Woodbridge Workshop

These are rare and unusual photos of my work shop. It is never really this clean. I built this basement workshop about 15 years ago and never got it completely finished. The cabinets still need to be painted and the drywall was never finished.

The shop is 9 feet wide by 20 feet long. At one end is a cabinet (used office cabinets) and an old sink from the cottage. The overhead cabinets contain sand paper, glue etc and small power tools in the other. I have included a small TV .

Along the far side of the shop is a row of cabinets that hold an old Dewalt 10” radial arm saw, a 10" saw and a benchtop drill press. I can easily cut 12 foot long boards at either the radial arm saw or mitre saw. The fence is aligned along the whole length. Underneath is more storage for other tools and my compressor.

A few years ago I installed a small 1 hp dust collection system. I still generate a lot of dust, but it works much better than just using a shop vac.

Along the other wall of the shop is a small 4” jointer, a 15 inch bandsaw and a table saw. They are all on wheels. Since these picture were taken I’ve changed table saws. In a bit of overzealous sawing I burnt out the motor on my old Delta Construction saw. Fortunately my cousin had a Ryobi table saw that he was not using and was king enough to give it to me. I have my eye on the new Sawstop Jobsite saw. Its just the right size for my shop.

The table saw is connected to the dust collection system by a 4” diameter flexible hose. I also have two lengths of 3” flexible house connected to my dust collection system and connect them to the bandsaw, planer, joint or router table when they are being used.

All of the countertops are at the same height as my table saw which allows me to handle larger sized pieces of wood at the table saw, resting them on the countertops.

Since storage space is at a minimum I have a portable router table and spindle sander hanging on the wall. When needed, I take them down and set them up on my workmate. Also standing on end is an inexpensive lathe. When I need it I set it up on my Workmate. My turning tools are stored in the spade between the floor joists.

I’m glad I never got around to finishing the ceiling since that ceiling space is useful storage room.

Wherever I have room I have clamps hanging from the walls and ceiling joist.

As the nature of my work changed from home renovations to furniture making I was using my planer a lot more frequently so I built a mobile base for it. I also built a mobile cabinet with storage or my sharpening equipment to make these more accessible and facilitate more frequent sharpening of my plane blades, carving and turning tools.

Much to my wife’s dismay the basement hallway jut outside my shop frequently gets turned into the wood storage and staging area for my projects. You can just make out a couple of chairs through the doorway in the photo below.

The need for storage grows as my tools collection increases so this year I built a mobile cabinet with storage for my table saw and a mobile tool cabinet . The cabinets are all at the same height as the table saw and can do duty as out feed tables when I am cutting larger stock.

I am also fortunate to belong to the Wasaga Beach Woodworkers Club. They have a much larger and fully equipped shop. So when I need a bit more space and a larger table saw, jointer or lathe its a short drive up north to cottage country and their shop.