The Wood Shop

Welcome to the wood shop!

I figured that starting with the shop would be as good a place as any to start this woodworking journal off.  My only real plan with this is to document some of the projects as they are being built so that everyone who is interested can see some of how things are done. 

Anyways, on to the shop itself, most of the work is done in a 2 car garage, and with the arrangement of the tools a car can still fit in the shop; though that parking space is often used for assemblies.  The tools in the shop are pretty standard for woodworkers.

The studio, seen from the garage door. 

And as seen from the main door. 

The table saw is a Wadkin Bursgreen (English Manufacture) and came from a high school in Edmonton.  It has thick cast iron components and weighs in at about 400lbs. I couldn't have gotten it to my house without help from my friend Aric, and I wouldn't have gotten it running without advice and help from another friend Dave. The dust collector was the most expensive machine in the shop.  It is a Clear Vue Cyclone and I have run duct work with blast gates to the major tools.  The cyclone moves 1800cfm, after doing the math that means it can filter the air in the entire studio in under two and a half minutes.  The band saw is an American made 14" Delta with riser block.  The jointer is an older 8" Delta, it came from a neighbor and when it arrived it was quite rusted and hadn't run in over 10 years.  Of course these are supported by a collection of powered hand tools and traditional hand tools.

The workbench and hand tools.

Some of the most satisfying work done in the shop is done with hand tools.  Performing the final smoothing of a board with a hand plane, feeling the slide of a chisel as it pares off the last of some end grain, and watching a dovetail joint slide together to close up a drawer are some of the most satisfying parts of wood working.