Photo thread.....show us your shop.

[Bill Boehme]

I got my lamps from IKEA several years ago on sale for $11 apiece. Ace hardware has the magnets for about $5. Also, they have them in different strengths. Instead of an 80 pound force magnet, I got 25 pound force magnets which are just the right strength for firmly holding the lamps in any position and still easy to move around.

The switches on mine have worked without problems. The only problem so far was when I ran over the wire while sliding the tailstock. It doesn't take much to shear that tiny wire.

 

[odie]

faceplate storage:
Oneway 6"
Oneway 4"
Woodfast 3"
6 Precision machine 3" screw center (3 in use)
2 Precision machine 4 3/4" screw center
2 Precision machine 1 3/4" screw center

 

[Gretch Flo]

Odie-your organization is scary!!!!

 

[odie]

Odie-your organization is scary!!!!

Ha,ha......thanks, Gretch!

You know.......I've been told that before! Having a place for everything, and everything in it's place.......that's a good rule.....and that rule rubbed off on me from dear old Dad. His shop was organized in the same way that mine is now. Saves time and effort when you know where everything's at. (You also gotta remember to put things away when you're done! )

Having a card file, and an index card for every bowl may not be the best way to stay organized for everyone, but it works great for me. Where purchased, cost, initial MC, monthly weights for seasoning, sometimes little pictures drawn to remind me of sanding progress, and etc. It was dear old Mom, the career school teacher, who used index cards to stay organized.......and I thank her for rubbing off on me in that way. Some people, these days, are using computer programs to stay organized......whatever works, but STAY organized!

 

[Mike Johnson]

If you number each of your bowl blanks and write each number on a post-it note and stick them on the ceiling,
the oldest post-it notes fall from the ceiling and let you know which bowl blanks are ready to finish.

It is nice using an excel spreadsheet to keep track of all of your "stuff", it is no fun when the hard drive crashes
and you don't have back-up copies of files & photos etc. A card index file never crashes!

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

...whatever works, but STAY organized!

But that implies STARTING organized! My dad, who is also a retired machinist, joking blames himself for my creative organization.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Odie-your organization is scary!!!!

I don't know about that Gretch; I see that there's a glove sort of wadded up in the corner of that drawer.

What a slob

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Odie, I mean this in a good way...

You're the Adrian Monk of woodturning.

 

[odie]

Odie, I mean this in a good way...

You're the Adrian Monk of woodturning.

Heh,heh,heh......went right over my head, Mark!

You see, I don't have, nor do I watch any TV at all.......so, I don't know anything more about Adrian Monk, than what wikipedia says.......Adrian Monk has OCD. I think a better word to describe me.....is "eccentric". It's a good friend of mine that tagged me with that word about four decades ago when I was a "starving artist"......and, I've always felt it has fit.....and, even more so as time marches on!

Well, as far as the Adrian Monk comparison goes......I suppose I could have worse obsessions than trying to stay as organized as I can be!

One thing that has helped me immensely, is completely giving in to the impulse beckoning me to stop what I'm doing and pursue jig-making to help improve my woodturning. There was a day about 15 years ago that I wrote this on my shop wall:


The day I wrote "do it now" on the wall, it started a chain reaction of improvements to my woodturning efforts that continues to this day. We all get ideas for making various jigs to improve our efforts.......but, most all of us tell ourselves that we'll do it later.......and invariably THAT never happens! We never, or seldom do seem to get that "round tuit", as the old saying goes.

I have a hundred little jigs and inventions that never would have materialized......if it hadn't been for that day I got a little irritated at myself......and, wrote "do it now" on the wall. If there is anyone out there that is anything like me, that person knows it's much better in the long run, to OBEY your instincts.....rather than to suppress them until you get the "round tuit"!!!!!

BTW: Probably 2 out of 3 times I stop and construct some little improvement/jig, it doesn't work at all like I'd hoped. Half of those things that do work, need to be trashed and done over......sometimes several times! It's hard to keep a positive attitude with so many failures all the time......but, when something works right, it gives you a burst of positive mental energy......enough to pursue the next idea that flashes across your imagination!

ko

 

[odie]

Just goes to show that the "do it now" philosophy works on a continuing basis. Yesterday, I made up a special little jig to verify the rubber gripper height of the Jumbo Jaws. I did have a graph made up previously to measure the height, but that resulted in some not so positive grip on bowls......and, you really can't verify the grip on the interior of a bowl because you can't see in there to check it. The solution, as it turns out, is to make a little jig using two spare grippers and four brass washers. Any combination of these elements can be made up and placed directly on the bowl I wish to grip......this gives a positive visual reference of how the gripper combination will work. The gripper height can be adjusted anywhere inbetween 7/16" to 1 1/8".

Now, If I relied on the "round tuit", the next time this verification would be handy, I still wouldn't have the darn thing made up! "Do it now" is the solution to solving the problem of never having that "round tuit"......!

ko

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

Yesterday I cleaned up and took a boat load of shavings out to friends who live even farther out of town and have a big garden. By this morning the shop was a mess again, but at least there weren't many shavings. It's a humble shop, but it works well.

The main working area of my shop is 8' X 8', though I have another 8' X 12' dedicated to drying rough wood and another sizeable area for chainsaws and such. As you'll see, my shop is open-air—no walls, under our old cabin on the beach here in Sitka, Alaska. I excavated the dirt , broke well over 10 yards of rock, and then built floors out of chainsaw milled Alaska yellow cedar. It's still a work in progress...
-------



I used to design and build work boat interiors for a living, so I'm not half bad at cramming a lot in a small space.
-------



Here's my absurd number of turning/sanding lights, two on the headstock and one on a prototype for a swiveling light that swings in and out from overhead. I like to be certain that I can see well, since I still haven't wired in overhead lights. Who needs wiring when there's turning to be done?
-------



My two grinding stations are right behind the lathe, so I can turn around and be sharpening. You can also see my thrown-together sandpaper box, made out of an old plastic cordless tool box with hot glued cardboard dividers. Not pretty but it works. Maybe I'll make a prettier one, but then again, maybe I'll just turn a bowl instead!
-------



Maybe the best part of my humble shop is the view. Sanding drives me nuts, but I can glance up and see whales out front and I often have a few juncoes and sparrows hop into the shop to look for bugs.
-------



And speaking of shavings...

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I'll trade my shop for that view!!

 

[Bill Boehme]

I'll trade my shop for that view!!

Dang you beat me to it. I was going to offer my shop studio in trade for that view. My shop has neither walls nor ceiling. It does have a concrete floor. And, it's hard to ask for better lighting than the sun. Should I mention that sweeping the shop is a breeze ... the stronger the breeze the better.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Thanks for those shots. Nobody else here can beat that view Zach. So it looks like Sitka doesn't get as cold as it can here in the midwest, but can you wear gloves and turn?

 

[olaf Vogel]

View attachment 21077

Maybe the best part of my humble shop is the view. Sanding drives me nuts, but I can glance up and see whales out front and I often have a few juncoes and sparrows hop into the shop to look for bugs.
-------

This by far the best view from any shop I've seen!
Given that you are in Alaska, I assume you close this up in the winter?

So your house is over the shop and you get to enjoy that view when not working?

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

Yeah, we're pretty lucky to live here. 17 years in this cabin. I turn year round, but this will only be my third winter turning seriously.

Tom-- It's pretty cold when it dips below freezing, but this is SE Alaska, still temperate rainforest, so average winter temps are a bit above freezing. I don't wear gloves, but I bundle up pretty good with a down parka and wool hat.

When it's really blowing hard I'll work on something else because it can even rain on my lathe...I just oil it up and throw a tarp over. What I forgot to mention is that I dry rough bowls in a separate insulated tool shed with a wood stove and dehumidifier.

Olaf--my wife grew up in Toronto, right downtown. It took her a while to make the transition, but after 20 years, she a good solid Alaskan.

Here's the view from our cabin above. That's our yellow cedar garden deck below, and you get a glimpse of our clothes line, which probably only gets to dry 1/4 of our clothes. We live off the road system, so all my turning wood comes in by skiff. You can't see the skiff, but it's on an ourhaul (anchored out) just to the left, behind the mountain ash.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

What a spectacular place to live

 

[AlanZ]

Here's a photo of me adjusting a webcam at one of my lathes. Shown here is a Vermec Sphere Jig, and a computer/webcam setup for live streaming and recording.
My Versaflo helmet has a hose that goes to a wall mounted HEPA filtration system.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Here's a photo of me adjusting a webcam at one of my lathes. Shown here is a Vermec Sphere Jig, and a computer/webcam setup for live streaming and recording.
My Versaflo helmet has a hose that goes to a wall mounted HEPA filtration system.

Okay Alan, I admit it.

I am a slob.

 

[AlanZ]

Okay Alan, I admit it.
I am a slob.

Mark, rest assured that there are areas of my shop that I prefer not to show on camera <vbg>

 

[hockenbery]

Our shop all cleaned up.


A Trent Bosch class in action....

 

[odie]

Here's a photo of me adjusting a webcam at one of my lathes. Shown here is a Vermec Sphere Jig, and a computer/webcam setup for live streaming and recording.
My Versaflo helmet has a hose that goes to a wall mounted HEPA filtration system.

No kidding, Alan.......my very first thought was this photo was taken inside a space capsule!

You are a good example of the technical possibilities associated with woodturning these days......

ko

 

[Bill Boehme]

Our shop all cleaned up.
View attachment 21085

A Trent Bosch class in action....
View attachment 21084

Will you adopt me? I'm more or less house broken.

 

[hockenbery]

Will you adopt me? I'm more or less house broken.

Sure. We'd be gaining a mini-max and a Robust and our Tormak would appreciate some company.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Sure. We'd be gaining a mini-max and a Robust and our Tormak would appreciate some company.

Plus, you could use a few more lathes Al. I mean, you only have 5 or so there.

 

[olaf Vogel]

Our shop all cleaned up.
View attachment 21085

That amount of space, machinery and cleanliness is just.....obscene!
And I'm jealous.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Mark, rest assured that there are areas of my shop that I prefer not to show on camera <vbg>

Prove it!

 

[Jamie Straw]

Hy,
I'm going to add a heater to my garage shop before the really cold weather sets in. What sort of space heater do I see in your shop and how do you like it? I'm not nearly as tidy as you are and I'm concerned about the shavings catching on fire. Thanks.

I've only read this far in this monstrous thread, so forgive if I'm repeating but I have a pellet stove and just love it. Once it's started, there's no open flame. Even if I have to refuel, there's no open flame. Can't afford to heat shop with electric, and the Island has no natural gas.I got the stove used for $425, pellets run me about $50/mo. Drafty shop, 425 sq. ft., keep it about 60-62 degrees. Big expense was the chimney, put in several years ago for a different stove. Also, clearance for a pellet stove is much less than for a regular wood burner.

 

[AlanZ]

Prove it!

There is an old line that says... "If you are going to open the kimono, make sure you are fit"
I loosen the kimono from time to time, but I am a shy, demure creature at heart.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

There is an old line that says... "If you are going to open the kimono, make sure you are fit"
I loosen the kimono from time to time, but I am a shy, demure creature at heart.

 

[hockenbery]

There is an old line that says... "If you are going to open the kimono, make sure you are fit"
I loosen the kimono from time to time, but I am a shy, demure creature at heart.

Please don't lose the shyness.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Please don't lose the shyness.

 

[Bill Boehme]

My kimono seems to be getting smaller ... At least, that's the only explanation that I'm willing to acknowledge.

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

My kimono seems to be getting smaller ... At least, that's the only explanation that I'm willing to acknowledge.

It could be that the top button of your kimono was left open and you're packing a pile of shavings in there. Just a theory.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Whoa! Talk about diversions... I'm not touching this one with a ten foot spindle.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

My kimono seems to be getting smaller ... At least, that's the only explanation that I'm willing to acknowledge.

Yes Bill mine too. I finally decided it was the hot water in the washing machine.......

 

[odie]

Yes Bill mine too. I finally decided it was the hot water in the washing machine.......

Now......that's a creative excuse I'll tuck away in the back of my mind, for future use!

This thread has been fun........but, I'm thinking I might have to go out and take a photo in my shop of something I haven't shown before.......(thinking)

ko

 

[Bill Weaver]

This just looks like something you would see in Better Homes and Gardens

 

[Tom Albrecht]

W!

 

[AlanZ]

Prove it!

Tom,

The turnings we do are typically small items, so the "shavings" are pretty manageable. The same cannot be said for lots of tools strewn around the shop that have yet to be returned to their normal resting places.

Here's a little photo of me turning some pink dyed stabilized burl for a run of shaving brushes we made. There's a nice Thompson spindle roughing gouge under there somewhere.