Main Shop:

The picture to the right shows an
overall view of the main portion of my
shop. There is no getting around that
with a footprint as small as it is, things
look cluttery. Still, as we progress into
the shop and look a little closer, you
will see that my motto of having things
neat, clean and organized, apply to this
portion of the shop as well.
Long Bench:

In my shop, one long wall is dedicated
to the right side of the shop. This was
done to allow the feed rolls to feed my
radial arm saw, and planer, which are
both let into the bench surface so that
everything is on the same plane.

Typically I cross-cut lumber into
manageable lengths first, then plane
the boards down. By opening up the
mouth of my planer, I can have a
bench length of 40 feet. I also have a
pulley system attached to my planer so
that I can crank the planer out of the
way if need be.

You will also note in this picture that I
have elevated and cantilevered a tool
box over the lip of the bench. Because
the tool box lid could not be opened
and still allow a board to be slid up to
the fence of the radial arm saw, this
toolbox is cantilevered so any board
under 4 inches thick, can pass under
the toolbox and be cross-cut.
Scary Sharp System:

I am a huge fan of the Scary Sharp
System...so much so in fact that I built
a drawer just for this system. This
drawer is made using heavy duty
slides and has a piece of 3/4 inch
locomotive window glass (bullet proof)
let into the drawer bottom to keep it
from shifting around.

The beauty of this of course is, when I
need to sharpen something, I simply
pull out the drawer, place my sand
paper on the glass, sharpen away, and
when I am done, simply push the
glass back out of my way. No shifting
tools and projects around so I can find
space on my bench, no foolisng with a
heavy piece of glass. As I said, quick
and clutter-free.
Drill Press Tracks:

Without question, the most top-heavy
machine in the shop is a drill press.
Most of the time it sits quietly in a
corner, not needing a whole lot of
room. Mine is no different, but
sometimes I need to pull this drill
press out and drill long boards. This is
a cumbersome operation at best. Or at
least it was.

On my drill press, I mounted tracks in
the floor. Just as with railroads, steel
on steel means very little friction, and
this drill press can be wheeled in and
out of its parking spot one handed.

To keep the drill press from moving
while being worked, only the back set
of wheels are on tracks. The front two
wheel are on lockable casters,
allowing me to lock the machine in the
position I desire.
Shop Tour: Page Two