The workshop has come along, but I am atan absolute stand still. I need some wood!! I have to pay a bunch of money for day care to support the wife in grad school. I even worked OT to buy some wood, but that went to the ol’ take care of my kids fund.
Time has only given me a good chance to wrap my head around my tools. It is a lot to take in. I even had a moment of – what the hell was I thinking, I can’t do this moment – but that faded quickly once I started envisioning my shop….again.
I have realized that I really don’t have a lot of space, and that will even become quite less when putting together a project and doing glue-ups and the like. So, I have come up with the following for the shop, in order of build):
1. Knock-Down Shop Workstation (or…a rigid saw horse thing) - This thing is awesome. I am going to build two of them so that I can lay sacrificial boards on top and have a ply break down station. I can also build specialty tops using plywood and cleats (i.e. infeed or outfeed for ts or planer, tool stands, etc). These things will break down and get stored on a french cleat system.
2. Flip Stand - This is an absolute must, as it will have my planer and miter saw, saving a ton of space with mobility. I got the idea here at LJ (I would have never thought of it), and I will be putting my own spin on the project. It will also incorporate the functionality of the knock-down shop workstations.
3. Shop Vacuum Station - Since I do have a dust deputy, and, since I don’t want to keep dragging everything around, falling over, etc, the vacuum station should come in quite handy. I also want it to pivot with the ts, so I will have a latch for it to connect to the base or something.
4. French Cleat System - This will undergo modifications and additions as I build the shop. I also plan on hanging cabinets from them.
5. Torsion Box Assembly Table - The humidity out here is crazy. I know years will warp any tabletop I throw at it, so I will build a torsion box tabletop with cabinets underneath to house the air compressor and other stuff. I will decide later on dimensions and creature comforts. I may make it the ts outfeed table, but I have to compete with a really unlevel garage floor and I may have issues getting it level with the ts top.
Well, I think tahis would be a good start and add to my workflow and efficiency in the shop, while saving space. I’ll keep looking for other ideas to make best use of my limited space. And, I can’t forget to plan an actual woodworking project outside the shop.