I had never been able to saw a straight line or even nail a board. About three years ago my son needed my help on his Eagle Scout project. We struggled but with lots of help, built a playhouse on the church playground. Afterwards I took the leftover lumber and made myself a little workbench. I began picking up a tool here and there and before I knew it, I wanted to make a few projects. For fifteen years my life revolved between my two sons. My oldest kept us at the baseball fields 9 months out of the year and my youngest kept me busy as an Assistant Scoutmaster. My extra activities had come to and end and I am so glad I found woodworking. My wife and sons even get into it occasionally. The following are a few photos of my humble little shop.
My first workbench was made from leftover Eagle project. A grinder, sander and drill press are in the background. Also is the pegboard and table saw. With more scraps I made a stand for a hand-me-down miter saw, complete with an old Kirby for dust collection. Also are shelves for sanders, jigsaw and such.
When the wood started piling up I had to make lumber rack, cutoff bin. The router table sits below.
After the projects started, I decided I needed a better workbench. I made this one with a low budget. The large and small shoulder vises came from Highland Woodworking. I started playing around on a lathe and had to have one. I have made several bowls now. Plan to start turning pens soon.
My latest purchase, from Highland Woodworking, is my new 14 inch Steel City band saw. I plan on picking up the riser block and fence later on. I have already cut bowl blanks and attempted a collapsible castle.
Well, thats my little shop. I started off small but I plan to upgrade most of the tools. Over the last couple of years I have made several projects including Adirondack chairs, quilt racks for charity, a cedar chest for my wife among other items. You can check them out at: http://lumberjocks.com/billboard You can check out my shop cam on Ustream or on the Live Cam list. I am live in the shop a couple of days a week. I have been enjoying my new hobby, especially bowl turning. I plan to take the bowl turning classes at Highland Woodworking soon.
Nice little shop you have going there. Love that workbench!
Bill, that’s a great shop, and you have made some beautiful projects. I’m particularly impressed with the size and quality of the projects you have tackled with such a small saw and so few tools. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the idea that you have to have a huge cabinet saw, and tons of tools just to get started. You really show that it’s more about the woodworker, the patience and the dedication than it is about the tools. I’m really impressed. Keep it up!
Nice beginning on your shop. Hooray for the Eagle Scouts.
Just always remember: It’s the Indians, not the arrows :) (No offence to the arrows) & congrats to that Eagle Scout!
looks like a great setup, indeed, that bench looks terrific.
Great looking shop … remember most woodworkers show off their projects, not where they came from – the ‘cave of wonders’ should remain as much a hidden mystery as possible – especially to the ‘Minister of Finance’!
nice to see young men getting excited about the art of turning timber into sawdust
Hey Bill,
I’m a bit late to this but I just read through your shop tour. I imagine you’ve gotten more into turning bowls by now. I started turning pens about 3 years ago and bowls a little over a year ago. Bowls are addictive, but I’m stuck on a midi lathe so my largest diameter is just over 9 inches. It’s still a lot of fun and one of these days I’ll get a bigger lathe to do large (16-20 inch) bowls.
Keep on turning!