January 2013 Machine Shop Tour

I recently sold my thickness sander because I rarely used it and it was taking up valuable space (it was bought for one specific project a few years ago).  I haven’t taken pictures of my machine shop since 2009 when it looked much different so I figured that now would be a good time.

These first two shots give you an idea of the space I have, which is about 22 x 10 feet, with a 97″ ceiling.

Looking through the glass sliding door you can see my benchroom.  In the centre of the picture is my Laguna LT16-3000 bandsaw.  It is backed up against the glass door and six feet from the wall on the infeed side.  Behind it is my Steel City Midi-Lathe.  I have two folding workbenches hung on the wall over the lathe.

Next to the folding workbenches are four cabinets mounted on the wall.  The bottoms of the cabinets are about an inch higher than the top of my head so I can’t bump my head (when there isn’t a stack of lumber below them).  Atop the stack of lumber is my Veritas Router Table Top and a shop-made fence.  The cardboard boxes contain firewood.  On the back wall is a sturdy shelf supporting short pieces of wood that are being stored/dried.

On the right wall is my lumber rack supporting more lumber that is also being stored/dried and in front of that is my Grizzly G0623X sliding table saw (I haven’t written a review yet, surprisingly).  The saw, which is on casters, sits with five feet between the blade and back wall.  I have a yellow extension cord dangling from the ceiling; one end is strapped to the outrigger of the table saw and the other end is plugged into a wall outlet (no, I don’t have any ceiling outlets).  The extension cord supplies power to tools used in the middle of the shop.

In front of the table saw is my DeWalt DW735 thickness planer with a Ridgid Oscillating Belt/Spindle Sander on top.  The planer is on a low stand because at one time, it used to be stored under one of the tables of my Delta DJ20 jointer, which is in the background.  Behind the jointer is a large window covered by a pull-down shade.  In front of the jointer is a garbage can and more wood.

To the right of the jointer is a regular-sized door leading to the backyard buried behind long-handled garden tools in a cart on casters.  Adjacent to the little door is a pair of big doors that open South into the backyard.  In the summer months, I open these two doors and they provide enough light to allow me to work in the machine shop without turning on the overhead fluorescents.

To the right of the big doors is another window and then we’re back to the glass sliding door leading to my benchroom.

If you didn’t click the link at the top of the article, you should click it now.  You’ll be amazed at how much my shop has changed in two-and-a-half years.