Ok, I figured I’d show you my shop at the risk of never being taken seriously again! I think I have fewer tools than just about every serious woodworker, judging from the Web discussion groups. My wife calls it the pink shop. The shop is half the basement, about 12x38 ft, except there is some stuff stored at one end so it is really more like 12x30. It is only a bit more than 7 feet tall which is a pain. You won't find a lot of heavy iron. The biggest tool is a 1962 Craftsman table saw I picked up from an elderly neighbor for $30. I find it works pretty well. The most recent power tool is that yellow planer – a nice addition. The bench is fairly recent too and is still missing a front vise in the picture, but was added a couple of weeks later. The bench top is oak, 2 inches thick on a base of ¾ ply. There are two sets of 5 oak faced drawers in the middle. There is a tail vise with round dogs. I actually have some wood, and it will go back behind the bench as soon as racks are made – it was moved this winter so I could insulate and it never made it back. That, of course, is me standing there.

Here is a shot of the other end. I've just finished a couple of projects and the shop is all cleaned up, although it never gets as cluttered as some. The old bench under the little drill press was my first – construction lumber and particle board with a homemade vise. I made it back in college and I'm surprised I still have it.


 
 

Here is my spiffy cyclone. I noticed that a 30 gallon trash can was very nearly the same size as the Wood Magazine cyclone and required about 100 fewer little screws and doodads to put together. The filter is mounted inside the uptake tube in the cyclone making it very compact. Just pop the hose from blower intake to output to clean the filter. Oh, and put the shop vac on the blast gate above the TS/router table so the dust does not blow into the shop. The cyclone simply lifts off the bottom trash can and hangs on a nail in the wall while you empty it. This cyclone works very well, is no more expensive than a trash can lid "Cyclone", and you can build it in an easy afternoon. (More cyclone details)

You can see the scribbling of my 11 year old step-daughter in the dust on the chair that I need to repair. Note the again fashionable peace sign! With her bell bottoms it’s like I’m back in high school again.
 




 
 
 
 
 
 

Here is a picture of a home-made blade guard I recently added to my table saw. You can get more details here.