Shopsmith Forums

I was looking at my wood shop and trying to set in my mind just what my level of satisfaction is with it. OK, it's a mess... Not just awful really, just still not very well organized yet.
I really want to paint it and get back to organizing it and building homes for a lot of tools that currently just "sit someplace".
I'm really pretty lucky woodshop wise. There are a number of things I really like about my shop. It's pretty big (24' x 40') and since it is in a dedicated room walled off in the basement it is not too bad at becoming a catch-all (that is the farm shop in an old barn).
By being in the basement it is automatically heated in the winter and has AC in the summer. I can walk in and work on it or a project in any weather without getting cold, wet or cooked. I like being able to wander down there in the middle of the night if I can't sleep And no, I never work naked .
It's not really anything fancy but if I can get around to painting it all it will look quite nice. I fear that the ceiling (typical open joist and bridging of the floor above) may never get painted. I could put up a smooth ceiling over them but I don't really want to give up the storage space up there. For an example I like being able to be at the table saw and reach up and grab a square or push stick from right above where I am working. I also keep some moldings stock up there between the joist. It won't be too bad if I don't get it painted since it is not old and blackened from decades of a coal furnace like a lot of old house basements are. It's pretty bright yet. This wing was added during the 1970's.
I do seriously need to add some more lighting but that is not a problem.
There are some earlier pictures of the shop in this thread.
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=9215

Have you re-evaluated your shop lately? If so what are your priorities? Are you reasonably happy with it or do you hate it. Have you thought about what it would take to make it something you would like a lot better?
Does it fit "you"?


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Don't need to evaluate my shop. Just walk in and it's obvious I need more room. But that ain't happening. The second thing that becomes evident is the need for more light. I'm sure the age of my eyes has something to do with it.
My son is a section chief in the USAF and, as such, has the responsibility for such things as work place lighting in the large, hangar like buildings where the aircraft are maintained. All overhead lighting in those buildings is provided by 8' fluorescents in banks of four. He says that each bank's tubes are replaced about twice per year. Apparently, it's obvious when one tube in a bank becomes dim, and so, given the AF's obsession with uniformity, they all must be replaced.
The point is that I had no idea that fluorescents became dim with use. I thought they maintained their original brightness, with occasional cleaning, until they went dead.
There are 6 ea. 8' banks of two in my shop. I guess, after 12 years, it's time to change the bulbs. And maybe, devise some task lighting that won't get in the way.

Lighting too is on my to-do list - I have a pile of 4' fluorescent fixtures on the floor of my shop that I salvaged from our house when we bought it earlier this year - big boxed in fluorescent lights in kitchen and bathrooms that are way too 1980's for my wife, so out they went and into a pile to put into my shop. Now I just need to find the time to crawl around the shop rafters and run romex, install boxes etc. and get them wired up and working...not only am I tired of poor lighting in there but I'm tired of stepping over the pile of fixtures on the floor. I also am in the midst of building a wall rack to hold all my SPT's - simple project but kids, house, and end of summer camping trips have all pushed back any of my to-do list...nothing worse than facing the end of summer way too quickly and realizing I accomplished only a bare minimum of the to-do list I had hoped to over the summer...

My shop is getting there slowly but surely. I've got my shelving built, I'm 90% of the way done with the frame of my new workbench, and should be complete as soon as summer boating season winds down

I'm also a leg up on creating space, we had pretty bad flash flooding earlier in the month and had water come over the concrete footer in the back of the shop and rise about 9 inches. Had a cardboard moving box collapse, knock over a small shelf, and the current washed everything up against the garage door so it was easy to bag up and put in the trash bin. Lost about $150 of tools.

Yes, lighting is like space and outlets, you never have enough. I install 2 years ago several 8' two tube fluorescent lights and 4 sets of outdoor flood lights with 3 flood lights per set. I used the low watt flood light bulbs to keep the heat down and all this additional lighting went on a separate lighting circuit with its own breaker. This is addition to the 8' fluorexcent lights that I had originally. I also added a 20 amp circuit with its breaker and put 4 20 amp outlet receptaples in an outdoor type box on several 2X4s extending from the ceiling to about 5' from the floor for power to the equipment that is not on a wall. These were near the end of permanent placed work tables/benches so I would not hit them with my head.

I have 20 circuit breakers in use in a 24 breaker electrical box so you may find that you want to to install a larger electric distribution box with at least the capability for 24 circuits. I used less than half of the breakers when I set up the shop 11 years ago.

I have a 9x13 shop that was a challenge. Last Spring I bought a second SS and a SS Scroll Saw. It's time to move to a biger room in the basement, but it has not happened. I keep on using the M500 in the old shop instead of moving to new space and learning to use M510:o

My plan is to swap the headstocks so the M510 has 230v motor and to keep the 115v M500 set at slow on start-up. I have no real experience with the 115v headstock, but have never had a circuit breaker trip on the 230v machine. I stop the SS after every cut, so turning speed down and up is not something I would want to have to do each time I power down/up.

The new room is about 13x26. I think 2 rows of florescent lights spaced 2-3' apart plus workstation lighting should be good. 2 new 15 Amp circuits with plugs overhead spaced where the DC3400 can plug into one of the circuits and tool it is supporting on the other. Walls are currently concrete block painted white. I am vacillating on hanging OSB from floor joists of the house on one wall and using a cleat system like 'farmer' or framing a wall for a cleat system to mount on.

Other than using the Scroll Saw and parking the new (to me) SS in the bigger room, there is little evidence of my move. I have been practicing with the scroll saw and generally making a mess. My current shop continues to do what tasks I do in my shop.

saminmn wrote:I have a 9x13 shop that was a challenge. Last Spring I bought a second SS and a SS Scroll Saw. It's time to move to a biger room in the basement, but it has not happened. I keep on using the M500 in the old shop instead of moving to new space and learning to use M510:o

My plan is to swap the headstocks so the M510 has 230v motor and to keep the 115v M500 set at slow on start-up. I have no real experience with the 115v headstock, but have never had a circuit breaker trip on the 230v machine. I stop the SS after every cut, so turning speed down and up is not something I would want to have to do each time I power down/up.

The new room is about 13x26. I think 2 rows of florescent lights spaced 2-3' apart plus workstation lighting should be good. 2 new 15 Amp circuits with plugs overhead spaced where the DC3400 can plug into one of the circuits and tool it is supporting on the other. Walls are currently concrete block painted white. I am vacillating on hanging OSB from floor joists of the house on one wall and using a cleat system like 'farmer' or framing a wall for a cleat system to mount on.

Other than using the Scroll Saw and parking the new (to me) SS in the bigger room, there is little evidence of my move. I have been practicing with the scroll saw and generally making a mess. My current shop continues to do what tasks I do in my shop.

Since I have 1/8" pegboard on most of the walls, I am considering adding a french cleat or two all the way 'around' ala Farmer. I really like his idea. I have 9' ceilings and the pegboard is 8'. That creates a dead space above the pegboard for an 'upper cleat. May add 1/4" pegboard there also. That would allow getting big heavy stuff out of the way(no I do not intend to store the jointer up there!):eek: