Who doesn’t love a lot from a little. So this is my shop; its the corner of the front room of a one bed room apartment in NY. With a little creativity, I have turned it into a full cabinet shop. The space is 8 feet by 10 feet.
1- saw stop
1- Powermatic drill press
1- Powermatic band saw
1- Festool table
1- Powermatic 6″ jointer 52″ bed
1- router table
1- lather
5- sanders
2- Festool vacuums attached to 2 cyclone filtration canisters inline for max suction and dust removal
1- air filter
1- tool chest, and all the festoons you can imagine as well as a planer (I roll that outside) and a compound miter saw.

Behind the saw is the couch and TV to the living room. So when its work time, I pull that tarp up and turn on the air filter to isolate the room and create a laminar flow into the filter. I’ll tell you for the last 2 years the system has worked! Thanks Marc for the lessons. Time to make some dust!

And check out my walnut coffee table to see what you can really do in a small space.

Our shop is set up in a 24′x 24′ garage in a residential neighborhood. The shop is fully insulated including the garage door, with an AC unit in the side door. I say “our” shop, because to my great fortune, my wife enjoys woodworking nearly as much as I do. We mainly build furniture for our house and as gifts for our family.

The main machines are a Felder KF700P saw/shaper (90″distance left of blade with slider/outrigger) and Felder AD 741 16″ jointer/planer. When my wife and I went to the Felder open house a few years back, she saw how easy and safe it was to cut a piece of plywood or heavy plank, and she was sold! The precision and safety of these machines is remarkable. The bandsaw is a PM1800, drum sander is a Jet 22-44 OSC and the Shopsmith, I inherited from my father.

The dust collection is performed by a Delta 50-850 modified with the 4″ restrictor plate removed and Thien baffle installed. The duct is all 6″ tapered to 5″ at the machine drops. The runs are short, and the performance of the Delta is nothing short of miraculous compared to the stock setup with 4 inch ducting. If you have this collector, these modifications are easy and highly recommended.

On a quick note, we recently bought the PM1800 bandsaw after much deliberation and testing of the major European brands in 18-24″ sizes. There is very little out there as to reviews on this machine, so if you are interested about it, let me know. All I will say is that it is really a monster of a bandsaw, with a versatility that few of the other saws offer.

Hope you enjoy the tour, and I just wanted to give a public thanks to my wife for making all of this possible! Also, thanks to all others who have posted shop tours, they are VERY enjoyable to look through.

From: Ben Hendricks

Hobbyist or Professional: Hobbyist

Project Name: Powermatic 66 Rebuild

I picked up this old timer from an old timer who was no longer able to make sawdust.The man was selling his whole shop, and under a pile of boxes was the green beast. I could see the base and the label. Powermatic Model 66. The serial number date code shows it?s a 1967 make. While I don?t know the exact history of this particular saw, it?s likely it once resided in a high school wood shop class. Given the shape of the cast iron top, I?d bet on it.

This was my first attempt at a rebuild. I?ve done a few hand planes and small things, but never anything of this capacity. The adventure started like you would think. I stripped it down. Ziploc bags and a Sharpie helped keep all the nuts and bolts organized. This was vital on the reassemble. I had it in my head it should only take a few weeks to complete; it took two months! However, the majority of the time was waiting for paint to dry.

Once everything was in pieces, I sanded and painted the cabinet with rattle can, which did not work well. It?s impossible to keep a ?wet? edge with spray paint on such a large area. I did not find out how bad it was until I went to put the saw back together. Every time I would bump the cabinet, the paint would chip off. So I had to back up and punt. I tried to sand it back down to no avail. I ended up taking it to get sand blasted to raw metal. The best 60 bucks I could have spent. Once I had the saw properly prepped, I had to get the proper paint. I ended up using Sherwin Williams DTM oil base. It is a very good paint, but it takes a good two weeks to cure. The guts of the saw were painted with Rustoleum Hammered in the quart can. I used a dabbing technique with a brush to get the coverage needed. The 3hp Leeson motor got a quick coat of black spray paint just to help it match the rest of the saw.

Every piece of machined metal and the nuts and bolts where polished with a 3 step buffing compound. As an added step of rust protection, I applied a light coat of shellac to help seal the metal from moisture. I don?t know if this step really did anything, but it made me feel better! The top was sanded from 60 ? 2000 grit. There are several hammer dents in the top, and a bad dip next to the throat plate (about 25thous). I thought about having the top re-ground, but decided to roll with it and see how it performs.

I?ve now got the saw in use. With a new Forrest blade, it cuts like a dream. The dip near the throat plate does not affect the cut whatsoever. I do have a few tips for anyone thinking about attempting such a rebuild.

1. Prep-Prep-Prep.
If you have to have it perfect (like me), sand blast everything with paint on it. The finished product is so much better when you start from scratch.

2. Be ready to spend some money.
I?ve got around 500.00 wrapped up in the saw rebuild (not counting the saw). Don?t go into it thinking you can do something like this for next to nothing. Bearings, belts, paint, sandpaper, nuts, bolts, etc? it all adds up.

3. Take your time and make it perfect.
Your work will be much better for it.

It was a very fun project. I am a ?tool guy? as much as a woodworker. Some would say I?m more the tool guy. I now have a mid 60?s Powermatic 141 14? bandsaw waiting to be put back into action.

I have a 24 year background in construction and the last 13 years as a commercial construction superintendent. I have been building furniture and cabinets for the last 12 years and teaching myself new techniques to improve my skills with every project. I have been laid off since last Sept. and haven’t had much luck finding another superintendent position, so I’ve been trying to make a start at my own woodworking business.

The shop is a 26ft. x 40ft. pole building that I built in 2005. I framed in the walls to insulate and drywall. I also decided to frame and sheet the floor instead of concrete. It has a 200 amp independant service. It’s location is about 100′ from my back door. Equipment is as follows. 5hp Delta unisaw, 15″ Delta planer, 14″ Powermatic bandsaw, 18″ 3hp Jet bandsaw, 36″ vintage Crescent bandsaw, Powermatic 719T mortiser, Delta 8″ jointer, Performax 2244 drum sander, Jet 6″x108″ edge sander, Shopfox spindle sander, Delta 6×48 belt/disc sander, Delta/Rockwell 24″ scroll saw, Delta 12×36 wood lathe and too many hand tools to list.

My shop is 21 x 27 with a stairwell out of it to a one bedroom apartment above which I have converted to my office. I started turning the garage into a woodshop about a year and a half ago. When I started, it had one plug-in and two light bulbs. I have replaced both doors with insulated doors, replaced the old fuse box with a breaker box and wired it both for 110 and 220. I added a Jet 1 ½ hp dust collector and ran pipe to most of my machines. I have a utility sink that I need to plumb in so I don’t have to run upstairs all the time. The furnace and AC for my office is in the garage so it never gets too hot or too cold and when I need it, I have a vent that I can open in the garage. I am still working on tool and wood storage and some shop furniture. I have a bathroom and kitchen upstairs in my office and I am thinking about making the bedroom a finishing room for things small enough to get up there.

My tools include a Delta Unisaw, Delta drill press, Delta band saw with a Kreg fence, a Powermatic hollow chisel mortiser, a Powermatic 15? planer, a Delta DJ20 8? jointer, a Jet slow speed wet sharpener, a Dewalt compound miter saw, an 8? bench grinder with a wolverine jig, an Earlex 5000 series HVLP spray station. We are getting there but we still have a long way to go.

Some of you may already know our good friend Tom Buhl. Check out some of his creations here and here. All that finely-crafted work comes out of a cozy two-car garage. Check it out.

A two-car garage is home to the Tom Buhl Workshop, an amateur endeavor. As you see in the first photo, that two-car garage also houses treasures, precious and otherwise, from combining two households five years ago into a 950 square foot home. When I married the lovely Ms. Gastil, she had a old, but serviceable contractor?s saw. So I made some shelves and storage devices from scraps and several raised garden beds. First furniture project, almost four years ago, was a set of bedside tables using plans purchased online. I was hooked. I play in the shop pretty much every day unless rain descends on our little corner of paradise.

Obviously, I work in a well-ventilated area with plenty of natural light. After opening the garage door, I roll out the carts. Even to use semi-stationary, I have to clear access space. As tight as things are, I?ve always managed to find a storage pattern to add another tool. I added the Jet 16-32 early this year and didn?t know how it could possibly fit, but somehow a formula was developed. When unexpected rain occurs it is a scramble to tuck everything safely away.

The PM2000 (a CraigsList find) has built-in wheels but stays put. Drill press and Grizzly 18-inch band saw are also used inside, but I will position to suit size of work. Wood cart on left wall was the first shop project?it has served me well. Holds scraps, cut offs and sheet goods. The Sj

Here are the companies we visited:

Leigh, Blum Tool Co., Ex-Factory, DeWalt, Powermatic, Delta, and Laguna.

For more IWF coverage, check out these great resources:
Fine Woodworking Editors Blog
Popular Woodworking Blog

In cooperation with Powermatic, we recently filmed 10 “shop tip” videos. The videos are a Powermatic website exclusive, but they are really like a bunch of short Wood Whisperer episodes. In fact, this is almost an updated shop tour, which a bunch of folks have been asking for. And as an added bonus, you get to see my best Zoolander impression! Enjoy!

*note- I apologize ahead of time for the sound quality. We did the best we could under the conditions we were presented with. Nicole did a great job keeping my energy level up and encouraging me to get these interviews so we all have her to thank for it. Enjoy!