Bobby Slack Posted May 17, 2012 Report Share Posted May 17, 2012 Vital. I heard the service from General is second to none. I usually buy my Festools from Medford Tools in Oregon because the guy on the phone (Charlie Little) is amazing. They sell the General brand, as well as others. Links to General ... http://www.general.ca/ Now I have to be honest, I own a whole bunch of Festool and a fair amount of Lie-Nielsen ... so far for real machines, my thickness planer is a small 13" metabo and my table saw is a small Bosch contractor table saw. For big machines, a great friend of mine lets me to go to his cabinet shop at let me use his 12" jointer http://www.stilesmachinery.com/ironwood/genesis-jointer-series and planer http://www.stilesmachinery.com/ironwood/genesis-planer-series Another buddy of mine lets me use his timesavers wide belt sander. I have been in the big machines business in woodworking for a long time. It is funny how things change ... Went from selling Italian and German CNC routers, machining centers, rough mills, finishing, etc to using a hand plane and a scraper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VitalBodies Posted May 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 Bobby that is a change! You need to helicopter lumber around next! I need to look up Martin again and check them out also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VitalBodies Posted May 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 I've had access to a variety of spaces, and I have come to the conclusion that 1) I'm moving to Vic's neighborhood, and 2) I think too big for shop purchases. Here's a photo of the current space, although it's outdated by a year. As you can tell.... natural light is an option that is readily available.... periodically. It's the moisture/ humidity issues I'm trying to deal with now. Alright, I am game, do you have more images of the shop? Side note, have you considered heating with compost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 Alright, I am game, do you have more images of the shop? Side note, have you considered heating with compost? Compost is quite a cool idea (no pun intended), but not necessary. This was taken before trying to stuff everything back in. (Needed to rearrange the shop a bit.) The window behind the white door is the sliding door to the kitchen. In fact, that needs to be open (although you can't see it behind the white door) so that I get power to my shop via extension cord. Here's a view into the shop. Sorry it's only the one side, but you get the idea how small it is. That blue stuff on the drill press table was a rust protection product someone told me to try; the nozzle burst the first time I opened it, so we'll see just how good it is... And unfortunately, I don't have a home for that tool box just yet, so it has to walk itself out of the shop to the pad once I open the shed. (Not to mention pull out the giant blue tub that contains half of the camping gear, and is collecting the condensation from the overhead A/C collector.) Eventually, that plywood bench I keep talking about in the Five Minute blog will be built, and will end up where the table is in the first photo. It needs to go onto some form of collapsing leg/ base, however, as everything needs to be stuffed back into the shop once I'm done working. And before you ask, I do consider myself a hybrid, because I'm not giving up that drill press or the lathe. (Or, right now, the ROS, which is in it's case on the shelf above the lathe. My plane skills haven't come up quite the way I had imagined.) Right now, I've got a pair of crayon trucks from 2x4 "on the bench," (somewhere under there, anyway), and a drill press table. (That's what those bolts are for... that was a long job grinding out the interior of the washers.) (plus three other projects, but that's what wood workers do, right?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VitalBodies Posted May 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 JHop, that is quite a challenge. I like a challenge though and it seems like you do. I would be wondering just how much I need to be changing the shop vs changing what I do in the shop - like turning pens perhaps or something. Like what could this be the ultimate shop for? There are some amazing, tiny shops out there though. I can see how the size would push towards traditional wood working with hand tools also like you mentioned. Or you might become a Festool junky and take the tool to the work rather than the work to the tool. On a side note: there is, nothing I have seen that makes me feel, to mention this, but the thought came to mind of the old style foot driven lathe like they might have used in the old Fort Vancouver or those times. The thought that you would really enjoy that way of working came to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Slack Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 Since my shop is always a mess ... should we have another post for "cream of the crap?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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