Shop Tour – The Wood Lab

Shop Tour 2020

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a shop tour, and much has changed. While I did a live stream a few weeks ago, I thought it would be a good time to do a more structured tour. Thanks for watching!

May 20, 2020May 20, 2020 by Jim Ashley

I Did a Livestream Recently: “Social From Afar” – Hang Out and Informal Shop Tour

So my first live stream had some tech glitches. This was a very informal shop tour, and being live stream is a little rough around the edges. A more produced one is coming! At the end the YouTube chat didn’t refresh for me so I wrapped up thinking no further questions. Thanks John and Josh for letting me know. I got back to them after we wrapped up. Stay safe folks!

April 1, 2020April 1, 2020 by Jim Ashley

Shop Tour 2015 & What’s on the Bench

It’s been quite some time since my last video, and even longer since my last shop tour. As mentioned in my last post, 2015 hasn’t seen much shop time until just the last couple of months.

A lot has changed in the shop in that time. Now that I’ve been getting back into the shop, I wanted to show you around, and give you a quick update on a coffee table I’ve resumed working on.

I changed up the format a bit from my last videos, let me know what you think!

November 8, 2015August 8, 2017 by Jim Ashley

Shop Updates Since The Video Tour

When I posted the Intro and Shop Tour video, I had some plans on how I could improve the shop. Since that video, I’ve been able to do a few things in the shop to get things further organized. I thought now might be a good time to share some of those updates.

WL-french-cleat-2012-04-28 — The French Cleat wall is a bit more populated, with still room to grow.

WL-pegboard-1 — Remember that ugly blue-green pegboard? It was there when we moved into the house almost 10 years ago. It was hung poorly and was not all that stable. It’s now gone. I framed out a section for some better, more stable pegboard space.

WL-pegboard-2 — When doing the new pegboard section, I did a small “L” shaped piece that takes advantage of what would otherwise be wasted space.

WL-HW-section-1 — As part of the new framing for the pegboard, I reserved a section to the right for hardware storage. This section ties into the MDF storage shelf framing for added stability. I also added some pegs to the MDF unit to store rolls of tape.

WL-HW-section-2 — Another view of the hardware storage section. I turned the light off for less glare. There is a shelf at the top for miscellaneous hardware. Underneath that are speakers and my Kreg jig on a peg (grey case). Next to the right speaker I built a small holder for my smartphone, so I can listen to music, podcasts, or audio books while in the shop. Underneath this are a few rows of hanging containers for screws and nails. I also have miscellaneous hardware in the black cases next to the small subwoofer, along with some more storage in the red drawer unit. Sitting on a couple of 2×4’s on the floor is a bin where I keep rags.

WL-TS-accessories — The small partition next to the table saw now has some storage. There are three hanging bins that hold extra hex keys and wrenches for the tools, as well as accessories for the Grr-ripper you see hanging on the pegboard portion. Also seen on the pegboard are the other accessories.

April 28, 2012October 1, 2014 by Jim Ashley

Hangin’ With Woodworkers

It’s been a busy few weeks – I recently was in a remote training class for work for a week that was on west coast hours (I’m on the east coast). That was followed by a different than usual work schedule afterward. This is a blog post I’ve been wanted to do for a bit now that involves two recent opportunities to join other woodworkers for two different events.

Visit to Fine Woodworking Magazine

The first of these events was a visit to Fine Woodworking magazine in Newtown, CT with the Modern Woodworkers Association folks – a great reason to take the day off from work and get a long weekend out of the deal. Our hosts were Senior Editor Matt Kenney and Art Director Mike Pekovich, who gave us an overview of how an issue is produced, and afterward a tour of the shop area that included a discussion and demonstration of tips for shop efficiency. I don’t want to simply redo the excellent and detailed posts that Steve Branam, Dyami Plotke, and Nick Roulleau did about our visit – click on each to read their posts, they’re well worth the read. I had a great time and for me, I valued the tour and workshop efficiency tips (while I was doing this before, I am now even more conscious of setting realistic, obtainable objectives for a finite session of shop time). What I also valued though was seeing fellow woodworkers in person. What the MWA is all about is translating online social interactions into in person ones. Folks I had been interacting with in Twitter, Google+, blogs and forums I got to meet in person, as well as some I met for the first time (from both an online an in person perspective). Matt and Mike were gracious and treated us to lunch at the Taunton cafeteria, and it was more good conversation that continued at the lunch table.

WoodExpo 2012

Just over a week after the Fine Woodworking visit, it was time for WoodExpo 2012, part of the New England Home Show. I was just as impressed, if not more so, with the projects this year. What really struck me this year was that they had more real estate at the show, and that it was placed in a better location for more people to be exposed to some very fine pieces. It was also quite busy. I went on a Saturday as opposed to a Friday last year, so that may account for it being that much more busy. I did get a chance to briefly chat with Tommy MacDonald and Eli Cleveland, and a bit more with Rob Bois, Mike Morton, Mike McCoy, and Steve Branam (all four exhibited at the expo); as well as Dyami Plotke and Nick Roulleau. I also got to meet Chuck Bender who had a booth setup at the show. My biggest regret is that I could not stay longer. The Boston area Modern Woodworkers Association (MWA) had their kickoff that evening and I was not able to stay for the dinner after the expo. I had hoped to get to talk to Tommy and Eli a bit more as well, but unfortunately when I had to leave, they were just beginning a panel discussion regarding the state of the craft and the relationship with the buyer – I would have loved to stay to hear that discussion.

I hope to be able to plan a bit differently next year, and for other folks perspectives on WoodExpo, encourage folks to also visit Dyami’s post, as well as Nick’s two posts on his site, and on the MWA site.

WoodExpo 2012

WoodExpo 2012. Photo by Dyami Plotke. L to R: me, Mike McCoy, Chuck Bender

Fine Woodworking

Fine Woodworking. Photo by Matt Kenney. L to R: Steve Branam, Nick Roulleau, Dyami Plotke, Mike Morton, Michael McCoy, Doug Plotke, Chris Adkins, me, and Freddie Ellis.

Fine Woodworking

March 11, 2012October 3, 2014 by Jim Ashley

Video Introduction & Shop Tour

After doing a couple of “alpha” test videos with the Narex chisel videos I did, I thought it would be cool to start adding video content more consistently to The Wood Lab blog. Here is the introduction to this video series, and then cap it off with a tour of my shop! Let me know what you think!

December 13, 2011August 8, 2017 by Jim Ashley

Shop Tour April 2009

One thing I’ve always been bad at in the past is taking “before” shots before starting a project around the house. I figured now though, I would have a shop tour early on in this blog, and down the road as I hopefully update the shop, I could do another shop tour and see the difference between now and later.

One of the biggest challenges of my particular shop is that I have to be creative on where I place my tools. My house was built in 1860, and the basement has plenty of spots where you have to duck your head to avoid ductwork, pipes, etc.

What better way though to start a shop tour with a picture of my “May ‘The Schwarz’ Be With You” shirt!

This is one of the first things I built for the shop when we bought our house in 2002. As the family “IT Guy”, I wanted a bench to be able to open computers and work on them.

Just behind the computer bench is my floor drill press, with a bit of a mess in front of it.

Turning around 180 degrees from the drill press, you see my benchtop bandsaw, workbench and pegboard. On the portable stand to the right of the bench is my mitre saw.

To the right of the workbench and pegboard is the air compressor, with some shelves I am in the process of completing to store tools.

Turning back toward the bandsaw, are some shelves for tool storage as well as a radio with aux input setup for my iPod (gotta have tunes!).

Between the air compressor and the shelves leads to the second half of the basement where the “big tools” are… although that is just a jointer, contractor style table saw, and dust collector. This area has less of the ductwork, etc and therefore has more headroom.