Shopsmith Forums

Hi Barb,
IMHO, that was a good price, considering all of the great stuff that you got. I am happy for you. Your shop will never do. You simply must build something a bit bigger!

a1gutterman wrote:Hi Barb,
IMHO, that was a good price, considering all of the great stuff that you got. I am happy for you. Your shop will never do. You simply must build something a bit bigger!

I only wish I could!! My little concrete bunker is all I'm going to have for the next few years, I'm afraid. Our home is small and on a small lot (read: "no room for expansion"), so I'm lucky to have that much. I'm just going to have to take a page out of Ed's book and organize, organize, organize - like a ship.

The entire undertaking is blowing my mind right now. I truly bit off more than I am prepared to handle, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity, so I will take the plunge and do my level best to live up to it. The support from this forum will undoubtedly be invaluable.

As far as the deal goes, I figure we did OK, since the stuff has been routinely maintained and kept in darn-near "as new" condition and the whole shebang cost us about the same as a new 520. Could have done way worse, no doubt. It really is exciting to walk out there and gaze at all those tools and envision everything that I can accomplish with them.

I guess it's time to start reading and getting ready to make some beginner birdhouses! ::::

Well Barb, I can only offer you limited advice. 1) Go ahead and organize as best you can; good thing everything is on casters, you can roll them out when you need them. 2) You may want to store most of the SPT's for use mounted on the Mark V instead of on individual power stands. 3) Keep the planer on it's own stand. 4) Send me everything that will knot fit in your shop. I especially like #4!:D

Barb,

Great buy. I have most of what you purchased. All of my Shopsmith items were purchased new during the past two year. I can assure you I spent a great deal more than you did. Congratulations. Now I understand your willingness to drive to Dayton yesterday to get the class up and running. Jim aka fjimp:)

Hi Barb - Geez, I thought I posted yesterday, but don't see it today! Must have just reviewed it and not posted. I wanted to join the bunch in passing along my congratulations. I am really happy you went for the whole thing!! That's just what I thought you deserved for all of your concerns, desire and planning. My best wishes, and can't wait to see your first silhouette made with the drill!

Congratulations: Sound like you got everything you needed and more.

Walt

Barb
I started to mention this when we were chatting waiting for the Sawdust session. There is a guy that works in Japan, his whole shop is in bunker like yours, only he has to enter it climbing down a ladder. I think it was a water storage tank of something. He make absolutely beautiful furniture but it seem that half his fun comes from figuring a way around his space limitations.
I can't remember where I ran into him either on the Ryobi BT3100 forum or the Festool forum.
He has an additional problem getting the wood he wants to work with in Japan. Some of it he ships from the US and naturally had to work with more shipable sizes.
Don't look at your limitations look at what you can do and make some sawdust.
Ed

Thanks so much for everyone's well wishes. This is going to be one hell of an adventure. I purely cannot WAIT to make some sawdust!! I found all the manuals today and the latest edition of PTWFE!! I have already started reading. I so love that these folks kept all the manuals. I would've been up a creek for some of this stuff if they hadn't.

Chuck, thank you for your sweet words. After our original correspondence about buying a Compu-Carve, I was just a little worried about hearing from you. LOL

Ed, you are absolutely right. My little bunker is the only reason I have this opportunity, so I will treat it with the respect it deserves. If some guy in Japan can make beautiful furniture in a place he has to climb down a ladder to get to :::shudder::: , I can certainly work out my situation in a 10' x 12' x 6.5' high concrete room. It has a full-sized door and a little window!! I can do this! I actually love the fact that it stays very cool in the summer. I have "built-in" (pun intended) air-conditioning! Who else can say that?? LOL

What should my first project be, guys? Wanna start a vote? ::::

barbandrob wrote:What should my first project be, guys? Wanna start a vote? ::::

Sure! I think your first project should be one of those things you envisioned, when gazing at your collection of tools.

I'll again vote for birdhouses. I started with them when I, like you, bit down and got a complete SS workshop. Complete rookies need an easy place to start. While the lessons are good, I watched a lot of "Norm", then grabbed a birdhouse book.

You get immediate satisfaction, and if you can see a mistake (we all do), trust that the birds will not. Bird house and feeders make great handmade gifts for friends and relatives. As you learn, the complexity of design and skills to make them will increase. My current bird feeder took me three days and most of my "toys". In the magazine Birds and Blooms readers submit their versions and many are very impressive.

They are great projects for you to learn skills, and about your tools and shop setup. I too have a small "cave" for a shop and it has undergone several re arraignments. Keep it all on wheels. Easy to move equipment in/out of center stage.

Another plus is cost of materials. Birdhouses can be built from dumpster dived scraps that are easy to get. I scrounge the roads on trash day with my trailer. A discarded desk or bookshelves are quickly disassembled and back to shop. My miter saw station started as a console TV cabinet and a study desk.

Bored with birdhouses....? You listed a lot of SS equipment and tools but few jigs and fixtures. Making a crosscut sled, miter gauge extensions, circle cutter jig for your band saw are other projects that teach you while adding to your shop. Yesterday I finished that "overhead fence" Nick just designed. It was made from material salvaged from a discarded desk.

Safety project....Check the thread here on the SawStop. I have posted my version for a Mark V and I can't tell other owners enough to build/install their own.

See? You have lots to do and learn on before you attack that Stickley bedroom set you dreamed of making.

Good luck and work safe.

Doc