Crazy Monkey Woodshop

Benny showed you what the shop looked like before we went and freed some of our imprisoned tools from the storage unit we’ve been keeping them in (in the back, behind all of the rest of our stuff), and while the Moving of the Table Saw was dramatic (and traumatic), the best picture I have of that day is this one:

That was my hand after digging out the car from the mud, probably the first or second time. And this is the cleanest it was for the rest of the day.

So, the tour… Let’s start at the right side of the shop. Photos after the jump This post is picture heavy, so if you’re on a slower connection, you may want to click and grab a cup of coffee (or tea).

This is my favorite part of the shop, because that’s where my –I mean our — lathe is. It’s also where the back seats of the car are, as we’ve been moving tools and buying wood, plywood, and accessories, and having seats in your car just takes up space and weight. When you’re moving cast-iron tools, weight is definitely a consideration.

Since we’re looking at the right wall, shuffle to your left to the middle of the wall.

Here’s where we have a, um, trash can and a box that I think is full of the little bubble wrap things that we’ve been packaging the fingers in. Oh, and the dust pan. It’s important to have a broom and dust pan, or else you’ll find your shop knee deep in sawdust before long. Ok, ok, shuffle along a little more left, and don’t run into the 5′ square table.

Here’s the back right corner, where the drill press and Benny’s custom-made Super Fast Rocket Ship Winder Arm Finisher live. Right next to the 5′ square table that we’ve managed to not run into . The table is pretty cool, it has enough room to finish winders, sand parts, or glue up winder arms. Just usually not at the same time. Ben’s also made clamp storage and drill storage underneath, so neither of those kinds of tools wander off.

From here, let’s turn around and look at the back Left Corner:

Here’s where the router table is, and where we store parts. Some parts we have custom-made for us, like our yarn guides, some we order commercially, and the rest we make from plywood or blocks of maple. The buckets that we keep parts in stack nicely, and will generally be stored stacked. I just got photos at a time when Ben was actively making winders.

Ok, shuffle leftwards again!

Here’s the middle of the left wall, as seen over the table saw. Here we have an electric dryer, plywood and board storage, and you can see the jointer and planer from here. What? your woodshop doesn’t have an eletric dryer? Ok, ok, so it’s not going to stay there. We’re in the middle of a bathroom/laundry room remodel, and we got this one for free when Ben rented the shop.

Let’s mosey onto the front left wall:

This is kind of where the guided tour ends. We have the jointer and the dust collector at the front of the shop, as well as a clock and a place to hang our jackets.

Since this is the woodshop blog, I figured I’d show you some of the tools, and explain kind of what they do.

This is the table saw. Table saws make little boards out of big boards. They make straight cuts. Our table saw is a General, which I believe is made in the Great White North. Its cast-iron top is levelled so that you get straight perpendicular (or other accurate angle) cuts.

Here’s the planer on its stand, underneath the table saw. The planer makes thick boards thinner and parallel. It’s a DeWalt, if you’re interested in such things, although its name plate is much more readable.

Our Band Saw is some weird French brand, and doesn’t yet have its own stand. Band saws are generally used to make thick boards thinner, or to make cuts that aren’t as safe to make on the table saw, or to make curved cuts in wood.

This is the dust collector, which keeps the shop cleaner, by vacuuming the air coming from the tools and spinning the sawdust out of the air into the collection bag. Also pictured is the jointer, which makes the edges of boards straight, so that when you’re making a cut on the table saw, it will be parallel to a straight edge. The jointer is a Jet, the dust collector is made by Central Machinery.

The Lathe. Ah, my friend the lathe. I use the lathe to make drop spindles. I turn boards so they’re round, and then decorate them by making decorative cuts, beads, etc. I then turn the spindle shaft ends to make them look pretty. Ben also makes bowls when he has the time and space to. Those are generally made with the head of the lathe tilted toward the user, especially on larger pieces which are deeper than the distance between the head of the lathe and the bed. The legs and bed of the lathe are made of cast iron, as is the tool rest, which makes them less susceptible to vibration because of their mass.

This tool, the rocket-ship shaped thing, is something Benny invented to help him finish the arms of the inders. It’s full of the finish we use, and he can just dip each section of arm in. The handle was made on the band saw, and the triangular bits which keep it upright are made from scraps left over from winders.

I think that’s a pretty thorough look at the tools and the shop. I hope you enjoyed the tour!