Shopsmith Forums

WmZiggy wrote:If I do say so myself, we SS owners know how to build our man caves. And the beer fridg. is a really good touch.

Without any air conditioning the shop can get pretty hot during those Texas summers. But as you can see I have one heck of a fan! BTW, the fridge is all water and diet cokes, I keep the beer in the house away from the power tools.

tgamel wrote: But as you can see I have one heck of a fan!

That is one outstanding specimen of http://www.bigassfans.com/ you got there!

Ed looks like a nice shop space. I'm guessing it's even heated and air conditioned? Oh the luxury

Here's my 168 square feet of heaven...

although I use the garage sometimes for finishing and breaking down sheet goods. And I take over the family room from time to time for assembly.

Looking north
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Looking east - southeast
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Southeast corner
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Southwest corner
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West wall
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Man that's a lot of stuff in a small space, and it looks pretty functional. Kudos for making it work.

I think I am beginning to discern the Holy Grail of shop space. So far, WmZiggy is closest to achieving the look, but Berry edges him out on pure scale. Dennis in Wonderland is magically downsized to fit perfectly INSIDE the Studley tool chest, which then becomes his actual workshop ...

Here is my 9'x15' shop. A lot of work has gone into it over the last 3.5 years. The building was already on the lot when I bought the house, but it had little insulation in it and the electrical turned out to be a long power cord run through conduit under the ground and plugged into an outside socket. First thing, my wife's cousin is an electrician and he ran two 15 amp circuits into my shop from the main breaker box and put in more electrical outlets. I then finished insulating the walls and the ceiling, and have put up peg board and plywood walls on the inside. That is still a work in progress. The first workbench was a couple of what I think were the old kitchen cabinets and counter top. The wall cabinets also came from the kitchen. I still have the cabinets and use the counter tops as my workbench. There were actually two counter tops in the shop, and I took one and built a bench for it to go on top. Of course I am still in the process of re-arranging things as I do more woodwork. A small heater and a small portable A/C work fine in keeping the temperature comfortable now. The lights, fans, and heater/AC are all on one circuit while the power tools use another. I never use more than one power tool at a time so it works out.

Looking from the outside in.


Step inside and turn to your left.


Now just start turning a circle to your right. My benchtop belt sander is on a rolling cabinet with moveable shelves. Inside the cabinet is a bench grinder. Each tool is bolted to their own shelf/platform, which sit on cleats. Got the idea from one of Wood Magazines Shop tips publications.


Router and router table secured to its own bench that fits underneath the wall cabinets nicely. Easily slides out when I am ready to use it. Also the bench makes for a nice low bench for assembling something tall, just remove the router table. The flask of brandy and bottle of Drambuie are for when I am waiting for the glue to dry.


Scroll saw, pretty much gets used right in that same spot. May turn the bench it is on slightly to work.


Miter saw on a rolling cabinet and also see my "lumber storage area" and AC. I have to get a new duct for the AC. After a couple of years the tube went brittle.


Oh, I suppose you want to see the Shopsmith along with the under-Smith cabinet that I built for it.


Another view of the workbench. I think I am going to rearrange things so that the workbench is up against the back and side wall instead of having space between the work bench and back wall.


My workbench also contains very basic shelving.


Interesting fact, the miter slots on the 500 table hold a 50 ring gauge cigar perfectly.

Nice post! Gotta love making what one has work.



Now about getting 10 pix in one post!

Yup, I am Shopsmith's target customer. There is no way I could fit a table saw, bandsaw, and lathe in my shop with existing tools. All I really need now is a planer and jointer. Don't know if I really like the small size of the Shopsmith jointer. I would prefer an 8" or 10". I have also been giving more thought about the size and shape of my workbench.

As for number of pictures, that is what it let me post. I forgot that usually you are restricted to four pictures in one post.

JPG40504 wrote:
Now about getting 10 pix in one post!

Do you suppose that we have just witnessed a synergy of PowerPro revenues and Moore's Law? I'd put this theory to the test myself, but it's just about bedtime here in the Eastern zone.