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

SpitfireIV · 28-12-2008 8:08pm #1

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 · 29-12-2008 11:44am

ah, but you have that nice toasty stove;)

SpitfireIV · 29-12-2008 3:58pm

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 · 29-12-2008 9:07pm

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 · 30-12-2008 1:18am

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

SpitfireIV · 30-12-2008 2:30am

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 · 30-12-2008 4:52pm

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 · 30-12-2008 7:46pm

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 · 31-12-2008 4:25pm

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 · 31-12-2008 6:42pm

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 · 04-01-2009 10:39pm

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

SpitfireIV · 04-01-2009 11:56pm

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 · 14-01-2009 10:48pm

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 · 15-01-2009 11:10am

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 · 15-01-2009 11:15am

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 · 15-01-2009 11:17am

My Little hideaway, bit messey,

Click to large

ennisa · 15-01-2009 1:10pm

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 · 15-01-2009 2:14pm

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 · 15-01-2009 2:20pm

double post

SpitfireIV · 15-01-2009 10:19pm

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 · 15-01-2009 10:42pm

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 · 15-01-2009 11:52pm

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 · 16-01-2009 1:50am

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 · 16-01-2009 11:11am

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 · 16-01-2009 11:12am

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 · 16-01-2009 11:17am

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 · 16-01-2009 11:20am

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 · 16-01-2009 1:19pm

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 · 20-01-2009 12:44am

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 · 20-01-2009 11:11am

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 · 21-01-2009 12:41am

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.

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

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