Fake Woodshops vs. Your Woodshop


wouldwurker

Recommended Posts

Thank you for this post Vinny.  I think you're spot on in my case.  This hobby is very daunting in many ways.  Adding the pressure to have a perfect shop doesn't help.  I certainly count myself amongst the victims of that pressure to get everything right.  Your post has helped me realize how severely I have handicapped myself.  I have seemed to spend more time worrying about having a nice looking clamp rack than actually using the damn things!

 

Another example for me is this... I need a drill press.  Well rather than simply getting a benchtop drill press that will suffice until I can afford a better unit I end up with nothing.  This translates to me stalling and not completing project because I don't have the "perfect tool"... it would be pretty funny if it weren't so psychotic :)  I need therapy... :)

 

So whether the shop is a mess or perfectly ordered with matching machines and beautiful display cabinet showing off my expensive hand planes really is irrelevant as long as I am enjoying the hobby.  However if the one gets in the way of the other or more correctly prevents you from truly enjoying the hobby then you have a problem.

 

Hi my name is Dave and I am a "Workshop Perfect Addict" and proud member of WPA "Workshop Perfectionist Anonymous".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't envy fancy shop furniture, I try not to envy bigger fancier tools, I really really terry not to envy lumber storage racks.

What I do envy is space. My "shop" is the front third of a 1 car garage with steel shelving for storage on both walls. I have 3 floor standing machines. Table saw, drum sander, band saw. Everything else must break down easily and fit on the steel racks.

Vinny, I really enjoyed reading that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think if you are only seeing polished shops being filmed, your viewing is rather narrow. Now, some of the guys I am thinking about are posting less these days (or my perception is skewed)* There are plenty of messes of film if you can stomach the presenters.

*If you sign up for the occasional poster's podcast and work through 130 already published, it can seem out of balance to have to wait a month for a new update.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im not a fan of you tube stuff. I watched a TV show Bernie Mak or something like that it it seemed they clean between every step. I can appreciate that, if I wanted to look at saw dust I can look in my dust collector. Then there is the one with the three stooges that each one does a step and eventually it gets done. I think they do the same thing. Those are the only ones I've seen since we lost Norm and David Marks. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im not a fan of you tube stuff. I watched a TV show Bernie Mak or something like that it it seemed they clean between every step. I can appreciate that, if I wanted to look at saw dust I can look in my dust collector. Then there is the one with the three stooges that each one does a step and eventually it gets done. I think they do the same thing. Those are the only ones I've seen since we lost Norm and David Marks. 

 

I assume you mean these two shows?

http://www.woodsmithshop.com/

http://www.wgbh.org/programs/Rough-Cut-Woodworking-With-Tommy-Mac-1213

To me the woodsmithshop, is geared more towards the once a month or every other month weekend warrior, because a lot of the stuff they discuss seems like common sense to most woodworkers I know. A lot of the YouTube stuff is like this as well.

 

Tommy is a  good craftsman, but the problem with his show is that PBS cares more about entertaining the masses, than really teaching them anything.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

For some people, their shop is their hobby (or at least part of it).  They like building shop furniture.  Spending 3 months on a hot rodded router table makes perfect sense to them.  For me, I just don't have the time.  Maybe when I retire I will run out of furniture projects to build for myself and start pimping up my shop.  

 

For me it's about making something that fits my needs better than something I can but. My 'utility' benches are a prime example of this. The tops are a SYP lamination 30 inches wide by 72 long by 3 thick. The bases are 1/8" wall welded steel tubing and have 3/4"-10 leveling pads that give me 6" of height adjustment. They took a while to build, but they are 10 times better than anything I can buy, and will last the rest of my life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, the second bay of my garage was never built for a car it built for a shop.

It's 16x23 w/ 9' ceiling

One pic from each corner of the room. It's been quite a growing process over the yrs and each year it seems to grow more crowded. Had to put some tools on mobile bases this year.

I would love to have the dream shop with all the dream tools but I love what I have .

I have a water-to-air heat exchanger hanging fr the ceiling that uses my outside wood buner but once it gets down in the teens and single digits I have the wood stove in the coorner so I can always be comfy.

In the summer I roll up the blue tarp and have an 8' door way to the garage door,

It works for me!!

post-5247-0-76498800-1424470603_thumb.jp

post-5247-0-52729500-1424470669_thumb.jp

post-5247-0-39859100-1424470709_thumb.jp

post-5247-0-42893100-1424470743_thumb.jp

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see this from both sides being both somebody who makes a living from their shop and also makes videos in their shop.  One of the first things you learn if you are serious about photography is that you have to pay attention to your backgrounds.  You want the focus to be on what you are doing, not the pile of crap on the router table behind you.  If you know your shop fixtures are going to be seen by thousands of people then maybe you start treating them like actual furniture.  I don't know if I'd want to work in Marc's shop, but I'd love to shoot video in there.  Spend some quality time trying to figure out how you can get the camera where you want it to be when you have tools crammed into your shop and you'll appreciate the half acre of empty space he has around every tool.

 

Every shop has its own character that is in a reflection of the personality of the person, the kind of work they do, how long they've been doing it and the budget they've had to work with to get there.  When you watch videos from different youtube channels the shop really imparts something into the video.  Part of what makes a Frank Howarth video what it is is that shop full of big old restored iron while Jimmy Diresta's NYC dungeon shop gives his videos a completely different feeling.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first "shop" tour, below:...

First thing I noticed is that your voice is not how I would have imagined it...but I imagine that's always true (for example in my head I still head everything Eric writes in Eddie Murphy's voice). Second thing I noticed is a no-nonsense get-shit-done shop. Third thing I noticed is your jointer seems so small and sad especially next to the PM table saw. =p
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

==>Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭20‬

Was thinking Underhill 2:5 was more applicable -- that's Season 2 : Episode 5 from the Revised Standard PBS Edition...

 

Or perhaps Roy’s Letter to the Normites -- extoling the virtues of a clean shop and knowing the location of all your tools, while declaring electricity a false teaching.

 

 

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

==>Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭20‬

Was thinking Underhill 2:5 was more applicable -- that's Season 2 : Episode 5 from the Revised Standard PBS Edition...

Or perhaps Roy’s Letter to the Normites -- extoling the virtues of clean shop and knowing the location of all your tools, while declaring electricity a false teaching.

:)

or starbucks 16:4 That is a 16oz coffee with a 4oz espresso side car. Time for the morning caffeine again, Trip!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   1 Member, 0 Anonymous, 39 Guests (See full list)

  • Forum Statistics

    31.2k
    Total Topics
    421.8k
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    23,758
    Total Members
    3,644
    Most Online
    R Parekh
    Newest Member
    R Parekh
    Joined