A lot of people tend to be seasonal woodworkers, especially for the hobbyist. Many people head to the shop in the fall and don’t come out until it is time for the summertime fun to begin. I generally tend to be a little different than the rest of the crowd. I like to head out to the shop in the early spring, when the weather starts to warm up a bit, and then I will be out there until late fall, or early winter, when the weather gets too cold to work comfortably. Continue reading Seasonal Woodworkers
I finally found a couple of hours this weekend to cleanup my garage/workshop. It had been slowly becoming a disorganized mess over the last few months. I haven’t had enough time to start a real project, so most of the work done in the shop had been quick little fix-it or modify-it type of work. Continue reading Unfinished Projects

Front View (Click for larger view)
Here is a quick update of where I am on the workshop design. If you remember from my first article, the footings and frost wall already exist so I cannot modify anything with them, but every thing else is fair game.
Continue reading Workshop Design #4
Now that I have my wish list for the general construction of the workshop, it is time to focus on the interior of the shop and make a list of its features that I would like to include. This list will focus on things like; whether to have drywall or wood walls, flooring, cabinetry, pegboard or upper cabinets, lumber storage etc. This list is also a work in progress and will probably be updated as time goes on.
Continue reading Workshop Design #3
Before I get into the nitty gritty of the workshop design, I need to pause and make list of what features I really want my workshop to have. This will start out as a “wish list”, but I am sure I will have to pare it down later on due to cost. I figure that if I design it the way I would really want it, I can always add some of the items later on down the road if I can’t afford them right away.
The first thing I want to consider is the overall style of the building. I live out in the country surrounded by farms and fields. I have always liked the look of old center aisle horse barns and that is what I would like my shop to resemble. Plus, the design gives me the opportunity to have a small second floor where I can have either an office or extra storage. The horse barn look is both aesthetically pleasing to its surroundings and very practical for use as a workshop. Continue reading Workshop Design #2
When I first start woodworking, my wife and I lived in a two story house with a very small detached garage. The garage was actually not very suitable for a workshop, at least not without a lot more work than I was willing to put into it. Besides that, I didn’t want that much money sitting in the garage in that particular neighborhood. Therefore my workshop was in the unfinished basement of the house. It would have made Matt proud. Continue reading Workshop Design #1