it is painted!

ennisa wrote: »

Croppyboy, I meant to ask, is that powercraft hollow chisel morticer any good? And how much did you pay for it, I might look into getting one the next time they have them in stock.

Nice shop you got yourself there Ennisa! You seem to have lots of room there, well, at least it appears that way in the pics :P. I see the table saw cross cut sled too, I must have a look into making one of them I believe they are very good!

With regard to the morticer, I've had no problems with it and I used it a fair bit to make the legs of the L shaped workbench that it and some of the other power tools are sitting on, so handy! I got a set of bits from Rutlands, quarter inch right up to one inch I believe, havent got to use them yet though. I'd imagine (or at least hope) that she'll work even better with proper chisels! Like the Aldi bandsaw i got, it came with two blades which were absolutely hopeless!!! The thing couldnt cut a straight line through 6mm plywood! No exageration! No matter what I did with it, tensioned properly, rollers and pegs posistioned properly and all it was still useless. So I got a couple of decent blades from Rutlands, just to see if it'd make any difference, she'll now cut through three and a half inch oak without a problem and cuts perfect straight lines when ripping using the fence. it used to be a machine I despised, but now I love it!!


I cant remember offhand what I paid for the morticer, I think it was €100 or there abouts. Its a basic machine, nothing fancy about it. Once I get my extension done I want to give her a long bench of her own (Probably that lenght under the window as the mitre saw will be going). Maybe put in an MDF worktop and inset T tracks to allow me to move the morticer up and down and also make some moveable support blocks/rollers for longer work.




Loz,

Looks like you have a cosy little set up there! I like it! What way is your shop constructed? It looks like its made of precast panels?

jack of all

Loz, can I ask you what type of jig is that you have on your bench grinder, looks very substantial? I'm guessing your shed is GRP in construction?

aerosol

Croppyboy,top thread.Its great to have look round other peoples shops.I love that new table saw of yours.So far I've seen something in all that I'd like:D

going round in a circle,sort of

my latest toy,(still looking for a manual.......) This is my next project,getting it serviced and making a table for it,I can't wait to start using it
My plan is to make a work bench to sit where the bobbin sander is(thats going on wheels to "float around"

The shopsmith doesn't get used to its full potential.I mainly only use the tablesaw and bandsaw.

I must also make a door for the jacks:o If for nothing else but to hang my dart board:D

SpitfireIV

aerosol wrote: »

So far I've seen something in all that I'd like:D

I see something in yours that I really like!!!!!


A packet of digestive biscuits! You may find a better hiding place! :P


Seriously though, nice shop! Bathroom, tiled floor, TV!!!! You're really living it up! :pac:

loz

jack of all wrote: »

Loz, can I ask you what type of jig is that you have on your bench grinder, looks very substantial? I'm guessing your shed is GRP in construction?

Hi,

Sure - Its a Robert Sorby Universal Jig, comes with a fingernail profiler for my gouges. - Just need a decent grinder to go with it now !

http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/sorby_universal.htm

The Shed is from KellyBarna - 12 x 8 5 inch thick reinforced floor, with 2 foot wide precase concrete panals for walls, wooden trusshed roof, with some kinda weatherproof corigated material. wish id have gone bigger now !!!

http://www.kellybarna.ie/concrete-buildings.html

loz

Fingalian wrote: »

It actually gets a lot of use! I'm rigging it for a sail and lee board at the moment. Built the mast by 8 siding and then 16 siding some glued up 2x4's...with a hand plane...thirsty work.

Sounds cool.... I read a lot on the Song of the Paddle forum, wish i had the time !!!!

loz

ennisa wrote: »

Looks nice loz,
Looks like you do alot of turning, is that record shop-vac, i see in the corner beside the lathe, any good? I have yet to get a proper dust extraction for the workshop so I'm looking for recomendations.

Thanks Loz.

Hi, Yes all i do is turn, and just getting into segmented work, so gionna have to splsh out on a decent saw of soem kind, not sure wether to get a mitre, or bandsaw ?

The extracor is a record power rdse1 - filer down to .5 micron, 100 mil hose to fit most machines, i just use it when sanding.

Gonna get a roof mounted air filter also though, and need to get a powered face mask when i can, using paper masks at moment......

if you have many machine dont get the rdse1 - as it only has one motor, i think the DX4000 has two.

ennisa

aerosol I can't believe that you have a toilet in your workshop that is brilliant!! The next time they get them into aldi i'm buying one

You don't see many radial arm saws over here either, I thought they were usually seen more in the US. I usually come across a few sites for people that are renovating old radial arm saws, that and alot of talk about how dangerous people seem to think they are, along with the same amount of sites telling people how to use them properly!

The shopsmith is some kind of combi machine, Bandsaw/lathe/table saw?


Nice shop aerosol.

aerosol

Ha Ha Thanks Croppy I missed those biccies(form lidl,there very nice and v cheap) I'm a tiler by day so it would of been rude not to tile the place,it also meant I could guantee a level floor.The way I thought if my floor was bangon level,making things to sit on it level would be so much easier:)

To smooth the road with the wife of building a workshop and taking up a third of an already small garden I had to sell it as a" multi function" room for when we sell on the house. Its fully insulated,doulbe glazed,underfloor heating,plastered,cat 5 wired,co axil,phone line.It has its own alarm system. The idea was when sold it could be an office/kids room.......In the wall behind the lcd its all wired down to the coms cabinet under the bench with cables for sky tv/playstation;)/ computer monitor/amp.I wired for speakers each corner.

Ta Ennisa, there seems to be a good few RAS in the Uk too,not sure here.I bought it the end as an alternative to a mitre saw(also the € 150 price tag helped.I got it from an auction couple of months ago) The motor runs smooth and theres no wobble or movement from the arm and motor.Just need to give it a good service and alignment and the table.I'm thinking of incorporating it into a long cabinet of the same height.

The shopsmith is a multi function machine. again the price was too good not to take.Its a lathe/Table saw/12' disc sander/horizontal borer/drill press.The band saw is an extra attatchment.Can't see me ever buying them but you can get a spindle moulder attatchment,planer/......

Fingalian

Nice shops you all have, and nice work too. Just wondering if any of you know what sort of vice this is:- see attached pic, Guinness bottle just for scale;)
I was thinking maybe a Saddlemakers or a leathers workers?
Tks.F

ennisa

fingalian that is a leg vice. It can be mounted on the leg (hence the name) with the top flush with the top of the bench and can be used for regular woodworking or else it can be mounted with the top of the jaws above the top of the bench. When mounted like that then it gives access to more sides of the work. I have heard of it been used for carving that way and I don't see why it could not be used for saddlemaking. I have seen ones that size on the roubo benches. It looks like it has metal plates at the top of the jaws so it may have been adapted for metalworking or saddlery as you reckon. It looks like a nice example of that type of vice Fingalian. You place a metal pin in the holes of the parallel bar at the bottom, (that bar needs to be morticed into the leg so that it moves back and forth with the jaw of the vice) in different holes for different size workpieces and that keeps the top and bottom roughly parallel, they generate a lot of clamping force, much more than a normal woodworking vice such as a record vice. Actually now that I think of it most of the leg vices I have seen only have the front jaw and not the back jaw as they use the leg of the bench as the back jaw. I have seen what is called a blacksmiths leg vice, they are usually metal but they look the same as this, maybe because this one has some metal plates in the jaw it was used by a smith or it could just be a hybrid design that somebody made up.

Check out this link
http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/The+Deluxe+Roubo.aspx

on the pictures of my workshop there is one on my bench and I have a larger version of that leg vice on it.

Hope this helps fingalian.

Fingalian

Hi Ennisa, Thanks for the info, the back leg had me confused. I reckon you are right and it is some sort of hybrid. Le Roubo is some bench eh? I've always liked it, how do you find it ?
Cheers,
F.

ennisa

no problem Fingalian. My bench isn't a roubo bench although my next one might be. I made mine from these plans that I got online. (minus the drawers)
http://www.plansnow.com/wwrkbnch.html

For a while I had a normal woodworking vice in the face vise position but after reading a lot of stuff by Christopher Schwarz I decided to put a leg vice on the front and I moved the woodworking vice to the end so it works kinda like a tail vice. I put a row of dog holes along the length of the bench in line with the tail vice and use it for clamping. The Leg vice has much better capacity as the screw is 10 inches below the top of the vice and it has an absolute ton of grip, some people also glue leather to the top few inches of each side of the vice jaws to increase the holding ability even more. I have to say I am very, very happy with it. All I had to buy was the screw ( 15-20 euro ) and the front jaw I just used a piece of 2x9 pine that I had around the shop. The pine is plenty strong and has never let me down. As opposed to 50-60 euro for a basic record vice.

They say that the first thing you want to do after building a bench is build another one and I have to say that is true. The amount of reading I did about benches during and after when I was building mine made me want to build another. The likes of a roubo would be fun to build alright. I never liked the "european style" benches, to my eye they just seem limiting but I have to qualify that by saying that I have never used one for more than 10 minutes. My current bench those is more than sufficent. And at the cost of only 8 2x4's and some bolts and glue it was, in my opinion, the best place to start. At the end of the day the purpose of the bench is to get you up and running as a woodworker as quickly as possible and to provide you with some good square footage to do that and this bench is very good for that.

I think I'll start a thread to ask people about their benches.

Glad I could help Fingalian

ennisa

Fingalian,
when i saw that vice it reminded me of one I had seen on line. It was a really old bench but for the life of me I couldn't remember where I saw it and searching around on line yesterday yielded nothing. I thought it was on the domini bench or one of the old american benches from the shaker style. But I couldn't find it. Then by chance I found it today.

Check out the following link and you should see what I was talking about when I was saying that some of those vices were used with the jaws mounted above the bench top. It also shows that is has a rear leg similar to the one you have.

http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/The+Canadian+Roubo.aspx

Take care Fingalian.

SpitfireIV

Well, the workshop is still in a mess, but, thankfully coming to shape again now. I tackled a cavity block 11x12ft extension myself (first time really to try block laying ) and am pretty pleased with the outcome, got a hand to roof it this past week so she's water tight......or just about

Before:


After:


At the very back (with temporary ply doors) is an opening for which a neighbour is going to make up a set of metal doors for, the opening is 5ft wide by almost 8ft high! plenty big. See my fancy timber storage solution suppended from the rafters? Just have to fit the window then, paint the walls nice and bright. Set up some new workbenches (including a new one for the table saw ), clean up some of the internal blockwork, get the extension wired and make some shelving all the usual garage junk and THEN I'm back in business!

My poor bank account cant take much more of this! :pac:

dubtom

Nice one croppy, I could do with an extension. My shed is in one hell of a mess,so much so that it puts me off working in it. I'm considering do a revamp.I have to move my lathe off it's stand and put it on a heavy workbench,I cant turn anything off the bed because the whole lathe tries to go walkies around the shed, trouble is I use the bench for other stuff,so I'll have to move all that stuff, and move the bench because it's too near the wall,you get the picture:rolleyes: Nice block work btw.

SpitfireIV

You can never have enough space can you? No matter how much you have you'll always want more! :P

I havent been able to do anything in my shop for well over a month now, but just the past couple of days I was able to set up the table saw (finally have space to use it now! ) and my mitre saw and start making new benches and for the extension, it felt good to be doing a bit o' wood working again

Just to point out, the block work at either side of the opening into the extension isnt mine! lol, it looks pretty bad, it was originally an opening into the shed through which you could drive a car! I had some fun trying to remove a 6" square lintel over the opening that was made from mass concrete and had three lenght of angle iron from a bed frame in it!!

Hows the stove going for you? I believe its to turn cold again this week so you'll be fine! :P Unfortunately mine is still in pieces awaiting to be put in its new posistion so guess who'll be freezing his ass off this week!! :pac:

dubtom

Just to point out, the block work at either side of the opening into the extension isnt mine! lol, it looks pretty bad,
Well I paid a professional to do mine and it looked worse than that:p

Stove is great,I'd have it going 24/7 even in good weather if my neighbours didn't put cloths on the line.Actually I was wondering if plywood and chipboard are ok to burn,I know they'll burn,I just don't want to burn stuff that will generate excessive smoke and have them complaining. One of them actually reported me when I built the shed to the planning crowd,so you can guess the sort they are.

SpitfireIV

dubtom wrote: »

Just to point out, the block work at either side of the opening into the extension isnt mine! lol, it looks pretty bad,
Well I paid a professional to do mine and it looked worse than that:p

Stove is great,I'd have it going 24/7 even in good weather if my neighbours didn't put cloths on the line.Actually I was wondering if plywood and chipboard are ok to burn,I know they'll burn,I just don't want to burn stuff that will generate excessive smoke and have them complaining. One of them actually reported me when I built the shed to the planning crowd,so you can guess the sort they are.

Jeez, I hope you didnt pay the guy too much did you? I was pretty slow with the block laying, I think if I layed about 20 blocks a day I was doing well , but, I took my time at it and got it done right, and the feeling of satisfaction having built your own workshop, is, as the Mastercard adverts say, priceless .


I found that MDF and Ply burnt great in my stove, chipboard burns great too, I guess because its so dense, and compacted that it takes longer to burn and also possibly the glues in it too. Just make sure its dry!!! lol, that probably goes without saying but I threw in a piece of damp MDF into my stove once and I was afraid the fire brigade was going to be called with what smoke was in the area!! oops :rolleyes:. I had a similar problem with smoke and neighbours washing, they didnt say anything, but the smoke would come out of the chimney, over the house next door and sink down into the garden of the house that always had feckin' washing on the line!! :eek: I hope a longer chimney will sort it out.

bradnailer

aerosol wrote: »

Croppyboy,top thread.Its great to have look round other peoples shops.I love that new table saw of yours.So far I've seen something in all that I'd like:D
my latest toy,(still looking for a manual.......) This is my next project,getting it serviced and making a table for it,I can't wait to start using it

They're a great machine when you get used to them, you can set them up for ripping,grooving. Have you tried contacting Dewalt they may have something in archive.The original work surface was a sturdy plywood. Is that 3 phase?

aerosol

Hi Bradnailer, someone on a UK forum sent me pdf files of 3 manuals but all for slightly different models.He was sure that they would be very similar.I've yet to study them closely,I need to clear(and keep clear!) some bench space before I start stripping it down.I'm a bit daunted by the thought tbh.

All the manuals point to it being single phase,I'm not sure if the added on/off switch makes it 3 phase???I wasn't too attentive during physics lessons:rolleyes: