Shop Porn ?

[JimmyC]

Hey All,

Once again I bought the FWW Tools & Shops annual issue and I'm left scratching my head why I spent the money. Not that the issue isn't nice, but it's definitely not worth $10 maybe more like $6. Every year I have to buy all of the Shop issue magazines, no matter who is putting them out.

Which brings me to my question: " Am I the only person that enjoys seeing people's shops this much ?"

I don't care if they are big or small, in good shape or sloppy, in need of a makeover or even used for things other than woodworking. I marvel at how people overcome the adversity of there own shops. I would make every shop crawl if it were possible, it's not, and still yearn for more. Every shop gives me good ideas for my own, some ideas are ones that I should try and others are ones that I should never think about. Neccesity is truly the mother of invention and shops are definitely the testing ground.

I guess that I will always yearn for a peek into a new magazine or book about shops, probably because I get to see shops that I'll never get to see in person.

BTW, the new issue has Greg Paolini's shop in it and I was surprised to see the size of it and the tools that it contained. Most of us either have, or can have, a shop like Greg's, but his skill and eye for detail is something else. Nice shop Greg :icon_thum


So are any of you peeping tom's when it come to shops ?:gar-La;

 

[FredP]

me not so much but you is welcome to come tour my little hole in the wall.:rotflm: I aint gettin out much these days but if you don't mind the drive stop in sometime. I think Jeff may be by again tomorrow. and i cleaned it up not long ago too!:gar-La;

 

[CrealBilly]

me not so much but you is welcome to come tour my little hole in the wall.:rotflm: I aint gettin out much these days but if you don't mind the drive stop in sometime. I think Jeff may be by again tomorrow. and i cleaned it up not long ago too!:gar-La;

Fred I like sawdust and wood chips everywhere (please don't clean it up) yours is a wood working shop that is worked in :thumbs_up

 

[FredP]

Fred I like sawdust and wood chips everywhere (please don't clean it up) yours is a wood working shop that is worked in :thumbs_up

yeh what was I thinking? gettin ready to nasty it all up again real soon!:gar-Bi

 

[CrealBilly]

yeh what was I thinking? gettin ready to nasty it all up again real soon!:gar-Bi

Oh yeah what's next to roll out of Fred's Shop?

Did you apply for a patent on those hinges yet? You know you should.

 

[MrAudio815]

Oh yeah what's next to roll out of Fred's Shop?

Did you apply for a patent on those hinges yet? You know you should.

Saw similar Hinges on "Basic Box Making" DVD By Doug Stowe. :eusa_thin

Just got the Video as another was wanting to Make Boxes and DaveO suggested Doug Stowe, and figured I don't learn as well reading so I got the DVD. :eusa_danc

It's EXCELLENT~!!! :banana: :banana: :gar-Bi


And Jimmy Yes I love looking at people's Shop's, they inspire me too. I just don't buy every mag or book, that would get expensive, and cut into my toyl money.:gar-Bi

 

[Bigdog72]

Jimmy, This ought to keep you busy. There are 1325 shops listed here and most have pictures.

http://lumberjocks.com/workshops

Enjoy but also note that a majority have shops less than 400 sq ft. Makes me feel real good about my 16' x 24'. :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

 

[Gotcha6]

Now you guys know the lure of the shop crawl. It's better'n the magazine, it's like goin' to the Playboy Club - for tools of course!!

 

[Tarhead]

Now you guys know the lure of the shop crawl. It's better'n the magazine, it's like goin' to the Playboy Club - for tools of course!!

We should have a Special Ops Shop Crawl to see how we really operate. How long did you have to run the leaf blower before we showed up?:gar-La;

 

[FredP]

We should have a Special Ops Shop Crawl to see how we really operate. How long did you have to run the leaf blower before we showed up?:gar-La;

no special ops needed.:nah: I usually clean before starting a large project. [sometimes even after one:widea:] and when it's clean it's still dirty by some folks standards!:rotflm: leaf blower only happens when dust is falling from the joists and spoiling a finish. [once in 6 years so far!]:roll:

 

[LeftyTom]

This is one of the reasons I stopped subscirbing to Family Handyman. They were spending too many pages on "who's got the hottest shop?" and "contracting interior decorators", rather than the useful projects they included in the '80's and '90's.

 

[Sealeveler]

Gotta love looking at them shops but it's hard to see jigs and tricks and most of the hand tools are put away.It's like they show you enough to wet your appetite and make you drool wanting more.Tony

 

[JimmyC]

Gotta love looking at them shops but it's hard to see jigs and tricks and most of the hand tools are put away.It's like they show you enough to wet your appetite and make you drool wanting more.Tony

This is so true. That's one of the reasons that shop crawls are so cool, because you get to see everything .

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Bad Dust Collection Info!!!!

Speaking of the FWW Annual- Please, please, do not use the article "Step Up to Whole-Shop Dust Collection" as a source for setting up a DC in your shop. It is filled with content errors, as well as bad examples in the photographs. The author claimed "A lot of what I learned about dust collection cam from Bill Pentz (website). . . . " If he read Bill's site, he sure didn't learn much from it!!! When I alerted him, I sent Bill a list of errors I saw. He was horrified after he read it and sent me back an even longer list of problems. Neither the author nor FWW consulted with him on the article!!

Problems in just the first picture (most cause high resistance/static pressure and can significantly reduce flow):

• Inlet to cyclone is not direct, snakes around too much making almost a 180 deg. turn.
• As long as he was going to cut a hole in the ceiling for the motor, he should have gone ahead and made it bigger so he could mount the cyclone higher so the inlet was at duct level.
• Fittings next to and above the jointer are low-velocity wyes and not suitable for DC ducting
• Ducting from jointer makes a 180 deg. bend. - bad!
• Duct to cartridge filter is flex hose and makes a tight 90 deg turn
• Duct to bandsaw is reduced to 4" before it wyes to the two bandsaw ports- it should start with 6" they reduce (6-4-4).
• To seal duct joints the author used "duct tape" which rapidly deteriorates. If he was going to seal with tape he should have used foil tape designed for this application.
• He is using metal, non-self cleaning blast gates, that don't even open up all the way.

 

[fergy]

Gotta love looking at them shops but it's hard to see jigs and tricks and most of the hand tools are put away.It's like they show you enough to wet your appetite and make you drool wanting more.Tony

So basically, you're saying it's like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition of shop porn?

 

[JimmyC]

Re: Bad Dust Collection Info!!!!

Speaking of the FWW Annual- Please, please, do not use the article "Setp Up to Whole-Shop Dust Collection" as a source for setting up a DC in your shop. It is filled with content errors, as well as bad examples in the photographs. The author claimed "A lot of what I learned about dust collection cam from Bill Pentz (website). . . . " If he read Bill's site, he sure didn't learn much from it!!! When I alerted him, I sent Bill a list of errors I saw. He was horrified after he read it and sent me back an even longer list of problems. Neither the author nor FWW consulted with him on the article!!

Problems in just the first picture (most cause high resistance/static pressure and can significantly reduce flow):

• Inlet to cyclone is not direct, snakes around too much making almost a 180 deg. turn.
• As long as he was going to cut a hole in the ceiling for the motor, he should have gone ahead and made it bigger so he could mount the cyclone higher so the inlet was at duct level.
• Fittings next to and above the jointer are low-velocity wyes and not suitable for DC ducting
• Ducting from jointer makes a 180 deg. bend. - bad!
• Duct to cartridge filter is flex hose and makes a tight 90 deg turn
• Duct to bandsaw is reduced to 4" before it wyes to the two bandsaw ports- it should start with 6" they reduce (6-4-4).
• To seal duct joints the author used "duct tape" which rapidly deteriorates. If he was going to seal with tape he should have used foil tape designed for this application.
• He is using metal, non-self cleaning blast gates, that don't even open up all the way.

Alan,

It's funny that you mentioned that article because I was laughing as I read it, when he mentioned Bill Pentz's name in the article. I was thinking about some of the conversations that have gone on, on this site, about DC lately and how far off of being right this guy is. But as I said previously, sometimes I learn what not to do when I see some shops.

Look at page 20 where the guy sent a recommendation of putting a light on behind the DC hose in an enclosed sound-proofed closet. He'd have to keep the door open to see the light as he works, thus eliminating the soundproofing.:BangHead:

The content provided by FWW is not real good in this issue.

 

[Bas]

Which brings me to my question: " Am I the only person that enjoys seeing people's shops this much ?"

Nope. I love seeing other people's shops as well. It's great to see how people have solved storage, workflow, infrastructure (DC/ electrical) and accessibility in different ways. Let's face it, there are lots of things you can't learn through reading. Like running duct work. Figuring out how to put the pipe into the wye is easy, figuring out how to hang it from the ceiling, not so simple if you never heard of pipe strap! Same goes for electrical. A hot, a neutral and a ground, if you know that you can wire an outlet. But how run conduit from A to B to C when you have to factor in soffits and doors and walls, the best way to learn that is to look at other shops.

I'm not afraid to admit I'm not the most skilled or productive woodworker. Much of my satisfaction with this hobby comes from building, upgrading and improving the workshop. That, and buying tools of course :tool: I do hope to actually build more things once I get settled in, but in the mean time, a well-built shop is a result on its own, I think.