Recently I decided it would be nice to have a watchmaker’s style bench for small, non-messy projects like guitar repair, inlay work, etc. It would allow me to work in the comfort of the house on cold days. After pricing watchmaker’s benches, I decided to cobble one out of an old solid birch desk I picked up at the Goodwill store for $40. I added a raised top to bring it up to about 36″, and saved myself six or seven hundred dollars. Nine drawers of storage for my hand tools, jeweler’s tools, etc. And a nice neat area for working on items up to guitar size. The Versa-Vise quick releases for removal if I need to get it out of the way. I originally planned to build some drawers to fit under the table top, but I’ve found the space is perfect as-is for stashing tools and other items that tend to clutter the bench top while working.

On the desk is my little Sherline metal lathe showing a saw attachment I recently fabricated. I turned a mandrel to hold a 3″ precision, thin-bladed slitting saw which I can clamp in the lathe chuck. I built it because I wanted a fine-kerf saw for cutting tiny marquetry tiles for classical guitar rosettes and other such finicky stuff. This blade makes a kerf of only .017″. I made a table and fence out of scrap aluminum, which clamps into the lathe vise, to create the miniature table saw. It’s limited to 1/2″ depth of cut, but is very precise with almost no material waste. As a test cut, I sliced off a piece of cedar you can see sitting on the saw table. It measures an even .4mm thick. A perfect, smooth cut. I can even use the lead screw handwheel to make cut adjustments as small as .001″. Should come in handy for fabricating small parts like guitar nuts, saddles, inlay, etc. If you can’t buy the tool you need, you can always make one.

Here’s an example of one of the instruments I built in the garage workshop. If the projects are not too large, one can do decent work in very modest space.

I thought I would send you some shots of my home shop. I have been a hobbyist woodworker for the past 10 or so years. Not only is my shop a wood shop but it is where I fix all the household stuff. Lamps that stop working, bikes, etc. Come on into my shop. It is down two flights of stairs in the basement, it’s the door on the right, photo #1. It is 12′X12′ square with a 7′ ceiling. I have an ongoing battle with the house furnace that takes up about a 3′ square patch of the room. Needless to say I think it would be classified as a “small shop”. I have built a king size bed as well as two large rolling storage cabinets for a school in the shop but most of my work is much smaller. CD/DVD cases, boxes, coffee and side tables, etc.

Photo #2 & 3 are shots looking through the door into the shop. All of my tools are either bench top or able to move around the shop so I can accommodate larger pieces of wood. This includes my Delta contractor saw which I can spin around to face the door and out feed wood through the door using roller stands as out feed support if needed. I have a bench top craftsman drill press that sits on its own shop built rolling stand.

In photo #4 there is my King Canada 6″ jointer, Ryobi bench top belt/disk sander and tucked under my bench is the router table. The cabinet in the corner is an old kitchen corner cabinet that has a lazy susan inside that holds all my finishing products as well as sand paper and household paint. The two wall cabinets (again from our old kitchen) hold miscellaneous parts for machines as well as books and magazines.

Photos 5 & 6 are shots of my bench. It is about the simplest bench that could be made. Using 2X4s and a maple veneered chip board top. When the top gets too beat up, I flip it over and then replace it all together when that side gets destroyed. Hanging on the wall are some of my hand tools. Some “C” and spring clamps as well as a light hanging from a bar above the bench. On the bench are two recently finished CD cases and a lift lid box that are Christmas presents for family. In photo #6 is my Steal City hollow chisel mortiser. It sits on another old kitchen base cabinet. This cabinet holds stuff that I can’t find another place for. Beside that is my Dewalt thickness planer. I have passed lots of board feet through this machine. The chip collection for the planer is a garbage pail inside the shop-built cabinet that the planer sits on.

Photo #7 & 8 are looking from the bench back to the door and the table saw. The wall cabinet holds mostly household stuff, light bulbs etc. My other hobby is mountain biking and the top red tool chest holds all my bike related tools parts. The bottom rolling cabinet holds hand power tools as well as the majority of my hand and marking tools. Hanging on the wall above the table saw is my Ryobi scroll saw. As I don’t have a band saw, the scroll saw doubles as my band saw with major limitations. I hate to throw out any wood except for the smallest pieces. I have my off cuts scattered around the shop and all my larger pieces of lumber stored either in an outdoor shed or in a small storage space under the stairs.

The last photo shows where I store my bar clamps. All my quick grip clamps hang off the cold air return on the furnace. The shop has gone through several makeovers in the last ten years and one of the projects for the New Year is another shop make over. All the old kitchen cabinets are going to go and I am going to build floor to ceiling cabinets to house all the stuff. I am also planning on building a new bench, most likely a torsion box style but I am still working on the plans for that. As you can see it is a small space but one of the things I really like about it is I am only a few steps away form anything in there. Thanks for taking a tour of my shop!

Also, David recently released his Scrapers DVD. It contains everything you need to know to properly sharpen card scrapers, cabinet scrapers, and gooseneck scrapers. I watched this for the first time last week and I instantly felt like I was watching a new episode of Woodworks (only more REAL!) You can pick the DVD up here.

Want to see more from David Marks? Check these out:

David & Victoria Marks Interview
David Marks Gallery Tour
David Marks Project in Progress
A Guild Chat with David Marks

“I have a somewhat unusual workshop. I work at a place called 3rd Ward, which is a resource for creative people of many kinds, in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. There’s a woodshop, but there’s also a metal shop, a computer lab, lots of desk spaces for graphic designers and the like, two recording studios, a gallery, and three photo studios (not darkrooms). The woodshop has a very elementary safety primer (which I teach), a furniture design class, a refinishing class, a basic introduction to joinery (which I also teach), and several more classes are developing. The idea is to collect creative people together and build a community so they might collaborate and learn from each other. It’s a good idea, and in practice it has its pros and cons. Here’s a link: http://www.3rdward.com”

“Some of you might be interested in our tools. We’ve got an old 14″ Rockwell Delta table saw that’s a great workhorse with no major issues, and it’s primarily the rip saw. We’ve also got a 14″ Martin sliding saw with 8′ of travel. We have two bandsaws, a 14″ Powermatic, and a big old monster made by IDunnoWho. Two drill presses, a big old one with a head that swings on an arm with two joints (like a shoulder and an elbow, so it has a very deep reach, about 22″ I think), and a small benchtop Ryobi that works just fine for most things. 12″ Dewalt compound chop saw. Combination disk sander/belt sander by Shop Fox that is total crap. Powermatic 8″ jointer, and Enco 15″ thickness planer. 5 workbenches, used for everything from glue-ups to writing documents. You know, workbenches. They’re just 4Ã?â??4 posts with 1 1/2″ slabs of oak on top, and some bracing. They’re not dead flat, but they’re usually fine. There are also some portable power tools people can use, but I have found it easier and more reliable to have my own. I have a small storage space in an adjacent room, where I keep my rolling cart, some vertical sheet goods, some vertical hardwood, and a bunch of other stuff.”

“There are pros and cons, as I said. The biggest pro is that there are plenty of other people around to ask questions of. Several of the other regular shop users are guys with years of professional experience. The shop manager has worked in cabinet shops for 25 years, and he knows all there is to know about cabinetmaking, also a lot about many other areas of woodworking. He’s also not bad with metalworking and electrical and plumbing and etc. I work alone, and I have no employees, but it’s not hard to find someone to help me lift something. I can turn around and say, “Hey Eric, does this look stupid?” or “Do you have any 2″ cabinet screws, San?” or “How come my finish is dripping, Naresh?”

“The next big advantage is that the rent (actually “membership fee”) is reasonable and I don’t have to buy my own machinery. As a young guy (34) starting a business I’m not 100% confident about, it’s nice not to have a large capital investment in overhead. I don’t get scared if I have 3 weeks without paying work. It gives me a chance to do other things that will help me to learn what my own designs actually look like.”

“The third advantage is that once in a while I get work from other people there. Someone will call the front desk and ask if there’s a woodworker in the house who can make something. Or someone will need help with an installation. Or the situation where a guy did a bunch of design work on a project, which took longer than he thought, and then it was time for him to move away. He passed the fabrication to me.”

“In the con department: Chief among these is abuse of the machinery and the facility. It’s often because students or amateurs using the shop (sometimes for only a day or two) don’t know any better. For example, they rip a 12′ piece of 6/4 oak with the crosscut blade, overheating it and warping it. Often people do dangerous things, like crosscutting a long board with the rip fence. Kickbacks are way too common. No one’s hurt themselves yet, in two years, but I think it’s only a matter of time. Some of the regular shop users, professionals and semi-professionals, can be tough on the place too, like when they leave a dusty layer of overspray all over in the spray room. There’s even the factor of non-shop users who borrow things and don’t return them. We used to have dozens of small clamps. Now there are two. The rest, I suspect, are in the tool kits of photographers who have used the photo studios.”

“Another con is that, with people working together, come office politics. You know about this if you’ve ever had a job of any kind. People bicker when they spend time together, and petty issues blow up. Last, we’re out of space. Under financial pressure, the place has had to find space for more users and sell more memberships. It’s more crowded than it was, and it’s getting worse. There are more classes now too. That means teaching opportunities for guys like me, but it also puts a drain on the space.”

“My whole time there, two years, I’ve constantly considered moving out and setting up my own space somewhere. I always settle down to the idea that the pros outweigh the cons, and it’s better right now not to take a risk and burden myself with overhead. Next week I might change my mind, but right now I’m staying where I am.”

“I started my own business in June 2007, just making work benches and now have expanded to garage and wardrobe systems. I have had no training in joinery or woodworking but have studied in Draughting. Watching The Wood Whisperer has been very interesting. If you noticed I took Marc’s design of the assembly bench to the max size. Its been really handy. Cheers. I will continue to expand into wood working over time. Keep up the good work USA.”

Here is a little more info from Hamish:

The saw is SCM SI-16W Rise & Fall Tilt Arbor Sliding Table Panel Saw
3.2m cut capacity, scorer unit, auto brake. 415v/3ph/50hz.
1500mm rip capacity
3200mm crosscut
5.5hp main motor / 1 hp scriber motor
overhead guard which i have taken off for easier cuting of 2.4 x 1.2 panels

The other big machine is a KD 54 Hot melt Edgebander, this will glue on pvc or wood edging to board or timber, trimmes and cuts egding in one go. very handy. The other machine is a Blum Mini Press which can drill hinge holes into the doors and also has removeable head which can be replaced with a 8 drill spindle head allowing you to drill muiltable holes in a work piece.

The jointer is a toolline 6inch buzzer with 1400mm table good for long pieces of timber only single phase but fine for what i use. I have a little thckness under bench 12inch. handy but only entry level. In the other cabinet shed we have a a horizontial drill press for caming and dowling and compressor and hand tools and very important fridge for lunch. Also as for the question on the legs to by benches I flat pack the benches and send around the country this allows for them to be easily removed the bolted back on. I also have a very Loving and Wise Wife who fully supports me in my work and does keep me from getting to carried away in buying to much stuff. Thanks for the questions hope this helps

“Here are some pictures of my shop, formerly known as our two car garage. I am lucky to have a wonderful wife who has let me pursue my hobby and has been willing to park outside for the past sixteen years. Our four kids do have one corner, but the shop has taken over the rest. We moved last year from AL to KY and the moving company wasn’t going to move my lumber which is mostly oak, cherry and walnut because my new company would not pay to move lumber. I finally came to an agreement with the moving company and they moved “312 pieces of garage shelving:)”.

“The shop is about 13×22, it was a garage that was converted into livable space, then converted to a shop by me. As such, it has a separate heating system from the house. The tricky part about laying out this shop was the size of the tools I own compared to the space. The table saw capacity is limited because it had to be positioned so that the rails go around the DC hose. I didn’t want to cut the rails down, surely this won’t be my last ever shop space. I used the Grizzly shop tool to draw up the shop, then made it happen.”
“I added the 220v service by branching off of the dryer, with what I call my ‘mad scientist switch’, a giant disconnect throw so that you can either run the dryer or the shop. This way the shop tools don’t have power most of the time, helping keep kiddies safe since most of my 220v tools don’t have lock-out features. It’s a bit of overkill, but my wife works for an industrial electrical manufacturer, so it was cheap.”
“The shop is a bit of a mess in the photos as I have about 3 projects going on in there at the moment. I think the only thing I’d like to have is a bigger lathe and some more lumber storage. Other than that, this shop is pretty functional.”

The tools:
PM2000 table saw w/ router table in extension
8″ Jet jointer
1 3/4 hp canister dust collector (also jet)
Performax 16-32 drum sander
Dewalt 13″ planer
el cheapo M Power 1018 mini lathe
Jet 18″ bandsaw
Dewalt 20″ scroll saw
Delta 16″ drill press
Makita LS1013 sliding miter saw
Lots of hand held power tools, and a good number of hand tools.

“With all the “new” shops that we have seen, I thought some of you might be interested in a wood shop that was built by my father in the basement of our Long Island, New York home around 1962. I still remember, as a young boy, holding a star drill as my dad manually pounded holes in the concrete basement floor to set the footers for framing the shop walls. I don’t know if I was really “helping” but my dad let me think I was!”

“The first picture shows my dad’s Craftsman table saw in the center of the shop. The saw had a “big” 7″ blade and “gravity feed” dust collection. (Sawdust just dropped into a big drawer in the cabinet base he constructed for the saw.)”

“As you can see from Pic 2, every tool in the shop had a place and my dad could always tell if a tool was not placed back where it was supposed to be! The chisels consisted of a large array of different sized flat chisels and gouges. Along the top were a number of “braces” for drilling holes as well as some antique specialized molding planes and spoke shaves. The “bits” available for the “braces” were located in drawers as seen in the Pic 3.”

“My father was primarily a “hand tool” guy, but did have a few power tools as seen inthe next Pic. Note how all the tools, with the exception of a router acquired in later years, are all constructed with metal casesââ?¬â?no plastic! Other power tools (Pic 5) consisted of a bench drill press, a grinder, a Unimat metal lathe, and a homemade disc sander.”

“In another corner of the shop (Pic 6) you can see a 1930s version of a multipurpose power tool. This combination tool was given to my father when he was a teenager. You can see the wood lathe and a removable “jigsaw” (now called a scrollsaw). This jigsaw could be removed and replaced with a very small table saw when needed. My father was still using this lathe in the 60s and 70s as you can see by the number of turning tools he acquired and maintained. To the right you can see his set of handsaws and block planes.”

“In the final work area of the shop is what he called his “metalworking” area (Pic 7). This area consisted of a variety of rasps, files, metal cutting tools, pliers, and hammers.”

“Many of my father’s older tools were inherited from his high school wood shop teacher. They formed a strong friendship when my dad was in high school and became lifelong friends. Many of these tools were originally stored in a tool chest (Pic 8) passed down from his family. The outside this tool chest looks pretty old and worn. Once opened you can see the entire inside was beautifully constructed of inlaid diamond shaped pieces of wood with the owner’s name dated 1890. Within the chest are several sliding panels and compartments which held an entire set of “wood” molding planes (not shown). The story is that this chest used to be hauled around New York City by wagon for custom cabinet work by the owner.”

“It all started in Aught-Five, when my lovely wife and I decided it was time to add on to our 3 bedroom colonial. With two little girls and a whole lotta Fisher Price stuff, we were starting to feel cramped. So I took advantage of my very handy retired-architect dad and we built ourselves a 1,100 sq. ft. three-story addition. During this project, I managed to reserve a 12′x12′ plot of space in the basement that has since been dubbed Mantown.”

“Mantown is on the cozy side and has a very low ceiling. But I put in double doors that open out under the deck. This allows me to get things in and out easily and to cut larger items on the table saw, which rolls into place when I need it. The doors and window also give me plenty of natural light to work with. I even thought ahead and had the window made with tempered glass, for when I accidentally put a pipe clamp through it. Also, rather than drywall, I put pegboard up directly onto the studs, an idea that seemed great at the time, but frankly I’m starting to think pegboard is overrated.”

“Mantown has a long way to go before being complete. Tool-wise, I’m just getting started. Delta 10″ contractor’s saw, Delta drill press, and a Makita sliding compound miter saw are the major tools. I also have been doing a lot with my Kreg pocket hole setup. The wall containing the miter saw is pretty much temporarily thrown together, but I’m working on a master plan for it to improve storage, utility and all-around coolness. I’m also planning to incorporate a router table into the right side of the table saw and am debating dust collection options while currently using a shop vac connected to the tools wherever possible. The alcove next to the interior door is handy for storage as well, though I had to make sure to position the shelves at the right height to allow a 8′ board to be cut on the miter saw.”

“Despite the size and small tool collection, I’ve been quite productive with the space, mostly building what needs to be built for the addition. In the pictures you can see an entire built-in unit and new fireplace mantle, made of a combination of ply and pine with a tile top (and, okay, Dad helped). My most recently completed project is a student desk and bulletin board for my eight year old daughter, with love from daddy.”

“I’ve started work on built-ins for our home office, and have so far put together a desk for my lovely wife, which will eventually become a full wraparound suite of cabinets once we get rid of that gawdawful wallpaper (and yes, a gadget station included!). The desk was actually one of my first projects, during which I learned things like paying attention to grain direction, book-matching panels, and how to stain wood correctly (all after the fact, of course). Building the desk was also a strategic move on my part to convince said lovely wife that Mantown is really “all for you, honey”. So far it seems to have worked. Wait till I tell her I want to knock out that wall behind the miter saw and make it bigger!!! I appreciate any commentary, especially suggestions on how to turn my 7′ ceiling into a 9′ ceiling.”