Dave’s Aussie Shop

I am in the process of transitioning from cottage builder to joinery shop hobbyist/enthusiast. The majority of my equipment is focused for using on site with far less tolerances than the majority of The Wood Whisperer crowd would be comfortable with.

After haunting some of the forums I have motivated myself enough to start the project of cleaning out years of accumulated junk, tools and projects that lost steam.

The shop is developing in my 20 x 20 garage. The plan is to set up 10 x 20 and leave the other half for my old vehicle to sleep in at night time. There is a space behind my 20 x 20 garage which has a concrete slab, insulated roof and bare frames for walls that will, in time, become the shop proper, conditional on my interest continuing.

I purchased a flat packed steel rolling tool box with laminated hardwood top to help get things moving along quickly and I am very happy with it. The plan is to convert it into a mitre saw station, but at present it is handy for my bench mounted machines. The Dewalt mitre saw stand is what I have been using on work sites and it will probably stay this way for a while. In contrast, the workbench beside it was built by my great grandfather and used by him as a carriage builder for NSW railways, back in the times when railway carriages were built from timber.

I plan on building the torsion box assembly table that Marc showed us and it will sit in a similar way that an island bench does in a kitchen. You can see the difference the new lights make. There were two 36 watt tubes in this area. They were replaced with 6 twin 36 watt tubes that are also diffused and fitted with 5000 kelvin tubes instead of the 4000 kelvin, which were a bit warm for my old eyes. This shop will be a work in progress as responsibilities get in the way–but hey, you only have one shot at life, so why not enjoy it?