Bob Shepard

[hscrewdude]

Hi all,

My name is Bob Shepard. I live in Bourbonnais, Il which is about an hour south of Chicago. I am a Sprinkler Fitter by trade (fire sprinklers), but really enjoy woodworking as a hobby and have even tossed around the idea of trying to do it for extra money. The only thing holding me back is that I may lose some of the enjoyment I get from it if I do it because I have to instead of want to.

I have made a lot of jewelry boxes, bandsaw boxes, and misc. crafts for around the house and for gifts. My dad, a retired electrician and I are almost done building our new stand alone shop, only 16 x 30 but bigger than the 1 car garage we are used to sharing with other things. Being an electrician, you can guarantee that ther is plenty of power and in the right places. we also put in a dedicated internet line, cable, and phone line. We have a "woodworking only' pc with all our plans, sketchup, acad, and internet all backed up to a network drive. Dad is really a genius with electronics, so everything will be remotely controlled.

We have been slowly aquiring more and better equipment from craigslist and are almost ready. Just need to install the PTHP which is a combo heater/ac unit, and get our inspection from the village. We hope to also go to a few craft shows and try to recover some of the cost of the shop. Sorry for all the babbling, but I would also like to sincerely thank all of those involved in putting this great forum together! and a special thanks to Marc and his lovely wife for all the work and time they put into the woodworking community. Marc and his site have helped me a lotin the past and I am sure in the future.